new trainsets hoped for by 2029, competition on the agenda for the coming years

The Minister of Transport, Philippe Tabarot, made the announcement to senators.

New night train sets could run in France from 2029, the Minister of Transport, Philippe Tabarot, announced on Wednesday, November 5, during a hearing in the Senate, before or during an expected opening of these lines to competition. The new trains will run on the Paris-Briançon, Paris-Nice, Paris-Cerbère, Paris-Toulouse, Paris-Latour-de-Carol, Paris-Tarbes, Paris-Aurillac and Paris-Rodez lines.

In February, the State launched a call for tenders, still ongoing, for 180 trainsets and 27 locomotives, with optional installments. The amount of the firm tranche, of almost one billion euros, is provided for in the draft budget for 2026 currently under discussion. “We know that we need new equipment. What is important in this budget is to be able to vote for more than a billion euros for this equipment, so that it arrives before 2030”underlined the minister. “This is proof that the State is not disengaging from the night train, quite the contrary”also commented Philippe Tabarot.

But the operation of these eight lines is then intended to be open to competition, like the rest of the network, to respond to the law which provides for a timetable for launching calls for tenders between 2022 and 2031, announced SNCF Voyageurs during the national public transport meetings (RNTP) which are being held until Thursday in Orléans. For night train lines, the provisional timetable currently assumes an allocation “end of 2028” after a call for applications from operators wishing to get started, SNCF Voyageurs told AFP.