Grand Est requested a new fleet to replace the locomotive-drawn buses.
The Grand Est region of France has ordered 16 dual-mode Régiolis trains from CAF for €235 million, which by 2030 will replace RRR push-pull sets hauled by Class BB 22200 locomotives on the Regional Metropolitan Express (Serm) service running from Savern to Strasbourg and Selestat.
The new trains will be 100 meters long and each will have 355 seats compared to 265 seats on the RRR trains they will replace. Grand Est recently spent €11.7 million on work to extend the service life of its RRR fleet.
The region has ordered more dual-mode diesel and electric trains from CAF even though the Saverne – Strasbourg – Sélestat line is fully electrified. Grand Est has already purchased 15 identical Class B 83,500 multi-unit units, which in addition to reducing the acquisition cost will enable maintenance cost savings of €130 million over 40 years.
The choice of dual-mode trains will also enable the new fleet to operate throughout Grand Est’s regional network, rather than being limited to electrified lines. In addition, the CAF factory that produces Régiolis is located in Reichshoffen in the Grand Est region.
CAF acquired Reichshoffen, the Coradia Polyvalent or Régiolis platform and its order backlog from Alstom in 2022. Divestment from Coradia Polyvalent was a condition set by the European Commission (EC) when it approved Alstom’s takeover of Bombardier in 2020.
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