The French private company Le Train, which wants to open high-speed connections in the West of France in 2025, announced on Tuesday the launch in April of a subscription campaign to open its capital to the general public.
In addition to a new fundraiser from institutional investors, "
Le Train wishes to offer all economic players, the inhabitants of the Great West and its future travelers the opportunity to become shareholders
", indicated the company in a communicated.
Le Train thus intends to raise "
between 1 and 3 million euros
", a spokeswoman told AFP.
It is a question of "
associating our future travelers with the project
", by responding to a request from the public, she added.
"Intra and inter-regional high-speed traffic"
The funds raised will be used to implement the information system, train teams, finalize rolling stock design studies and carry out studies for access to train maintenance infrastructure, according to the argument published on the crowdfunding platform Tudigo, chosen for this fundraiser.
As for the company's financing plan (already supported by Crédit-Mutuel Arkéa and Crédit Agricole, in particular), "
we are trying to have everything completed before the end of the year
", said the spokesperson.
Born in Charente in 2020, the company wants to “
operate intra and interregional high-speed traffic starting with the Great West
”, with among the first services Bordeaux-Angoulême, Bordeaux-Nantes and Bordeaux-Rennes, and extensions to Arcachon.
It announced in January the order of ten high-speed trains from the Spanish railway manufacturer Talgo, for around 300 million euros, with the objective of launching them on the rails in France in 2025.
