French national rail operator SNCF has awarded an €800m contract to Alstom to supply 100 Coradia Polyvalent trainsets for eight regions in the country.
The order is part of the operator’s plan to upgrade and increase the national fleet from 2013 to 2021.
The highly modular single-decker regional trains feature a maximum speed of 160kmph, a seating capacity of 1,000 people and 10–20% in CO2 emissions savings.
In addition, the trains can operate at two different voltages for electric and hybrid versions at 25kV and 1,500V, as well as at 15kV in a trans-border version for the German and Swiss rail networks.
The delivery of the trains is expected to begin in 2013 and finish in 2015.
The contract has an option for 35 more trains, which could take the total contract value to €1bn. The company expects the order to reach 1,000 trains worth €7bn by 2021.
