The MF 19 (''Métro Fer appel d'offres 2019''; 2019

procurement Procurement is the process of locating and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. The term may also refer to a contractual ...

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' (1967 fil ...

metro) is a class of

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...

being built for the

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (, , or , ), short for Métropolitain (), is a rapid transit system serving the Paris metropolitan area in France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architectur ...

. It was ordered to replace existing trains on Lines 3, 3bis, 7, 7bis, 8, 10, 12 and 13, starting in 2025. It is being built by

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

. Lines 3bis and 7bis will use 4-car trains, an upgrade from the current 3-car sets. Lines 3, 7, 8, 10, 12 and 13 will use 5-car sets. Up to 410 trains (2036 cars) are to be ordered, which by the mid 2030’s will be the most common train type in the system, running on nearly half of the lines of the Métro.

History

Background

In the years 2008 to 2016, RATP replaced

MF 67 The MF 67 (; ) is a fleet of steel-wheel electric multiple unit trains for the Paris Métro. The first MF 67 trains entered service on Paris Métro Line 3, Line 3 in June 1968, and became one of the biggest orders for the Métro, with ...

trains with

MF 01 The MF 01 (; ; also called MF 2000 from its year of its invitation to tender) is a model of steel-wheeled electrical multiple units used on Paris's Paris Métro, Metro system. The cars first arrived in December 2007 and delivery was complet ...

on Lines 2, 5, and 9, thus decreasing the average age of Parisian rolling stock. However, many lines still have trains that are reaching the end of their lifespan. Since the MF 67 trains, which have an average age of 43 to 53 years are getting older, RATP planned to replace those trains as well as the

MF 77 The MF 77 (; ) is a steel-wheeled variant of the rolling stock used on the Paris Métro. First used in 1978, it now runs on Lines 7, 8, and 13. Unlike previous models, the MF 77 was designed for travel into the immediate suburbs of Pari ...

trains, which are around 40 years old. Additionally, the decision was made to replace the

MF 88 The MF 88 (; ) is a steel-wheel variant of electric multiple units used on Paris's Métro system. RATP contracted a consortium of manufacturers, with Ateliers du Nord de la France in charge of the project. They were built following su ...

trains due to their lack of reliability. The call for tenders was launched in May 2017, and potential candidates that responded to the call included the Italian-Japanese

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, the Spanish

Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (Grupo CAF, ) is a Spanish publicly listed company which manufactures railway vehicles and equipment and buses through its Solaris Bus & Coach subsidiary. It is based in Beasain, Basque Autonomous Comm ...

, and the French-Canadian consortium

- Bombardier. Originally, the contract was supposed to replace at least 338 trains. The first trains were expected to be put into service in 2024.

Île-de-France Mobilités Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM) is the governmental authority ( EPA) that controls and coordinates the different companies operating the Paris-area public transport network and the rest of the Île-de-France region. In this capacity, it issu ...

asked RATP, Paris' transportation authority, to accelerate the replacement of trains on lines 3bis, 7bis, and 10. The initial schedule, presented in April 2019, included the following timeline: line 10 in 2024, lines 3bis and 7bis between 2024 and 2026, line 13 in 2027, and between 2026 and 2030 on lines 3, 7, 8, and 12.

Contract award and production

On November 29, 2019, Île-de-France Mobilités announced that the contract was awarded to the French-Canadian consortium Alstom-Bombardier for a maximum order of 410 MF 19 trains, at a cost of 2.9 billion

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s. The firm order consists of 44 trains for lines 3bis, 7bis, and 10. The contract was signed at the end of 2019. The deployment of the new trains was initially planned to start from 2024 and finish by 2035. Since March 2020, Bombardier Transport employees have been working on the design of the MF 19 trains remotely. In March 2022, the production of MF 19 metro trains began. In November 2022, during a visit to the Alstom factories, a front end frame of a train was presented, showing the choice of a front end design based on the second option among the three choices presented during the bidding process in 2019. On December 7, 2022, Île-de-France Mobilités approved the adaptation works for stations and infrastructure on lines 13 and 8 to accommodate the new trains. The expected start of service is estimated to be in 2027 for line 13 and 2030 for line 8. For line 13, some trains will later be operated in automatic mode as part of the planned full automation by 2035. In March 2023, Île-de-France Mobilités announced a modified delivery schedule for the trains. It is expected to start in 2024 with the replacement of MF 67 trains on line 10, followed by the replacement of MF 88 trains in 2025, followed by MF 67 trains on line 3bis in the following year, MF 77 trains on line 13 in 2027, MF 67 trains on line 12 in 2028, MF 77 trains on line 8 in 2029, MF 67 trains on line 3 in 2030, and finally MF 77 trains on line 7 in 2032. However, due to many delays, it was announced in December 2023 that the MF 19 will enter in service on line 10 in end-2025, followed by the replacement of MF 88 trains in 2026, followed by MF 67 trains on line 3bis in 2027, MF 77 trains on line 13 in the same year, MF 67 trains on line 12 in 2028, MF 77 trains on line 8 in 2029, MF 67 trains on line 3 in 2031, and finally MF 77 trains on line 7 in 2033. Starting in March of 2025, the first MF 19 train is undergoing testing on line 10.

Characteristics

The trains will exist in two versions, one with a driver's cab (designated CC) and another without a cab (designated CA). They will be equipped with the

communications-based train control Communications-based train control (CBTC) is a railway signaling system that uses telecommunications between the train and track equipment for traffic management and infrastructure control. CBTC allows a train's position to be known more accura ...

system for equipped lines, and with the PA135 driver-attended automatic train control system, which is already in place in several Paris metro lines. The interior will be arranged in two types. On lines 3, 3bis, 7bis, 10, and 12, the trains will have more seating arranged in a “confort” scheme. On lines 7, 8, and 13, they will have more standing room in a “capacity” scheme, giving the higher demand on those lines. As part of the possible automation of line 13, for which studies were commissioned in April 2019, an automatic version (CA) of the MF 19 trains may be ordered. The rolling stock can also be converted as the trains are designed to transition from manual to automatic operation to accompany the automation of the Paris Metro network. The automation was approved on December 7, 2022, by the board of directors of Île-de-France Mobilités. The trains are expected to initially operate in manual mode before being converted to automatic mode for full automation of the line by 2035. The manufacturer Bombardier announced a 20% reduction in energy consumption compared to the MF 77 trains through the full use of regenerative braking and full LED lighting. The MF 19 is expected to be available in three versions: * A short version in length with four cars for lines 3bis and 7bis. * A medium version in length with five cars for lines 3, 10, and 12. * A long version in length with five cars for lines 7, 8, and 13. This long version is planned for lines currently equipped with MF 77 trains, which required relocating operational equipment at the front of the stations (such as clocks or rearview screens) to niches at the beginning of the tunnel, creating a noticeable difference in the appearance of the trains.

References

External links

* * * {{Paris transport network Paris Métro rolling stock 750 V DC multiple units Alstom multiple units Electric multiple units of France Bombardier Transportation multiple units