THE first of 16 Omneo Sud EMUs that Alstom is supplying to Transdev was unveiled at the manufacturer’s plant in Crespin, northern France, on November 23.
The new fleet has been ordered by Transdev on behalf of the Sud (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) region, which has awarded it a contract to operate TER regional services between Marseille and Nice from 2025.
These will be the first TER services not to be operated by incumbent French National Railways (SNCF). The 10-year contract has a two-year extension option and will require Trandev to increase the service frequency to hourly. SNCF currently provides eight trains a day with several three-hour gaps in the new timetable.
Transdev will take over the Marseille - Nice route on June 29 2025, just in time for the summer tourist season on the Côte d’Azur which is described as the “most popular tourist region in the world.” It has established a new subsidiary, Transdev Rail Sud Inter-métropoles (TRSI), to operate the services, which will take on 31 SNCF staff and recruit 150 new personnel.
Acquired at a cost of €250m, the 16 class Z 59000 articulated eight-section Omneo Sud EMUs have five double-deck coaches and three single-deck cars. They will provide a total of 418 seats per train, 58 in first class and 360 in second class.
The new fleet is very similar to the Omneo EMUs supplied to the Normandy region that are now operating Paris - Rouen - Le Havre and Paris - Caen - Cherbourg services, the main difference in the Omneo Sud being the provision of a “convivial area” in one of the short single-deck cars, equipped with vending machines for drinks and snacks.
Seating is in a 2+2 layout in second class and 2+1 in first class, all seats having individual reading lights, power and USB sockets, plus between-seat or seat-back tables. The intelligent air-conditioning system can adjust to passenger loadings.
The Omneo Sud EMUs are fitted with ETCS onboard equipment, as this signalling system is due to be installed on the Marseille - Nice route by 2028. The new trains have a maximum speed of 200km/h and are equipped to operate through the tunnels to be built as part of the new underground through main station that is planned for Marseille.
The first Omneo Sud train has now left Crespin for the Velim test track in the Czech Republic. The remaining 15 trains will be delivered from late 2024. Alstom’s contract to supply the new fleet includes maintenance, and a dedicated facility is now under construction next to Nice Ville station at a cost of €30m.
The president of the Sud region, Mr Renaud Muselier, said that Transdev had won the Marseille - Nice TER contract mainly by offering to operate twice the number of trains for the same price as SNCF had been charging for the current service. SNCF went on to win the second group of services put out to tender, those around Nice, partly due to a massive improvement in service quality since the start of competitive tendering.
The contract with Transdev involves the region keeping all revenue collected in stations or on online, while Transdev will pay to the region any revenue collected in fines for ticketless travel and from vending machines.
Payments by the region to Transdev will include bonuses or penalties based on traffic levels, punctuality and reliability. The Sud region intends to have its own ticket retailing website, but it is still unclear if Transdev services will appear on the SNCF Connect ticketing website.
How ticketing will be organised is one of the two issues still to be resolved, the other being whether the new timetable will provide better connections with SNCF Paris - Marseille high-speed services. The region hopes that the improved local rail service will increase traffic from 3.5 million passengers a year at present to 5.5 million.
The Sud region is due to put two more groups of services radiating from Marseille out to tender next year. Meanwhile, local media report that the Grand Est region is expected to award a consortium of Transdev and NGE a contract to manage infrastructure and operations on the 60km Nancy - Contrexéville line which has been closed since 2016.
Official confirmation is expected early next month of the recipient of the first regional contract to cover both infrastructure and operations. SNCF has bid with its subsidiary Keolis and Eiffage. It is expected that 18 months will be needed to restore the line to operating condition.
“Our long-standing experience in the rail industry clearly shows the extent to which service quality is a determining factor in ensuring that more and more passengers use our trains,” says Transdev CEO, Mr Thierry Mallet.
“That’s what we’ll be doing from Nice to Marseille, with a high train frequency, a wide range of timetables, and staff who pay constant attention to passengers and safety.”
For detailed data on rolling stock orders around the world, subscribe to IRJ Pro.
