The old Corail trains on the Marseille-Bordeaux line will be replaced

2023-06-09 10:40:31

The State will invest 450 million euros in the purchase of around twenty new trains to replace the old Corail on the line Bordeaux-Toulouse-Montpellier-Marseilleannounced Thursday the Minister Delegate for Transport Clément Beaune.

“This is one of the most difficult lines in France, in terms of delays and quality of service. The State will bear a very strong investment of 450 million euros […] to buy new trains and set up a maintenance center,” Clément Beaune told the daily. South West. “Twenty trains will be ordered to equip the line, with delivery in early 2027,” he said.

The announcement of this order was eagerly awaited, because the old Corail trains in service on this link are at the end of their tether. The SNCF has already purchased 28 trains on behalf of the State from the Spanish manufacturer CAF, intended for the Intercités Paris-Limoges-Toulouse and Paris-Clermont lines. The contract includes 75 optional trains, part of which is planned for Bordeaux-Marseille.

These trains must be built in the Alsatian factory of Reichshoffenwhich CAF recently acquired from the French group Alstom.

50 million euros from the State for the Bordeaux RER project

While waiting for the delivery of the new trains, Clément Beaune says he has asked the SNCF for “very short-term improvements”. “We are going to reinforce the maintenance of the air conditioning. We will be testing white paint on the trains to combat the heat [comme en Espagne] and equip all stations with water fountains,” he said. “We are also going to increase the security staff by 25% and the number of agents per train, which will be two on 75% of the journeys. »

On the local ground, Clément Beaune indicated that the Bordeaux RER project should receive 150 million euros from the State, out of an envelope of 800 million envisaged for all metropolitan RERs over the period 2023-2027.

The Bordeaux-Toulouse-Montpellier-Marseille cross-section is part of the “territorial balance trains” (TET), better known as Intercités, subsidized by the State and operated by SNCF Voyageurs before an upcoming opening to competition .

About the high-speed line between Bordeaux and Toulouse, “all the ingredients are there for the project to start” starting with the railway facilities on the outskirts of these two cities, he estimated. The Bordeaux-Dax branch “will be done a little later”, according to him.