• After multiple postponements, the official opening date of line B of the Rennes metro has been officially announced for Tuesday, September 20, 2022.

  • The German manufacturer Siemens is facing technical problems, in particular concerning the abnormal wear of the guide rollers of the oars.

  • The metropolis plans to collect several tens of millions of euros in compensation for the cumulative delays.

Residents will have to wait a little longer.

Under construction since 2013, line B of the Rennes metro will not be able to open before the summer due to technical problems affecting the Siemens trains.

On Tuesday, Nathalie Appéré announced that the long-awaited second line would open on Tuesday, September 20, 2022, two years after the original opening date.

The president of the metropolis received the promise from the German manufacturer that a sufficient number of trains would be ready for commissioning after the start of the school year.

A relief for the one who had expressed her “exasperation” last month when Siemens announced a new postponement of the opening date.

“We can still hope to hand over the keys at the end of June.

This delay, we regret it, we assume it, ”said Laurent Bouyer, president of Siemens Mobility France in early May.

Major problem: line B will not be operational for the start of the school year, a period traditionally very busy in public transport and on the main roads.

After ten years of colossal construction, line B seems almost ready to operate.

Since January, tens of thousands of tests have been carried out by Siemens on the trains of its new "CityVal" under the noses of disillusioned residents.

Presented as a world first, the rolling stock is particularly complicated to adjust.

The teams of the German manufacturer mentioned in particular a problem of “waking up” of the trains when leaving the terminals.

But it is above all a concern concerning the guide rollers that is the problem.

These parts show abnormal wear and force the teams to carry out far too frequent maintenance work.

Compensation of tens of millions of euros

In May, Mayor Nathalie Appéré explained that the opening date of line B depended on the number of trains available.

No question of opening a metro in degraded conditions, had assured the elected officials of the metropolis.

Keolis estimated that it would need a capacity of 15 to 16 simultaneous trains if the line opened in July.

But that it would be necessary to have 20 to 21 trains if the opening took place in September, the traditional annual peak in attendance.

Estimated at 1.3 billion euros, the construction site for the second Rennes metro line has been repeatedly delayed.

The German manufacturer Siemens will also have to pay significant late payment compensation to the Rennes metropolitan area.

Up to "tens of millions of euros", according to Nathalie Appéré.

Line B will have 15 stations from Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande to Cesson-Sévigné.

It should transport 100,000 people per day, to which must be added the 150,000 daily passengers of line A.

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  • Company

  • Subway

  • Line B

  • Worksite

  • Nathalie Appere

  • Public transport

  • Keolis

  • Delay