The SNCF orders 70 double-deck regional train cars worth €135 million

Saint Ouen Cedex, France – The SNCF, France’s national railway company, has just ordered 21 new CORADIA DUPLEXTM trainsets from ALSTOM: 7 of these are four-car trainsets and 14 others are three-car trainsets. This order is part of a long-term investment programme for the renewal of the regional express trains fleet, launched in 2000 and financed by the French regions.

This €135 million contract brings the number of cars ordered since 2000 to 487 out of the 629 required in the programme to be completed in 2009. Orders now total €727 million.

The trainsets will serve 4 regions. The Centre region will receive 5 trainsets, Picardie 2, and Lorraine 4. The Pays de Loire region, to be supplied for the first time, will receive 10. Deliveries will begin in September 2007.

The ALSTOM sites in Valenciennes, Tarbes, Villeurbanne, Le Creusot and Ornans, in France, and the Charleroi site in Belgium, all contribute to the execution of this contract. In cooperation with ALSTOM, Bombardier will participate in the manufacture of 28 vehicles on its Crespin site in France.

The CORADIA DUPLEXTM range is characterised by a considerable modularity, making it possible to respond to operators’ actual capacity requirements by allowing configurations of trainsets composed of between 2 and 5 railcars for capacities ranging from 220 to 576 seated passengers. Currently, there are 90 trainsets in service in the French regions (Nord Pas de Calais, Rhône Alpes, Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur, Picardie, Centre, and Lorraine), and 12 on the Luxembourg national railway network. Furthermore, with the TGV DUPLEX, it confirms the success of the double-deck railcar concept developed by ALSTOM.