SNCF has awarded Siemens a €186 million contract to introduce Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling on the western extension of RER E in Paris.
CBTC signalling will allow SNCF to reduce headways on the central section of RER E between Rosa Parks station and Nanterre – La Folie from 180 seconds to 108 seconds, increasing service frequency from 16 to 22 trains an hour.
Traffic management through the core section will allow 28 trains an hour to eventually operate.
The contract is part of the €3.7 billion Eole project, which includes the construction of an 8-kilometre tunnel between the current RER E terminus at Haussmann Saint-Lazare and La Defence, and three new stations.
Eole will extend RER E to Nanterre – La Folie. The project includes the refurbishment of line J of the Transilien suburban line, which connects Nanterre with Mantes-la-Jolie 47 kilometres away.
Due to be commissioned in phases between 2020 and 2022, the extension will relieve pressure on RER A and at Saint-Lazare station.
SNCF said it would draw on the experience of RATP, which has overseen the overlay of CBTC on the Paris Métro.
The Eole project will include the construction of three new stations, not four as originally stated, and the redevelopment of many existing stations on the route.
