The Greater East Regional Council will order 30 trains, which can be driven in Germany, at the Alstom plant in Reichshoffen, in the Lower Rhine. Amount of the operation for the community, 376 million euros. The order will be signed Tuesday morning in the premises of the plant by Jean Rottner, president (The Republicans) of the Grand Est Region, and elected representatives of the three German Länder concerned: Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland.
The largest European order for cross-border trains
The amount of 376 million euros is "the largest European order of cross-border trains" ever passed to the French industry, according to the services of the Region. Alstom Reichshoffen will be responsible for constructing 30 Regiolis regional trains which will have to be adapted to traffic on the network of a foreign country, particularly in terms of signaling. This will involve the preliminary design of a prototype, said Thierry van Oost, deputy director of cabinet at the Grand Est Region. The German Länder will co-finance 50% of the prototype, alongside the Region which will finance mass production. They will also pay a fee for the use of trains, according to Thierry Van Oost.
Put into circulation in five years
The Region intends to run these Regiolis in five years on seven of its TER lines that extend in Germany: to Trier and Saarbrücken from Metz, Saarbrücken, Karlsruhe, Offenburg and Neustadt from Strasbourg and Müllheim from Mulhouse. "These sections will be renovated or completely reopened when they have fallen into disuse," said Thierry van Oost. "This project is exemplary because it combines the mobility of tomorrow, concrete cross-border cooperation, support for French industry and ambitious territorial development," commented Jean Rottner in a statement.
The market will supply business to the Reichshoffen site, which has 900 employees by next year and until 2023, for circulation in 2024, the region said. It will partly offset the expected loss of the € 700 million contract for Intercités trains, which will mainly affect the Reichshoffen site. The SNCF will confirm Thursday the choice of Spanish CAF, preferred to Alstom.