FRANCE: Acting on behalf of the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes region, SNCF has awarded Bombardier Transportation a firm order to supply 19 Regio 2N double-deck EMUs totalling 114 cars.
They are scheduled to enter service on the Lyon – Mâcon and Lyon – Valence lines in mid-2023.
The 83 m long EMUs will have 385 seats and six bicycle spaces, and will meet EU interoperability and accessibility requirements. They will be fitted with CCTV and onboard wi-fi.
The order is worth €176m, including ‘price escalations based on best faith assessment of assumptions’. The contract has been placed within a 2010 framework agreement covering 860 units, which has so far seen 10 regions order a total of 428 Omneo and Regio 2N trainsets. The latest order will take the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region’s Regio 2N fleet to 59 units.
‘The Regio 2N is a high capacity, double-deck train that combines capacity, comfort and accessibility’, said Laurent Bouyer, President of Bombardier Transportation France, when the order was announced on March 30. ‘It has proved its worth and is perfectly suited to the needs of the regional and periurban lines of the Region Auvergne-Rhône Alpes, which, after Ile-de-France are the national rail network’s most heavily loaded.’
