OREANDA-NEWS. In 2015, Alstom was awarded a framework contract for the delivery of up to 217 MP14 trains over 15 years and worth a total of over 2 billion euros by the RATP, mandated by the STIF and the SGP for the trains of Line 14. The first settled part of the contract, for 35 trainsets, is worth 520 million euros and is 100% financed by the STIF. The trains will equip Line 14 of the metro, operated by the RATP, in the context of its northern extension and to enable an increase in the capacity of the line (the new 8-car trainsets will replace the existing trainsets which consist of 6 cars each). The new metros will then enter service on lines 4, 11 and 14 when the latter is extended south of the Grand Paris Express to Orly.

Resulting from the collaboration between the STIF, the RATP and the SGP, the design of the MP14 metro offers streamlined contours, a distinctive light signature and visual consistency with the platform doors inside the stations. The metro respects the platform design defined by the STIF for all the rolling stock in Ile-de-France and its livery will bear the colours of the STIF and the RATP. The internal layout, designed to improve the journeys of the passengers, has been developed along the theme of the alcove to create both conviviality and privacy. Vast reception areas offer accessibility to all passengers via dedicated spaces and boomerang-shaped seats to increase the fluidity and capacity of the carriages. MP14 also contains LED lighting efficiently distributed throughout the entire metro in order to provide a feeling of security and banish all areas of shadow. The supports and holding points respect stability norms and increase comfort inside the carriage. Warm and cool air conditioning provides passengers with a sensation of wellbeing, whatever the season and the temperature on board.

MP14 also offers a complete on-board video-protection and dynamic information system. 

MP14 keeps costs under control throughout the entire lifecycle of the train. The metro’s 100% electrical braking system recuperates energy and re-injects it into the network as electricity, while limiting the emission of fine particles caused by mechanical braking systems. This system reduces the energy consumption of the trains and air pollution by up to 20% compared to the previous rubber-tyred metro (MP05) commissioned on the network. 

"We are proud to unveil this state-of-the-art metro, a reference in sustainable mobility, which will be appreciated by the Parisians for its comfort and reliability. The entire French rail industry has joined forces to create a competitive, innovative product with high standard of performance that will provide complete satisfaction to the inhabitants of Ile-de-France and, we hope, will be further confirmed in other orders," says Henri Poupart-Lafarge, Alstom Chairman and CEO.

The majority of Alstom’s twelve sites in France will participate in the project: Valenciennes for the studies, integration, validation and tests, le Creusot for the bogies, Ornans for the motors, Villeurbanne for the onboard electronics, Tarbes for the traction, Reichshoffen for the collision studies and Saint-Ouen for the design. The project will secure over 2,000 jobs in France for Alstom and its suppliers. 

"I am committed to carrying out a transport revolution through the renewal of 700 trainsets, including the RER, by 2021. I have not forgotten the metro. With MP14, over 200 trainsets could be replaced for over 2 billion euros. This represents nearly one third of all the metros in Ile de France. The inhabitants of Ile de France will thus be able to ascertain the design quality of these new metros, particularly in 2019 on Line 14, then on the extension to Line 11 where the trains in circulation today were designed nearly 60 years ago," adds Val?rie Picresse, President of the Regional Council of Ile-de-France and Council President of the STIF.

For Elisabeth Borne, "the arrival of MP14 symbolises the accelerated modernisation of the RATP’s networks to offer greater comfort and more services to our passengers. These new trains, energy efficient and equipped with LEDs, reflect the priority accorded to sustainable cities by the RATP. In every carriage, MP14 offers six seats for passengers with reduced mobility as well as space for a wheelchair in each end carriage. The new trainsets of Line 14 will be maintained by the RATP in a new maintenance and storage site based in Saint-Ouen."