FRANCE: National passenger operator SNCF Voyageurs and manufacturer CAF have unveiled the first of the Z26700 Oxygène inter-city trainsets which will replace Corail locomotive-hauled coaches on 200 km/h inter-city serves on conventional lines.
The Oxygène trainsets are designed to be ‘the reference inter-city train of the 21st century’ with an iconic and up-to-date design, CAF France Sales & Marketing Director Laurent Caseau told Railway Gazette International at the Velim test centre in the Czech Republic where the first is undergoing dynamic testing.
The Corail coaches are old but offer a good standard of comfort. Dominique Le Frère, head of inter-city rolling stock at SNCF Voyageurs, said the new trains would offer a level of comfort comparable to a TGV, with modern seats and better dynamic performance than the Corail coaches.
The order placed in October 2019 is being funded by the French government. It is worth €700m and covers 28 10-car trainsets and €100m for new maintenance facilities.
The trains will operate as a common fleet, with 12 sets required for the Paris – Clermont-Ferrand route and 16 for Paris – Limoges – Toulouse services.
Design
Each articulated trainset will be 188 m long with three first class coaches with 2+1 seating, a low-floor accessible coach, a coach for bikes and services, and five second class coaches with 2+2 seating. The total capacity will be 420 passengers, equivalent to seven Corail coaches. Each aluminium-bodied car will have one door per side. All seats will have USB and power sockets, and there will be air-conditioning, wi-fi and CCTV throughout.
They will be equipped with ETCS and the national KVB train control system, and for operation under 1·5 kV DC and 25 kV 50 Hz electrification. The trainsets will have distributed traction, with both end cars and the two centre cars each having two axles driven by asynchronous traction motors, giving a continuous power rating of 4 MW. There is natural ventilation of the electrical equipment.
Manufacturing
The first eight trainsets are being built at CAF’s Beasain plant in Spain, and the others will be produced at Reichshoffen in France.
Production has been hit by the effects of the pandemic on the supply chain, and issues with the motors and brake systems which are being addressed after being identified during the tests at Velim.
Four trainsets will be used for testing: one is now at Velim, and a second one which is due to arrive in July will be used to test multiple working and passenger comfort. The third trainset will used for maintenance testing and the fourth for climate testing.
Entry into service
Approval from French national safety authority EPSF is expected in the second half of 2025, with entry into passenger service now planned from early 2027. All 28 trainsets are to be delivered by the end of that year.
Infrastructure works will be undertaken to strengthen power supplies and remove speed restrictions.
The introduction of the new fleet will enable the operation of an additional daily return serves on each route. The trains will facilitate a 15 min reduction of the journey time to 3 h 15 min for Paris – Clermont-Ferrand with four stops, and 2 h 51 min for Paris – Limoges with one stop.
SNCF has options to order 75 more trainsets, including 20 for the Bordeaux – Marseille route. A firm order is expected to be placed next year, possibly for longer trainsets as the Bordeaux – Marseille services currently operate with nine Corail coaches.
- Subscribers can read a comprehensive description of the Oxygène, originally known as Confort 200, and the related route enhancement projects from the January 2021 issue of Railway Gazette International.
