FRANCE: The government has postponed a planned order for locomotives and rolling stock to renew the national night train fleet.
The existing overnight fleet of 129 refurbished coaches is approaching the end of its life and needs to be replaced.
In 2025 expressions of interest were sought from companies which could finance and order new vehicles. These would be leased to the state, which would make them available to future train operator(s) to be selected through a tendering process.
Members of Parliament had approved €1·1bn for the night train programme in November, and it was envisaged that a supplier would be announced during January. However this was nullified by a failure to pass the state budget for 2026 before the Christmas holidays.
On December 23 Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said ‘we need to modernise the rolling stock, but without a budget the order cannot be placed’. He hoped that a solution could be found in early 2026, but warned that national budget cuts of €6·5bn could have an impact.
Initial orders for 180 coaches and separately 27 electro-diesel locomotives to enter service from 2030 were to have been followed by a second tranche which would take the fleet up to 340 coaches and 47 locomotives.
