With Lake Geneva in the background, 141 R 568 is seen passing Grandvaux, east of Lausanne on the 29th October with a Swiss Classic Train special from Vallorbe to Lyss, passing through Bern on the outward journey and returning via Neuchâtel. Photo: Christophe Masse.

Friday 20th October saw Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes région unveil a €5.7 billion rail investment plan, described as the biggest outside of Île-de-France. The investment is a response to the increased demand for rail travel, up 20% across the region since 2019, and has two objectives: to stimulate 30% growth in passenger-journeys from 220,000 to 300,000 a day; and to improve passenger comfort and train frequency with 30% more services. The plan will be delivered over the period 2024 to 2035. Improvements are also expected to come from competitive tendering, starting with Auvergne in 2028. Regional President Laurent Wauquiez stated that although he was not in favour of the process, SNCF had been given the opportunity and not delivered the improvement expected.

The plans do not include any provision for development of metropolitan RER systems, despite there being proposals for Lyon, Chambéry, Grenoble, Saint-Etienne and Clermont-Ferrand. The forthcoming CPER includes €182 million for RERs, while the région believes that it needs around €4 billion. The total being offered by the state for all forms transport in the CPER is €620 million, the région pointing out that this represents only 7% of the national envelope despite AURA having 13% of the population.

Designed for attended automatic train operation to GoA2 (Grade of Automation 2), NExTEO is currently being installed on Line E from Pantin westwards over the extension under construction between Haussmann Saint-Lazare and Nanterre, the first section of which opens in April. Its application on Lines B and D is intended to raise throughput on the joint section between Gare du Nord and Châtelet-Les Halles, already one of the world’s most heavily-used railway tunnels. Capacity will rise from the current 28 trains/h in each direction at peak times to 32 trains/h, 20 for Line B and 12 for Line D, to handle an additional 7,000 passengers/h. To achieve this, NExTEO will be installed over a wider area of both routes to optimise presentation of trains at the tunnel entrances and thus improve punctuality. Deployment in the core tunnel section is scheduled for 2031, with the outer sections following by 2033.

The new Porte Maillot station in October, rigid catenary installed. Photo: batiactu/JI.

Paris – Aurillac
The Aurillac overnight service is introduced this month, starting with the Sunday 10th December departure from Aurillac at 22.41 arriving in Paris at 08.31. The first Paris departure is on Friday 15th leaving Austerlitz at 19.27, arriving at Aurillac at 07.30. The train calls at Saint-Denis-Près-Martel, Bretenoux-Biars and Laroquebrou in both directions. Northbound, seats are available at €22, southbound at €30. Interestingly, Aurillac can be reached at 07.16 by catching the Rodez portion of the 19.27 and changing at Figeac (depart 05.59), for which a higher fare is demanded.

Initially, the train runs weekends-only out of season and daily during school holidays, but local politicians have received an undertaking from transport minister Clément Beaune that year-round daily service will be offered in the December 2024 timetable.

Paris – Tarbes
Also in the new timetable, the Paris – Tarbes night train is diverted from its present route (POLT) to run via Bordeaux, reaching Tarbes from the west instead of the east, thus avoiding the four-tracking works north of Toulouse. The train will call at Les Aubrais, Bayonne, Orthez, Pau and Lourdes. Stops at Saint-Gaudens, Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Hendaye are replaced by TER connections. On certain dates, the southbound train runs as 3744 Paris Austerlitz depart 21.38, otherwise as 3730 departing at 22.12. Train 3730 follows the classic route, with haulage by BB 7200 locos. Train 3744 takes L’Océane LGV at Saint-Pierre-des-Corps hauled by one of the four Infra TVM-430-equipped BB 22200s(Nos 22378-380/399) and limited to 160 km/h. Arriving in Bordeaux at 01.50, the train stands until 05.15 before running forward with BB 7200 haulage. Northbound, Train 3747 departs Tarbes at 18.45 (times vary) and lays over at Bordeaux from 22.50 until departure at 02.50 via the LGV route (same itinerary as southbound). When the classic route is followed throughout, train number is 3741. With Tarbes now the starting point of this train, departure time is very much earlier than the previous 22.14. It is possible to leave Tarbes at 17.34 on TGV 8586 for a Paris arrival at 22.53, whilst a later departure by TER 872744 at 19.44 connects at Toulouse with Train 3750 (the Cerbère night train) arriving Paris Austerlitz at 07.03.

Centre-Val de Loire région took delivery on 9th November of the last Omnéo Premium EMU from the order for 32 placed with Bombardier (now Alstom) in 2018 to replace loco-hauled stock on the Rémi Express services between Paris and Orléans/Tours/Bourges and Montargis/Nevers routes. The occasion was used to announce purchase of a further seven sets to be delivered from summer 2026 for the Paris – Etampes – Orléans stopping service at a cost of €145 million. 

Growth in Rémi ridership has been boosted since the start of the school year by 20,000 youngsters taking advantage of free travel at weekends. To ease congestion, additional weekend trains are introduced with the new timetable starting on 11th December, along with extra Friday afternoon services.

Below left. Representatives of Centre-Val de Loire, SNCF and Alstom welcome the last of the new trains at Orléans on 9th November. Completion of the order was delayed by a year due to covid and other problems. Photo: Radio France/Patricia Pourrez. 

Right. The publicity video issued by Centre-Val de Loire region.

Given its TET status, the service will presumably be operated by SNCF Voyageurs under the Intercités brand. The state will meet 50% of the operating deficit with the balance expected to be met by the communities en route. Rolling stock will be provided by the state, but as suitable stock is unlikely to be available by 2025 trains will initially be provided from the Grand Est fleet.

Ease of accessibility at stations and onboard continues to improve for the 40% of passengers who have some kind of temporary or permanent reduction in mobility. TGV M is the first to be designed in collaboration with the Association d’Usagers en Fauteuil Roulant (Wheelchair Users Association) and promises 100% accessibility throughout the train. The train’s modular design will allow easy rearrangement of the interior layout to cope with future changes in passengers’ requirements. In 2022, the three Accès passenger-assistance services handled over 865,000 reservations; bookings can now be made up to 24h in advance instead of 48h. SNCF Connect and other websites and apps are gradually being brought into conformity with parameters set out by disabled-users associations.

There was a big rise in demand from passengers travelling with bicycles (train+vélo); 45% of TGV sets and almost all TER trains now have cycle space but future provision remains a problem as passenger capacity is so stretched. Staff were incentivised to cycle to work instead of driving by a grant of €150 towards purchase of a bicycle. 

SNCF’s offer of travel at all levels of affordability was maintained despite inflationary pressures. Though operating costs rose by 13% it was possible to limit the 2023 TGV fares increase to 5%. The Ouigo low-cost offer was further expanded, while the régions achieved increased patronage of TER with attractive fares such as Occitanie’s weekend travel for €1.

More CSR effort was devolved to a local level, where small initiatives can bring big results and where staff can more easily act as ambassadors for rail. Funding for local initiatives, €5 million in 2022, has been doubled for 2023. Staff shortages continue to be a problem especially in deeply rural areas where train cancellations have been necessary on a day-to-day basis. Over 80% of staff undertook some sort of training during the year, of which 8,600 had training in CSR; 36.3% of personnel are female (up 2 percentage points) for whom the pay differential has narrowed to less than 5%. 

CO2 emissions avoided by passengers choosing rail rather than other modes rose along with the increase in passenger-km, from 9.9 million to 13.4 million tonnes, while actual emissions per passenger-km declined from 9.1 to 7 grammes despite a 32% rise in train-km. Train travel creates five times fewer carbon emissions than the next best option, electric cars. Despite the incidence of more extreme weather due to climate change, minutes lost to weather events declined by 13% to 608,000.

While the majority of overhauls will be to existing mechanical specifications they  provide an opportunity for the régions to update interiors with improved layouts and facilities such as power and USB sockets, and functions such as automatic passenger counting systems. For diesel powered AGCs there is an increasing drive towards reduced carbon emissions that is likely to see a move towards hybrid and battery conversion. As reported in May News, Grand-Est, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie and Centre-Val de Loire Regions have collaborated on the creation of the first hybrid AGC where two of the four diesel engines have been replaced by lithium-ion batteries. This is expected to enter commercial service at the end of this year.

Alstom’s prototype AGC conversion from electro-diesel to battery-electric is on trial, having been unveiled on 18th October at the Rencontres Nationales du Transport Public in Clermont-Ferrand. All four diesel engines have been removed and replaced by eight lithium-ion batteries with an 800kW output, giving the prototype a range of 80km at speeds of up to 160km/h. The batteries can be re-charged when running under catenary or at station charging points. Five AGCs are being converted with the project sponsored by Alstom, SNCF and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Occitanie, Hauts-de-France, Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur and Nouvelle-Aquitaine régions. Testing will continue into next year and it is planned to obtain passenger certification by December 2024. Once more information is available on operational performance and cost the régions will be in a position to determine the number of diesel equipped units (that make up nearly half of the AGC fleet) to be converted.