The new train built by Alstom in partnership with Bombardier Transport will offer Île de France passengers comfort and modernity.
The RER trainsets are under construction in northern France at Alstom’s Valenciennes-Petite Forêt site and at Bombardier’s Crespin site. The year 2020 marks the beginning of testing. Eurailtest and its partner laboratories, SNCF Voyageurs’ Railway Test Agency (AEF), and the Measurement and Test Department (DGII ME) and Electric Traction Department (DGII TE) of SNCF-Réseau, have been assigned a part of the type approval tests campaign.
A genuine challenge
The RER NG, a newly designed train able to reach a speed of 140km/h, will come in two configurations: one will be 112m in length and the other 130m. Its maximum capacity can range from 1,563 to 1,861 passengers. Alstom will supply the end cars and Bombardier Transport will produce the intermediate car bodies.
In order to perform the type approval campaign and meet Alstom’s need to conduct the tests in the most efficient way, Eurailtest, AEF and DGII-ME have optimised their test schedule in cooperation with the customer. This is a challenging schedule for all parties involved in the project, with three trains being test-run simultaneously on the French Railway Network (RFN), while two other trains will run on test rings. The support provided by Eurailtest to its customer is unprecedented. The project management practices are new and deliver solutions that meet the technical and organisational challenges presented by this project.
Eurailtest and its partners have been assigned the roles of test agency, aimed at organising and running the test trains on the RFN, and test laboratory, consisting in performing the measurements and producing the test reports.
OSCAR+, the digital simulation software developed by our partner, DGII-TE, will also be used for the purpose of testing. This software helps to model all types of catenary and pantographs and reduce the number of online current collection tests performed. This innovative solution will help to reduce test costs and timeframes.
For more information on OSCAR+, fill out the enquiry form on this page.
Tests assigned to Eurailtest
The RER NG is scheduled to run on Lines D and E in the Île-de-France region and will be type-approved for the entire RFN. Preparatory work for the tests began in March 2019.
The eardrum pressure tests are intended to qualify and quantify what passengers might feel in their eardrums when the train enters or exits a tunnel. Eurailtest and its partners will use an innovative approach to perform these tests by taking two measurements: one measuring chain will be positioned onboard the train and the other will be placed on the ground. The measurements will be synchronised to characterise the RER NG’s acoustic signature upon entering a tunnel.
The uplift tests will be performed first and will begin in mid-2020 on the ‘CEF2’ test ring at Bar-le-Duc. The series of tests on the RFN will then follow, in the northern part of France, and will end in mid-2021.