SNCF Voyageurs and Alstom presented the first battery-powered regional train (TER) ordered by five French regions, on 18 October 2023 at the Rencontres Nationales du Transport Public, in Clermont-Ferrand.
The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Hauts-de-France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie Pyrénées-Méditerranée and Sud Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions have been working with SNCF Voyageurs and Alstom since 2021 on a project to develop battery-powered trains, to help reduce CO2 emissions on non-electric lines. Five dual-mode electric-diesel trainsets are to be modified by replacing their diesel engines with batteries, in order to become 100% electric. The first battery-powered regional train (TER) entrusted by the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region left the Crespin Alstom site during the summer and has just begun its dynamic tests.
A static and dynamic development phase at up to 60 km/h took place during the summer of 2023 at the Crespin Alstom site, in order to check the train’s operation and test its battery-powered traction mode. The first trials show that the battery charging and discharging system is working properly.
Tests are now continuing at the Centre d’essais ferroviaires at Bar-le-Duc, with validation and certification tests at up to 160 km/h. The train’s new traction modes will be tested, in order to validate the various route simulation models under operating conditions identical to those in commercial service.
The final phase of tests on the French national railway network is scheduled for December 2023 and January 2024. These tests should prove that the train is compatible with the existing French infrastructure. They will enable SNCF Voyageurs to finalise the admission file that will be submitted to the Etablissement Public de Sécurité Ferroviaire (EPSF), with a view to obtaining the necessary authorisations for its commercial service.
Launched in 2021, the first order is for five trainsets, some of which have already been in service for almost 20 years on the railway networks of the partner regions. Now equipped with a new, cleaner and more environmentally friendly traction system, they will be put back into commercial service to run on electrified and non-electrified lines for a further 20 years.
The overall budget for the project, including the pre-production run of five trainsets, is EUR 40.2 million, co-financed by each region with EUR 5.7 million, Alstom with EUR 5.5 million and SNCF with EUR 6 million.
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