Eurailtest has been selected by Alstom to test the MP14 automatic railway vehicle before it is deployed on lines 4 and 14 of the Paris Metro in France.
The extension of Metro line 14 is a project that began in the summer of 2014 with the gradual construction of new stations. The challenge was to connect the Parisian transportation network to the four future automatic lines of the Grand Paris Express.
Line 14 would then become one of the main lines of the Ile-de-France public transit system, extended to the north, as well as to the south to Orly Airport. Another non-negligible benefit was that extending the line to Mairie de Saint-Ouen will provide relief to the crowded line 13.
The second challenge was the automation of the Metro lines. RATP can claim to be a pioneer in this process, as line 1 was the first in the world to be fully automated with no interruption of service. Following lines 14 and 1, the automation of RATP’s second-most-travelled line 4 is another step towards automating the Paris Metro.
These projects are being carried out almost at the same time and are being conducted by Ile-de-France Mobilité and RATP. Alstom, the manufacturer of this new MP14 automatic train, chose the test and measurement laboratory (LEM), Eurailtest’s partner, to conduct tests on it. These included tests of its electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) with the signalling, as well as dynamic behaviour tests, measuring wheel stress in particular, when going past a particular switch.
Tests were carried out on the RATP network, specifically on line 1, after preparing for them at LEM and at Alstom’s site. Other tests on the dynamic gauge were conducted internally to identify interactions between rolling stock and infrastructure.
The EMC tests were conducted following the EN-50238-1 standard; the LEM laboratory has COFRAC accreditation for such tests. Several tests were conducted between the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019 at the Track Test Centre in Valenciennes, France. The remainder of the tests will be carried out in-line on the RATP network.
Commercial service is planned in 2020 for the extended line 14 and in 2022 for the automated line 4.