First of 30 dual-voltage regional sets enters Franco-German service
CROSS-BORDER: A new dual-voltage regional trainset built by CAF on the Coradia Polyvalent platform has entered service on the Strasbourg–Offenburg corridor, the first of 30 sets ordered under a EUR 388m contract backed by the three German partner Länder and part-funded by the EU’s Interreg programme.
The first set entered commercial service 4 May, according to a Grand Est statement, carrying certification from Germany’s Federal Railway Authority (EBA) and France’s rail safety authority EPSF — a dual-country approval process that held back the programme.
Dual-country certification and delayed rollout
The EUR 388m contract covers 30 sets ordered by région Grand Est, with Baden-Württemberg, Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland as German partner Länder. The EU’s Interreg Upper Rhine programme contributed EUR 6.2m toward homologation and development costs; the German Länder co-funded 50 percent of the EUR 40m development budget.
The sets are built on the Coradia Polyvalent platform, originally developed by Alstom and now produced by CAF following its acquisition of the Reichshoffen factory in 2022. Each set operates under both the 25kV AC system used in France and the 15kV AC system used in Germany, and carries both EBA type authorisation and French certification through EPSF.
The German network certification, granted in late January 2026, was the final regulatory step before cross-border service could begin.
Phased rollout through 2027
Cross-border operations are scheduled to continue phasing in through 2027, extending service across the three German partner Länder.
SNCF operates the service under a public service contract with Grand Est.