TER Paris-Chartres-Le Mans line: trainsets redesigned for more comfort on board

By Ines Genetay
Published on 18 Jan 21 at 7:32

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Regio2N trainsets on the line Paris Chartres Le Mans will be redeveloped by 2022, the first was inaugurated this Friday, January 15, 2021, at Chartres station (Eure-et-Loir).

These trains, made in France were put into circulation six years ago, the investment had cost a little more than 150 million euros. These new trains were intended to increase the transport offer on this line which connects the Sarthe, Eure-et-Loir, the Yvelines at Paris Montparnasse.

25,000 daily round trips

Daily, these are 25,000 round trips which are carried out, “even if it must be admitted that at the moment, we are at 60% of the usual traffic, linked to the health crisis”, specifies Stéphane Coursier, regional director SNCF Travelers.

Concretely, the rearrangement of the trains includes the modification of the space between the different seats, to have more space. In these trains, which had a lot of face-to-face seats, the configuration also changed: tablets have been installed on several seats, even in rows which retain their face-to-face configuration. “This is to allow users to take advantage of the hour’s journey to have fun or work,” explains SNCF.

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Tablets, luggage and CCTV cameras

Space luggage has also been redesigned. All these changes occur after the users of this TER line, the first line of the Center-Val de Loire region, have lifted them.

Of CCTV cameras will be present in each car, on both levels of the train.

The tapes will be kept for 72 hours, thus “those who do not respect the rules will be followed and prosecuted”, indicates Philippe Fournié, vice-president of the Center-Val de Loire region, delegate for transport.

The fourteen trainsets will be upgraded by 2022. Each train counts 570 seats and 66 folding seats.

The total cost of this redevelopment is more than five million euros.

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Wi-Fi? Not for now

Regarding connectivity, the region could consider installing Wi-Fi hotspots inside the trains “at the mid-life of a train, considering that a train lives for forty years”.

“The urgency was above all to respond to requests from user representatives, you have to know how to find the right balance between cost and investment”, replies Philippe Fournié.

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