FRANCE: Paris transport operator RATP has placed its first order with Stadler, covering the supply of 12 custom-designed electric-battery locomotives to haul maintenance and repair trains across the entire metro network from 2027.
The order announced on October 21 has been placed as part of a wider RATP programme to improve the efficient of infrastructure maintenance of the 245 km network. There is an option for two more locos.
The four-axle locomotives will be able to operate on both the steel-wheel and rubber tyre metro lines. They will be 15 m long and designed for the network’s tight curves, with fully automatic couplings and capable of operating in pairs to increase haulage capacity from 120 to 240 tonnes.
The fleet will be authorised to operate in parallel with normal services, including on routes operated without drivers. The locos will use the metro’s 750 V DC third rail power supply when available, and also to recharge the batteries, which will provide power at worksites when the conductor rail is switched off.
‘We are very proud to have won RATP as a customer and to have impressed them with our technology’, said Christian König, Deputy Head of Sales & Marketing at Stadler. ‘With our innovative, customised locomotives, efficient and sustainable maintenance can be realised and the infrastructure of the Paris metro can be made fit for the future.’
