France orders 22 Régiolis trains for Région Sud services

France orders 22 Régiolis trains, with SNCF Voyageurs awarding CAF a EUR 250 million contract for new regional electric units that will operate in the “Région Sud” (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) region.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

SNCF Voyageurs CAF contract for Région Sud services

This SNCF Voyageurs CAF contract, under which France orders 22 Régiolis trains for Région Sud, reflects the operator’s ongoing trust in the CAF–Alstom consortium responsible for regional rail services, as reported by Railway Gazette.

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The 22 new Régiolis regional electric trains will enlarge the fleet of 17 units already purchased by the regional authority and will take over services currently operated on the Marseille–Aubagne–Toulon–Hyères rail line, as well as on the Marseille–Toulon–Les Arcs–Draguignan route.

Design and comfort of Régiolis regional electric trains

Under the agreement, CAF will design and manufacture the new Régiolis units at its Reichshoffen plant in Alsace, while Alstom will provide various onboard equipment for these six-car trains. Each regional electric train will accommodate up to 310 passengers, combining this capacity with a layout built around passenger comfort.

Inside, passengers will find large panoramic windows, indirect LED lighting throughout the interior and ergonomic seats with individual reading lights and power outlets. The trains will also feature dedicated spaces for people with reduced mobility and will comply with TSI 2023 standards, which set strict requirements for fire protection, smoke emissions and the materials used in construction.

CAF-Alstom consortium projects in France

For CAF, this latest order supports its strategy to consolidate and further develop its presence in the French rail market. The Spanish manufacturer already operates two production facilities in France: the Bagnères-de-Bigorre plant, which specialises in trams and short trains, and the Reichshoffen factory, dedicated to trains over 50 metres in length. In parallel, CAF supplies trams to the metropolitan areas of Montpellier, Marseille and Tours.

As France orders 22 Régiolis trains for Région Sud, the CAF–Alstom consortium is also advancing other projects. In 2021 it won the contract to deliver 146 MI20 trains for the RER B line in Paris, with deliveries scheduled from 2029.

In January 2025 SNCF Voyageurs signed another agreement with CAF, as previously covered by Railway Supply, for 22 Intercités “Oxygène” trains to run on the Bordeaux–Marseille line, complementing a 2019 contract for 28 trains serving the Paris–Limoges–Toulouse and Paris–Clermont-Ferrand routes.

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