Captrain France, formerly VFLI, is a French freight rail company. It is a subsidiary of SNCF's Rail Logistics Europe. The company was formed in 1998 as a low-cost short line and industrial railway operator.
History
VFLI was established in 1998 by SNCF to operate as a low-cost operation. Initially, the company took over the operations of two industrial railway systems: Voies Ferrées des Landes (VFL) and Mines Dominiales de Potasse d'Alsace.
In 2000, the company began a joint venture with Compagnie des chemins de fer départementaux (CFD) named Voies Ferrées du Morvan to operate the 87 km Avallon-Autun railway line, and in 2001 took over operations on the Houllières du Bassin de Lorraine (HBL) via a subsidiary VFLI Cargo.
Up to 2007, the company was involved in the construction of LGV Est through the subsidiary Fertis.[1]
In 2007, VFLI was certified to run trains on the full extent of the French national railway network owned by Réseau Ferré de France