Bombardier to deliver 22 additional Francilien trains for STIF and SNCF in France

Rail technology leader Bombardier Transportation announced today that SNCF has exercised an option for 22 additional Francilien commuter EMUs. The order, co-financed by STIF, the Ile-de-France transportation authority, and SNCF, is valued at approximately 162 million euro ($218 million US). It is part of the initial 2006 contract with SNCF for up to 372 trains for the Ile-de-France. With this order, a total of 194 Francilien trains have been ordered.

The 22 additional trains will be delivered by the end of 2016 and will be rolled out on SNCF Transilien lines H and K in order to complete the fleet modernization and continue to increase the level of passenger comfort and punctuality. At present, 136 Bombardier Francilien trains operate from the Paris stations Gare du Nord, Gare de L’Est and Gare Saint Lazare.

The Francilien’s outstanding performance ensures a high level of customer satisfaction in terms of reliability and quality. According to SNCF, nine out of 10 Line H passengers are satisfied with the service, as a result of the improvement of transportation conditions, punctuality, on-board information and comfort. Line H, which operates with a Francilien fleet, has the Transilien SNCF network’s highest punctuality rate of 95%.

More than 300 Bombardier employees are fully dedicated to the Francilien. Bombardier is delivering three trains per month, with an unprecedented level of delivery quality recognised by the customer. This is also thanks to suppliers and subcontractors who did their best to follow the pace in terms of delivery and quality. The tightly knit cooperation between SNCF and Bombardier teams, both at project and commissioning levels, is key to this outcome. Bombardier’s Crespin site recently won the 2014 SNCF Prize for best site and builder.

“Due to the current pressure on the SNCF Transilien network, our clients STIF and SNCF demand high levels of reliability and performance to ensure smooth transportation for around three million commuters daily,” said Laurent Troger, President, Western Europe, Middle East and Africa, Bombardier Transportation. “This ultra-modern, spacious, highly automated train is designed to solve such capacity and punctuality challenges in highly densely populated areas. It also has won the hearts of passengers, who appreciate its comfort and contemporary design on board.”

The Francilien commuter train is an extra-large, articulated, “tube” style train that provides exceptional space for passengers, allowing wide seats and especially wide doors to increase the ease and speed of passenger flow. Each train consists of seven or eight carriages in a single unit and it can also be operated as a double or triple unit. The capacity of the trains will vary from 800 to 1,000 passengers, depending on the configuration and layout. The new train is designed for maximum comfort, safety and security and is based on Bombardier’s proven technology already in commercial service, such as BOMBARDIER FLEXX Compact bogies and BOMBARDIER MITRAC Converter, drive, and train control and management system.