Siemens to build a new metro line in Rennes, France

Siemens will be responsible for the complete realization of a turnkey project ranging from initial planning of the line to installation of the communication, control and safety equipment and including delivery of 19 Cityval trainsets. The inauguration of this new metro line is scheduled for end of 2018.

Rennes’ first fully automated and driverless metro line, A Line, was built by Siemens and entered revenue service in 2002. The new B Line will run predominantly underground on a 12.6-kilometer northeast-to-southwest axis and serve 15 stations including the city center. The rubber-tired automated trains of the Cityval range of mass transit vehicles are to be deployed on this line and are ideal for operation on short lines with short distances between stations. Even without attendant personnel on the trains and at the stations, the Val system offers its passengers utmost safety and security by means of a radio-based automated train control system linking the metro trains with the trackside equipment (Communication-Based Train Control: CBTC).The trainsets will offer a high level of passenger comfort: large picture windows, modern design, dynamic screens and real-time information systems. Passenger safety will be guaranteed by an onboard video system and secured radio link.

For the Rennes Metro, the Cityval will be designed as a two-car trainset. Each car is 11.2 meters long, 2.65 meter wide and will be able to accommodate up to 100 passengers. The number of trains in operation can be flexibly adjusted to changing levels of ridership, thereby enabling metro trains run every 2.5 minutes during rush hour or even shorter headways. The short headways and the resulting shorter journey times are a huge advantage for the passengers because the rubber-tired running gear ensures quick acceleration of the trains and pinpoint stopping at the station platforms. In the beginning, the system is designed for a capacity of 4,000 people per hour per direction and is supposed to increase by up to 15,000 people.

Since the Val automated guideway system was introduced some 26 years ago, Siemens Mobility has continually kept the AGT system abreast with the state of the art and optimized its operational safety and passenger comfort. Cityval is an evolution of the Val system that Siemens Mobility has realized together with Lohr Industrie within the context of the Neoval research program. The aim of the project was to develop an intelligent, modular trainset for inner-city connections (Cityval) and for passenger transport at airports (Airval). Within this cooperation, Lohr Industrie is in charge of the realization of the design and production of the new vehicle while Siemens is responsible for the complete system from design to implementation and is in charge of overall project implementation, marketing and sales. Furthermore, Siemens is responsible for the train control, communications, passenger information system, platform screen doors, power supply, guideway and depot.

Eleven fully automated, Val type metro lines have already been built by Siemens Mobility around the world – among them, the four airport people movers at Orly and Charles de Gaulle (two lines) in Paris, France and at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in Illinois, USA. In addition, urban Val systems are operating in France in Lille (two lines), Toulouse (two lines), and Rennes, as well as in Taiwan, Taipei and in Turin, Italy. Siemens is also currently constructing a Val system in Uijeongbu, Korea.