Hitachi Rail sign €77 million framework agreement with SNCF

Credit: Hitachi Rail

Hitachi Rail has signed a new framework agreement with SNCF, worth up to €77 million, to provide on-board digital signalling equipment (bi-standard ERTMS/TVM) for the latest generation of TGV (TGV-M) and existing TGV trains that operate across the French and European high-speed rail networks.

The new equipment will allow train services to offer greater reliability and availability of trains for passengers and allow Europe to be better connected by sustainable transport. The equipment will be manufactured at Hitachi Rail’s factory in Riom in central France. The framework contract includes orders for a minimum amount of €25 million, which can be extended to €77 million over the next five years.

The bi-standard ERTMS/TVM equipment includes a more powerful computer, with the greater processing capacity allowing it to handle future evolutions in signalling technology, including those resulting from future European standardisation. It also combines TVM (French legacy ATP “Transmission Voie-Machine”) and ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) technologies to enable SNCF’s high-speed trains to run safely on the French and cross-border high-speed networks.

“This new framework agreement marks a new step in Hitachi Rail’s collaboration with SNCF to upgrade the national high-speed rail network,” Gilles Pascault, President of Hitachi Rail in France, said. “It follows the recent contract signed in November 2022 for the fitment of E300 Eurostar trains, and will see passengers benefit from cutting-edge digital technology through increased reliability and capacity of the service. We are proud and grateful to SNCF for their continued confidence in Hitachi’s rail technologies.”

Since the introduction of the bi-standard technology in 2007, over 1,000 units have gone into service on-board various types of trains, mainly in Europe (France, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Luxembourg and Germany) and Asia (South Korea and China). This in-cab signalling equipment can also be used purely with ERTMS, with any type of trains and operations, internationally.