The 2 million passengers are expected to wait firmly from the Ferrand line of Paris Clermont, one of the lines that knows the largest amount of breakdown of the French rail network. The new oxygen trains, manufactured by Spanish CAF, will be in the rails in 2027.
An eternity for users, used by repeated decompositions in 40 -year -old rolling equipment, old coral cars towed by outdoor locomotives. It should be said that these trains will arrive three years late.
Remember that it is the State that has completely ordered 28 new trains for 700 million euros (+100 million for new maintenance centers), as an organizing authority of the intercity lines. Other twenty others will be dedicated to the Paris-Toulouse line.
Be very careful in interior accessories
However, things are advancing. The first two copies of this train arrived at the Villeneuve-Saint-Georges (Technicentre) maintenance center near Paris, which took advantage of an investment of modernization of 20 million euros. The teams are beginning to get used to this new team that will offer many improvements to travelers.
In fact, it’s day and night. Its exterior, profiling, is successful design, its nose has been reinforced to better resist shocks (the game is a source of accidents) but it is on all the interior accessories that attract.
There are comfortable seats (to have tried them), all with electric plugs and USB ports, a lower center of gravity, less vibrations, large windows with horizontal sliding blinds divided into two parts (a very good idea to allow everyone to decide whether or not they want), autonomous access for people with reduced mobility, a logical space that allows bicycles with analgesics.
These trains can embark 420 passengers against 396 prior to a maximum speed of 200 km/h.
SNCF teams are beginning to take care of this team, unique because it only develops for SNCF travelers. Rather accustomed to the oars made by Alstom, technicians must also understand the subtleties of this Spanish team.
“This is still standard, but we have everything to discover because it is its destination from the universe of the trailer (a locomotive that draws cars, note of the editor). Everything is digital, which allows us to better avoid the breakdowns thanks to the sensors that send us weak signals before the occurrence of a breakdown,” explains the manager.
“For us, it’s adventure”
“We learn as we advance, try and adapt, create models about the return of the experience, we present problems and CAF must offer us a technical solution and provide specific parts and tools,” says Olivier Devaux.
The objective of all this preparation work is to defend the future maintenance of trains as much as possible, to constitute stocks of parts to immobilize the shortest possible time, in particular by adapting the existing tools, mobilizing suppliers, hiring the services.
Ultimately, two or three teams of 15 people will work on the site that will be dedicated only to heavy (mechanics, motor) and light (comfort) of oxygen trains.
Will the arrival of oxygen trains allow the anger of users to calm? Certainly, if the infrastructure continues. Because we can have beautiful trains, if the clues or catenaries are breathless, breakdown may occur. If the SNCF is looking for one billion euros per year for its network, an envelope of one billion euros was validated in 2022 to carry out the work.
According to our information, this work is about to be completed by SNCF Réseau. Therefore, the horizon seems to be cleaning for customers of this cursed line that will still have to wait a little less than two years to really blow …
Source: BFM TV
