SAFRA participates in the great mass of the railway sector, the SIFER exhibition which is held in Lille from October 26 to 28. On this occasion, the company will highlight its recent achievements in urban light rail, as well as its first project in the heavy rail sector.
The participation in the SIFER exhibition is the opportunity for SAFRA to highlight its know-how in the renovation of urban rail transport equipment, which it has been doing for more than 15 years. With different projects perfectly carried out, the company has made a reputation for itself in the urban rail transport sector, and has recently developed its skills by responding to a first market for the renovation of heavy rail equipment. In detail, 2 projects are currently underway in SAFRA’s workshops, the mid-life renovation of the Rennes metro, and the interior and exterior renovation of the TER of the Occitanie region.
The renovation of the VAL in Rennes
The 16 VAL 208 AG trainsets (AG for Ancienne Génération, i.e. trainsets put into service in 2002) were put into service in 2002, and should normally reach their limit of use in 2030, initially 30 years or 2.5 million kilometers. The objective of this contract is therefore to carry out the works and supplies for the renovation of the trainsets in order to give them a potential of 1.5 million kilometers or 10 additional years.
This contract is divided into 4 work packages and 6 supply packages, some of which are the responsibility of Keolis Rennes within the framework of the public service delegation (Keolis Rennes is in particular carrying out the renovation of the axles and doors and is responsible for the test program for the return to service of the trains). SAFRA is carrying out lot n°1, the main lot of the operation, which concerns the structural work and the equipment of the cars. This mid-life work includes, among other things, the renovation of the car bodies, the replacement of the floors, the lighting fixtures, and the numerous mechanical and hydraulic parts.
The part carried out by SAFRA, costing approximately 4.5 million euros, will take place over 4 years with the first train set received on June 4, 2021, and will be completed in 2025. Only one train set at a time is transported and processed in the SAFRA factory, during a construction period of about 2 months for the first train set and 5 weeks per train set for the series production.
Since 2006, SAFRA has been regularly involved in the renovation of VALs in many French cities. It has thus acquired real expertise in this field, and by obtaining this new contract, it has confirmed its know-how. SAFRA is proud to have won this new contract from Rennes Métropole, which renews its confidence in this major player in the life extension of urban railway equipment.
The TER Occitanie renovation project
This contract for the renovation of the trains of the Occitanie Region was launched by the SNCF in January 2020, and won by SAFRA in September of the same year.
This contract concerns 29 trainsets in all, 13 trainsets in the Midi-Pyrénées area (3 bodies) and 16 trainsets in the Languedoc-Roussillon area (4 bodies). The work will last 26 months, and the services planned for these TERs will be carried out in two major stages.
Train set n°1, received in January 2021, has been treated as a prototype for the market, and has enabled us to determine the complete inventory of the general work to be carried out. The duration of the work for this prototype train set was 42 days, compared to 21 days for the following train sets.
The services carried out on the interior are: renovation of seats, floor coverings, cleaning of other interior coverings, removal of waste garbage cans, installation of a complete passenger counting system, replacement of all halogen lighting with LEDs, and renovation of the ceilings. For the exterior part, the complete livery was redone, with painting and adhesives. A complete makeover for a second life.