SNCF Passenger, the operating business of French National Railways (SNCF), has signed a contract worth €54m with NGE, which will design and build a new train maintenance facility in Nantes.
The new depot will service the fleet of 15 class B 85000 six-car bi-mode trains deployed on Nantes - Bordeaux and Nantes - Lyon inter-city services. Following competitive tendering, earlier this year the French government awarded SNCF Passenger a 10-year contract to operate these services, starting in December 2026.
As well as improving fleet reliability, the new facility will support the introduction of a fifth daily Nantes - Bordeaux return service under the new contract, and a sixth train pair on Fridays and Sundays. Construction will be entirely financed by the government via the French Transport Infrastructure Finance Agency (AFITF).
To be built on what NGE describes as very narrow 1.6ha site, close to the existing SNCF depot at Nantes Blottereau, the new depot will have a workshop building with raised tracks for accessing underfloor equipment, as well as refuelling and train washing facilities.
A 1500m2 three-storey building will accommodate SNCF Passenger staff managing the two inter-city services. Once infrastructure manager SNCF Network has cleared the site, construction is due to begin in June 2028 for the new facility to open in 2030.
NGE says that rail and sleepers recovered from the site may be reused in the new facility, where track work will be undertaken by NGE subsidiary TSO. According to SNCF Passenger CEO, Christophe Fanichet, the new depot will cut carbon emissions from operations by over 60%.
