Alstom, the French railway giant has recently revealed that Proxima, a newly-established French train company, has placed a large order for 12 very high-speed trains, in a contract worth almost €850m.
The trains in question are Avelia Horizon very high-speed trains, with deliveries scheduled to start in 2028.
Proxima is a private company launched in June 2024 by Timothy Jackson, who is also the founder of Alpha Trains and Rachel Picard, who was previously CEO of Voyages SNCF. It is also the first independent company to venture into the French high-speed train sector.
The company has the support of a number of international and French banks, while also being financially backed by Antin Infrastructure Partners.
The deal also includes maintenance on Atlantic coast routes for 15 years, with Proxima expected to start services on these routes by the end of the decade. Proxima is also working on connecting Rennes, Nantes, Angers and Bordeaux with Paris.
On the high-speed trains working on its Atlantic routes, Proxima has also revealed that it will be adding 10 million seats.
The French national state-owned railway company, the Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF), will also be using Avelia Horizon trains from the latter half of next year.
In a statement Alstom said: “Leveraging on 40 years’ experience of high-speed trains in commercial service, Alstom’s Avelia Horizon very high-speed train is the latest generation of double-decker train capable of travelling at speeds exceeding 300 km/h.
“It offers great operational flexibility and guarantees high levels of safety and passenger experience. It is made up of two innovative short-length power cars, combining high performance and compactness, and articulated double-decker cars.
“Avelia Horizon reduces operating costs. The train has fewer bogies, which account for 30% of the cost of preventive maintenance. With the largest passenger capacity in the market, Avelia Horizon offers great level of service and comfort, and consequently lowers operating costs per seat.”
Alstom bags investment from Swedish innovation agency Vinnova
Alstom and artificial intelligence (AI) company Flox, recently received an investment of SEK 3.3m (€0.29m) from the Swedish innovation agency Vinnova, to try out AI technology to reduce railway wildlife accidents.
The tech system in question would be onboard trains, and would use deterrent audio signals, to make sure that wild animals stay away from railway tracks. This in turn, would go a long way in helping prevent collisions, as well as reduce the resulting financial and physical damage to trains.
This technology has also been tried out in a variety of other situations such as traffic intersections, cities, mines, airports and more.
Maria Signal Martebo, the managing director of Alstom Sweden, said: “By combining our expertise in sustainable mobility with cutting-edge AI technology, we are taking an important step towards creating safer railways while protecting wildlife.”
Sara Nozkova, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Flox, also said: “Our train-based Flox technology is based on advanced AI and in-depth understanding of animal behaviour, making it possible to protect both train traffic and wildlife. Together with Alstom, we can now validate the solution in a railway environment and make a real difference to both safety and nature.”