Investment: €4 billion for a more efficient RER C
Like 540,000 other passengers, you may use it every day to go to work or see your loved ones: the RER C line is one of the largest and longest (176 km) of the public transport network in the Paris region.
For several months, passengers have been impacted by a drop in performance on the line. Trains run with less than 90% punctuality, a number below the expectations set by the contract between Île-de-France Mobilités and SNCF Réseau, in charge of operating the line.
An investment plan to improve travel conditions on the RER C line
By 2035, €4 billion will be invested by Île-de-France Mobilités in an investment plan, also known as a master plan.
What is a master plan?
A complete guide, designed in consultation with all the actors concerned to collectively define short-, medium- and long-term work objectives and their financing.
His goal?
- Improving the daily lives of travellers,
- Reduce the number of incidents,
- To improve the flow of traffic on the RER C line in the long term.
€4 billion to modernise the RER C
To meet the needs of passengers while taking into account the reality on the ground, the Master Plan was written by several hands, in collaboration with local authorities and passenger associations.
It is based on 3 areas of improvement :
- The renewal of trains for more modern, comfortable and efficient models,
- Modernisation and improvement of existing infrastructure,
- Adaptation of the offer.
1- Renewal of all trains by 2033
New, more comfortable, efficient and modern trains will replace the current models by 2033.
A renewal that can begin once the adaptation and modernization work of the infrastructure is completed. Work(upgrading the platforms, modernising the power supply systems, etc.), which is essential for the reception of new vehicles on a line.
2- Renewing and modernising the line's infrastructure
The RER C line has several branches and heavy traffic that make it a complex line to operate.
To improve traffic flow and reduce the recurrence of incidents, the modernisation of infrastructure is therefore a must.
While maintenance and renewal operations for tracks and switches are organised every year by SNCF Réseau, new, more ambitious projects will be launched.
Among them? The modernisation of the line in the Val d'Orge area, a nerve centre that will make it possible to:
- Facilitate the management of all traffic
- To accommodate the new RER models
- Facilitate intervention in the event of problems
- Increase the number of trains between Juvisy and Brétigny-sur-Orge
Two new maintenance workshops for the RER line C
The arrival of these more modern trains will be accompanied by the creation of two new maintenance workshops in Brétigny-sur-Orge and Gennevilliers as well as the renovation of the Ardoines workshop.
The goal? To improve the line's response capacity (i.e. to respond to an incident by quickly restoring traffic) and to accommodate the new trains in an optimal way.
3- Adapt the offer to limit the impact of an incident on general traffic
By improving the adaptability of a line, it is possible to reduce the impact of an incident on the rest of the traffic and thus not disrupt general traffic. A concrete solution that can be put in place once the modernisation work is completed, by 2030.
This work will make it possible to improve the turning capacity of trains. That is to say, the possibility of sending a train back in the other direction to improve traffic flow in the event of incidents.