First Régiolis enters service

A ceremony has been held at Vaugirard station in Paris to celebrate the commissioning of the first of hundreds of new Régiolis trains ordered for the French regions.

Alstom, which has marketed the Régiolis as France’s next-generation regional train, has so far sold 182 units to 12 regions – all of which will be operated and maintained by SNCF.

Orders to date represent an investment of €1.4 billion.

Frédéric Cuvillier, the French Minister for Transport, Alain Rousset, president of the association of French regions (ARF) and President of the Aquitaine region, Jacques Auxiette, President of the Pays de la Loire region, Guillaume Pepy, president of SNCF and Henri Poupart-Lafarge, president of Alstom Transport, attended the event on April 29.

The Regiolis trains, which are based on Alstom’s Coradia Polyvalent platform, come in both dual mode and electric models. The vehicles are being delivered in three, four and six-car formations, with the longest having a capacity of over 1,000 passengers.

In total, 216 Coradia Polyvalent trainsets have been purchased by SNCF and the French regions, with 182 Régiolis sets ordered for regional TER services and 34 Coradia Liner vehicles procured for the renewal of SNCF Intercity trains.

Delivery of the new trains will continue until 2017.




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