FRANCE: Métropole Européenne de Lille has awarded Alstom a €210m firm order to supply 15 more rubber-tyre automated light metro trainsets, following on from 27 ordered previously.
The trainsets in the latest order will replace the current Siemens VAL208 trainsets from 2028 onwards, enabling Line 1 to be operated exclusively with the latest generation of trains.
This forms part of a much-delayed modernisation of the network which includes new rolling stock and the first deployment of Alstom’s Urbalis Fluence control system, which the manufacturer said is based on direct train-to-train communication and ’embeds the system’s intelligence into the trains, making them more autonomous and improving the system’s overall performance’.
Trains will run every 66 seconds during the peaks.
The 52 m long four-car trainsets with wide gangways will have a capacity of 545 passengers. Features will include multimedia displays, CCTV and a dedicated area for people with reduced mobility.
Six of Alstom’s sites in France will be involved in production: Valenciennes-Petite Forêt (studies, design, train assembly, testing and approval), Le Creusot (bogies), Ornans (motors), Tarbes (powertrain equipment), Saint-Ouen, (automaton and the development of Urbalis Fluence) and Villeurbanne (onboard computing and passenger information).
‘These new, modern and comfortable metros represent a considerable asset for improving the network and the passenger experience’, said President of Alstom France Frédéric Wiscart when the order was announced on January 20.
