New Generation RER train launched in Paris
On Monday 13 November at Gare Saint-Lazare in Paris, Valérie Pécresse, President of Île-de-France Mobilités, Brice Rabaste, Vice-President of Île-de-France Mobilités, Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF Voyageurs and Henri Poupart-Lafarge, CEO of Alstom, inaugurated the first of these brand new RER New Generation (NG) trains.
The Réseau Express Régional, commonly abbreviated RER, is a hybrid system of suburban trains and rapid transit serving Paris and its suburbs. The newest generation RER is a double-decker electric train built by Alstom in France, mainly at Alstom’s Hauts-de-France plant (Valenciennes Petite Forêt) and Bombardier’s plant (Crespin), as well as at seven other Alstom sites in France.
In formations of 6 to 7 cars (measuring between 112 and 130 metres), its maximum speed is 140 kilometres per hour. It is specifically designed for dense areas in the Île-de-France region. The RER NG is spacious, with between 1,145 and 1,367 seats, and 5 travel areas: passenger reception, a bright and quiet lower and upper lounge, an area for the comfort of wheelchair users and a level-end vehicle lounge. It is also equipped with 256 USB ports.
The RER NG complements other modern equipment currently being deployed, such as the Régio2N (lines R, D and N) and the Francilien (lines H, J, K, L and P). A total of 255 RER NG trainsets will be ordered to equip RER lines E and D. 125 shorter trainsets (with 6 cars) are planned for line E, while 130 long trainsets with 7 cars are planned for line D, which will also eventually be equipped with 18 Regio 2N trainsets.
Soon on RER line D
Daytime tests will start in spring 2023 on line D. This test phase will last nine months, during which time trains will run on the Paris – Combes-la-Ville section. The official launch of commercial service on line D is scheduled for the end of the first half of 2024. The purpose of the station tests is to check that the cameras are working properly, to identify any problems for people with reduced mobility (PRMs), to ensure that the correct side of the doors opens towards the platforms rather than the tracks, and to ensure that the stop signs are correctly positioned.
These new trains, ordered by SNCF Mobilités on behalf of Île-de-France Mobilités, are entirely financed by the latter. Once the 255 trainsets planned to meet the current needs of lines D and E have been deployed, 1.23 million passengers will use them every day. The positive impact of this order will also be felt across the network as a whole, as the extension of RER E will help to lighten the load on the central lines of RER A, B and D (by 10 to 15 per cent).
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