Strengthening rail mobility between Grasse, Cannes and Ventimiglia: (…)

The Prince's Government and the company SNCF Sud Azur signed, on Friday December 20, the agreement relating to the financing of the acquisition of two REGIO N2 trainsets by the State of Monaco and intended for the operation of the public rail passenger transport service between Grasse, Cannes and Ventimiglia.

SNCF Sud Azur has been since December 15, 2024 the new operator, designated by the Region following a call for tenders procedure, of the TER lines in the Azur sector (Les Arcs-Menton and Grasse-Cannes La Bocca-Vintimille), with ambitious targets of 98% in terms of punctuality and respect for capacity.

These two additional trains, with a capacity of nearly 500 seats each (i.e. around 1,000 people in total) will be allocated to the rolling fleet serving the Principality with a view to strengthening the transport plan during peak hours (4 long trains per day). morning and evening between Cannes and Monaco) and to clock traffic every quarter of an hour all day (124 TER/day in both directions in Monaco).

Their acquisition contributes to the objective shared between the Region and the Principality of improving the rail service to the Monaco Monte-Carlo station, the third station in the region in terms of TER traffic with 8 million passengers in 2023 (+ 20% over the first 7 months of 2024). Its attendance is constantly increasing and the TER constitutes the most important alternative to the use of private vehicles for working people and visitors to access Monaco.

The upkeep and maintenance of these two trains, which should be put into service in the 2nd quarter of 2027, will be carried out at the new Nice Saint-Roch maintenance center and no longer in Marseille, thus reducing equipment downtime.

It is in the context of the close partnership which links the Principality and the Region that Monaco has joined forces with the Region for the acquisition of two trainsets, the financing of which will be provided to Sud Azur through the payment of a lump sum grant of a maximum overall amount of 40.4 million euros. Commissioning costs are financed by the Region.