France: A partially double-deck six-car EMU has been launched on a line between Paris and its suburbs.
The train is designed for high occupancy, with more than half of the seats folding to accommodate more passengers during peak hours. Its 1.9 m wide doors allow passengers to take and leave the train faster and with more comfort. The trains will first be put into service on the RER E line, and later, at the end of 2024, on the RER D line.
The EMUs are supplied under a €3.7 bln framework contract with the operator SNCF. Alstom is expected to deliver 255 such trains with a top speed of 140km/h. The firm part is for 56 six-car trains for Line RER E and 15 seven-car trains for Line RER D. A six-car train is 115.5 m long accommodating 1,500 passengers, and a seven-car vehicle is 130.3 m long carrying 1,800 people. The operator gave these trains a new designation, RER NG, RER Nouvelle Generation.
