It will not run until 2028 in Toulouse, but it is already generating comments. While waiting to be able to take metro line C, which will connect Colomiers to Labège, Toulouse residents can already see what it will look like. Until February 9, a full-size model is indeed on display at the Square de Gaulle. And for this student who looks at this streamlined car on stilts from afar, the new train is “rather design and refined”.
With its pastel livery, a nod to the blue gold that made the fortune of the land of plenty, it differs in color from the two metro lines already in circulation. Far from the slightly flashy shades favored on the B line, this one will be more sober by taking up the blue color codes of Tisséo and ocher to recall the pink brick.
But that’s far from the only difference. One of the most important, and not the least, is the size of the cars, which are 70 cm wider and longer too. So no more knees that touch those of the traveler opposite stuck in his seat.
“The two cars of a 36 meter long train have no break and separation, it uses the Boa system found in certain lines of the Paris metro. This makes it possible to have a greater capacity and gives an impression of transparency”, assures Jean-Michel Lattes, the president of Tisséo Collectivités who ordered 27 trains from the manufacturer Alstom.
The trains will be able to carry 286 to 386 passengers if an 18-meter long car is added to the two that already make up the train.
More suitable for different disabilities
The internal fittings have also been validated by associations of people with disabilities, whether visually, with colors for the reserved seats, the height of the bars and handles or even the spaces dedicated to wheelchairs which did not exist. not so far.
“We also did work on noise and energy consumption. This train incorporates the latest technologies that recover braking energy so that it can be used by the metro that follows. And if there isn’t, there are substations that can pick it up. There are thus 20 to 25% energy savings compared to a more conventional system”, assures Jean-Baptiste Eymeoud, the president of Alstom who was present in Toulouse on Thursday to present this new train.
And it will also have air conditioning. And that, if we are to believe the curious people who have come to visit it, is a welcome plus in the middle of summer, when the trains are crowded and the thermometer exceeds 35°.