Stadler has announced that it is to supply twelve locomotives to Régie autonome des transports Parisiens (RATP), operator of the Paris Metro.

The locomotives are battery-powered and will undertake service, maintenance and repairs on the whole RATP network, which is approximately 245 kilometres long and carries eleven million passengers each day. They will run in passenger service from 2027.

This is the first time that RATP, which is the third-largest urban transport operator in the world, has placed an order with Stadler.

However, the rolling stock manufacturer has supplied locomotives to other French operators, including the EuroDual, Euro4001 and Euro6000 six-axle high-performance locomotives, which were manufactured at the Stadler plant in Valencia, Spain, and are in operation in the rail freight sector in France, Belgium and Spain. It also supplies rail vehicles worldwide, including to New Zealand and the USA.

The framework agreement for the order includes an option for two further vehicles.

The new, standard-gauge locos will complement the existing fleet from 2027. They have four axles and are fifteen metres long, are equipped with fully automatic couplings, and are capable of double traction.

They are designed for the tight curves that characterise the Paris Metro’s network and can be used on all fourteen of its lines, including routes which carry trains with conventional steel wheels and vehicles with rubber tyres (Pneu-Metro).

The new locomotives are part of RATP’s project to make Metro infrastructure maintenance more streamlined and efficient.

The RATP locomotives pull around 120 tonnes in single traction and around 240 tonnes in double traction.

Stadler asserts that the new locos are “flexible in use, low-maintenance and environmentally friendly”, and are very safe and reliable, which is particularly important as the trains will run on construction sites and in tunnels parallel to Metro traffic.

On-board traction batteries power the vehicles when they are In battery-electric drive, while in normal operation, the traction current rail supplies the 750V electrical energy.

“We are very proud to have won RATP as a customer and to have impressed them with our technology. With our innovative, customised locomotives, efficient and sustainable maintenance can be realised and the infrastructure of the Paris metro can be made fit for the future.”

Christian König, Deputy Head of Sales & Marketing at Stadler