Transilien () is the brand name given to the

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

network serving

Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product , blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st , bla ...

, the region surrounding and including the city of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. The network consists of eight lines: H, J, K, L, N, U, P and R, each operated by

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

, the state-owned railway of France. The lines begin and end in major Parisian stations, but unlike the RER network, the Transilien trains do not cross through the Paris city centre. The Transilien brand was established on 20 September 1999 as a way to unify the suburban network that existed since the late nineteenth century. The name "Transilien" is a derivative of ''Francilien'', the

demonym A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...

for people living in Île-de-France. As part of the rebranding effort, stations and rolling stock were modernized. The area covered does not correspond exactly with the boundaries of the Île-de-France region, with some lines crossing into other regions. On the other hand, some stations located at the margins of the Île-de-France region, are not served by Transilien routes, but instead

TER Ter or TER may refer to: Places * River Ter, in Essex, England * Ter (river), in Catalonia * Ter (department), a region in France * Torre (river), (Slovene: ''Ter''), a river in Italy * Ter, Ljubno, a settlement in the Municipality of Ljubno ob ...

trains from neighboring regions. Transilien trains operate over tracks owned by

SNCF Réseau The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

(formerly RFF) and the same tracks are used by mainline passenger trains (

TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

and

Intercités Intercités (before September 2009: ''Corail Intercités'') is a brand name used by France’s national railway company, SNCF, to denote non high speed services on the 'classic' network in France. SNCF established the Intercités brand in January ...

), by other transport operators ( Renfe,

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the se ...

Eurostar Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operated sep ...

Thalys Thalys (French: ) is a French-Belgian high-speed train operator originally built around the LGV Nord high-speed line between Paris and Brussels. This track is shared with Eurostar trains that go from Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam to London via Li ...

, and Venice-Simplon Orient Express) and by freight trains. Although not strictly part of the network, the Transilien brand can also be seen on the RER C, D and E lines and tramway lines 4 and 11, which are operated by the same division of SNCF.

History

Appearance of first suburban trains

The first line in the suburbs of

opened on August 26, 1837, between Paris' ( Saint-Lazare station) and Saint-Germain (the line stops temporarily at

Le Pecq Le Pecq () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the center of Paris. Geography The commune of Le Pecq is located in a loop of the Sei ...

). This line was handed over to the RATP on 1 October 1972, when RER A was commissioned. Its immediate success led to the creation of numerous lines, primarily intended to link the main cities of France. Suburban service has long been marginal for large companies, with the exception of the West, where several short lines crossing residential areas are seeing their local traffic increase sharply. The creation of workers subscriptions marked a sharp increase in traffic, and especially, at the beginning of the massive urbanization at Paris' periphery, with the phenomenon of migrant workers.

Influence of lines on urbanization around Paris

The housing cost's increase as a result of major Haussmann works and the hygienic conditions inside Paris prompted workers and then employees working in the capital to live in the rural suburbs. The suburban trains allowed them and still allow them to rally their jobs inside the Île-de-France. The successive

topographic map In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large- scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but historic ...

s of the French

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

show the urbanization of the Parisian suburbs over the decades near the stations of the suburban lines. In the region, especially south of the capital, these lines follow the bottom of the

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

s because the steam traction did not support the steep gradients: the urbanization of the trays takes place later with the advent of the

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

for the general public during the second half of the 20th century. The automobiles allowed people either to go directly to work, or to live at a distance from the station, where the land prices and rents are lower than in the immediate vicinity of the stations. Geographers sometimes use pictured expressions to describe these two periods: the urbanization is done in "fingers of a glove" along the lines of suburban trains (the center of the glove being in Paris), then in a "spot of oil" with the car that allows to live a little further from the station.

Post-World War II

In 1938, the new SNCF exploited the disparate lines and materials bequeathed by the big companies. If the West seems to be very favored, with its electrified lines and powerful self-propelled equipment, the remaining of the network was still very far from these standards. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the traffic was strongly disorganized and drastically limited.

Bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...

ings destroyed depots and parts of the rolling stock. The transport conditions were particularly tedious, and remained so for several years after the end of the conflict, a period when much had to be rebuilt. The bad memories of these difficult years, and the individual transports' multiplication reduced the traffic, with regression from 1946 to 1958, and an even worse situation between 1952 and 1958. From 1959 to 1969, major electrification began the gradual modernization of the rail network, with the final disappearance of steam engines in the suburbs in 1970. The proliferation of automobile congestion, combined with the modernization of the network, led to the return of traffic. From 1969 to 2044, the creation of the RER caused a radical change in the image of rail transport. RER Line A experienced a spectacular increase in passengers, which leads to a saturation point in less than ten years. On 1 September 1999, the first class was removed on all trains in the commuter network, as well as on the RER. At the time, it represented only 1% of travelers. First class had already been removed on the

Paris metro Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Sin ...

in 1991.

Transilien label

However, despite the numerous investments made over the past three decades, the suburban network suffered from a poor public image, but also from decision-makers and local authorities. While the RATP benefited from the image of the RER, which is generally associated with it, and an aura of modernity and innovation with a visible logo, the SNCF network reminded people of the suburb trains with a negative connotation of obsolete rolling stock, chronic delays, and unwelcoming train stations. The national company then developed a minimum standard of development and renovation of stations and rolling stock, and a label to characterize it visibly to the general public. After searching for a name immediately identifying the suburban network, such as ''TER Île-de-France'', ''Citélien'', and even the generalization of the RER name, it is finally the name of ''Transilien'', which is retained and becomes the new brand image of the business. The name is officially presented on September 20, 1999. In order to obtain the label, the stations must respect minimum criteria of comfort and modernization. However, it is difficult for SNCF to award itself a label, and the name quickly becomes a commercial brand, much like the

, the

. The modernization of equipment is much more expensive and is undertaken more gradually. The first train equipped with this label is the Z 6435/6 of the Z 6400 series.

Today

The Transilien is divided into six key entities, which are divided according to SNCF guidelines and are unrelated to the departmental boundaries. The lines are then divided into branches which, similarly to the RER, are given letters. However, until 2005, the letters were unknown to the wider travelling public. The six Transilien entities are: *

Transilien Paris-Est Transilien Paris-Est is a railway line of the Paris Transilien suburban rail network. The trains on this line travel between Gare de l'Est in central Paris and the east of Île-de-France region. Transilien services from Paris-Est are part of th ...

(Line P) *

Transilien Paris-Nord Transilien Paris-Nord is one of the sectors in the Paris Transilien suburban rail network. The trains on this sector depart from Gare du Nord in central Paris, and serve the north-west and north-east of Île-de-France region with Transilien lines H ...

(Lines H and K) *

Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare Transilien Paris-Saint-Lazare is one of the sectors in the Paris Transilien suburban rail network. The trains on this sector depart from Gare Saint-Lazare in central Paris and serve the north and north-west of Île-de-France region with Transilien ...

(Lines J and L) * Transilien Paris-La Défense (Line U) *

Transilien Paris-Montparnasse Transilien Line N is a railway line of the Paris Transilien suburban rail network operated by the SNCF. The trains on this line travel between Gare Montparnasse in Paris and the west of Île-de-France region, with termini in Rambouillet, Dreux ...

(Line N) * Transilien Paris-Lyon (Line R) The system is slightly complicated; each different entity has very different structures. Key complications include: *The power supplies *The number of branches *The lack of onward transportation beyond the termini *Density of trains on the network *The mix of traffic on the railway, including express trains, freight trains, long-distance trains, Transilien trains and RER traffic. The glitches in the network are visible at times when SNCF staff go on strike or serious technical problems occur on the network. Thousands of travellers arrive late for work or even, when there are serious problems, decide not to go into work, which causes a large financial burden to companies. Because of the extent of the lines, a concentric zoning system is used. Trains that are bound for the outer zones are normally operated as express trains and are nonstop until reaching the outer zones to reduce travel time.

Rolling stock

The

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...

used on the Transilien comes from a long evolution of the material in the suburbs. The following stock is used on the network: *

SNCF Class BB 27300 The SNCF Class BB 27300 is an electric locomotive. There are 67 BB 27300 locomotives, built as part of the Prima (locomotive), Prima range by Alstom. The first BB 27300 were delivered starting in 2006. Painted in the blue and white livery of Tran ...

Voiture de banlieue à 2 niveaux The VB2N (', "two-deck suburban car") is a double-deck passenger car used on Transilien suburban rail services in the Île-de-France region of France. The cars are unpowered and designed to be paired with an electric locomotive. The coaches, ...

* SNCF Class BB 17000 (all scrapped in 20 October 2020) *

SNCF Class Z 22500 The SNCF Class Z 22500, also known as the MI 2N "Eole" or MI 2N (French: ''Matériel d'Interconnexion à 2 Niveaux, Est Ouest Liaison Express'', English: ''two-level interconnection rolling stock for the east west express link'') is a double-de ...

SNCF Class Z 50000 The SNCF Class Z 50000, also known as the 'Francilian', or 'NAT' (for french: Nouvelle Automotrice Transilien, English: ''New Rail car Transilien'', the project name) is a type of dual-voltage electric multiple unit trainset designed in the 2000 ...

On 16 January 2002, during a ceremony at the

Gare de l'Est The Gare de l'Est (; English: "Station of the East" or "East station"), officially Paris-Est, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It is located in the 10th arrondissement, not far southeast from the Gar ...

, SNCF President

Louis Gallois Louis René Fernand Gallois (, born 26 January 1944) is a French businessman. He was the CEO of EADS, the European aeronautic defense and space company, from 2007 to 2012. Education Gallois was raised in Montauban, where he received his Baccalaur ...

, regional prefect Jean-Pierre Duport and Île-de-France Regional Council President

Jean-Paul Huchon Jean-Paul Huchon (; born 29 July 1946) is a French retired civil servant and politician who served as Mayor of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine from 1994 to 2001 and President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France from 1998 until 2015. Biography ...

presented the new liveries of Transilien. The

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

used for the rehabilitation and rejuvenation of the fleet was conducted by two outside agencies under contracts awarded in October 2000. ''

RCP Design Global RCP Design Global or RCP is an independent design agency based in Tours and Paris (France) founded by Régine Charvet-Pello in 1986. RCP is predominantly based in the transport and mobility design, and specialises in urban transport, High-speed ...

'' provided exterior design and interior signage, and ''Avant Première'' the interior. All vehicles received a new blue and gray Transilien livery with panels of color to highlight doors and internal characteristics. Everything was treated with a

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

- resistant coating to reduce the impact of

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term f ...

. The

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

s are equipped with a new ergonomic design of

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

ing, with individual seats instead of the traditional banks. They are covered with vandal-resistant fabric in blue, yellow and red. Circulation and inter-car doors have been modified to improve the distribution of passengers in trains''Transilien stock updated''
Railway Gazette, 03/2002. File: Ermont - Gare du Gros Noyer - Saint-Prix 16.jpg,

Ermont Ermont () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department, in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. It has around 28,000 inhabitants, which makes Ermont one of the most important cities in Val d'Oise. Ermont ha ...

File:Z6400 Intérieur 5.JPG, Interior of a Z 6400 train File:VB 2N - Salle haute 01.jpg , Transilien upper room. File:Gare de Taverny 06.jpg , New livery of the Transilien. File:VB 2N - Portes 01.jpg , Doors opened. File:Habillage-transilien.jpg , Doors closed.

Entities