FRANCE: Paris regional transport authority Ile-de-France-Mobilités and Alstom unveiled the first RER NG EMU at Valenciennes Petite-Forêt on November 22.
Designated RER Nouvelle Génération, the EMUs are being supplied by a consortium of Alstom and Bombardier — now only Alstom — under a €3·75bn framework contract awarded in January 2017 by SNCF Mobilités on behalf of IDFM.
The framework covers 255 trainsets; 130 six-car trains will go to RER Line E and 125 seven-car trains for Line D. The initial firm order is worth €1·55bn and covers 71 trainsets, of which 56 will be six-car and 15 seven-car. The first train is expected to enter service at the end of next summer on Line E.
The trains have two single-deck driving cars while all the intermediate vehicles are double-deck. They will have a maximum speed of 140 km/h and be equipped for operation under both 1·5 kV DC and 25 kV 50 Hz catenary. They will be dual equipped with the legacy KVB train control system and ETCS, and they will also be able to use the emerging NExTEO automated control system which is due to be fitted on Line E between Pantin and Nanterre-La-Folie.
Each train will have air-conditioning, CCTV and passenger information screens. The Line E trains are 111·5 m long, weighing 300 tonnes, while the longer variant for Line D is 130·3 m long, weighing 350 tonnes.
The Line E trains have capacity for 1 560 passengers, and the Line D sets 1 800.
In the double-deck cars, the upper level has a 3+2 seat layout, of which the third seat row is able to be folded up in case of heavy passenger loading.
The lower saloons offer a row of three seats on one side of the off-centre aisle, of which one seat is foldable, and one set of seats by the windows, also folding. This 3+1 layout is a new design for suburban rolling stock in Paris.
