The railway industry is working on several projects with the ambition of reducing its carbon footprint, such as the hydrogen train and the autonomous train.
New TGVs and new RERs should also come into circulation in the coming years.
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More passengers, less energy hungry and greener: the train of the future is starting to take shape.
The players in the railway industry are working in particular on the highly anticipated hydrogen train, already on the rails in Germany but which should only be put into service in a few years in France.
A new TGV is also in development, as are completely redesigned RERs.
In La France bouge, Europe 1 reviews these innovations that foreshadow the train of the future.
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The hydrogen train in France by 2023
Already in circulation in Germany, the hydrogen train is slow to enter service in France.
But with the government's recovery plan, which contains a component of 7 billion euros in favor of the hydrogen sector, its circulation could well accelerate.
"We talked about it last year at the same time, so we lost a year. We are more on 2022-2023. The contract will be finalized quickly," assured Henri Poupart-Lafarge, CEO Alstom, when asked about Europe 1.
Alstom has already been running hydrogen trains for two years in Germany, where the tests were deemed satisfactory.
The French group has received firm orders for 41 regional trains in the Hamburg and Frankfurt regions, which are due to enter commercial service from 2022. "Germany has made this bet: our train has made more than 200,000 km and running very well. We are looking forward to it coming to France, "said the Alstom boss.
The first hydrogen train prototypes should arrive in 2023, with four regions - Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Burgundy-Franche-Comté, Grand Est and Occitanie - ready to wipe the plasters.
For series trains, the horizon is rather 2025. Because, as the boss of Alstom reminds us, the hydrogen train requires the installation of "a whole system".
"There is the train, which works with fuel cells, but it is also necessary to provide hydrogen recharging stations. We must also manufacture this hydrogen from electricity, from electrolysis so that it is green ", he warned.
"We are not developing enough green hydrogen. With hydrogen, everything remains to be done."
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New RER trains in Île-de-France
It is an understatement to say that the new RER is eagerly awaited by Parisians.
The new generation of these trains, which transport more than a million passengers per day in Île-de-France, was presented last week.
Among the new features: wide doors to facilitate access, vast lighted aisles from one wagon to another, USB sockets for laptops and dozens of screens.
"Mobility must be pleasant, that it be as fluid as possible. This means that you must not have any uncertainties about the arrival time of your train, about the connections", a judged the boss of Alstom, which developed with Bombardier these new RER.
“90% of the space of each of the cars will be filmed, so there will be a great sense of security. You can see the whole train both in the lower rooms and in the upper rooms, which is not not at all the case today. The idea is really to make the trip as pleasant as possible ", certified Henri Poupart-Lafarge.
These new RERs should be delivered from the end of 2021.
The new TGVs hoped for before the 2024 Olympics
SNCF promised last July: the new TGV will be put into service in June 2024, just before the Olympic Games in Paris.
The train will be able to accommodate 740 passengers, 20% more than current trains.
"You will be much better installed. On a Paris-Lyon, we will have 20% more places. By putting a new signaling system, we put 16 trains instead of 13 trains per hour. So we will be able to transport 40 people. in addition with the same comfort. There will also be a much brighter bar ", detailed the boss of Alstom.
The future TGV will also be modular.
"If there is a little less demand, instead of having 8 or 9 cars you can remove one or two or even three. It allows you to adapt to the demand."
The train must also be made with 97% recyclable materials, reducing CO2 emissions by 32% and energy consumption by 20%.
Autonomous trains in development
The rail industry is also working on an autonomous train project.
But if the automatic subways have been operating for several years, especially in Paris, the transposition to conventional trains is more difficult.
"In a closed environment, there is a whole system of radars to be able to detect objects in advance. In an open environment, it is necessary to be able to detect whether they are cold bodies or hot bodies. That's the challenge since it is not a question of detecting them at 100 meters or at 200 meters, but at one or two kilometers because a train takes a long time to stop ", estimated the boss of Alstom.
"There will still be a driver who will stay there to check that all the objects on the track are detected. It will take a few years to be able to detect everything," said Henri Poupart-Lafarge.
Experiments are already underway with SNCF, for a full-scale testing phase expected within "two or three years".
"For fully autonomous mainline trains it will take between 5 and 10 years."
A taxirail to resuscitate small lines
The Taxirail company is working on a prototype of an autonomous train with a capacity of 40 seats (16 seated and 24 standing) for small regional lines.
"This taxirail is planned to evolve on lines in the regions. It is the regions that drive regional transport on all of these small lines which are 85% non-electrified, against 50% at the national level", reported Michel Albrand, Managing Partner and Founder of Taxirail.
"These are for lines of 10 to 80 km, very regional. On short journeys of 10 km, we can work what we call in pendulum, in permanent round trips, so as to provide a service and a regular timing. Not only are the roads unclogged, but in addition by organizing the transfer from the road to the rail, we save millions of tons of CO2 which are produced by cars, "he said.
Michel Albrand even hopes to be profitable with this autonomous train, while SNCF has abandoned many small lines.
"We had to find a system that brings both more timing for customers, the comfort and security that today's TERs offer and an objective of profitability for operators."
Several regions are interested in this prototype, including "Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, the Vosges and the Hauts de France."