French infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau is planning to procure a third catenary renewal train. The company is currently faced with the prospect of renewing a substantial proportion of the overhead line equipment across the French railway network. The subsidiary of French state railway SNCF has already started operations with two automated catenary renewal trains. Since 2010, there have been an increasing number of incidents and delays related to the catenary network, many of which can be attributed to the age of the overhead lines. The average age of the 1.5 kV DC lines in the south and east of the country is currently around 75 years, while the more recent 25 kV 50 Hz AC network in the north has an average age of 43 years.
