At the end of this test phase, on June 14, this train was presented at the Occitanie Technicentre by Jean-Luc Gibelin, vice-president of the Occitanie Region with responsibility for mobility and transport infrastructure; Philippe Bru, regional director of SNCF Voyageurs Occitanie, and Kaïs Albouchi, director of the Régiolis Hybrid and hydrogen projects at Alstom.
Commercial service will begin in a few months, as soon as the Etablissement Public de Sécurité Ferroviaire (EPSF) has issued the necessary authorizations for passenger transport.
This electric-diesel-battery regional train is the first hybridization project for a Régiolis train in France. The Régiolis train is part of the Coradia Polyvalent range of regional trains developed and assembled by CAF at its Reichshoffen site (formerly owned by Alstom). More than 300 Régiolis trains currently operate in France. The trainset involved in the hybridization project is a so-called “dual mode” trainset (electric and diesel).
The new hybrid train was launched in 2018 by the SNCF Group and Alstom, with the mobilization and financial participation of four French Regions (Occitanie, Grand Est, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and Centre-Val de Loire), and the provision by the Occitanie Region of a trainset from its liO fleet.
The objectives are to reduce energy consumption and cut greenhouse gas emissions, thanks to a solution that allows the existing thermal fleet to be modified without having to modify the existing infrastructure.
Along with the battery-powered train and the hydrogen train, the hybrid train is one of the three decarbonization technologies that the SNCF Group is developing with its partners Alstom, CAF, and the French Regions for passenger transport on non-electrified (or partially electrified) regional lines.
Hybridization of the Régiolis trainset involved replacing half of the thermal engines with energy storage systems consisting of lithium-ion batteries. This operation was carried out at the beginning of 2021 at the CAF site in Reichshoffen, following an initial validation phase for the new energy storage systems at the end of 2020 at the Alstom site in Tarbes, center of excellence for green traction systems.
One car of the train has also been temporarily fitted with a laboratory and multiple sensors to measure the train’s energy flows.
Equipped with its two energy storage systems and its laboratory car, the trainset started its tests in the second half of 2021. A static and dynamic fine-tuning phase at up to 60 km/h took place at Reichshoffen to check the train’s operation and test the hybrid traction mode.
Tests then continued on the Vélim test track, in the Czech Republic, with validation and certification tests at up to 160 km/h. This enabled all the train’s new traction modes to be tested at their operating speed, and the route simulation models to be validated.
Positive feedbacks
The tests showed that the train performed as expected. The braking energy recovery rate, used to recharge the batteries, is very high, at over 90%, enabling energy savings of up to 20%, depending on the route.
The zero-emission battery-powered mode is designed to power the train for a few kilometers without the need to use internal combustion engines, a feature that could be useful for low-carbon journeys in built-up areas. On non-electric lines, the hybrid regional train retains the range of the initial model for up to 1,000km.
Next steps
With the final tests on the national rail network having taken place in April, SNCF Voyageurs now has to submit the admission file to the Etablissement public de sécurité ferroviaire (EPSF) with a view to obtaining the necessary authorizations for its commercial operation. SNCF Voyageurs will also use this period to prepare for the launch of the trainset in the various regions.
The start of the experimental commercial service is scheduled for the end of 2023 in Occitanie, particularly on the Mazamet – Toulouse and Rodez – Toulouse lines. The modified trainset will then run throughout 2024 in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Grand Est, and Centre-Val de Loire regions.
The industrial deployment of the hybridization solution on other dual-mode Régiolis trainsets still needs to be specified, and could begin as soon as the regions, the organizing authorities for regional passenger transport, decide to do so.
“In the battle we are waging on behalf of the regions to decarbonize regional trains, we have chosen to invest in hybrid trains, which are a useful solution for reducing CO2 emissions quickly and effectively. Alongside hydrogen and biofuels, hybrid trains are a key part of the range of technologies we are investing in as part of our PLANETER program to move away from diesel,” said Christophe Fanichet, chairman and CEO of SNCF Voyageurs.
“We are very proud to welcome to Occitanie the first hybrid train from the liO fleet to run on the Toulouse-Mazamet and Toulouse-Rodez lines. The skills of the SNCF and Alstom technical teams have made it possible to meet the challenge of integrating an innovative traction system into an existing rolling stock, thus paving the way for the decarbonization of regional trains. As part of the 2023-2032 agreement, SNCF Voyageurs and the Occitanie Region have set themselves the ambitious target of reducing CO2 emissions per passenger kilometer by 40%. With the first hybrid regional train, Occitanie is the only region involved in all the trials of innovative rolling stock to reduce CO2 emissions, efficiently and quickly,” added Philippe Bru, regional director of SNCF Voyageurs Occitanie.