In the Grand-Est region, they are called “TER Fluo”. The brand designates local trains that are almost 20 years old. Half of their life. At this canonical age, the trains must be completely renovated to start afresh and run the last two decades of their existence. They are stripped, scratched, repaired, adorned with a new livery, new seats and luggage racks, before putting them back into service.
It is one of these trains that the elected officials of the region were able to discover, Friday May 26, at the “technicentre” of the SNCF Voyageurs, in Bischheim (Bas-Rhin), near Strasbourg, an immense site, extended over 23 hectares, including 8 hectares covered. Nearly 900 agents and 70 work-study students work in this huge “railway clinic”, as its director, Alain Praxmarer, calls it.
Delivered in royal blue, enhanced with neon green and orange lines, gray seats and wooden armrests, it smells like new. Above all, it has gained some essential equipment: a real space for wheelchairs, more spaces for bicycles, an electrical outlet at each seat, including when standing, and larger and more accessible luggage racks. The Wi-Fi is reinforced and the video surveillance cameras allow the SNCF security service to have a permanent eye on what is happening in the train or to detect, with artificial intelligence, if there are still passengers. on board at the terminal.
External vision is also improved: cameras assist the driver in driving an increasingly connected train. Sensors allow maintenance teams to have a real-time picture of its condition and better anticipate repairs. Cost of fitness: 3 million euros for a train, after thirty-nine weeks of work to break in the process. It’s a third of the price of new equipment.
A huge challenge
This TER renovation program, known as OpTER, represents a huge challenge for the SNCF. In 2020, all the regions, as well as the Luxembourg Railways, entrusted their fleet to it. A 2.1 billion euro contract to restore 931 trains acquired between 2004 and 2011. “It affects 40% of the TER fleet in twelve regions. It’s unprecedented.”, explains Christophe Fanichet, CEO of the SNCF Voyageurs subsidiary, which runs the trains. Important point for him: this program was open to competition and the regions could have entrusted the manufacturers (Alstom-Bombardier or CAF) with the renovation of the trains. They didn’t.
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