SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

Class Z 5300 are three and four car

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

type for Paris commuter and regional services. They were built by Carel et Fouche, /

Francorail Francorail was a grouping of French railway rolling stock manufacturers, formed in the early 1970s and defunct by the late 1980s. History The Francorail grouping was formed to combine the individual areas of expertise or production of a number o ...

, Fives-Lille and

OC Oerlikon OC Oerlikon is a listed technology group headquartered in Pfäffikon, Schwyz, Pfäffikon (Canton of Schwyz, Schwyz), Switzerland. The name "Oerlikon" (or "œrlikon", as the company styles itself according to its corporate identity) comes from ...

between 1965 and 1968 (1st batch) and 1972 and 1975 (2nd batch). Many of these trains have been withdrawn starting from 2003.

Characteristics

These stainless steel-bodied EMUs were built as 4-car units including a driving motor car, two intermediate trailers and a driving trailer. However, some units were shortened to three or two cars by removing one or both of the intermediate trailers. Up to three elements can be coupled together to form a 12-car trainset. The power supply is 1500 V DC with electromechanical traction equipment.

Livery

As the use of stainless steel eliminates the need for painting; the units are silver, with originally only an orange stripe between the headlights. They are therefore nicknamed ''petit gris'' (i.e. "little gray", but also the name of a

snail A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gas ...

), '' couscoussière'', "silver arrow" or "tin can". However, as some units were modified, the doors were painted red, light blue or dark blue according to the services they were intended for. Since 2011, only red-doored units subsist; red doors mean that the unit is fitted with EAS (''exploitation à agent seul'', i.e. "single crew operation"), and may be operated without a guard.

Operation

This class operated on the following services, but was replaced by more recent stock: * Paris-Lyon- Montereau, * Paris-Lyon-

Montargis Montargis () is a commune in the Loiret department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Montargis is the seventh most populous commune in the Centre-Val de Loire ''région'', and the second in the Loiret ''département'' after Orléans. It is near ...

, * Paris-Montparnasse-

Rambouillet Rambouillet (, , ) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region of France. It is located beyond the outskirts of Paris, southwest of its Kilometr ...

, * Paris-Montparnasse- Plaisir-Grignon, *Commuter services on the southern part of

RER C RER C is one of the five lines in the Réseau Express Régional (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris and its suburbs. The line crosses the region from north to south. Briefly, betwe ...

, * Paris-Montparnasse-

Chartres Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...

, * Paris-Montparnasse-

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

, * Paris-Austerlitz-

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
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(connection with mainline services) with 3-car elements, *Shuttle services between

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

and

Saint Pierre des Corps Saint-Pierre-des-Corps () is a commune in the French department of Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is located about 4 km (2.5 mi) from Tours. During the French Revolution, it was called ''La Clarté-Républicaine''. Po ...

on the same principle. *

Melun Melun () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region, north-central France. It is located on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, about from the centre of the capital. Melun is the prefecture of Seine-et-Marne, ...

Juvisy Juvisy-sur-Orge (, literally ''Juvisy on Orge'') is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located southeast of Paris and a few kilometres south of Orly Airport. The city is known for Gare de Juvisy, ...

(

RER D RER D is one of the five lines in the (English: Regional Express Network), a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system serving Paris and its suburbs. The line crosses the region from north to south, with all trains serving a group of stat ...

), and *

- Montereau through Héricy (

Transilien Transilien () is the brand name given to the commuter rail and tram-train network operated by SNCF and serving Île-de-France, the region surrounding and including the city of Paris. The network consists of lines Transilien Line H, H, Transilie ...

, R line).

Accidents

* On December 24, 1987, a Z 5300 train was involved in a collision in Issy-les-Moulineaux. * On June 27, 1988, two Z 5300 trains collided head-on at the

Gare de Lyon The Gare de Lyon, officially Paris Gare de Lyon (), is one of the seven large mainline railway stations in Paris, France. It handles about 148.1 million passengers annually according to the estimates of the SNCF in 2018, with SNCF railways and ...

station in Paris. The

accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not deliberately caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that the event may have been caused by Risk assessment, unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Many researchers, insurers ...

left 56 dead, 57 injured, and resulted in the third deadliest peacetime rail disaster in France.

Gallery

Image:SNCF Class Z 5300.JPG, Z 5423 arriving at Tours Image:Gare de Corbeil-Essonnes Z5300 Z20500.jpg, A Z5300 and Z20500 at Corbeil-Essonnes. Image:Z5353.jpg, Z 5353 on a passenger service. Image:Gare Juvisy z5300 rerd.jpg, Z 5310 is seen at Juvisy on RER line D

References

*Haydock, David; Fox, Peter

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Media Books * 999 (anthology), ''99 ...

European Handbook No. 4 French Railways Locomotives & Multiple Units, Third Edition, Sheffield, UK: Platform 5 Publishing Ltd.. . Electric multiple units of France Z 05300 1500 V DC multiple units of France Train-related introductions in 1965 {{France-rail-transport-stub