The idea is not new, but it is coming back into fashion today. While everything possible is done to encourage people to take the train instead of the car to get to work or travel, the possibility of driving vehicles, which are not trains, on the hundreds of kilometers of disused tracks in the SNCF in France.
Already in the 1930s, the Michelin group had developed a train mounted on wheels with special tires. These were the famous “Michelines” that you could find in many countries. If this train did not run on the road, the concept was to run a vehicle using the architecture of a car on rails. These Michelines circulated like this until the end of the 1950s.
The continuation of French railway history focused on high speed, the TGV, abandoning the small lines, before the proximity and the local came back into force today, in particular for environmental reasons. And wonder about these hundreds of kilometers of non-electrified roads closed over time.
TERs inadequate for these needs
To promote clean transport, the State is driving the development of the railway and (finally) investing in the regeneration of the secondary network. As for the closed lanes, they give ideas: initiatives for hybrid vehicles to circulate are multiplying.
A few weeks ago, Arnaud Montebourg, former Minister of Productive Recovery and now head of the Ferromóvil Engineering, Construction and Exploitation Company (Sicef), presented the Ferromóvil project.
Specifically, the Ferromóvil is an electric vehicle from the Peugeot series that drives like a conventional car on the road but also moves autonomously on rails. The passenger should take control on the highway, but let go of the wheel when passing on the railroad.
This electric car is “remote controlled” when it travels by rail, just like the automatic subway lines, the former minister told BFM Business. The trip is made on demand, prior reservation in the application or dedicated terminals and the vehicle can carry up to 8 passengers.
It is a solution “for all the small closed lines”, in order to bring the inhabitants of rural areas closer to work and service areas, explains Arnaud Montebourg.
A TER weighs “60 tons” and “costs 11 million” euros, compared to “50,000 euros” and “2 tons” for a multipurpose vehicle, he stresses, adding that it is not necessary to redo the new infrastructure.
Ferromóvil: a launch in 2024/2025?
The project was built in partnership with Systra, a joint subsidiary of SNCF and RATP, as well as Stellantis and Alstom. The company, which has already obtained financing of 10 million euros from France Relance, intends to raise 30 million euros to implement its first lines.
The first one open to travelers will be “certainly in Occitania, in any case in the south of France”, with “2024, 2025” as the objective, recalls the former minister.
This project is actually not new. Previously it was called Flexmove and it was already run by the Ferromóvil Engineering, Construction and Exploitation Company (Sicef).
SNCF is also working on similar projects. Often criticized for having abandoned the narrow service of the territory in favor of the entire TGV, the company has been working for a few years on solutions so that the inhabitants of neglected areas, due to the closure of small stations, abandon their cars and return to the train .
SNCF will test Flexy next year in Brittany
One of her projects is called “Flexy”. Either a small battery-powered ferry designed by Frenchman Milla that can transport up to 14 people over 10 to 30 kilometers at 60 km/h. With its 3.5 tons, it falls into the category of “very light trains” and can work automatically although, for safety reasons, there will always be a “driver” on board.
It has the particularity of driving on tar (especially where small tracks have been covered), but also on disused railways thanks to an ingenious hybrid wheel system (road/rail) developed by Michelin (the loop is therefore closed with Micheline). .
Once again, it is about responding to the problem of the last kilometer, especially when the station is far from your home. “The idea is to bring people from rural areas to the train stations” in the form of a shuttle.
“We are a little skeptical about certain aspects of his approach”
They still have to be bought by the regions, the communities, which are already investing in hydrogen and hybrid trains and which are seeing energy prices soar (and therefore also the bill they pay to the SNCF) as well as the limitations of their budgets.
Can we expect competition between the SNCF project and that of Arnaud Montebourg? “We are a bit skeptical about certain aspects of his approach,” the manager comments diplomatically. Because if the SNCF encompasses the entire project: infrastructures, rolling stock, supervision, security…, it doesn’t seem to be the case of the former minister…
“It is a systemic project that we coordinate in particular on sensitive issues of technical regulations. We are already working with the railway safety agencies, all of this takes time to obtain authorizations and approvals”, underlines David Borot. On the railway side, this essential work has not yet begun.
A potential 80 lines in disuse
Furthermore, the question is whether these innovative road and rail solutions are technically and economically viable.
“Light and very light trains are quite relevant. But in the case of Flexy, the scope will be limited”, comments to BFM Business, Bruno Gazeau, president of the National Federation of Associations of Transport Users (FNAUT).
A criticism answered by the SNCF. “There is a real potential for lines, if it did not exist we would not have embarked on this project, we would not have invested,” says David Borot, who estimates the number of disused lines that could be affected by Flexy at 80 (but also in other countries). .
“And it’s not that simple to implement. Even if it’s an autonomous shuttle, it will require men at the end of the routes, setting up a control center, working on the tracks, and the life of this equipment will be shorter than that of heavy equipment. “. “, adds Bruno Gazeau.
However, even with these limitations, the SNCF assures it: the operation of a Flexy service reduces costs by 50% compared to a traditional local line.
Source: BFM TV
