Things are moving slowly but surely for Le Train, this new French rail company that wants to launch a regional high-speed link in the Greater West between Arcachon, Bordeaux, Angoulême, Poitiers, Tours, Angers, Nantes and Rennes. Offering a high frequency of trains.
Backed by a ready legal framework, its railway authorizations and part of its financing (particularly thanks to the entry of two banks into its capital), the company announced on Monday the name of its industrial partner selected for the construction of its new rolling stock . , an investment of around 300 million euros.
It will be the Spanish Talgo, which supplies its high-speed trains notably to the Spanish national operator Renfe and the German Deutsche Bahn.
To begin with, Le Train has ordered 10 trains from the “Avril” platform, which allows Talgo to adapt a common architecture to the wishes of the operators. They will be able to carry 360 passengers. The maintenance of the trains will also be the responsibility of the manufacturer. The construction of the trains would begin in the first half of 2023, after the signing of the contracts.
“The traveler experience is also important and their trains offer great accessibility, such as bicycle transport, which is important to us,” he continues.
Therefore, it is the first time in France that an operator starting from scratch will launch a high-speed rail offer in France in competition with SNCF.
€300 million
This is good news for the company and the still-hungry competition in the French rail industry, but it has its downside.
Currently, many operators, historic or new, are looking for new trains to buy, in order to strengthen or launch rail links in Europe.
This causes significant bottlenecks and therefore longer delivery times than usual: from 24 to 36 months. As a result, Le Train, which initially wanted to launch in 2022, will finally be on its way in early 2025. A delay that worries a large number of players like Midnight Train in France or European Sleeper in Belgium.
The choice of the new is also in contradiction with the eco-responsible philosophy of the future operator who initially wanted to use second-hand equipment.
Of course, it’s less expensive, less carbon intensive, and gets you up and running faster. With second-hand equipment, Le Train admits that it could have been launched much faster, starting this year as well: “we have the industrial capacity to overhaul this equipment, to repair it”, explains Alain Gétraud.
But as in the new, the company faces a shortage of refurbished equipment: “there is no fluid process to acquire this equipment,” laments the manager.
Second-hand trains: “We do not despair”
And to the decisions of SNCF Voyageurs, which manages a large fleet of second-hand SNCF trains. For the moment, he is opposed to ending the inadmissibility of the company that wishes to repurchase a dozen TGV trains from him.
This regulation refers to the presence of chemical substances and their detection in products sold in the EU and has given rise to an order in 2019 on the detection of asbestos before certain operations on railway rolling stock. However, some refurbished TGV trains contain this carcinogenic substance.
However, Alain Gétraud remains confident in the ability of SNCF Voyageurs to change its position simply because the arrival of a new player is good for the whole market, the proportion of train travel increases.
No impact on future ticket prices
And the leader “does not completely despair of success with second-hand equipment, as we still have ongoing discussions with industrial partners, even if it takes longer.”
Finally, the choice of new ones radically changes the economic model of the Train with an initial investment in equipment much higher than what it should have been with second-hand equipment.
On the other hand, the company ensures that this change in model will not modify the “leisure” focus (and without classes) of the offer that will be aimed especially at young people. “This material is depreciable over a much longer period, more than 30 years, it will not have any impact on the price of the ticket,” promises the businessman.
Source: BFM TV
