ACC M of Clermont-Ferrand is to begin work on refurbishing the nine class X 72500 DMUs that cooperative Railcoop has acquired for its new passenger service between Bordeaux and Lyon.
Railcoop purchased the trains from SNCF Voyageurs, the passenger operating business of French National Railways (SNCF).
Appointed as Railcoop’s refurbishment and fleet maintenance contractor, ACC M will now carry out an in-depth audit of one two-car and one three-car DMU in order to determine the technical and economic specifications for mid-life refurbishment of the trains.
The audit should also make it possible to optimise the schedule for refurbishment and thus make progress towards obtaining finance for the work.
ACC M has recently expressed its desire to enter Railcoop’s capital and become a technical and financial partner of the cooperative. This will make it possible to envisage longer-term projects, such as installing new engines in the class X 72500 DMU fleet.
Railcoop launched a freight service from Capdenac to Toulouse in November 2021, but the launch of its passenger service between Bordeaux and Lyon service has now been postponed twice with a new date still under discussion.
- An interview with Railcoop chief operating officer, Ms Alexandra Debaisieux, appears in the June edition of IRJ.
