Euroduplex

The Alstom Avelia Euroduplex, more commonly known as just Euroduplex, is a high-speed double-decker train manufactured by Alstom. It is primarily operated by the French national railway company SNCF, and also in operation with the Moroccan national railway company ONCF. It is the 3rd generation of the TGV Duplex.

The Euroduplex trains are interoperable, containing equipment allowing them to travel between several European continental countries with various types of electrification and signalling systems. A Moroccan variation is the first high-speed train to operate in Africa.

Description

The Euroduplex trains are an evolution of the TGV Duplex Dasye and still share the main features. The drive is of type SNCF TGV POS asynchronous traction motors, European signaling system European Rail Traffic Management System. The trailers feature improved information systems and the 3UFC type feature new interiors with rotating seats and USB sockets.

The main differences with the TGV Duplex Dasye:
* UIC loading gauge with more headroom upstairs
* Improved windows
* Passenger Information System (SIVE) with voice announcements as in the TER trains.
* Outside SIVE dynamic light display indicating the number of the train, its route and the number of the car
* Fixed filler gaps on all doors,
* Control over the train hot boxes (two sensors per box for redundancy)
* Overall control of each axle
* Improved accessibility for wheelchairs
The 3UFC type have new interiors that include:
*New seats design in both classes
*Rotating seats USB sockets in first class
*Individual lights are now included in the seats

History

Riding on the success of the concept TGV Duplex, and praised by customers, the company decided to develop a fleet of interoperable trains, especially suitable for 15 kV 16 ⅔ Hz (only 8 trains TGV Sud-Est could operate at this current and 19 trains are then TGV POS), the train is a tricurrent version of TGV Duplex.

The Euroduplex has entered commercial operation by the French national railway company on 11 December 2011.

In parallel with the development of high-speed lines internationally, Alstom SA won a tender for the supply of equipment for high-speed TGV Morocco, the first high-speed train on the African continent.

Operators

SNCF

In June 2007, in addition to 25 extra TGV Dasye sets (+ 3 others 2008), the SNCF has placed a large order for 55 Alstom tricurrent high-speed trains, TGV 2N2.

These 55 trains can be divided into:
* 30 trains "3UA" (tricurrent Germany), numbered 4701-4730 (4 international) for services from France to Germany and Switzerland. Prototypes were tested from August 2010, the remaining deliveries expected between 2011 and 2014;
* 10 trains "3RU" (bicurrent Spain), numbered 801 to 810, for services between France and Spain (deliveries from 2013);
* 15 trains "3UF" (bicurrent France), numbered 811-825, intended for domestic traffic in France (deliveries from 2014);
* A Power Reserve "3UA" compatible with the 55 cars and also for the TGV POS and TGV Duplex Dasye.

In April 2010, the first train RGV, numbered'' 4701'', was tested at La Rochelle. On 16 June 2010, the train arrived at the site of ELWT Conflans to be equipped with different systems to perform many tests in the coming months before commercial operation. Between 20 and 30 July 2010, the train conducted speed tests in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the French Alps.

SNCF and Alstom organized the symbolic delivery of the first train on 30 May 2011 on the LGV Est.

The 2007 contract included an option for 40 additional trains. SNCF exercised this option to take delivery of the second batch of Euroduplex sets from 2015. These are the 3UFC type (the "C" stands for capacity) and named "Océane" were delivered between 2016 and 2019 and have replaced some sets on TGV Atlantique with the opening of the LGV Sud Europe Atlantique. They offer a new interior design and an improved capacity by 10% due to the third car being multi-class and were delivered between 2016 and 2019 and are numbered from 826 to 896 (minus 866 which only constituted power reserve motor).

To save the jobs of the Alstom factory of Belfort, the French government announced in October 2016 the purchase of fifteen trains to be used on the Intercity line between Bordeaux and Marseille. That order was done by the SNCF in February 2017. These trains are from the 3UFC type numbered from 836 to 850 and are in delivery starting from August 2019 and are used with the other 3UFC.

In July 2019, the SNCF announced the order of twelve trains that will be delivered between 2021 and 2022 (which would be shortly before the arrival of the first Avelia Horizon). The complete fleet would have 122 trains once the final order would be done.

ONCF

In December 2010, the Moroccan company ONCF ordered 14 sets of the Euroduplex for Kenitra–Tangier high-speed rail line. The contract of €400 million expected commissioning in 2015. The ordered trains are electrified at 25 kV and 3 kV and can operate up to on the section Tangiers — Kenitra and between on the Moroccan conventional network.

The Moroccan trainsets have a total capacity of 533 passengers in two first-class carriages, five second class carriages, and a catering coach, instead of the French configuration of three first class coaches, four second-class coaches, and a catering coach. The modifications were made according to the Moroccan climatic and environmental conditions. The first two cars will be delivered during the summer of 2015, transported from the port of La Rochelle by the ship Ville de Bordeaux. The project being more than two years late on its initial schedule (due to land acquisition difficulties), Alstom Transport incurs additional costs, in particular through the forced storage of several trains in its factories. The first dynamic tests of a train (No. 1201, specially assigned to tests) began in January 2016, on the classic line connecting Tangier to Casablanca, with drivers who were specially trained (partly in France, by the SNCF ); these tests were completed in July 2016. At the same time (on 11 July), the twelve trains were delivered1. LGV testing began in February 2017 and was completed in June 2018; during one of them, carried out on 4 May 2018, the train rode at 357 km/h (which constitutes the record of rail speed in Africa). During this period, Alstom delivered 12 trains for the Tangier-Casablanca railway section. King Mohammed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron participated in the inauguration. Upon launch, it became the first high-speed railway line in Africa.

The maintenance center, with a total capacity of 30 trains and an area of 14 hectares, is located in Tangier-Moghogha.

Usage

SNCF

Since its introduction into commercial service, the 4700 numbered trains operate priority international services:
*Alleo Paris-Est — Stuttgart — Munich (via LGV East Europe)
*Alleo Frankfurt — Strasbourg — Lyon-Part-Dieu — Marseille (via the LGV Rhin-Rhône and Mediterranean)
* Lyria Paris-Gare de Lyon — Basel — Zürich (via the Rhine-Rhône) since January 2012 (three of the six round trips, the others were being operated by TGV POS until 15 December 2019 where Lyria started operating exclusively with the Euroduplex)

The trains are used on domestic routes (via the LGV Est to Strasbourg, Reims, Remiremont, but also via the Rhin-Rhône to Colmar and Mulhouse among others).

The 800 numbered trains are designed to provide international services to Spain:
*Elipsos: Paris-Gare de Lyon — Lyon Part Dieu — Montpellier — Figueres — Barcelona (in a pool with TGV Duplex Dasye)

The 3UFC are all operating from Paris Montparnasse firstly towards Bordeaux — Agen — Montauban — Toulouse — Arcachon — Dax — Bayonne — Biarritz — Saint-Jean-de-Luz

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases