Île-de-France Mobilités, SNCF Voyageurs and Alstom inaugurated the RER NG commuter train, the “New Generation RER”, at Haussmann Saint-Lazare station in Paris, in the presence of elected representatives and passengers. The RER NG commuter train is gradually being introduced on the RER E line. This gradual arrival will ensure that the train becomes more reliable before being deployed on the whole RER E line, including the new extension to Nanterre. It will then be deployed on the RER D line at the end of 2024.
By 2025, 146 MI20 trains manufactured by the consortium of CAF and Alstom will be deployed on the RER B line.
“It is with immense pride that we are celebrating the commissioning of the RER NG commuter train on Line E. It is a very special moment in the life of a project when a train meets its first passengers,” Henri Poupart-Lafarge, Chairman and CEO of Alstom said.
The arrival of the RER NG commuter train is an important milestone in the policy pursued by Île-de-France Mobilités to upgrade all the rolling stock on the Île-de-France railway network.
This new Generation RER train will contribute to a lasting improvement in travel conditions for the hundreds of thousands of commuters who use RER lines E and D every day.
The train has been specially designed at the request of Île-de-France Mobilités for the Île-de-France region and its 9 million daily commuters. This train has been designed, both in terms of its overall architecture and its interior design, to optimise capacity and passenger flows. Thanks to its entirely open architecture and wide doors, it allows passengers to enter and leave with ease and offers distinct travel areas.
The train is fitted with air conditioning, ergonomic seats, LED lighting adapted to the time of travel (day/night/station stops), USB sockets and numerous information screens, enhancing the passenger experience. In each of the end cars, platforms provide direct and rapid access for passengers in wheelchairs to adapted areas.
The RER NG offers first-rate acceleration and braking performance to optimise station stopping times, train frequency, and therefore the line’s capacity and regularity. It will also incorporate the brand new NExTEO train automation, control and supervision system, which will further increase train frequency.
The arrival of this new train on lines E and D will lead to a full transformation of the way passengers travel in the Île-de-France. The new trains will operate on the extension of RER E between Haussmann Saint-Lazare and Mantes-la-Jolie (Eole project), they will bring new technology by the installation of NExTEO, a tool for automating control and performance on RER B, D and E. NExTEO is a signalling and traffic control tool allowing part of the train control to be automated by assisting the driver with braking and acceleration. Its process improves the performance of infrastructure and trains while making it possible to gain 3 to 4 punctuality points on equipped lines.
RER B and D lines were selected for the installation of NExTEO technology as they are the most used lines of the Île-de-France Mobilités network with more than 1 million daily travellers on the B and 650,000 passengers on the D.
The deployment of NExTEO requires a significant period of testing and implementation, both on infrastructure and on trains. The commissioning of the process is planned for 2031 in the Châtelet – Gare du Nord tunnel, and in 2033, over the entire perimeter.
EUR 967 million are invested for the new equipment on the existing network and is 70% financed by the Île-de-France Region and 30% by the State, with a participation of EUR 35 million from operators SNCF Réseau, SNCF Voyageurs and RATP. A EUR 239 million financing is supplemented by Île-de-France Mobilités.
Which is necessary for equipping the trains.
On the line E, 125 six-car trains will transport passengers from Gare Saint-Lazare to Noisy le Sec, Chelles Gournay or Tournan. From 2024, the first RER NG trains will enter operation on the Line D which in the future will be operated by 130 7-car new trainsets, in addition to 18 Regio 2N trains.
The progressive order for 255 trainsets launched in 2015 is part of a policy of massive renewal and renovation of trains in Île-de-France, to improve passenger comfort and increase the regularity of trains on the lines. “The main lever for improving the regularity of a line is efficient and reliable equipment. As soon as I arrived, I launched a programme to acquire and renovate rolling stock, of which the RER NG is naturally a part,” said Valérie Pécresse, President of the Île-de-France Region, President of Île-de-France Mobilités.
In April 2023, Alstom was awarded a EUR 1 billion contract for the supply of 30 additional new generation RER trains, for lines RER D and RER E of the Île-de-France network. The contract is 100% financed by Île-de-France Mobilités and is an order that represents the first option under the framework contract signed in 2017 between SNCF Voyageurs and Alstom, for an estimated requirement of 255 trainsets. The firm tranche of the RER NG contract included the delivery of 71 trains and this new order brings the number of RER NGs ordered to 131. The trains are equipped with new technology which reduces the energy consumption by 25% compared to previous generations of equipment. Each train will be able to carry up to 1,860 passengers in a 7-car version.
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