Locotracteur CAF Pour RATP

On 6 February 2017 CAF announced that it had been awarded a 65 million EUR contract for 12 electric shunters for RATP, with an option for six more. CAF did not release any technical information regarding these locomotives. However, these 1,000 kW locomotives will be designed for operation off 1.5 kV DC for the RATP network (while SNCF lines in the Paris district are electrified at 25 kV AC) and will also be equipped with NiCd batteries, which will enable autonomous operation. 

The objective is to replace the diesel shunters currently used in RATP’s depots, resulting in significant reductions in noise and noxious exhaust emissions. Construction was announced to start in mid-2018 at CAF’s factory at Bagnères de Bigorre, in southwest France, with deliveries beginning in the first quarter of 2019 and taking 24 months.

However, RATP has not yet received any of these locomotives and the manufacturer answered us: „Regarding the contract for RATP shunting locomotives, we inform you that CAF does not usually provide detailed information on the current project situation.“ Only the press release issued on 14 January 2021 announcing awarding the contract for RATP’s MI20 EMUs states that „CAF is currently manufacturing these locomotives at the Bagnères de Bigorre works“.