With 101 stations, 38 peri-urban stops and 27 rural stops, the rail network in Normandy welcomes 100,000 travelers per day on 450 trains. Skills taken over by the Normandy Region, nearly 2.5 billion euros have been invested in new trainsets – with the acquisition of 40 OMNEO Premium between 2020 and 2024 for the Paris-Rouen-Le Havre, Paris lines. -Cherbourg and Paris-Deauville-Trouville – but also in infrastructure, particularly in maintenance workshops. On Monday October 9, a new milestone was reached with the laying, in Sotteville-lès-Rouen (Seine-Maritime), of the first stone of the Technicentre SNCF Voyageurs du Havre.
On 60,000m2 near the SNCF station, the Normandy Region will therefore invest 70 million euros in a maintenance workshop with two tracks in order to accommodate, in 2024, the 40 OMNEO Premium trains, 135 meters long, which will run between Paris -Rouen-Le Havre for rapid and high-performance management of their maintenance: “Here we will host the first product-train center in France where the toilets will also be emptied and the sand and windshield washer fluid replaced to avoid loss time,” explains Jérémy Champeval, SNCF engineer. For the operation of this new Technicentre, thirty agents have already been recruited and are undergoing training.
A public inquiry at the end of 2026
In the presence of Mathieu Chabanel, CEO SNCF Réseau, Christophe Fanichet, CEO SNCF Voyageurs and Hervé Morin, president of the Normandy Region, it is the former Prime Minister, mayor of Le Havre and president of Le Havre Seine Métropole Édouard Philippe who opened the speeches. “A former president of the SNCF had the courage to declare that the SNCF owed a debt to Normandy,” he said. We know how hard the company goes to meet the complex and high expectations of its customers. We thank you for this, but we also know that the challenge for the Normans, and not only that, involves better service that is more regular, punctual, safe, qualitative and rapid. »
“This is a considerable issue for the quality of life of Le Havre residents, for economic development”
Édouard Philippe, former Prime Minister, mayor of Le Havre and president of Le Havre Seine Métropole
Édouard Philippe is referring here to the LNPN (New Paris Normandy Line) “which will allow one day, soon I hope, not so far away I hope, to connect Paris to Le Havre in 1h30,” he continues. This is a considerable challenge for the quality of life of Le Havre residents, for economic and tourist development and for offers to our fellow citizens. They are impatient. We support this project and we hope that less Norman, more Ile-de-France communities can be convinced of it. »
Hopes to which Mathieu Chabanel, CEO SNCF Réseau, responded: “The LNPN is close to our hearts and is in an active phase. We are in consultation with a view to a public inquiry at the end of 2026. This is a strong commitment. »
#Havre #SNCF #maintenance #workshop #improve #train #regularity
