At the SNCF technicentre in Rennes, old TGVs get boned -

20 Minutes

  • At the SNCF industrial technicenter in Rennes, old TGVs at the end of their useful life are being dismantled.

  • All material on board, such as seats, covers or electronic parts, is removed before being recycled.

  • The Rennes site is also modernizing the slightly aging trainsets as well as repairing the brakes of all the trains in service on the network.

Candy wrappers and stray toys are still lying around under the seats.

So many memories that recall the many family trips made on board the train.

But since December 12, the TGV Atlantique 389 has retired after thirty years of good and loyal service.

"He has twelve million kilometers on the clock and has transported 14 million passengers during his career", proudly indicates David Lefebvre, operational supervisor at SNCF.

It is in a huge hangar of 45,000 m² located on the PSA La Janais site in the south of Rennes that the train, 200 meters long and weighing nearly 400 tonnes, completes its journey.

For a month, agents will take care of laying bare the inside of the TGV and removing everything that can be, from the seats to the toilets, including electronic parts or oils.

"We recover everything that is recoverable", underlines Katia Nowaczyk, director of the Rennes technicenter, specifying that "92% of a TGV train is recycled internally".

Once boned and relieved of all its equipment, the TGV Atlantique 389 will leave Brittany at the end of the month to take the rails one last time.

Direction the cemetery, namely the technicentres of Hellemmes near Lille or Bischeim near Strasbourg where the train will be completely dismantled.

A complete makeover for aging trains

Installed since 2014 on the huge site belonging to the car manufacturer (

see box

), the technicentre of Rennes, one of the ten SNCF sites where industrial maintenance is carried out, does not just clean up old TGVs.

Depending on the order book, workers can also modernize slightly aging trainsets to give them a second life.

Between 2014 and 2016, 53 TGV Atlantique trainsets had the right to a complete makeover before the LGV came into service in 2017. “We changed all the seats and carpets and installed power outlets in the passenger cars. second class, ”says Katia Nowaczyk.

Since then, the Rennes technicenter has also installed wifi on board numerous trains and laminated several dozen trains.

"The goal is for the trains to come out like new from us," says the director of the site, which employs 380 people as well as dozens of temporary workers when the activity increases.

It is also on the Rennes site of the SNCF that the brakes of all trains running on the rail network are tested and repaired.

A strategic site therefore to ensure travel safety.

And also bring all modern comforts to travelers.

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