FRANCE: State incumbent SNCF Voyageurs has beaten off two rival bids to win the Nouvelle-Aquitaine région’s first competitively tendered contract for the operation of local passenger train services.
The contract covers the Poitou-Charentes network of six lines:
- Châtellerault – Poitiers – Angoulême;
- Angoulême – Bordeaux;
- Poitiers – Niort – La Rochelle;
- La Rochelle – Rochefort – Saintes – Bordeaux;
- Bordeaux – Saintes – Royan;
- Angoulême/Niort – Saintes – Royan.
In 2025 these services carried 14 000 passengers per day on 815 trains per week, totalling 4 560 000 train-km per year.
Tendering process
The procurement process got underway in 2023 as part of a wider programme of tendering by France’s régions.
Bids were received from SNCF Voyageurs, Transdev and Le Train. SNCF Voyageurs was selected as the preferred bidder, based on price, cost control, quality, environmental factors and commitments to staff. The contract was signed on April 20.
SNCF Voyageurs said it had ‘worked tirelessly to offer a robust, innovative and balanced offer’, which was ‘based on an in-depth analysis of the région’s expectations and the needs of travellers’, and is ‘in-line with the région’s high ambitions for the future of mobility in Poitou-Charentes.’
SNCF Voyageurs Terre Atlantique
The contract runs for 10 years from December 2027 and is worth around €965m, 17% lower than the current contract.
SNCF Voyageurs will operate the services through a dedicated subsidiary SNCF Voyageurs Terre Atlantique, which is to be based in Saintes and will have around 400 employees.
Contractual performance indicators will include rolling stock availability, train capacity, especially during peak hours, the quality of passenger information, cleanliness, safety on board and staff and achieving 95% passenger satisfaction.
The Nouvelle-Aquitaine région said ‘SNCF Voyageurs Terre Atlantique is committed to offering the service under the conditions required by the contract and will bear the financial risk of a possible need for additional resources’
The contract provides for an increase in services to 5 450 000 train-km/year to meet changing travel needs and offer more connections with long-distance trains. There will be additional trains, operating hours will be extended, timetables revised to offer hourly services, weekend services increased by 37% and there will be direct services between Bordeaux and Royan. The région also has the ability to request further additional services which would increase operations by 56%.
SNCF Voyageurs expects the increase in services to lead to a 47% increase in revenue and a 64% increase in ridership to 23 000 daily passengers.
Ticketing is directly managed by the région, which since the end of 2025 has rolled out 190 ticket machines managed independently of the incumbent operator at 174 stations. It will eventually be possible to buy multimodal tickets valid on all train, bus and urban transport services in the région.
Rolling stock
The services will be operated by a dedicated train fleet owned by the Société Publique Interrégionale d’Investissements dans les Transports joint venture of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie and Centre-Val-de-Loire régions.
This will comprise 20 Régiolis B 84500 four-car battery-electric multiple-units, nine four-car AGC B 82500 BEMUs and 15 three-car AGC B 81500 BEMUs. These will be maintained by the operator at a depot in Saintes which will be transferred to SPIIT.
SPIIT will be responsible for heavy maintenance and will have the right to inspect the trains and audit maintenance processes at the request of the région.
Next calls for tenders
Nouvelle-Aquitaine is to begin tendering this summer for a further two contracts.
The Lot B Limousin-Périgord contract starting in 2030 will cover 11 lines which currently have 252 daily trains carrying 13 000 passengers/day and totalling 276 million passenger-km/year.
The Lot D Sud Aquitaine contract starting in 2031 will cover five routes in the French Basque Country and the Pyrenees, with 97 trains carrying 13 200 passengers/day and totalling 311 million passenger-km.