What?

The Grand Est region in France, the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, and Saar in Germany, are all connected by seven railway lines located along their borders. Cross-border mobility, however, is still experiencing technical complications therefore harming the potential for improvement of transport links in these areas. The complications arise from the need to obtain the necessary authorisations for trains to operate in Germany and France due to the different national rules.

Coradia’s project objective is to develop a cross-border Polyvalent, which is currently circulating in France.  Thanks to its modular technology, the Coradia Polyvalent line can be adapted to the needs of each operator and to the different types of operation: suburban, regional, and inter-city.

Where?

• France: Grand Est region,
• Germany: Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, and Saar

How?

The development phase of the project was financed by the Interreg programme V Upper Rhine, (ERDF contribution amounts to EUR 4.4 million) as well as national public resources coming from the Ministries for infrastructure of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinat. 30 cross-border trains were designed and assembled at the Alstom Reichshoffen site and will be delivered at the beginning of 2024.

Results

The first pre-production Coradia France and Germany Polyvalent, cross-border train, left the Alstom Reichshoffen site on 12 May 2021 for the DB Systemtechnik test centre in Minden (Germany). There, it will undergo its first tests for certification and approval; mechanical tests will also be conducted to check how the train behaves in curves. It will then go to the Velim test centre (Czech Republic), where it will undergo traction, braking, electro-magnetic and acoustic stress tests.

These cross-border trains are particularly promising from both ecological and economic perspectives thanks to their low energy consumption and reduced maintenance costs. In addition, Coradia Polyvalent is the first French regional train that complies with all European standards, in particular with accessibility for persons with reduced mobility. This positive experience prepares the ground for replication in all territories where technical obstacles impede cross-border mobility development.

More information: https://www.interreg-rhin-sup.eu/projet/coradia-polyvalent-rames-de-trains-transfrontaliers/

Source: https://www.alstom.com/press-releases-news/2021/5/alstoms-first-coradia-polyvalent-cross-border-regional-train-begins (© Alstom / Frédérique Clément).