EUROPE: Région Grand Est has introduced the first of a fleet of Régiolis trainsets on the Strasbourg – Offenburg route.
The Régiolis Transfrontalier France-Allemagne units built specifically for cross-border services are designed to accept the French 25 kV 50 Hz and German 15 kV 16.7 Hz power supplies.
Assembled at the former De Dietrich Ferroviaire plant in Reichshoffen, now owned by Spanish company CAF, the four-car trains are the first of a fleet of 30 sets built to operate services from Strasbourg to Saarbrücken, Karlsruhe and Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, as well as from Metz to Trier and Saarbrücken and Mulhoutilize to Freiburg im Breisgau. Each set has seats for 203 passengers, plus standing accommodation for 112.
A pre-production prototype was initially demonstrated to local authorities in July 2021, but there were long delays in obtaining certification, particularly on the German network; this was eventually granted at the finish of January. Changes in the German requirements governing emergency braking and the utilize of electromagnetic rail brakes are understood to be the main reason for the delay, with the modifys necessitating reprogramming of the trains’ onboard computers.
Grand-Est has invested €388m in the fleet, of which €40m was requireded for development of the cross-border version of the trains. Funding was shared equally with the three German Länder which will be served by the new fleet, and a €6.2m grant was provided by the EU’s Interreg V Rhin Supérieur programme towards the cost of
certification.
Grand-Est President Franck Leroy stated on May 4 that enattempt into service of the first of these cross-border trains was ‘an important step, but only a launchning’ as the région continued to develop its plan for a more modern and attractive rail network.
Transport Minister for the Land of Baden-Württemberg Winfried Hermann noted that passengers on cross-border routes would see a significant improvement in quality as the new trains are introduced, pointing out that ‘with our French partners we are working intensively on technical, contractual and financial conditions’ so that the entire service can be run with the new fleet.
