French contractor Vinci has won a seven-year contract to renew 800km of track and ballast in the French rail network.

The deal, which is expected to be worth about €700m, was awarded by infrastructure operator SNCF Réseau.

The renewal, officially known as work package 4, will be carried out by Vinci subsidiary ETF. The aim is to improve the regularity and frequency of the rail service.

Last year, ETF was awarded work package 2 – a five-year deal to renew 675km of track, which in turn followed on from a contract signed with SNCF Réseau in 2015 to replace track and ballast in built-up areas.

Vinci said the latest renewal will be done with “factory trains” that are able to employ the fast-sequencing method.

ETF has already upgraded 1,750 km of railway track.

The company will also devote about 150,000 hours to professional integration and training programmes during the seven years of the contract.