New Intercités trains for SNCF

[whole diary]

[Richard Fairhurst]

Interesting piece in IRJ: https://www.railjournal.com/fleet/caf-named-preferred-bidder-to-supply-sncf-intercity-fleet/

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) has named CAF as preferred bidder for a contract worth around €700m to supply 28 200km/h long and medium-distance EMUs.

In 2017, the French government asked SNCF to launch a procurement process for a contract to supply 28 trains to operate on the Paris – Clermont-Ferrand and Paris – Limoges – Toulouse lines, along with an option for up to 75 trains, including 15 for the Bordeaux – Marseille route.

On September 17, a steering committee comprised of SNCF and the Director-General of Infrastructure, Transport and the Sea (DGITM), selected CAF as the preferred bidder for the contract. This decision will now be submitted to SNCF’s board of directors on October 24.

The fleet will enter service from 2023, replacing the current locomotive-hauled Corail coaches, some of which are 40 years old.

The trains will be easily accessible for passengers with reduced mobility, and will be fitted with Wi-Fi, power sockets, USB ports, and spaces for 10 bicycles, along with a catering trolley.

If CAF is confirmed as the winner of the contract, the trains will be manufactured in Bagnères-de-Bigorre, in southwest France, and Beasain in northern Spain.

The facility in Bagnères-de-Bigorre has operated since 1862, and was acquired by CAF in 2008. Following the award of the contract, CAF plans to spend around €30m develop the facility, expanding the workforce from 100 to 350 employees, renovating 20,000m2 of workshop space and building an additional 11,000m2.

So: France's IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) (and rather throwing into sharp relief that we don't have a TGV^▸ (Train a Grande Vitesse) equivalent). Wonder how they'll compare? I'm already looking enviously at the "spaces for 10 bicycles"...

[IndustryInsider]

I'm already looking enviously at the "spaces for 10 bicycles"...

Well, a 9-car IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) has ten bicycle spaces.

[GBM]

..and a catering trolley. 
No buffet/restaurant, thus following down the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) route.

[Richard Fairhurst]

I'm already looking enviously at the "spaces for 10 bicycles"...

Well, a 9-car IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) has ten bicycle spaces.

It does, but not under GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) operation. On GWR, of the ten "bike and bulk" spaces, four are bike spaces (according to the latest GWR "Cycling by Train" booklet) and six are bulk spaces.

Time to get rid of those windowless seats and replace them with luggage/buggy space!

[CyclingSid]

Would be nice to see more commitment to cycling by GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway). A subject for Meet the Manager, didn't reach the cut last time round.

[IndustryInsider]

I'm already looking enviously at the "spaces for 10 bicycles"...

Well, a 9-car IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) has ten bicycle spaces.

It does, but not under GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) operation. On GWR, of the ten "bike and bulk" spaces, four are bike spaces (according to the latest GWR "Cycling by Train" booklet) and six are bulk spaces.

Time to get rid of those windowless seats and replace them with luggage/buggy space!

Yes, I certainly don't disagree with that.  Though there are 'ten spaces', (i.e. ten hooks) on each train which can be used for bike storage if necessary.  On some local journeys especially, strict enforcement of the ones that are supposed to be allocated to bikes and the ones that are supposed to be allocated to bulky items doesn't happen anyway!

[stuving]

There's a bit of back history to this order, which I've been trying to recall - including whether it was ever posted on here (answer: no).

Back at the end of 2016, the French government ordered 15 TGVs^▸ (Train a Grande Vitesse) (for €450M) for use on non-high speed (Intercités) lines across the south. This was more about saving Alstom from closing a factory than railway logic, especially as SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) had just expensively refurbished the old trains. At the time there was talk about an order for new trains for TET services, which are other Intercités run under government contract.

That TET order (or at least its first tranche) is the one that's now gone to CAF^▸ (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, Spanish train manufacturer), though when first mooted it too was expected to me more a salvation for Alstom. There are of course rules - strict, unFrench ones - about public procurement, which would preclude this going to Alstom with no bidding. There are also French rules.

I've been trying to remember how that earlier TGV order was squared - or it if fell foul of the EC. It appears that four months later it was changed into an SNCF order (with state funding) for 15 TGVs for the TGV-Atlantique service, where there was a long-running framework contract allowing top-up orders. Some of the older trains here are needing a major rejuvenation, and a few new ones would avoid having to do all of the old ones. Well, it's an excuse of sorts.