MOROCCO IS ACCELERATING! feature - Alstom

06
2011
AT
©
Alstom Transport’s
contribution to the future of rail
MOROCCO IS
ACCELERATING!

Interview
.Italo, il tuo treno
Interview with Luca Cordero
di Montezemolo
Pages 2-7
Feature
Morocco is accelerating!
Pages 8-21
Events
Signature at the summit –
The Alstom high and very high-speed
offer at Innotrans –
Badge of trust
Pages 22-27
Society
Great stations: from train to agora
Pages 28-35
Technology
Sizing up the double-decker
Pages 36-43
Words and design
Back to the future
Interview with Ora-Ïto
Pages 44-51
Culture
Combining train and boat
Pages 52-59
Travel
Moscow-Nice, revisiting a myth
Pages 60-67
Guest
The Allais Paradox
Maurice Allais
Pages 68-71
AT Magazine is published by the communication department of Alstom Transport. © - ALSTOM 2011. ALSTOM, the ALSTOM logo and all alternative versions are the brands and trademarks of ALSTOM.
TGV is a trademark registered by SNCF. The other names mentioned, registered or not, belong to their respective owners. Technical and other forms of data contained in the present document are given for
the purposes of information only. ALSTOM reserves the right to reconsider or change this data at any time and without warning. Copyright registration: 1 st quarter 2011. Publication Director: Christine Rahard.
Editorial Director: Virginie Hourdin. Editor in chief: Laurence Caillet. Associate editor: Agnès Vincent and Émilie Pervin. The articles and illustrations published in this issue can not be reproduced without prior
authorisation. Design-Publishing: In Fine. Computer graphics: idé. Touching up: Paul Biota. Photographs: © Alstom Transport – ONCF – A. Fevrier – NTV – iStockphoto – Getty Images/Vincenzo Lombardo,
Hisham Ibrahim – Alstom Transport/Design & Styling – AFP/L.Bonaventure – TOMA/F. Sautereau, V. Baillais, G. Bernardi, R. Dautigny, P. Eranian, C. Sasso – ABACA/JB.Lemal – CFF – P. Sautelet – Studio Ota Ïto –
Danmarks Jernbanemuseum/Geert Mørk – Thomas Rønn – Éric Dumoulin – Studio Harcourt Paris. DR. Printed in France on Satimat Green, coated paper 60% recycled and 40% FSC Virgin Fibres
(Forest Stewardship Council).

Modernity and
very high speed
Morocco is accelerating! The construction of a high-speed line and the arrival
soon of 14 Duplex trains are symbolic... You will discover in the interview with
Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Managing Director of the ONCF, the reasoning behind
a decision that will shape the future of this rapidly growing country.
Another distinguished guest of this issue, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo,
President of NTV, is also embarking on the high-speed adventure and describes
his dreams for Italian rail.
Stations are also given the spotlight in this issue. Integrating them in our
twentieth century cities to serve new forms of mobility has become a major
issue for society as the Senator Fabienne Keller and Sophie Boissard, Managing
Director Gares & Connexions at the SNCF explain to us.
Inventing new, more personal and more environmentally friendly ways to travel,
is on the agenda for our design guest, Ora Ïto. Follow him on an incredible
journey towards the future!
Finally, read our tribute to the great economist Maurice Allais, Nobel Prize winner
1988, and his last comments on his famous paradox of the Calais Passenger.
And, as always, a magnifi cent journey on board the luxurious, reborn Moscow-
Nice…
Enjoy your reading.
Philippe Mellier
President Alstom Transport

interview
2
.ITALO,
IL TUO TRENO*
* .Italo, your train. [pronounced: “Dot Italo”]
The liberalisation of rail
has permitted new private
operators, such as NTV,
to enter the market. What will
their role be, compared
with the incumbent operators?
Luca di Montezemolo. Competition should
always be considered as this country’s
most precious asset, because of its positive
effects on the market and also because
of the constant requirement to innovate and
to improve which it imposes on companies.
In the last two years, NTV has attempted
to understand, through several market studies,
passengers’ point of view and behaviour.
We realised that the arrival of a new rail
operator generates very high expectations:
more effi cient services, better quality, greater
technology, competitive prices and more
attention to passengers. Who could possibly
disagree with these wishes?
Nonetheless, the real advantage, the leap
in quality ensured for consumers by the arrival
of NTV, is the right and power to choose!
This is the real Copernican revolution
in the rail transport sector. The possibility
to choose between operators can only start
a race to try to do better, to increase
competition among the different actors and
it is the customer who will benefi t from this.
In other words, we are talking about
the principle of competition, a harmless virus
which, in Italy, also needs to be massively
injected into other sectors. You only have
to consider that the announcement
of the arrival of a competitor in the very
high-speed sector suffi ced to encourage
the incumbent operator to do better.
The result is that, one year before we launch
our business, their service has already
improved.
How do you think the market
is going to change? And what
will NTV’s contribution be
to changing the rail system?
In the 1960s, Italy’s development was
organised around a very modern
infrastructure network, with the AutoSole,
the Motorway of the Sun, from Milan
to Naples. It is highly likely that, in the future,
this role will be played by high-speed rail lines,
which will considerably reduce journey times
and bring people, cities and business centres
closer. Fifty years ago this was the exact
role played by the motorways.
This accelerated mobility will have positive
effects on people’s social lives and daily
routines. For example: if to travel between
two cities, for instance Florence and Bologna
�

INTERVIEW WITH
LUCA CORDERO
DI MONTEZEMOLO,
PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD
OF DIRECTORS OF NUOVO TRASPORTO
VIAGGIATORI (NTV).
3

4
interview
�
or perhaps Milan and Turin, it was to take us
just over thirty minutes, we could allow
ourselves to travel much more frequently than
is conceivable today. This would therefore
create new mobility and work opportunities,
encouraged by this new infrastructure.
This change in rail transport will open up new
prospects, new scenarios. It is also possible,
in the medium or long-term, that other private
operators may decide to invest in this business.
Personally, I am convinced that high speed
has not yet deployed its full potential, and that
consequently the market will inevitably grow.
NTV will have a leading position and very
signifi cant market share in the high-speed
sector. However, as this cake will soon begin
to rise, at the same time as consumers’
needs, I am certain the state operator will not
be affected. There will be opportunities
for everyone and it is the passengers who
will benefi t.
Why did you decide to enter
the rail sector?
What opportunities did you and
your associates at NTV see?
A dream and a certainty: the dream of rapid
ecological mobility and the certainty that
the good old train represents a challenge
for the future. When my associates and
I began to consider investing in trains,
we became convinced by these two factors.
We are confi dent that this century
is destined to be the century of rail.
Economic factors, increases in car traffi c
and greater sensitivity to problems
related to the environment and to pollution,
have given a new impetus to national
and international rail services, which
are increasing in number and quality.
Rail – and the European policy for developing
multinational intermodal transport through
the famous European rail corridors is proof
of this – has become strategic and this will
increasingly be the case in the future.
How will the train of
the future compete with other
modes of transport?
High-speed technology has offered the train
a second youth by making it extremely
competitive, not only compared to the plane,
“ We are in high speed because, in Italy, it is the only
sector that has become open to competition.”
but also compared to the car. The train will
benefi t from a much wider customer base,
which guarantees, as I said a moment ago,
room for competition between several actors.
In Europe, certain rail lines are already
being used more than air services.
The fi rst that come to mind are the Paris-Lyon
line in France, or the Madrid-Seville line
in Spain, where the plane has lost the fi ght
against the train. Italian high speed presents
different characteristics because it connects
cities that are 100 or 200 kilometres apart:
on these routes, high speed is very
competitive, even compared to the car.
But it is not only a matter of speed:
thanks to modern communication
technologies the train allows passengers
to make better use of their journey time.
It becomes a true offi ce with computers
and telephones, or simply a place
for entertainment. NTV is counting on
these factors: passengers on the AGV .Italo
will always be connected and they will also
be able to enjoy live on-board television.
In short, the challenge we have decided
to take up is to propose a travel concept

as if you were sitting in your own living room,
in comfort, and I would even say pampered.
Does NTV intend to form
partnerships to develop its
services abroad?
One thing at a time! Just now we are entirely
focused on getting started. Our efforts,
and I think those of Alstom as well,
are concentrated on obtaining certifi cation
for our train, to be on time for our
appointment with the market. This is our
short-term objective. Once we have attained
it, we will be able to consider possible
international development strategies.
Nonetheless, we consider that this would
be a natural evolution.
�
AGV .Italo, the future NTV
very high-speed train.
5

6
interview
�
Are you also interested by
other forms of rail transport?
Could NTV enter the urban
or regional transport markets?
We are in high speed because, in Italy,
it is the only sector that has become open
to competition. For us, this is a 100% market
operation: we are committing our equity
and we are not receiving any state subsidy
or protection, in the event that we
do not meet our objectives. In other words,
we do not have a safety net – just our equity,
values and ideas.
If other sectors are opened up to competition,
such as urban or regional transport, we will
certainly examine the possibility of becoming
involved in new challenge. The network will
offer many exciting opportunities for services.
If in the future these markets are opened
up to competition, management of services
will be awarded through tenders, with
rail companies given licences and safety
certifi cates to transport people.
The objective of the tender will be
to guarantee a minimum service level, at
the least cost for the State. There will be many
advantages: private companies will not
only be able to offer a more effi cient service,
but equally a more profi table one; the State
will also be relieved of some of its costs;
fi nally, passengers will benefi t from better
travelling conditions.
What does the .Italo brand
represent for NTV?
The .Italo brand is very important. It not only
embodies our way of thinking and our project,
it also expresses our dream and our
commitment to, and affection for, Italy.
We are famous in Italy for our way of life and
this reputation is based on quality, design
and innovation. .Italo represents all these
characteristics: we want to offer passengers
a new way of life. And, in this respect, our
brand has a very immediate emotional impact.
Of course, it is still not very well-known,
which is entirely normal, given
that commercial service has not yet begun.
We are however confi dent that .Italo will
soon fi nd its place in passengers’ hearts.
“ I am sure that in twenty years NTV will be
a major operator, not only in Italy, but also
at European level.”
What type of passenger
is the AGV .Italo targeting?
Let’s be clear: this will not be a train for
the wealthy and for businessmen. We will
have all sorts of passengers: families,
students, managers and tourists. It is not
a coincidence that the slogan we have
chosen is .Italo, il tuo treno [.Italo, your train].
Our objective is to propose a quality product,
which is attractive and competitively priced.
As I said, our marketing department,
from the start, commissioned surveys
to understand passengers’ expectations
and demands. We would like to offer a service
that meets the market’s expectations.
It is important to be prepared to change one’s
mind and to learn from experience, without
preconceived ideas. If we are able to listen
to our customers, and we will always do our
best to do this, we will also succeed
in satisfying them.
To conclude, how do you see
NTV in twenty years time?
In twenty years? Allow me to indulge my
fantasies: I can imagine the AGV .Italo silently

arriving in a station, our uniformed hostesses
getting ready, the passengers smiling and
satisfi ed and the complaints box empty. And
who knows how many passengers we will
have transported in twenty years… A great
many I hope. But, in fact, the most fascinating
aspect of an entrepreneur’s work, their real
challenge, is to create value. To establish
tenable realities with prospects and a future.
I am sure that in twenty years NTV will be
a major operator, not only in Italy, but also
at a European level. But before imagining
the future, it is necessary to take the fi rst step,
and try as hard as we can..
Assembling the AGV NTV at Alstom.
7

feature
8
MOROCCO IS
ACCELERATING!

10
feature
“I saw steel horses fl ying through the desert… Their passage like
that of time... If one day you meet these horses, say to yourself that
the future has arrived at a gallop.” The advertising message of
the ‘Offi ce national des chemins de fer du Maroc’ (ONCF) rings
like a superb allegory. It clearly indicates the Moroccan State’s
determination to continue the unprecedented modernisation
programme begun nearly a decade ago and to equip the country,
in the next few years, with very high-speed rail services.
Dossier prepared by Catherine Fressoz and Éric Dumoulin
On gaining independence in 1956, Morocco
inherited 1,907 kilometres of railway track built
at the beginning of the twentieth century
(ref. box opposite). This network runs like
a long corridor connecting, from east
to south, Oujda, near the Algerian frontier,
with Marrakech via Fes, Kenitra, Rabat and
Casablanca. Branch lines serve Tangiers
in the north, Safi and El Jadida on the Atlantic
coast and Oued-Zem and Bouarfa inland.
All the country’s major cities and its main
ports are served, with the exception of Nador,
in the north. On the other hand,
beyond Marrakech, there is nothing...

Only roads and planes can access the tourist
sites of Essaouira, Ouarzazate and Agadir
or even make it possible to penetrate
the immense Sahara. The construction work
on a 954 km ‘line of unity’, between
Marrakech, Agadir and Laayoune, has come
to nothing.
The Moroccan network serves both
passenger and freight transport, with
the exception of a track in the north-east,
between Oujda and Bouarfa, specifi cally
dedicated to phosphate convoys,
the Kingdom’s most important industrial
asset. For nearly forty years, a few specifi c
events contributed to the development of
trade in this precious mineral and to meeting
Moroccans’ requirements for mobility
between the country’s political and economic
centres. The Benguérir-Youssoufi a-Safi line
was electrifi ed between 1982 and1984.
The construction of 102 kilometres of track
between Nouaceur and Jorf Lasfar provided
a new shipping outlet for phosphate from
1987 onwards. In 1984, the ‘Aouita’, the Train
Navette Rapide (TNR) entered into service
When a train writes history…
*Epic: Industrial and commercial state company.
Marrakech station.
on the Casablanca Port-Rabat Ville line,
connecting the two cities in under an hour.
Ten years later, it was extended as far
as Sale and then Kenitra. In 1995,
the fi rst air-conditioned electric rail cars
appeared on this successful line,
a concept which the ONCF repeated
for the Casablanca-Mohammed V
Airport service.
It was the whistle blasts of one of the fi rst steam locomotives in operation in Morocco which, in 1907,
were to turn the Kingdom’s modern history upside down. The little French Decauville served to transport,
from a nearby quarry, the heavy stones needed to build the port of Casablanca. In a troubled political
climate, its work stirred up the discontent, or even fury of the population: It disturbed the dead resting
in the Muslim cemetery of Sidi Belyou that it passed. Eight European workers were assassinated,
Casablanca occupied and the Protectorate declared soon after.
In 1910, two small mining lines entered service. From 1916 onwards one of the most extensive narrow
gauge (600 mm) networks in the world was developed with 1,200 km of lines. This was rapidly converted
to standard gauge (1,435 mm). Three private franchises, the Compagnie des chemins de fer du Maroc
(CFM), the Compagnie du chemin de fer du Maroc oriental (CMO) and the Compagnie franco-espagnole
du chemin de fer de Tanger à Fès (TF) shared the network’s operation from 1923 onwards. A fi rst line
was electrifi ed four years later, steam traction turning out to be unsuited to the climate. This slow
modernisation continued until the eve of the Second World War. The Anglo-American landing in North Africa
on 8 November 1942 led to intensive use of the network for military operations. After the confl ict,
the general conversion of rolling stock to diesel was intensifi ed, leading to the disappearance of the last
steam locomotives. When Morocco was granted independence, in 1956, it inherited a network which was
relatively modern and in good condition. In 1963, the government bought the three private franchises
to create the Offi ce national des chemins de fer du Maroc (ONCF), an Epic* placed under the supervision
of the Ministry of Equipment and Transport. A new era was beginning…
�
Morocco in a few
fi gures (2009)
Area of 710,000 km 2
31,4 million inhabitants, 54%
of whom are under 25 years old.
GNP of 65 billion euros (2, 070 euros
per inhabitant), 61% of which is
contributed by services (manufactured
products and tourism), 22%
by industry (phosphate mines and
canning) and 17% by agriculture.
Growth rate: 5.2%.
Unemployment rate: 9.1%.
Demographic sources: UNFPA/ PNUD;
economic: DG European Union Treasury.
11

12
feature
The Moroccan
rail network:
It is comprised of about
2,200 km of standard gauge
track (1,435 mm), of which
1,060 km are electrifi ed
in 3 kV direct current and
600 km are double track.
The maximum speed attained
by trainsets is 180 km/h
on certain sections.
�
Essaouira
www.oncf.ma
Safi
Modern era
Agadir
To Laayoune
Atlantic
Settat
Ocean
Benguerir
In the opening decade of this century a new
Morocco emerged. Behind the magnifi cent
palaces, the abandoned desert ksars and
the lively souks in medinas, a modern country
began to face Europe. King Mohammed VI,
after acceding to the throne in 1999,
encouraged the country’s modernisation.
The economy has seen a period of constant
growth (averaging + 5% per year) and has
hardly been affected by the recent worldwide
economic crisis. The State is attempting
to reinforce the three pillars of the economy:
agriculture, industry and services, in particular
tourism. It has several objectives: improving
the integration of the regions of Tangiers,
in the north, and Marrakech, in the south,
until now too isolated from Rabat and
Casablanca, reinforcing infrastructure
Rabat
Ouarzazate
to favour sustainable development and above
all attracting tourists and foreign capital,
essential to the country’s future. The deep
water container and passenger port of Tanger
Méditerranée, located 14 kilometres from
Kenitra
Spain, entered service in 2007. The same
SPAIN
Casablanca Cas
Meknes
Fes
El-Jadida
Marrakech
Existing lines Planned line
M O R O C C O
Beni-Mellal
Tanger
Taza
Mediterranean Sea
Taourirt
year, the new Terminal 2 at the Mohammed
V-Casablanca Airport, an important regional
hub serving all of West Africa, was built.
The Mediterranean bypass connecting
Tangiers to Saidia is being completed.
The motorway from Marrakech to Agadir
opened in June 2010. Work on the express
way between El Jadida and Essaouira
has begun. In the last few years there
has been an entire series of inaugurations.
The ports of Nador and Safi are being
developed and fourteen regional airports
renovated. Throughout the territory,
cranes, cement mixers and bulldozers
are busy constructing new towns, structural
networks and tourist centres.
Rail gathers speed
Oujda
Journey time
Casablanca – Tangiers
Rabat – Tangiers
Casablanca – Marrakech
Rabat – Marrakech
Rabat – Fes
Casablanca – Agadir
Tanger – Fes
Fes – Oujda
The role of rail, in this context, will be decisive.
Led by the Minister of Equipment and
Transport and the new ONCF management
team (ref. box opposite), the public authorities
are investing heavily in a programme
to modernise infrastructure and signalling.
Between 2005 and 2009, several single track
lines were doubled: Casablanca-Fes,
To Oran
100 km
ALGERIA
2007 2030
5h45
4h45
3h15
4h20
3h30
-
5h30
5h10
1h30
1h00
1h05
1h40
1h00
2h35
1h40
1h20

The ONCF runs
ever faster
In 2009, the Offi ce national
des chemins de fer du Maroc
transported 29.6 million passengers
– twice as many as in 2002 –
and 29 million tons of goods.
This is the result of an 18 billion DH
(€1.5 billion) fi ve-year investment
programme to reinforce and
modernise the network, renovate
equipment and modernise stations.
The operator is preparing to double
the stakes under a new fi ve-year
contract signed with the State
to transport 50 million passengers
in 2015 and as many tons of freight.
32.8 billion DH (€2.7 billion) will be
allocated to launch major projects
such as the LGV Tangiers-
Casablanca. This policy of continuous
progress, led by Mohamed Rabie
Khlie, the ONCF’s Managing Director,
assisted by a team of enthusiastic
young managers trained at the SNCF*
school, has radically changed
the operator’s image in the eyes of
its users (ref. interview page 17).
The ONCF inventory of rolling stock:
• 117 line locomotives (passenger and
goods) and 72 shunting locomotives
• 14 electric multiple units comprised
of three single-decker cars
• 24 recent double deck electric
multiple units (400 seats)
• 372 passenger cars
• 6,040 goods wagons. Maintenance
of electric traction equipment
is carried out at the Casablanca
workshop and diesel equipment
at the Meknes workshop.
The Marrakech, Oujda, Sidi Kacem,
Rabat and Fes depots perform
everyday maintenance.
* SNCF: French national railways.
Casablanca-Kenitra, Casablanca-El Jadida
and Fes-Sidi-Kacem, while at the same time
services were reinforced between these major
cities. In the North, new services are opening
up the business zone of Tangiers-Tetouan,
with intermodal hubs to favour freight and
improved passenger services. 45 km of track
between Tangiers and Port Tanger Med now
connect this vast port complex to the city’s
airport and to the national rail network.
The new Taourit-Nador line – 110 km and
7 stations – serves various industrial units.
At the same time, electrifi cation works and
the creation of 45 km of shortcuts on
the Tangiers-Casablanca line have made
it possible to reduce the journey time between
the two cities from 5 hours 45 minutes
to 4 hours 10 minutes. 24 trains each day
– compared with 10 previously – provide
services from Tangiers to various Moroccan
cities. 80 km of track are also being planned
to connect Saidia to the national network,
via Nador.
On mainlines, the ONCF has increased
the capacity of its fl eet, with 24 double-decker
electric railcars each with 400 seats.
Punctuality has been improved. The operator
has also built 20 new stations and
renovated 40 existing stations, including
those of Marrakech and Casa Voyageurs,
inaugurated in 2008. This renovation
enhances traditional station architecture
while equally proposing modern services
in ‘rail centres’, vast shopping malls which will
soon be equipped with Wi-Fi. An improved
marketing and sales strategy now offers
through trains on certain lines and adapts
frequencies to passengers’ needs. The ONCF
is also offering rail passes for the young,
the elderly, tourists and Moroccans living
abroad. Lastly, it has chosen a yield
management system introducing different
prices for peak times, line frequentation,
and so on… Through this very innovative
policy, it is strengthening the social utility
of this mode of transport whilst also
encouraging greater mobility for rural
populations, who used to travel only
�
Alstom Transport in Morocco
40 years presence, 100 employees
Main rolling stock contracts:
1999: 27 electric locomotives.
2007: 20 new generation Prima electric
locomotives for freight and passenger
transport. First deliveries in 2010.
2007: 22 Citadis double trainsets
for the Rabat-Sale tramway put into
service in 2011.
2009: 74 Citadis trams for
the Casablanca tramway; entry
into service planned for 2012.
2010: 14 TGV Duplex trainsets
for the fi rst section of the LGV
Tangiers-Casablanca.
Main contracts to improve
the network:
Modernising signalling on 800 km
(Sidi El Aidi-Marrakech
and Kenitra-Oujda lines) of track and at
60 stations, including Casablanca.
Doubling track on the Fes-Meknes line.
Partnerships signed
with engineering and technical
universities in Morocco to support
training for rail professions:
Since autumn 2010, two Moroccan
engineering students have benefi tted
from a 20,000 euro grant from Alstom
to attend, in alternation with practical
work experience on its sites,
the ‘Rail Master’ programme created
by the École nationale
des Ponts et Chaussées and
the Université de Valenciennes.
Projects are also in progress with
the École Hassania de Travaux publics
(EHTP) in Casablanca, the École
Mohammadia d’ingénieurs (EMI)
and the École nationale supérieure
d’enseignement technique (ENSET)
in Rabat.
13

14
feature
�
occasionally due to a lack of means. The train
is therefore in the process of becoming
an extremely credible alternative to the car,
particularly in a context of rising petrol prices.
The results have not taken long in coming.
Between 2002 and 2008, passenger traffi c
surged from 14 to 28 million passengers
annually. A doubling rarely seen in the rail
world! 202 trains now cross the territory
every day, compared with 110 in 2005.
Nevertheless, the network has gained a mere
400 kilometres since 1956.
A major leap into the future
The Moroccan population, which is extremely
young, is growing rapidly (ref. column
page 11). Better educated, longing to succeed
and open to the world, it would like to be
ever more mobile. The forecast for changes
in rail ridership is moreover impressive:
30 million passengers in 2010, 50 million
in 2015 and 174 million in 2050.
How is the State planning to cope
with this forecasted explosion? By taking
a major decision, an important fi rst for
the African continent: to equip Morocco
with very high-speed lines. If these are
to modernise the network and bring
the Kingdom’s strategic poles nearer
to each other, it is advisable to choose
the best technology in the world…
From 2015, the LGV Atlantic will connect
in 2 hours 10 minutes, instead
of 4 hours 10 minutes, the three main cities
of the north-south-axis: Tangiers-Rabat-
Casablanca. In a second phase, Marrakech
will be brought to within 1 hour 15 minutes
of Casablanca compared with 3 hours 30
minutes today. The line will then be extended
to Agadir, with a branch line to Essaouira.
By 2030, the LGV Trans-Maghreb will
connect Casablanca with Oujda in just
3 hours, via Meknes and Fes.
Through this decisive choice, Morocco
is making the train a key tool to develop
its territory and structure its economy.
High speed will enable the ONCF to transport
rapidly and in safety 120 million Moroccans
and tourists each year. It will also contribute
to developing the country’s freight business,
whose economic model is changing radically.
The state operator intends to become a key
actor in Moroccan logistics by diversifying
goods transport, until now focused
on phosphates (in 2005, 78% of freight
volume). It has reorganised the logistics chain
and services to divert from road the major
volume of container traffi c generated by

the ports of Tangier Med and Nador.
In addition, the new LGV Tangiers-Casablanca
will soon free passenger lines, which
the operator will then be able to devote
to freight to supply ports and the numerous
logistics platforms being created in the interior
of the country. The ONCF is also
the fi rst African operator to be equipped
with Alstom’s Prima II, polyvalent locomotives
with extremely strong traction power.
To avoiding offering its customers a fl eet
with an inconsistent level of service,
the ONCF is also accelerating renovation
and maintenance of its old stock while
continuing to invest in electrifying
the network and in modernising signalling.
The Citadis, a lever
to make cities attractive
Urban transport is also benefi tting from
this dynamic process. During the twentieth
century, the population of Morocco
�
The railway station in Rabat.
15

16
feature
The Tangiers-Casablanca line: Duplex in sight
On 10 December 2010, Morocco signed a contract with Alstom to supply 14 double-decker (Duplex) very
high-speed trainsets. These trains will run on the Tangiers-Casablanca line which serves the north of the Kingdom.
Entry into commercial service is planned for December 2015. The Duplex Morocco trainsets are doubledecker
trains designed for the ONCF and adapted to the operating conditions defi ned by the operator.
They will be operated at 320 km/h under 25 kV between Tangiers and Kenitra, the fi rst 200 km section
of the Moroccan very high-speed network. Between Kenitra and Casablanca, the trainsets will run on
the conventional network at speeds of 160 km/h or 220 km/h under 3 kV, depending on the operating speed
planned by the Moroccan customer in 2015. The very high-speed service between Tangiers and Casablanca
will reduce the journey time from 4 hours 45 minutes today to 2 hours 10 minutes and transport up to 10 million
passengers. With capacity for 533 passengers, each trainset will comprise eight coaches, including two
in fi rst class, one restaurant car and fi ve cars in second class. The interior and exterior design, customised
to meet the Moroccan operator’s requirements, will express modernity and quality, comfort and serenity.
Particular attention will be paid to easy access to cars and to passenger safety.
� grew
The future tramway between Rabat and Sale.
sixfold. Because of massive exodus
from the countryside, half of the country’s
31 million inhabitants now live in cities that are
growing exponentially: 4 million inhabitants
for Casablanca, 1.8 million for Rabat,
1.4 million for Fes, 700,000 for Tangiers…
Congested and polluted by car traffi c,
these large cities are suffocating and
companies are stalling to establish bases
there. To create an attractive public transport
system which respects the environment,
fi rst Rabat, then Casablanca decided
to follow the example of Tunis and install
the fi rst tramways in the history of Morocco.
This sustainable method of transport adapts
perfectly to renovation and improvement
projects while also providing real social utility.
From 2011 onwards, two lines
– respectively 11.5 km for 22 stations and
7.5 km for 14 stations – will connect Rabat
to Sale, linking the city with its seafront and
each day offering a quality service
to 180, 000 users. Alstom’s Citadis will
contribute to lending the imperial city a new
unity, lacking at present in its development
on either side of the Bouregreg Valley.
In Casablanca, the tramway will become
a part of a vast transport network which,
by 2030, will converge at the new station
of Casa-Port, today a building site, to include
high-speed trains, mainline trains, suburban
trains, metros, tramways and busses.
A fi rst line – 28 km for 40 stations crossing
the city from east to west – which will be
operational in 2012, will provide
the anticipated 250,000 daily users, access
to major facilities: universities, stations,
city centre, business district, hospitals,
shopping malls, Technopark, Grand Stade.
Tangiers, Agadir and Marrakech are already
approaching private investors to become
part of this great adventure in turn.
A foretaste of intermodality for the entire
country…

ONCF, AN
ACCELERATOR
FOR MOBILITY
INTERVIEW WITH
MOHAMED RABIE KHLIE,
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE ONCF.
17

18
feature
Why has Morocco chosen a very
high-speed line between Tangiers
and Casablanca?
I would fi rst like to emphasise that this choice
was made after a great deal of refl ection,
and that it is a logical and natural feature
of our country’s rail development. For many
years now, in fact, passenger traffi c has seen
a two fi gure growth. Frequentation on the
Tangiers-Casablanca route – now saturated –
for instance, increased by more than 70%
between 2002 and 2010.
This new high-speed line will connect
two of the country’s major economic poles
in 2 hours 10 minutes compared with
4 hours 45 minutes today. We will be providing
services every hour compared with every
two hours today. Consequently,
the conventional line, freed of traffi c,
will be dedicated to freight and will be able
to meet the very substantial traffi c
demands between the port of Tanger Med
and Casablanca.
We are expecting a major transfer
of customers: the line’s current passengers
will be attracted by this new offer which
will bring them real added value in terms
of journey times, frequency and comfort.
Another detail: the train will be accessible
to almost everyone thanks to a modular
pricing policy. A yield management system
will take into account our customers’
purchasing power. Prices will be adapted for
each target, depending on whether the period
is peak or off peak, on journey frequency,
and so on… This price optimisation is part
of a well thought out and balanced
business model. We know already that
its socio-economic profi tability is better
than that of a conventional service.
All the major European intercity
(more than 150 km) rail projects currently
in progress will be very high speed.
Morocco is naturally following this trend.
I would add that this project is expected
to have very signifi cant national benefi ts.
Rabat station.

In partnership with our suppliers and partners
it will boost the entire Moroccan industrial
base, and in particular SMEs. It will favour
the development of national expertise
in the rail sector and the sector’s export,
as well as technology and technical transfer.
In this way, the high-speed train will make
a remarkable contribution to Morocco’s
positioning as a regional industrial platform
and favour the emergence of viable and
sustainable economic activities whose
infl uence will extend beyond our frontiers.
Is this strategic choice being made
to the detriment of other national rail sectors
and regional services?
No, on the contrary. The contract-programme
2005-2009 signed between the ONCF
and the State already allocated an investment
of about €1.7 billion to modernise the conven-
tional network and improve its capacity.
The target was met. The initial operating
objectives set under the contract-programme
have been considerably exceeded:
the ONCF accomplished average annual sales
of 250 million euros compared with the budg-
eted 225 million euros, with an operating
result of more than 70 million euros, compared
with an expected 44 million euros. Our
self-fi nancing capacity has notably exceeded
the level initially set.
Encouraged by these results, the ONCF
has recently signed a new contract with
the state authorities for the period 2010-2015.
This includes an investment programme
of nearly 3 billion euros, with 1.8 billion euros
allocated for the high-speed train and
1.2 billion euros for the development and
modernisation of conventional lines. We will
in this way be able to reinforce capacity on
certain priority routes: tripling track between
Casablanca and Kenitra, partial doubling
between Settat and Marrakech, electrifi cation
and modernisation for the Fes-Oujda line.
Not to mention deploying logistics platforms,
continuing to modernise stations and
to update safety and signalling systems
to make them compliant.
I would like to make one fi nal point,
more fundamental than it may appear.
What we are developing with very high
speed in terms of management expertise,
commercial know-how and project
management techniques will benefi t
all our other projects. Very high speed will
permit a major development of all services
offered, both upstream and downstream
of the journey, and will be a vehicle
for our ambition to provide quality for all our
customers, without exception. The station
renovation we have begun is an excellent
example of this. Stations will become hubs.
Everything is being conceived to favour
intelligent complementarity, the key
to intermodality: easy access car parking,
nearby taxi ranks and bus terminals and,
of course, a large number of connections
with urban and suburban rail services.
Does the intermodality you mentioned
include the many urban and
suburban projects currently in progress?
Indeed! In general, we are convinced
that enhanced access for users at each
link of the transport chain favours
the competitiveness of the entire rail sector.
For instance, the tramway stations at
Casablanca and Rabat were specifi cally
sited to be close to the railway stations,
thereby facilitating passenger transfers
and fl ows. Another example of this policy:
a major consultation was held with all
stakeholders – State, cities, local authorities,
ONCF… – to build suburban services
similar to the RER in the two urban areas.
There is a marked priority for Casablanca,
which should receive a 63 km line
for a total investment estimated at about
900 million euros.
These structural projects will only be entirely
successful, however, if they are part
of a true multimodal system, with a global
transport plan that is both consistent and
standardised. The administrative and fi nancial
arrangements are progressing and the ONCF
will be providing its know-how-for their
implementation, operation and harmonious
integration.
The Rabat station clock.
19

20
feature
�
Is this new situation infl uencing
your positioning with regards to competition
from the road or air?
In some ways. One thing is certain though:
for an equivalent transport time, the train
is much safer, much more comfortable and
generates a lot less pollution. Rail’s market
share in Morocco is constantly increasing.
Its annual frequentation has increased
by an average of 12% over the last decade,
while the overall market has grown by 6%.
Hence, a considerable gain in terms of
market share. The rail sector’s importance,
the result of an aggressive commercial
strategy, network modernisation and
the optimisation of its operations, should
intensify over the next few years.
The idea behind our 2010-2015 plan is
to constantly improve our offer and guarantee
our customers punctuality, effi ciency and
reliability. Nonetheless, we do not deny
that the car still has the lion’s share of land
transport. The country today has a motorway
network 1,500 km long. In 2015, this will reach
1,800 km. All the major urban areas will
be served, and this will mark the completion
of its extension. The path is therefore
open to a ‘co-development’ of these
two modes of transport, with a philosophy
of complementarity rather than confrontation.
The challenge is to optimise the advantages
of each mode of transport.
The situation is different for the air sector.
As distances between the main cities
in the Kingdom are short, so far we have
few domestic services. At any rate,
compared to an express train, the plane
only makes sense for distances of more
than 700 km. On major routes such
as Tangiers-Casablanca, it could under
no circumstances compete with
high-speed train travel.
What strategy are you deploying
in the freight sector, notably vis-à-vis road?
Freight throughout the world follows
an integrated end-to-end transport logic.
To respond to this, the ONCF has a subsidiary
dedicated to road transport. This strategic
choice demonstrates that we do not consider
ourselves to be in constant head-to-head
competition with road. The ONCF would like
to position rail where it is the most effi cient
and the most competitive, namely for
transporting very large volumes over long
distances. We are only competitive above
a ‘critical mass’. This explains the need
for intelligent complementarity
between different forms of freight.
For this reason we have decided to build
a number of dry ports in the centre
of the Kingdom’s major conurbations.
Given the extent of our land assets, we have
suffi cient areas to create these zones,
which will be used for unloading our convoys
and containers. We plan to build warehouses,
to facilitate goods logistics management
and to work closely with our customers
and partners. A fi rst dry port is already
in operation at Casablanca. Others will follow
it, at Marrakech, Fes, Tangiers and Oujda.
Rail is a mode of transport that cannot
be considered in isolation. The future lies
in integration. In this respect, the ONCF
is positioned as a major logistics integrator,
and we occupy an important position
in the value creation chain.
From a more general standpoint,
what are the ONCF’s medium and long-term
objectives?
Our main ambition is straightforward:
to position ourselves as the benchmark
national operator for both freight
and passenger transport and at the same
time assert ourselves as a major
economic actor which is both dynamic
and competitive. To facilitate the mobility of
people and goods will add a few additional
points of growth for our country. Our role
as an investor will contribute to building
our industrial and commercial fabric and
to creating both direct and indirect jobs,
thereby participating in the harmonious and
sustainable development of the territory.
It should also be underlined that with its
2,210 km of track, our network is considered
as one of the most developed in the region,
serving nearly 70% of the population.
We already transport more than 30 million

passengers and 36 million tons of goods
each year. Throughout our corporate project
Rihane 50 (Challenge 50), we have set
ambitious objectives for 2015: to carry
50 million passengers and 50 million tons
of freight. To accomplish this we will have
to meet fi ve major challenges: succeed
in implementing very high-speed rail
transportation, improve the competitiveness
of our logistics, reinforce our position
in the urban transport sector, develop rail’s
position as a mode of sustainable mobility
and modernise our infrastructure to adapt
to international standards.
These are all key challenges for building
the Morocco of the future.
You have recently been elected President
of the African Assembly of the International
Union of Railways. What do you plan to do
to promote rail in sub-Saharan Africa?
The continent’s rail network has 80,000 km
of track. This is an extremely low density,
about 2.7 km/1,000 km 2 . In addition,
about twenty African countries do not have
any rail network at all. Africa will therefore
have to accelerate the modernisation
and development of its infrastructures
to meet the growing mobility needs of
its populations and the growing expectations
of economic operators who have ever
increasing demands, in terms of service,
safety and competitiveness.
This is the context in which we are working,
on the basis of a concrete short-term
plan of action, focusing on increasing
awareness of the importance of developing
rail throughout our continent, organising
training sessions to improve the competences
of human resources and sharing network
know-how.
21

event
22
SIGNATURE AT
THE SUMMIT
Last October, Alstom and Transmashholding signed a contract
to supply 295 electric locomotives to Kazakh Railways.
The result of the two partners’ strategy for a sustainable presence
in Kazakhstan, this contract is the fi rst won outside Russia for
their alliance, cemented in 2009.
The order from Kazakh Railways (KTZ)
is for 200 double KZ8A freight locomotives
and 95 KZ4A passenger locomotives.
The two models benefi t from both
Alstom technology, for instance the traction
system, and also from components built by
Alstom-TMH in Russia. Among the most
powerful in the world with 8, 800 kW,
the double BoBo freight locomotives can
tow up to 9,000 tons and will be able to run
at 120 km/h. The passenger locomotives
will enable Kazakhstan for the fi rst time
to run trainsets at 200 km/h and to reduce
the journey time between Almaty and Astana
by 3 hours. The two types of locomotive
are designed to operate under temperatures
that can fall as low as – 50 °C.
The freight locomotives will be delivered from
2012 and the fi rst passenger locomotives
in 2014.
The fi rst KZ8A and KZ4A will be assembled and produced at the Belfort site (France). The future factory at Astana
(Kazakhstan) – the foundation stone of which was laid on 28 June 2010 by representatives of the Alstom-Transmashholding
partnership and Kazakh Railways – will then take over from the Belfort site. It will eventually have annual capacity
for between 50 and 80 locomotives, thereby becoming the fl agship of a modern rail industry in Kazakhstan.

Paris, 27 October 2010. In the presence of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Noursoultan Nazarbaev and the President of the French Republic,
Nicolas Sarkozy, Askar Mamin, President of Kazakh Railways, Andrey Andreev, Managing Director of Transmashholding, and Philippe Mellier,
President of Alstom Transport, sign a contract for EKZ, a joint-venture between Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), Transmashholding (TMH) and Alstom,
to supply 295 electric locomotives to Kazakh Railways.
23

24
event
SPEEDELIA, DUPLEX,
PENDOLINO AND AGV
ALSTOM’S HIGH
AND VERY
HIGH SPEED OFFER
AT INNOTRANS
Every two years, the rail world converges on
a fair in Berlin. At the most recent fair, from 21
to 24 September 2010, the fl eet operators
and managers present fl ocked to the Alstom stand
and crowded round the key products of the market’s
most complete range in the fi elds of high and
very high speed.
Innotrans, the world’s largest rail fair,
was the occasion for Alstom to show
the 106,000 visitors the extent of its offer
in high and very high-speed trains,
from the Pendolino to the AGV or Speedelia.
A model of this new Alstom non-articulated
very high-speed platform, designed
to run at a commercial speed of 360 km/h
and with capacity for 600 seated passengers,
was exhibited on the Alstom stand.
Outside, a Pendolino trainsets attracted
a continuous fl ow of visitors, particularly
interested by the demonstration of Tiltronix,
the train’s active tilting system. Near by,
Alstom experts presented to journalists,
rail operators and fl eet managers a prototype
of Prima II, the most recent of the Alstom
locomotives, able to reach 140 km/h
in its freight version and 200 km/h
in the passenger version.
The Pendolino, exhibited outside.

Model of the future AGV .Italo.
The model of Speedelia, the new Alstom
very high-speed platform.
25

26
event
BADGE OF TRUST
With 47 out of 52 trains in service every day,
the Pendolino fl eet in operation on the UK’s
West Coast Main Line is one of the most
intensively-used in the world, covering almost
17 million miles per year. In recognition
of the strong working relationship between
the two companies, which underpins the
delivery of this world-class intercity service,
Virgin Trains invited Alstom to design a special
branding for one of the trainsets and to
rename it Alstom Pendolino. Commenting
on the invitation, Paul Robinson, Managing
Director Alstom Transport UK and Ireland
said “We fought throughout last winter
to enable Virgin to maintain their services
on the London Glasgow line, when many other
trains were blocked by ice or unable to
run in the snow. This undoubtedly contributed
to Virgin’s highly symbolic decision to
propose joint branding for the train.”
Alstom selected the newly branded train
for a special mission in a further illustration
of cross-industry partnership aimed
at bringing benefi ts to passengers.
Alstom Pendolino is fi tted with pantograph
and track monitoring equipment which
provides valuable data to train maintainer,
operator and infrastructure operator to help
support improvements in system reliability.

London. 16 September 2010. Tony Collins, Chief Executive Virgin Trains,
and Paul Robinson, Managing Director Alstom Transport UK & Ireland, unveiled
the special branding on one of the Pendolino trainsets operated on the West Coast
Main Line (United Kingdom). The train, decorated with a livery in the colours
of the two brands, confi rms the rail operator’s trust in its supplier.
27

society
28
GREAT STATIONS:
FROM TRAIN TO AGORA
Fabienne Keller, Senator of the Bas-Rhin, is the author of a report
titled ‘The contemporary station’, presented to the French Prime
Minister on 10 March 2009. Sophie Boissard is Managing
Director Gares & Connexions at the SNCF. Two points of view:
a politician’s and an engineer’s. A single objective: make the great
French stations, cathedrals of the nineteenth century, places
of mobility and well-being for twenty-fi rst century users.
A fi ve billion euro challenge.

Fabienne Keller,
Senator for the Bas-Rhin.
1979: École polytechnique.
1979: Corvette Captain French
Navy Reserve.
1984: École nationale du génie
rural, des eaux et des forêts.
1985: Master of Arts in Economics
(Berkeley).
1985: Responsible for managing
the French cereal market
at the Ministry of Agriculture.
1988: Responsible for fi nance
for the agriculture and fi shing sector
of the Treasury Department
of the Ministry of Finance.
1989: Managing Director
Crédit Industriel d’Alsace-Lorraine.
1996: Managing Director
Crédit Commercial de France.
2001: Mayor of Strasbourg
and President Deligate of
the Communauté urbaine
de Strasbourg.
2005: Senator for the Bas-Rhin.
Some two billion passengers come and go
each year in the 3,000 stations of the French
network (ref. box page 30). A fi gure that
is even higher if one includes non-travellers,
but a fi gure that is diffi cult to ascertain
for the entire country. Measurements carried
out at Lyon Part-Dieu, for example, show
that 40% of the people in the station are not
there to take a train. For Fabienne Keller,
this station, located in the heart of
a business district, is also a stopping-off
place for shopping and services.
Stations – and in particular major stations –
are more than just rail centres:
“The notion of a ‘major station’ does not
refer to the station’s size but above all
to the meeting, in addition to rail, of different
modes of transport. The major station
therefore always combines intermodality
and a service offer that aims to make
waiting time both agreeable and productive.”
In a station such as Strasbourg, a town
where Fabienne Keller was the Mayor
for a long time, we therefore
fi nd very high-speed, mainline and regional
line rail transportation, plus regional
and intercommunal transport by bus,
tramway or metro, and not forgetting bicycles,
less encumbering than cars. “Lastly,”
she recalls, “we also fi nd people on foot,
who are often forgotten in stations. In fact,
the main priority in developing stations
should be the person with reduced mobility,
the person on foot with their luggage,
gentle modes of transport, such as bicycles,
then collective, urban and interurban modes,
taxis, car sharing, carpooling and, last of all,
the individual car occupant who leaves,
when he parks at a station, a 16 m 2 mark.
This order of priorities should dictate
distances to the major station’s platforms:
bicycle ranks are placed nearest,
then short-term parking and car sharing,
taxis, with collective access very close
and then, further away, parking space
for individual parking.” �
29

30
society
�
Complex worlds…
Although new stations are being built, such
as those along high-speed tracks, the great
majority of French stations were designed
and built according to a model of organisation
dating from the nineteenth century. Adding
on twenty-fi rst century services to this model
is not easy. The paradox of rail is that
it is a service industry which requires, right
in the city centre, the production processes
of heavy industry – track equipment,
train depots, etc. – most of which also date
from the nineteenth century and require large
areas of space. “Modernising a station
to provide fl uid and functional operations
is incredibly complex in spatial engineering
terms,” states Sophie Boissard.
“This was the case with the Gare de Lyon,
in Paris, where installing supply warehouses
in the Charolais district required
the conversion of former underground freight
warehouses into cooking preparation
centres.” When one talks about a station,
the public often thinks of rails, electric cables,
etc., but all this is in fact ‘only’ the rail
infrastructure. The architect’s approach
must be much wider, because the station,
along with the train’s interior, is one of
the two places where the passenger spends
time, places that they assess in terms
of comfort, atmosphere, service, and so on.
It is therefore necessary to work
The typology of French stations
simultaneously on these two complementary
worlds to increase their quality. This is a global
process in which rail builders, operators
and infrastructure managers are all concerned.
It is the role of Gares & Connexions to create
a systemic vision which federates these
different actors. The entity was created by
the SNCF, in 2009, to master the inherent
complexity of the station world.
Renovating a station becomes complicated
when distinct traffi c fl ows are superimposed.
“The Gare Paris-Nord, with its 180 million
passengers each year, is an excellent
example. It is distinguished by a very wide
rail offer which includes the Eurostar
(dedicated terminal, customs post…),
the Thalys and the TGV Nord (which require
services for passengers who are mainly
business travellers), commuters who travel
to work on the regional lines of the Paris
area and the Ile-de-France (TER Picardie,
Corail Intercités…). In addition, underground,
there is the metro and the RER and,
on the surface, individual forms
of end of journey transport: taxis,
limousines or hire cars, the Vélib’* bicycle,
electric vehicles… And in the middle of all this,
constantly developing ticket sales space,
shops and service areas.” For the
Managing Director of Gares & Connexions,
successfully increasing the capacity
to welcome passengers in a listed building
full of constraints of all kinds, including �
French stations are divided into 4 categories:
• Major hubs served by the European rail network: 33 stations corresponding
to the main French cities plus 6 huge Paris stations each receiving an average
of 30 to 50 million passengers per year.
• Stations on the high-speed network and conventional mainlines:
about 90 stations.
• Commuter stations: about 390 stations in the Ile-de-France,
such as Versailles-Chantiers or Juvisy, which have a throughput
of 20 to 30 million passengers per year.
• Lastly, about 2,500 stations providing access to different categories
of network (regional and, by connections, national or international).
These include between 100 and 300 stations with substantial traffi c levels.
* Velib: Paris’ cycle hire scheme.

Sophie Boissard,
Managing Director
Gares & Connexions.
1989: École normale supérieure.
1992: Institut d’études
politiques de Paris.
1994: École nationale d’administration.
2005: Commissaire au Plan.
2006: Director Centre d’analyse
stratégique and member of the Conseil
national de l’information statistique.
2007: Assistant Director Offi ce
of the Minister of the Economy,
Finance and Employment.
2008: Director rail strategy
and regulation SNCF.
2009: Managing Director
Gares & Connexions, one of the fi ve
branches of activity of the SNCF.
31

32
society
�
limited physical space, is a headache:
“One of our problems today with the Eurostar
is that we can receive two Eurostars an hour
at Paris-Nord, when the line has capacity
for three trains an hour…”
… managed
in a compartmented manner
Although the twenty-fi rst century station
houses twentieth century transport services,
its political role in structuring the territory
and society, has not changed. The station
connects several worlds. Restructuring
a French station is a particularly diffi cult task
as authority has been divided up by
the Loi d’orientation des transports intérieurs.
A single station is therefore answerable to:
different transport authorities: the SNCF
for mainlines, the region for regional transport,
the department for departmental lines
and the urban area or communauté
de communes for local lines;
different owners: the RFF*, the SNCF,
the city authority for the station square,
state departments (Facilities, Defense, etc.)
for the area behind the station;
different operators: transporters (rail
transport or not, collective or not), retailers…
Fabienne Keller underlines how diffi cult
this partitioning makes project management:
“The modernisation of the TGV station
at Le Mans, for example, despite its relative
simplicity, required 48 property changes!
These are all factors liable to slow
down projects. Faced by this legal division,
the solution is to create a structure
– public institution, mixed enterprise, etc. –
able to mutualise properties, distribute
functions in an optimum manner and give
each entity a claw-back provision. This system
permits legal reunifi cation of the area.”
For this purpose, the SNCF, the regions and
local actors would like to strengthen their ties.
Bringing all the actors together to render
projects more fl exible is a major challenge
because stations, for several reasons,
are a particular priority for rail investment:
fi rst, they are sometimes wasteland, then,
their number of users is likely to grow fourfold
over the next twenty years, as a result
* RFF: national rail infrastructure operator.
of the growth in regional transport under
a policy of sustainable development.
Lastly, as part of the same philosophy,
station development permits urban planning
for an entire surrounding district. “These types
of development projects cost a lot,” agrees
Fabienne Keller, “and concern not only
the transport authorities, but all the actors
who create the city. Since my report
to the Prime Minister, I am regularly
approached to take part in symposiums or
by city authorities seeking the most effi cient
manner to get different actors to work
together on these projects. I also have fairly
frequent contact with economic stakeholders,
who are of interest for three reasons:
they provide fi nance for co-fi nancing, generate
jobs and create activities.”
This division of responsibility also leads
to a division of pricing for services provided.
With the exception of the Ile-de-France,
managed by a single authority concerned
with maintaining integrated pricing, the law
separating organisations and dividing up
operators has permitted the proliferation of
different pricing systems and different pricing
offers, preventing the traveller from buying
a ticket valid for their entire journey, from end
to end. “Paradoxically, passengers are less
well treated than their luggage, which is
collected at their homes and transported
to the point of destination for a single price!”
the Senator remarks ironically.
A new ‘signposting language’
In the complex world of the great station, how
can the time spent by the customer be made
as pleasant as possible? Gares & Connexions
are developing a range of solutions. First,
those that Sophie Boissard calls the ‘basics’,
intended to create a calm atmosphere
in the station. This includes the building’s
architectural quality and the quality of its
lighting, which should as often as possible
be natural lighting, and its acoustic ambiance:
“French stations are still too noisy compared
with those in Germany or Switzerland, where
there are practically no voice announcements
anymore,” she observes. The fi eld of
investigation also covers thermal comfort,

like in Moscow stations which, although old,
provide an ideal temperature, and also
the quality of information and signposting:
“When we were building the stations for
the Rhine-Rhone high-speed line, we used
ergonomics and architectural design studies
which showed that we do not react
to signposting today in the same way we used
to, because we are accustomed
to screens and no longer have the same
depth of vision, which means that we need
to enlarge and colour signposting: white for
trains, green for end of journey transport,
pink for commercial services, etc.
A signposting language designed to give
passengers, from the moment they enter
the station, the appropriate information
– neither too much, nor too little, at the right
place, at the right time – they expect this,
so as not to be stressed. We are also making
notice boards available for smart phones,
so that when you are still on a bus or
the metro, you’ll know which platform to take
your train from.”
The olfactory character of stations also
constitutes a factor of serenity to which
places such as lavatories need to contribute.
Gares & Connexions intends in this respect
to deploy a network of pay-to-use lavatories,
pleasant and comfortable, accessed
by a token that can then be reused to buy
a newspaper or a coffee. In this way �
Liverpool Street Station, London.
33

34
society
�
the customer will feel that they are benefi tting
from a service with real added value.
Another level of improvement for customer
comfort is the ‘additional basics’.
The categories of passengers that have
grown fastest in the last ten years are
business travellers and commuters (people
working on two sites, freelance professionals,
individuals with a partner in another city…).
A reality around which changes in service
offers need to be built, starting with
“ French stations are still
too noisy compared
with those in Germany
or Switzerland.”
the installation in stations of business centres
similar to hotel offi ce facilities, where
it is possible to reserve a room or
photocopying services to save a customer
having to search for this service. Medical
services enable time spent waiting in a station
to be used to establish a blood analysis, for
instance; public services such as post offi ces,
city hall or administrative services’ annexes;
personal services such as shoeshine,
heel bars, key cutting while you wait and
hairdressing are all services that can
optimise time spent by travellers in stations.
“But anyway, the idea is not to build
conventional shopping centres in stations,”
emphasises Sophie Boissard, “stations are
specifi c places because of their transport
and urban functions. We need to make
the most of these specifi c characteristics,
as the Swiss have succeeded in doing.”
With between 4 and 5 billion euros,
the Gares & Connexions investment
programme for the next ten years aims
to make a hundred priority sites,
not only integrated transport hubs but
also lively shopping areas.
An agora concept
for the future
The fi nal objective? A dream station,
where machinery – rails, depots, storage
sites, and so on – would be underground,
invisible to the city and its surroundings.
A station that would appear freed of these
areas, its visible parts resembling an
animated agora with a wide choice
of services. This task is both an exciting
and a diffi cult one, as the Managing
Director of Gares & Connexions admits:
“Built between the two World Wars, a station
in the Ile-de-France typically has platforms
that are too short, insuffi cient furniture and
car parking in front that prevents direct
access for people on foot. This is so far from
what we are aiming for, that we must change
everything and be ambitious, going much
further than just a coat of paint and installing
a newspaper kiosk.” Despite there still being
a long way to go, Fabienne Keller thinks
some Paris stations are already getting it right,
such as the renovated Gare de Paris-Est:
“I fi nd that there is a feeling of space and
the different areas have really been optimised.
I think that the ideal thing would be to create
completely empty areas in stations, as is done
in Switzerland, to hold exhibitions or concerts
and bring the station to life by for instance
creating artistic or commercial events.”
In the great station of the future, the concept
of the agora is making progress, as is testifi ed
by the international projects with which
Gares & Connexions is associated,
from Turin to Shanghai, and including stations
in Russia, Morocco, India or Vietnam.
Jean-Christophe Hédouin

What qualities should a major
station such as Zurich have?
Laurent Staffelbach. Zurich station is used
by 300, 000 passengers every day. By way
of comparison, slightly over 1 million people
use all the Swiss stations. It is fundamental
for us that passengers feel good in our
stations. We consider them as places
for everybody and not only for people with
a train to take. A station is a place to take
refreshment, go for a stroll, enjoy yourself
or rest. It is a haven in the city, a place
that is alive and pleasant to spend time in.
This conception of things is the basis
of our service offi ce in stations, alongside
a wide choice of services proposed
Zurich Central Station is used by 300,000 people every day.
Three questions to Laurent Staffelbach,
Head of Portfolio Management CFF Immobilier (Swiss Federal Railways)
by the CFF on-board trains, every day of
the week, for a wide time slot. We are also
extremely attentive to safety and cleanliness
in our stations. And then we attach a lot
of importance to the relationship between
the station and the city, through for example
trams and busses, and also to the quality
of our trains and spaces, in particular station
architecture.
On what basis do you make
decisions concerning changes
to the major Swiss stations?
We constantly dialogue with our customers
and commercial partners, and regularly
conduct detailed polls and quality surveys.
It goes without saying that we also take into
account customer feedback that we receive,
mainly from our customer service. Lastly,
we are in close contact with other operators,
whether rail, or airport, both in Switzerland
and abroad. In 2009, the CFF created
a discussion forum with customer
representatives. At an international level,
we have a lot of exchange, notably with
the Stations Managers Group of
the International Union of Railways (UIC)
and the rail operators’ alliance, Railteam.
Lastly, we have regular discussions
at different levels with the political authorities.
Which are the other great
stations in the world that inspire
you to meet your own challenges?
In the future, our main challenge will be
meeting the steady growth in the number
of our customers. We have things to learn
here, for instance from Japan, where
stations every day have to welcome
an incredible fl ow of passengers. Shinjuku
station, in Tokyo, for instance has to process
3 million passengers every day! As far as
shops are concerned, London St-Pancras
seems to me an extremely interesting
example. As for Grand Central Station
in New York, with its extraordinary hall,
there is an incomparable atmosphere there
that makes it a real ‘place to be’, mentioned
in most guidebooks. As far as we are
concerned, it gives us a certain pleasure
to note that Zurich Central Station is often
mentioned as a reference for a great
modern station, which is good for business,
because it combines all the ingredients
that we have just discussed.
35

technology
36
SIZING UP
THE DOUBLE-
DECKER

The double-decker is by no means a new idea to the railway
world. Born in Europe between the two World Wars,
it was revived in the 1960s, notably in France, to meet cities’
suburban transport needs, before being adapted to very
high speed. In all these niches, Alstom is a forerunner.
The French builder today benefi ts from unrivalled experience
proposing a high-performance range technologically adapted
to serving its customers’ competitiveness. Focus on expertise
unique in the world.
37

38
technology
Coradia Duplex new generation in Valenciennes, in France.
The origins of a concept…
Everything began in the United States
with the famous double-decker diligence.
Then, in 1870, the concept was used for
the fi rst time on rail. Strange double-decker
cars began to be seen on American railway
lines. An additional incongruity was
that they had the appearance of a cabriolet:
a conventional passenger ‘container’
for the lower level, and an area open
to the elements for the upper level.
The idea was to enable passengers to admire
the beauties of the American landscape.
Half a century later and on the opposite
side of the Atlantic, the concept resurfaces
in Germany and in France… without
the cabriolet option because of less
favourable climates. Dedicated to suburban
transport in France and to regional services
in Germany, the double-decker was met
with a degree of success, until the outbreak
of the Second World War. This was followed
by another gap, this time of twenty years,
then by a marked recovery, in the late 1960s,
in response to the growing demographic
pressure of the Ile-de-France Region.
The Nord-Pas-de-Calais, with its heavily
populated urban areas, rapidly followed suit.
The real technological breakthrough
occurred, however, in the early 1980s with
the ‘invention’ of the double-decker electric
railcar. The idea was both simple and
revolutionary: to combine strength
– particularly for acceleration – with high
capacity. Considered by many experts
at the time as a fanciful technological dream,
the project nevertheless saw the light of
day thanks to the perseverance of engineers
at the SNCF and the CIMT – Compagnie
industrielle de matériel de transport –
an industrial and engineering entity that

ecame part of Alstom in the 1990s.
The project’s code name was ‘Z2N’. Behind
this mysterious sounding acronym, was
to be found a 36,000 horsepower train,
with trainsets of 4 to 6 cars – or 2 railcars
with 2 or 4 cars each – with a maximum
speed of 140 km/h, weighing 250 tons
empty with capacity for 1,000 passengers.
Built from a solution shared between
the operator and the French builder,
with the support of the ANF – the Ateliers
de construction du Nord de la France –
it was assigned to line C of the RER.
Two events then radically changed
the situation in the early 1990s: the birth
of the Duplex high-speed train and the arrival
of the Coradia Duplex for regional transport.
France’s modern double-decker adventure
had now begun…
Urban and regional doubledecker:
the wind in its sails
In the mid 1980s, in cities and areas with
high population densities, regional operators
and the SNCF had to meet growing capacity,
comfort and frequency imperatives. To adapt
to these emerging needs, Alstom developed
a TER version of the Z2N, the TER2N.
A version naturally suited to regional journeys:
more space devoted to luggage, improved
access for passengers with reduced
mobility… In addition to these capacity
advantages, it boasted reduced maintenance
costs and signifi cant energy savings,
contributing to a much lower global cost
of ownership.
Several regions, including the Nord-Pas-
de-Calais and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur,
recognised these advantages and ordered
several dozen trainsets. Another illustration
of this success is the concept’s export mainly
to Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Switzerland.
Alstom is responsible for technical supervision
and product development and manufacturing
is conducted in the ‘host’ country’. Its Italian
path was to be more original: modifi ed
to be a double-decker, two-cab diesel
multiple unit, it was sold to Mauritius a few
years later and renamed the ‘desert train’.
In 2000, a further decisive phase followed:
after three years research and the building
of a scale 1 model, Alstom launched the most
�
On 3 April 2007, an experimental
Duplex fi tted with permanent magnet
motors entered the history books
by obtaining the new world rail
speed record and attaining
the dizzying speed of 574.8 km/h.
39

40
technology
Design: two approaches for a concept
Although they share a common concept, the designs of regional trains and of high-speed trains each
present their own characteristics.
The key word for Coradia is transparency. The interior is divided up to favour total fl uidity and thereby
reinforces the feeling of safety on board. Passengers should be able to move from one end to the other
of the trainset without encountering an obstacle. Open staircases, wide glassed areas, ‘sky domes’:
the Alstom Transport Design&Styling studio’s research is constantly focused on obtaining more light.
A bias that also concerns the train’s exterior appearance: the train must be ‘friendly’, welcoming and able
to allow maximum circulation of light. The Duplex has a different design approach. Although, of course,
everything has been conceived to optimise passenger movement, a degree of privacy is also sought,
particularly in the lower compartments. The interior design employs warm materials, creating a ‘cocoon’
effect that lends an impression of calm and comfort. This concern for conviviality is also to be found
in the design of the train’s structure: although the nose expresses speed, its lines are more fl exible and
softer than those of a conventional high-speed train.
�
recent member of the range. It is called
the TER2N New Generation or the Coradia
Duplex. The French Regions bought
140 trainsets, put into service between 2003
and 2010. Its distributed power provides 20%
additional passenger space, reduces
the risk of breakdowns and makes it possible
to modulate the composition of trainsets
from 2 to 5 cars. Access systems,
equipment for people with reduced mobility,
dedicated areas, bicycle racks to favour urban
intermodality… It integrates the new needs
of the modern traveller. The range is extending
and being exported: 113 examples of
a ‘winterised’ version were sold to Sweden
and a further 26 trainsets were delivered
to the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg.
The concept even crossed the world,
with Australia placing an order in 1999.
Nevertheless, the export market turned out
to be more complex than initially predicted:
gauges vary in height (from 4.34 to 5 metres)
and in width (from 2.8 to 3.1 metres);
platform heights too (from 30 cm to over
one metre); currents also (1,500 volts
or 3,000 volts direct current, 15 kV or 25 kV
alternating current). These constraints
all require a strong ability to adapt.
In the Paris suburbs, the situation differed
again. It was necessary not only
to improve capacity but equally to optimise
fl ows of passengers getting off and
A few fi gures:
Duplex
Capacity: 510 to 600 seats
Commercial speed: 320 km/h
Number of trainsets
in circulation: 130
Power: 9,400 kW
Length: 200 m (a single unit)
Coradia Duplex
Capacity: 110 seats per car,
from 340 to 1,200 seats
Composition:
2 to 5 seats per car
Length: 57.7 to 133.9 m
Width: 2,806 m

oarding trains stopped in stations.
In 1992, to meet this requirement,
Alstom developd the MI2N, specially designed
for the RATP and the SNCF. This ‘super
metro’s’ exceptional confi guration and its
three doors per car enable it to transport
up to 100,000 passengers per hour in each
direction at peak times. 70 units of
the most recent version, the MI09, have been
ordered for line A of the RER, for deployment
between 2011 and 2017. The fi rst trainsets
have just left the Valenciennes workshops.
Duplex, high-capacity
very high speed
Very high speed also involves
the double-decker. At the end of the 1980s,
the success of high speed was such that
certain lines, notably Paris-Lyons-Marseilles
had become saturated. It was therefore
decided to design double-decker trainsets,
able to carry more passengers without
increasing the length of the train. This addition
of an extra level to TGV trainsets was a major
technological leap. The new train could
have 510 seats, compared with 350
for a conventional 200 metre TGV trainset.
A capacity increase of 40%, for an operating
cost almost identical to that of a single-
decker TGV and the same level of comfort.
Impressed, the SNCF ordered a total
of 130 trains.
The Duplex renews the principle of
the articulated trainset, tested on the TGV.
It guarantees the train’s rigidity and improves
passenger safety in the event of an accident.
On a more technical level, it is composed
of 13 bogies – instead of 16 bogies for
a conventional trainset – which reduces
its weight, generating an energy saving
of about 15% per passenger compared
with competing products as well as
lower maintenance costs.
Combining capacity, comfort and very high
speed constitutes a considerable challenge.
Cars have to be simultaneously light and
more spacious to receive more passengers
and the train’s dynamics have to be totally
rethought… Major constraints which
require thousands of hours of study.
The main challenge, however, is to maintain
an axle load that does not exceed
17 tons despite the size of the trainsets and
their number of passengers. Aluminium �
41

42
technology
Pendolino
�
bodyshells, magnesium structures for seats
economising 12 kilos per unit, hollow axles
saving a ton per bogie… The list of solutions
found to lighten all components is a long one.
With a higher centre of gravity and wider
cars, the Duplex’s aerodynamics are
also different to those of a conventional TGV.
It became necessary to consider wind
resistance, notably for the power unit,
particularly vulnerable to this type of pressure.
To anticipate these new features as
effectively as possible, the train’s designers
even built a life-size model.
Uninterrupted gangways, an access area
at platform level, luggage areas in the middle
of cars so that bags and suitcases remain
constantly within sight of their owners…
The entire interior design was also
reconsidered. With doors placed at the same
level as the platform, the Duplex permits
people with reduced mobility to board easily.
The bar area, located on the upper level,
Duplex
has a slightly lowered fl oor to obtain
a higher ceiling and offer a better surrounding
view, all the train’s auxiliary electrical
equipment (batteries, compressors...)
being grouped under the car. The fi nal
innovation: give the passenger additional
legroom, with slightly reclining seats,
a substantial improvement in terms of
comfort. Today, more than 150 Duplex
trainsets are in operation in France.
A proof of its success, in 2007 the SNCF
ordered a series of 55 additional latest
generation Duplex trainsets. These offer
a degree of interoperability that is unique
on the market. They will be able to adapt
to all European standards, notably those
concerning electric power and signalling
and will run in France, Switzerland
and Germany. Their air-conditioning will be
reinforced for services in Spain and
their structure consolidated for going through
tunnels. The fi rst trainsets should come
off the production line early in 2011.

Sustainable horizons?
Although the double-decker possesses
authentic advantages for high speed,
it remains a mainly European concept.
An international sales drive has therefore been
initiated beyond Europe. The recent example
of Morocco (ref. Feature page 8) is a good
example. There are many challenges
in the urban and regional markets too. This is
a niche market characterised by a small
number of major tenders. Some are already
upon us, notably in France: line E of the RER,
followed by lines C and D, for which
Speedelia
Duplex, a reference within a range
The high and very high-speed market is growing fast in all continents and constitutes one of the most promising segments
of the rail market. Operators’ needs and technical constraints differ considerably from one country to another. In response
to this growing demand and to satisfy its customers’ various requirements, Alstom is the only builder proposing an entirely
comprehensive range of proven technical confi gurations, all designed to transport passengers at high speeds (up to 360 km/h)
in the greatest comfort and complete safety: articulated and non articulated trainsets, tilting technology, single or double-decker
architectures, concentrated or distributed power units… For thirty years, Alstom has been exporting its technological
expertise throughout the world and in particular to Europe, Asia and America. In 2011, 1,100 trains have now been sold
worldwide including 1,010 in operation.
300 trainsets are to be delivered over
ten years from 2015 to 2025. A contract not
to be missed under any circumstances.
Beyond our frontiers, rich future prospects
can also be detected. For example, Russia
plans to order, in the short-term, several
hundred double-decker-sleeping cars.
Throughout the world, giant cities are thinking
about the future of their suburban transport.
So many markets to watch out for…
Éric Dumoulin
AGV
43

words and design
44

When Xavier Allard, Director Design&Styling Alstom, meets
the young design prodigy Ora Ïto, what do they say to each other?
Tales of technological anticipation or children’s dreams of
the trains of the future? Projections, free of constraint, where each
gives his vision of today’s brands and the mobility of the future.
BACK TO
THE FUTURE
Xavier Allard: You are young but you
already have an impressive career…
Ora Ïto: I began at a design school
which I left before I had fi nished the course.
At 19, I became well known by inventing
the fi rst virtual brands. I changed Vuitton,
Apple and Nike products into 3D …
After reports in the press, thousands
of Internet users wanted to order these
products which did not in fact exist.
This buzz – I was one of the fi rst people
to generate one on the net! – introduced
my work to the major brands.
Since then I have worked for the tableware,
cosmetics, fashion, accessories and furniture
industries: Christofl e, Guerlain, Steiner,
Roche Bobois or Laguiole, each of whom
is a mythical brand in their fi eld. It is
a coincidence that these brands are mostly
French. I’m not at all obsessed by everything
French; I am more interested by a mix
of cultures, but I like the idea of working
for the fl agships of my country’s industry!
X. Allard: What is your creative process?
Ora Ïto: I initially go into a project weightless
and uncontaminated. I then get to know
the brand’s history, its identity and DNA.
I am like an actor who immerses himself
for a while in a character.
Guerlain, for instance, is baroque,
feminine and sculptural…
There is the insignia, the history, the saga…
morphing all this helped me to create
the most recent bottle for the perfume Idylle.
For Miss Pucci, I reworked in 3D one of
the brand’s recurring motifs. Madame Pucci
said to me: “Your design has imposed
itself as the obvious choice among
the fi ve others.” This is the type of reaction
I’m looking for!
To sum up, everything remains an Ïto object,
but I would not have been able to design
it without the brand.
X. Allard: Do you give a lot of importance
to the brand universe?
Ora Ïto: Brands are extraordinary! It’s
fantastic what they contain in terms of grey
matter, intelligence and different forms of
know-how. Tradition too! I like modern things
but I also like tradition. I don’t think that you �
45

46
words and design
�
can project yourself into the future without
being interested in the past and vice versa.
X. Allard: Why work with one company
rather than with another?
Ora Ïto: To start with, I have to like the brand.
Not just its name, but what it triggers off
in a fragment of a second in my imagination.
I follow my instinct here. If I need
to make an effort to ‘see’ images,
if I don’t feel inspired, then I turn it down!
Then there’s the brand’s history.
Behind the great brands, there’s often
a man in a barn or a workshop, hammering,
cutting out, folding, welding, sowing…
Because he was the best in his fi eld, his
‘little business’ grew. He then transmitted
his know-how and his skills as an
artisan become a part of the consumer
society. I fi nd this fascinating.
When I was approached by Fred Farrugia,
I wasn’t particularly interested in make-up.
But I liked the idea of the palette and
I invented the nomad kit. For this project,
I spent a lot of time watching women’s
movements when they are putting
on make-up. Movements, the way
in which an object is held or handled,
are extremely important.
X. Allard: Do brands expect their history
to be revisited?
Ora Ïto: They expect me to fi nd the next
phase, to provide my understanding
of the period and above all a capacity
to project them into the future. I like the idea
of an artist who does not always have his
hammer, chisel, clay or brush, but who meets
astrophysicists or engineers… I love going
into the R&D offi ce of a company which has
asked me to work for them and studying
new materials or composites. These then
become my creative tools.
X. Allard: Should the designer keep
in the background and let the brand occupy
centre stage?
Ora Ïto: Not necessarily. Being a designer
is also about having your own identity.
The objects that I create, if you look at them
independently, are completely different
to each other. But they all have a common
style. My style is to economise in the use
of materials, to favour simplicity, the
‘almost nothing’. I hate piling up concepts:
the best content is a single idea strong
enough to accomplish all its functions.
The search for this simple idea is complex.
This is what I call ‘simplexity’. I demand

a certain perfection. A single degree
of a radius or an angle can completely
change an object’s appearance.
My objective is also to ensure that an object,
after its use, integrates itself into its
environment or even contributes something
to it, so that it is not visually disturbing.
X. Allard: How do you work
on a daily basis?
Ora Ïto: I work simultaneously on objects
that are completely different to each other:
plane, furniture, car, spoon…
In the evening, I place all my projects on
the table in my offi ce to see how I’m doing
and then I move on to the next step…
As soon as I have no more ideas
for a project, I move on to another one.
All the energy spent on the previous
project helps me for the following one.
X. Allard: You give the impression of still
having a child’s curiosity. Is this so?
Ora Ïto: Oh yes, totally! It’s true that I spend
my time always trying to understand why
the world is like it is and that I’m obsessed
with fi nding solutions to improve it.
The profession of designer is about fi nding
solutions. Not necessarily to a problem,
“ I am fascinated by anticipation. I keep hold
of everything that I have done before, but it is
what is going to happen that concerns me.”
but at any rate to an issue.
The apartment in which I work today
is the room I dreamed of when
I was little, with a giraffe and Japanese
armour… It’s a bit like Alice
in wonderland, don’t you think?
Every day I use my childlike side.
I use my memories and simple emotions.
The wheelbarrow which I designed
for Jeep, for instance, is a bit like
the spaceship I imagined as a child!
�
47

48
words and design
�
X. Allard: It’s the designer’s privilege
to sometimes provide us with an element of
nonsense. At the Milan Furniture Fair, there
was a smooth shiny cube which looked very
hard and uncomfortable. But when you sat
on it, it was soft and moulded itself around
you. Technology can contradict materials…
Ora Ïto: Some objects are at the frontier
between art and design. They create surprise,
introducing an additional emotion, one not
necessarily directly related to comfort. Being
involved in the industrialisation of objects,
present in shops by the thousand,
I sometimes need to do things which have no
economic interest but which open up paths
for debate and refl ection.
X. Allard: Are you in favour
of reinterpreting existing codes or,
on the contrary, of a complete change?
Ora Ïto: I always keep a connection,
a relationship. But I’m always calling into
question my obsessions and moving
them forward: the future, materials,
deconstructing to reinvent.
It seems to me more diffi cult to transform
a category of objects which have been
there since the beginning of time than
to create a clean break. When I was working
in the fi eld of tableware, I did not reinvent
the fork – it remains a platform for carrying
food – but I expressed it in my own way.
I allowed it to develop stylistically by saving
on materials, changing the way in which
we put it down…
I love the future and I am fascinated
by major French brands such as Alstom.
You work almost more according
to a prototype philosophy than according
to a mass production philosophy.
Alstom is constantly innovating. This is why
your work is closer to a spaceship
than to a car. I’m for instance fascinated
by the design of the TGV. Roger Tallon
is moreover one of the designers whom
I respect the most (ref. AT Magazine n° 4).
X. Allard: What do you think are
the challenges for mobility in the future?
Ora Ïto: The most important one,
in my opinion, is to know how to go from
one point-to another, consuming the lowest

amount of energy possible and providing
a new point of view.
There will be more and more hybrid objects.
People will no longer want to differentiate
themselves through a choice of bodywork
but by a mobility attitude. This development
will undoubtedly have repercussions for
the car and equally for public transport.
I can imagine, for instance, cable-cars in cities
where the architecture has real added value.
A little like the giant wheels of our childhood,
but they will travel horizontally, in the air.
A new form of elevated metro in a way…
In Paris, this would perhaps be complicated,
but it is still feasible. In a city being developed,
it would be more conceivable. Why,
in the end, remain beneath the ground?
X. Allard: Have you already thought
about the train’s future?
Ora Ïto: It’s a child’s dream to design
a train or a tram… Whatever the technology
we integrate in it, Alstom is inventing
– with its prototype and innovative culture –
the train of the future.
And then, what fascinates me with
the train is its relationship with all economic,
architectural and planetary movements.
Before even thinking about the train itself, we
think about the city and the cultural, political,
urban or sociological context … That’s great!
X. Allard: Some of our projects contain
anamorphic ideas or stroboscopic effects.
For example, when a tram stops in a station
it has a visual effect on the surroundings…
Ora Ïto: It’s incredibly interesting
to work on movement which can change
forms and take on other dimensions.
We can also think about the notion of
the journey and the relationship between
what we experience and mobility.
We need to work on all the senses! I’m a great
believer in stimuli, the overall experience
which is visual, acoustic and informative.
Take the ghost train: it’s a sight, an experience
with its scenery, smells and physical
sensations … You could extend this concept
– leaving out the ghosts! – on a large scale
for public transport …
X. Allard: At Alstom we are thinking
about the best way in which to adapt
public transport to the individual.
As an independent designer, who has
the freedom – or even the duty –
to go further, to invent new ways of
doing things, what do you think?
Ora Ïto: For me, driving a car, is a potentially
agonising task: you run the risk of ending
up in prison because you’ve knocked
someone over or had one drink too many,
you have to look for a place to park,
fi nd space… When we are sold cars
that are so powerful that we can drive
faster than the permitted speed limits,
we are actually being sold illegality.
Instead of buying a car, why not buy a module
that can be controlled from a distance using
technology supplied by Alstom? It would
be at the same time collective and individual.
Customised group mobility, if you like.
I would have my personal module, decorated
in the materials I like, with an ashtray
because I smoke… Why not, if I’m not
bothering anybody? Does ‘public transport’
have to mean ‘being with or putting up
with lots of other people’? �
49

50
Evomobil: work of art based on genetic mutation.
words and design
�
X. Allard: As long as there is a network,
could this personal module have
the intelligence to link up with other
modules, in a bunch, on a train to,
at some point, become a group object?
Ora Ïto: Yes exactly, on condition that you are
free to choose the module, according to your
taste and means. The new mobility should
free us from constraints and not impose others.
X. Allard: What role does technology
play in your vision?
Ora Ïto: It’s necessary to invent a system
that is easy and useful for users even
if the interior is extremely complex.
The train, like a spoon, remains a train.
But it can be constructed and deconstructed
through new technologies. With networks,
scale statistics and interfaces, we can collect
and organise common ideas and intentions.
With artifi cial intelligence and Internet,
you can know, for instance, instantaneously,
how many people are going somewhere.
How many like what type of music,
read which newspapers, and so on…
and adapt your offer to their personality.
This may seem Orwellian but if it is to have
a better life, why not? Take the debate
on video street surveillance, for example,
it doesn’t bother me a bit if the police
have a lot of fi lms of me entering the baker’s
to buy sweets, if at the same time
this prevents real violence!
I believe a lot in awareness, the intelligent
interface which in the end knows us better
than we do ourselves and which will offer
us what we really need or want at time T,
when our emotions, tiredness or stress
prevent us from knowing it ourselves….
The train of the future will eventually be
a train which comes to us. Bringing
the collective to the individual and not
the opposite as is the case at the present.
This is what interests me!
X. Allard: You are talking about major
technological leaps here!
Ora Ïto: In mobility, technologies should
not make all that much difference. The system
works in such a way, however, that when
a brand has a technology it keeps it for itself
for business reasons. This is a real pity!
It would be much simpler, wouldn’t it,
if the same technology and the same energy
were shared and accessible to everyone?
The ideal situation would be for the major car,

train and plane brands to come together
in a vast conglomerate. They could then agree
on a self-managed international standard,
like for instance automatic piloting.
Who can say whether one day Alstom
will not form a partnership with Boeing?
Companies need each other. In the future,
at some point, everyone will combine.
We can imagine that there will be no more
rails, no more roads, no planes, but only
weightlessness, energy, electromagnets
and green jets … The real invention will be
in the way in which this is expressed.
X. Allard: Toyota is currently designing
cars that can park themselves.
Rail operators are working on intermodality
and studying the more individualised
approach that you are describing.
Ora Ïto: Yes that’s true. But I think
that mobility is continuing to regress. Take
for example the Concorde which, in the 1980s,
allowed my father to get to New York in three
hours. Today, it takes eight. Progress is not
a matter of ‘raw’ performance it now includes
sustainable development. Because today,
the most important thing is not to go ever
faster and further, it’s simply to save the planet!
X. Allard: What do you think about
sustainable development?
Ora Ïto: There is already a general
growing awareness of the need to sacrifi ce
a little individual freedom. The challenge
of sustainable development will now
be to reconcile individual pleasure and
the common good.
Design is accompanying this movement
towards the sustainable. Materials will
become more and more sophisticated,
and more solid. Glass or any other ‘invisible’
material will soon have the same structural
properties as metal. This gets us back
to my concept of ‘simplexity’: each object
is just an additional step towards the ultimate
phase where there will be nothing any longer.
In a few centuries time, Alstom will be
in the teleportation business!
X. Allard: What will remain
then as the expression of the brand?
Ora Ïto: History will remember that
it was Alstom who invented it!
Interview by
Carole Galland
Biography
1977: Birth.
1996: Invents the fi rst virtual brands.
His site becomes the second digital
work acquired by the Fonds national
d’art contemporain (FNAC).
2000: Ora Ïto works on designing real
products, developing transversal
design, architecture and communication
projects, in all sectors of activity.
2002: Oscar for the best design
for his Heineken bottle in aluminium
and its original packaging capsule.
2004: His fi rst lamp, One Line,
designed in a continuous long line is
celebrated at the Milan Furniture Fair
and awarded a Red Dot Design.
2005: The Centre européen d’art
contemporain offers him
the opportunity to hold his fi rst major
monographic exhibition at the Centre
culturel français de Milan, which
he ironically calls ‘Museora-Ïto’.
Customers: Adidas, the Air Group,
Thierry Mugler, Toyota, Biotherm,
Levi’s, Davidoff, Nike, Danone, Kenzo,
LG electronics, Guerlain, Ballantine’s,
L’Oréal, Sagem, Habitat, Christofl e…
51

culture
52
THE DANISH RAILWAY MUSEUM
COMBINING TRAIN
AND BOAT

To fi nd, in a railway museum, an entire room full of models and
photos of boats is rather surprising. But above all we should
remember that Denmark consists of a peninsula and an
archipelago. And until the construction of major ‘fi xed links’
between the various Danish islands and between Denmark and
Sweden, practically no journey by train was conceivable without
taking a boat. This somewhat multimodal approach to rail
– the public company DSB also runs a major bus fl eet – doubtless
contributes to the originality of the Danmarks Jernbanemuseum,
the Danish Railway Museum.
53

54
culture
Poul Thestrup, Director of
the Danish Railway Museum.
Snowplough.
Why was the Danish Railway Museum
built in Odense and not in Copenhagen?
Not because the capital of Fionie is also
the country of Hans Christian Andersen,
but because it has a huge depot, built
in the 1950s and equipped with a swing
bridge. “In those days,” recalls Poul Thestrup,
the museum’s director, “the idea of building
a bridge over the Great Belt was already
being discussed and the rail company
was looking for a maintenance site for
its steam locomotives, on the other side
of the channel. But by the time the Odense
depot was built, the idea of a bridge
had been buried and steam had given
way to diesel-electric… The depot was
therefore more or less empty.”
Indeed, from 1900 onwards, private collectors
had begun to collect what could constitute
the basis of a railway museum, but it was
not until 1934 that a small museum actually
opened on… the fi fth fl oor of the railway
building in Copenhagen! It goes without
saying that the items exhibited were limited
to models, posters and uniforms,
the locomotives and cars being dispersed
between different depots, including the one
at Odense. 1975 saw the birth of a museum
worthy of this term in Andersen’s
birthplace and, over the years, the collections
gradually fi lled the depot’s 5,000 m 2
to eventually occupy the entire space.
Another identifying feature of the Danish
Railway Museum is the scope of its activity,
highly unusual for a museum. A subsidiary
of the DSB, the public railway company,
the museum offers a broad palette of services
that range from making old trains available
for hire – usually reserved for corporate
entertainment or events involving the royal
family – to clearing snow on tracks with huge
snowploughs. One of these, made of metal
plated wood painted grey and red, stands
in the museum’s main hall. Lastly, but
no doubt most signifi cant of all, the museum
is distinguished by its noble ‘Protektor’:
His Royal Highness Prince Frederik.
Rail, the rise and fall
The history of Danish rail goes back
to 1847, the date of the opening of the fi rst
line connecting Copenhagen to Roskilde,
a distance of 30 km. An English engineer
called William Radford supervised the works
and the locomotives were imported
from Sharp Brothers & Co., in Manchester.
In 1844, the fi rst line was built under
the Danish monarchy, between Altona,
near Hamburg, and Kiel, on the Baltic Sea.
King Christian VIII inaugurated the line
from his position as Duke of Holstein,
although the region was in fact part
of the German Confederation.
The construction of new lines spread
throughout the kingdom and reached
5,300 km in 1929. This extremely dense
network connected even small
country towns to each other.
“The arrival of the car,
in the 1930s,
marks the beginning
of the decline of rail
in Denmark,”
explains Poul Thestrup.
“Each year, more and more secondary
lines closed, returning the size of
the Danish network to what it had been
at the turn of the previous century.”

Odin, the fi rst locomotive on the line connecting Copenhagen to Roskilde, in 1847.
Railway makes its comeback
Today, new lines are being built or planned,
such as the one that will connect
Copenhagen to Ringsted via Køge; other lines
are being electrifi ed, under the combined
effect of the convenience offered by
‘fi xed links(*)’ between islands and the Danes’
environmental awareness, effectively relayed
by DSB’s communication to its customers.
In recent years, these ‘fi xed links’ have not
only helped rail to recover market share
from the road, but also transformed the way
of life for Danes and Swedes on both sides
of the Öresund, making Copenhagen
and Malmö a single totally integrated urban
area with, at its centre, the international
airport of Kastrup.
On the museum’s mezzanine level we
fi nd irresistible 1/20 scale models of the IC3
and the Øresundtåg, the regional train
operated jointly by DSB and JS (the Swedish
rail operator) across the straight.
A museum for all
An incredible journey through 170 years of rail
history, since the fi rst locomotives imported
from England, the Danish Railway Museum’s
exceptional collection is the pride of its
director: “We feel that we are offering the best
collection in Europe north of Berlin! A good
third of the 90,000 visitors whom we welcome
each year are not Danish. That is why all
the signposting is trilingual: Danish, English
and German. The museum’s vocation
is to be a place of interest for families and
not just for railways buffs.
It enables children to play with locomotives,
and gives them the impression that they are
driving them. And then, as we are in Denmark,
they can build trains in Lego… We know
that it is generally the mothers who make
decisions about their children’s leisure time,
and that they are looking for places where
(*) ‘Fixed links’ designate a series of bridges and tunnels which link
between them the main Danish islands (such as the Great Belt with
its two bridges of nearly 7 km each and its 8 km bi-tube tunnel) as well
as Denmark to Sweden (by the Öresund link, which combines a bridge
nearly 8 km long, a 4 km artifi cial island and a 4 km tunnel).
�
A huge choice of Lego trains...
in Legoland (ref. AT Magazine n°3).
55

56
culture
This DSB Trans-Europ-Express was in operation until 1990.
North Sea
Altona
Viborg
Alborg
Ringkobing
Ahrus
SWED SWEDEN
EN
D E N M A R K
Ribe
Odense
FYN
Copenhagen
Roskilde
Ringsted
Koge
ALS
SJÆLLAND
MØN
Baltic
LOLLAND
Kiel
FALSTER Sea
GERMANY
Hamburg
50 km
�
their husbands can play with the children.
We therefore take great care to make
sure everyone really enjoys our collections
and has a good time.”
The museum’s gems
In the middle of the collection stands an
enormous grey and red snowplough from
the 1930s. The room, entirely devoted
to models of ferries, notably ice-breakers,
as well as an identical reconstruction
of a saloon occupied by ladies during
a crossing, offers a striking impression
of the manner in which the Danes travelled
by train between the islands which form
their country long before the opening of
the gigantic bridges and tunnels which link
them today. A series of posters show
these huge concrete and steel structures,
which now enable the crossing of Denmark’s
many straights in minutes instead of hours,
almost without one being aware of it.
A model explains how one of these
engineering feats was accomplished:
the Great Belt Tunnel (Storebælt).
In a further tribute to Danish ingenuity,
the collection offers numerous examples of
their striking innovations. It explains, notably,
how imperial suburban trains were able
to offer mass transport solutions in densely
populated environments. It also exhibits
platform-wagons with twelve terra cotta
demijohns, each a cubic metre, used
for transporting dangerous chemical
products such as acids. If three or four DSB
employees, responsible for inspecting
the track, needed to see our work,
the solution was to take a limousine and
to replace its wheels with those of a rail car…
“Although it had become useless,we left
the steering wheel in place so that it didn’t
disturb the passengers!” remarks
Poul Thestrup.
The Odense museum reminds us that
Denmark has a history of elegant
design and decoration. Three generations
of royal cars are exhibited here as well
as the museum’s star attraction, if we are

to judge by its success with visitors:
an impeccably restored restaurant-car,
built in 1943 by Astra (Romania) for the
Compagnie des Wagons-Lits and operated
in Denmark between 1946 and 1963.
In striking contrast, a royal car awaiting
renovation testifi es to the extraordinary
amount of work needed to restore it to its
former glory, work which will be patiently
executed by real artists from drawings
and photographs of the period. A random
stroll through this wonderland reveals many
other surprises, starting with the 1/20
scale model of the fi rst locomotive operated
in 1847 on the Copenhagen-Roskilde line,
called Odin, in tribute to Scandinavian
mythology’s most popular god. Close
by, a steam locomotive built in 1868
in Newcastle-on-Tyne by
Robert Stephenson & Co appears to have
just left the factory! To add to the force
of these iron masterpieces, incredibly realistic
wax fi gures literally immerse visitors
in the past.
The Danish Railway
Museum lends a train
for a royal funeral
When Queen Ingrid of Denmark,
mother of the present sovereign
Margrethe II, died in November
2000, the Danish Railway
Museum made available a historic
train pulled by two steam
locomotives (classes E and R)
plus a driver to carry the royal
coffi n from Copenhagen Palace
to Roskilde Cathedral, where
the Queen lies beside
her husband, King Frederik IX
of Denmark.
�
An entire room devoted to models
of ferries.
57

58
culture
�
Territorial claim
With such a collection, it is hardly surprising
that Poul Thestrup and his team are doing
everything they can to try and fi nd more
space. A former 12 metre high depot with
a swing bridge would seem ideal for housing
trains and 5,000 m 2 might appear a suffi cient
amount of space. But trains are particularly
greedy when it comes to space…
“If we formed a single convoy with all our
locomotives, wagons and cars, it would
stretch for 3.7 km!” exclaims Poul Thestrup.
“Some of our trainsets are 68 metres long…
It’s an incredible challenge housing them.”
This is why most of the 250 items of rolling
stock are held in different depots scattered
throughout the country. With tenacity,
the museum’s director is deploying his
strategy: “Slowly but surely, the museum
is growing. As a subsidiary of the DSB,
it has gradually occupied the entire depot
at Odense and now extends beyond
the buildings. We were recently successful
in what we have called ‘our last territorial
claim’: an acquisition of land that adjoins
the depot but which does not belong
to the Danish railway company. We have
already laid track which will make it possible
to bring in rolling stock and we are on
the point of obtaining permission to build
a 16 metre high exhibition hall.”
The continuous enrichment of the existing
collection motivates this desire to expand:
when a locomotive or a car is withdrawn
from service, the museum has fi rst refusal,

or more exactly, the right to inherit, as
the pieces are acquired free of charge.
Committed to a process of proactive hoarding,
the museum’s management tracks down
the items that it hopes will one day enrich the
collection. It is not permitted to sell its items,
but it can exchange those for which it has
more than one example. It is also at liberty
to buy using donations from private foundations
such as the A.P. Møller Foundation,
Denmark’s foremost foundation, created
by A. P. Møller, the founder and fi rst president
of the Maersk Group, known amongst other
things as one of the world’s largest maritime
container transporters. The museum also
benefi ts from the fi nancial support of
the Banedanmark, the public company with
responsibility for Denmark’s rail network.
Open to the world
An active member of the International
Association of Transport and Communication
Museums (IATM) – of which Poul Thestrup
is the treasurer – the Danish Railways
Museum regularly undertakes a tour of its
equivalents around the world, to exchange
experiences and to be inspired by their ideas.
“For instance,” he underlines, “the directors
of the Danish, Swedish, Norwegian
and Finnish railway museums have adopted
the habit of meeting once a year in one
of the Scandinavian capitals to work together
as closely as possible.” There is absolutely
no doubt that new space will be needed
to house the projects of the Odense museum!
Jean-Christophe Hédouin
59

travel
60
MOSCOW-NICE,
REVISITING
A MYTH
by Éric Dumoulin,
writer and traveller.

Renewing with a tradition more than a century old, the new
Moscow-Nice line was inaugurated in September 2010. The luxurious heir
to the Express which connected the capital of the Russian Empire
to the Côte d’Azur between 1864 and 1914, a luxury train now connects
every week twenty two cities in fi ve European countries. An incredible
journey of over 3,300 kilometres, from the amber onion-shaped domes
of Saint-Basil’s Cathedral to the dark pebbles of the Promenade des Anglais.
A special opportunity to celebrate the friendship between France
and Russia and to enjoy an entire continent by rail.
61

62
travel
With its defeat in the Crimean War of 1856,
Russia lost its strategic access to the Black
Sea. Tsar Alexander II then looked for
a Mediterranean port. He delegated several
members of his family to convince the King
of Piedmont and Sardinia, Victor-Emmanuel
– who also possessed the County of Nice –
to allow him to establish a naval, military
and commercial base. This allowed him
to position his fl eet in the Bay of Villefranche-
sur-Mer. The fashion was launched.
From 1864 onwards, the Tsar and the entire
Russian nobility travelled to Nice by railway,
transforming the town into a winter garden.
There they built extraordinary buildings and
magnifi cent residences, endowing Nice
with an exceptional architectural heritage.
Universal writers such as Chekhov
and Tourgueniev joined this elegant society.
After 1917, many White Russians
fl eeing Bolchevism found refuge there as
it was often the only town they knew outside
their native country. Nearly a century later,
the Russian public rail operator RZD
has decided to revive this mythical service
(ref. column page 67) by creating
a remarkable two-day journey through
the past.
Before departure
Moscow and the heart of the empire.
The capital with ‘a thousand and three church
towers and seven stations’ which so inspired
Blaise Cendrars. The autumn is present
here today in shades of black and white.
It’s as if the colours have been inspired
by the low sky. An atmosphere
of mystery, which accentuates the majesty
of the Kremlin’s high towers and blurs
the perspectives of the long avenues.
At the end of one of these, in a lashing
of cold rain, the Belorussky station appears,
the second largest of Moscow’s stations.
A neoclassical building – later crossed with
a touch of Soviet realism – the Belorussky
was inaugurated in September 1870.
Initially called ‘Smolensk’, it only received
its fi nal name in 1936. Nevertheless, for many
people today, it is simply the ‘station of
victory’. The point of departure for soldiers
leaving for the front in June 1941,
it welcomed the returning victors in 1945.

A commemorative plaque on the wall outside
recalls these glorious events. Inside, a singular
surprise awaits the traveller: a small scarlet
orthodox church standing in the immense
hall. Its gilded pinnacles soar proudly towards
the ceiling’s high vaults. The curious
and the faithful gather to admire a building,
no doubt unique in the world.
No time to down a coffee from one
of the fragrant stalls sprinkled in the halls
of the station. The Moscow-Nice is already
alongside its platform. Hostesses and
stewards, stoic beneath the downpour pelting
the city, form a perfect line along the platform.
The welcome is charming, all smiles and
attentiveness. The train’s livery is in red
and grey, the colours of RZD. Twelve cars,
only one of which is second class, six fi rst
class and three luxury class and, of course,
the two-restaurant cars with their attractively
decorated tables. Carpets with steel blue
refl ections, reproductions of the paintings
by Henri Matisse hanging in the corridors,
gilded mahogany doors… It is like a distant
fragrance of the Orient-Express, without
the Belle Époque atmosphere. A bar, a few
stools and a cluster of small tables guard
the end of the luxury cars. Each individual
cabin has two beds, a shower, a private
lavatory and a television with a DVD player:
a suite on rails. I have been given bed
number 15, in cabin number 1, in car number 1.
A slight air of
the Trans-Siberian
Punctual, of course, the convoy sets off
on this Thursday at exactly 16 .17 pm.
The interminable suburbs crawl past, and
then gradually thin out. The woods become
thicker in the early darkness of the autumn
dusk. Moscow is built in an immense clearing.
We cross the town of Borodino, located
about fi fty kilometres from the capital.
Napoleon’s Grand Army fought a memorable
battle here that marked the beginning
of the retreat from Russia. We will follow
its invisible trace as far as the equally famous
Berezina, the emblematic river
of the Republic of Belarus.
Boiling samovars posted like sentries
at the entrance to the compartment,
a tempting smell of borscht simmering
�
An orthodox church right in the middle
of the Belorussky station.
63

64
travel �
in the kitchen of the Provotniks, the traditional
hostesses allocated to each car…
Imperceptibly, the Moscow-Nice takes on
a slight air of the Trans-Siberian. Accustomed
to long journeys across the immense white
spaces, the Russian passengers have literally
conquered their cabins, installing teapots,
utensils and provisions, recreating in a few
minutes their familiar microcosm. An entire
world which they carry around with them.
What is more, some of them do
not leave their couchette.
On the recommendation of
Elena, my brunette Provotnik,
I retire to bed early. Tomorrow,
at fi ve in the morning, we will
be crossing the border.
Her advice turns out to be
excellent as the formalities last
three long hours, punctuated by
the successive visits of fi rst the Russian, then
the Belarusian and fi nally the Polish police and
customs: “Passport! Fransuski?” “Da, da”. It is
impossible, after this procession, to fi nd sleep
again. Particularly as changing the wheels,
which makes it possible to go from the wide
gauge Russian track to the European
standard, shakes the convoy painfully, as
the cars are raised one after another with
the aid of a powerful hydropneumatic pump.
The plains of Central Europe
Dawn breaking dictates that I wake. I then
have the pleasure of taking – for the fi rst and
doubtless last time in my life – a real shower
on a real train. It is an extraordinarily original
sensation to soap oneself while watching
the morning landscape slip past the window.
A landscape of peat, dark fallow land and
bare trees lashed by gusts of rain, with here
and there a squat farmhouse. Damp paths
carpeted with willow and birch leaves, which,
I am sure, smell delicious. Warsaw is
approaching. After a stop in the Polish capital,
we head straight south, cutting across
the Czech Republic to reach Vienna early
in the evening.
At breakfast, I met Pieter, a Muscovite
originally from Holland, and the frail Siberian,
Svetlana, who is joining her husband in Nice.
She has taken the train simply because
she is scared of fl ying. She is accompanied

y her friend Irina, a retired economist,
who has settled in the Baie des Anges to be
close to her children, who have emigrated
to Switzerland. Invitations are extended
‘Russian style’. The walls that separate
their fi rst class cabins are mobile.
They are removed to create a salon around
an inevitable teapot. This lasts the entire day.
A mixture of Russian, English and French
are spoken. Irina confi des in me that never,
in her Soviet youth, would she have
imagined such freedom. There is no acrimony
in this assertion, just a gently fatalistic
observation. Pieter, who speaks perfect
French, evokes a short story by Ivan Bunin
– winner of the Nobel Prize for literature
in 1933 – called ‘Heinrich’. To his knowledge
it is the only work of fi ction ever written
for which the Moscow-Nice Express serves
as the background. He even quotes me
an extract from memory: “Ah, Heinrich,
I love these nights in trains, the darkness
of the shaking cars, the ephemeral
station lights behind the blinds…”.
We discuss it with enjoyment. Decidedly,
the legend is accurate: each of Tolstoy’s
countrymen is a lover of literature.
As we talk about this and that, the Polish
plain glides by. Unperturbed, the train shakes,
jolts and swings. From time to time,
a distracted shower slaps the windows.
At each halt, the Provotniks get off into
the wind and position themselves
on the platform in an immaculate line.
I take photos of them. They pretend to be
angry but give huge smiles.
In the countries of Central Europe night falls
very rapidly at this time of the year.
Late in the afternoon we enter the Czech
Republic, making a short stop at Breslau
before rushing on towards Vienna which
we reach during dinner. We can make out
the sparkling Danube beneath the thousand
lights of the former city of the Habsburgs.
Evgueni, the vivacious Ukrainian waiter,
confesses his impatience to walk on
the banks of Europe’s greatest river.
“We do the return journey in under a week,
with just a day’s rest in Nice. When
I cross all these cities, I long to walk round
them. I’m saving up to do so”. Charming,
courageous Evgueni who has taught himself
�
First sun on the Italian Alps.
65

66
Genoa ‘the superb’.
travel �
Shakespeare’s language so that he can
offer himself his dreams.
Italian impressions
During the night we conquered the Alps,
passed by Innsbruck and braved the Brenner
Pass, which separates Austria from Italy.
Daylight dawns slowly, to reveal a completely
clear early morning sky. I take another
shower, this time against a backdrop of
mountains. A rare pleasure indeed! At a curve,
leaning on my basin, I fi nd myself almost
face to face with a peasant standing next
to the track. I wave to him through
the window, and he looks amazed.
Patches of mist envelop the rocks. Vines
smoke in the dawn. The summits are warmed
beneath the sun. Further away, imposing
metal-coloured clouds block the horizon.
We plunge into them. The improvement
in the weather has lasted less than an hour.
Gradually, the valley takes on a softer
appearance, bordered by round buff-coloured
hills. Below is Verona, the city of Romeo
and Juliette, a fabulous city of art so vividly
described in the travel diaries of Goethe,
Stendhal and Paul Valéry. November has
coloured the ground here a thousand shades,
from the mellowest ochre to the most
fl amboyant crimson.
Some yellows erupt like a brass band.
I feel as if I have climbed into a time machine.
The Russian and Polish plains were plunged
in the dullness of winter. In Italy, the mildness
seems to languish, as if autumn must never
come to an end. A metaphor of this contrast,
the illustration chosen for the Moscow-Nice
Express superimposes the photograph of
a robin on a frozen twig, dishevelled with cold,
with that of a gull swooping in the sea air.
The train enters the plain of the Po.
Flat as a table, drowned in an ocean of mist,
it plunges us travellers into a state of gentle
peace. The mind as if wrapped in cotton
wool, the body fl oating, you dream. One leans
one’s head against the window and spies
in the mist vapours an embankment, a copse,
a dripping tree. One stretches. It’s a pleasant
experience. A journey does not need motives.
It does not take long to prove that it speaks
for itself. After Milan, we head straight down

Along the Riviera.
towards Genoa, capital of Liguria and
the Mediterranean’s second most important
port after Marseille. Nicknamed ‘The Superb’
by Petrarque, it even surpasses Venice,
Amalfi and Pisa.
The landscape is once again hilly.
We wind across bridges and through tunnels.
At the bottom of funnels of green, we can
see gleaming streams. The warm-coloured
small towns huddled around their campaniles,
cling to the ravines. This disorderly scattering
of houses has never been hurried by history
and never will be. The old alleyways
offer strollers subtle shaded recesses.
Washing hangs from balconies on houses.
You seem to hear the echo of women’s
good-natured exclamations. You can just
imagine the sun drenched little squares,
large colourful markets, scented melons.
Italy in the twinkling of an eye!
Mediterranean
The arrival on the Mediterranean is striking
in the bright sunset. The sea seems to absorb
the light of the fading day. The track literally
licks the waves. If you were to lean slightly
from a door, you would feel them with your
fi ngertips. An endless succession of tunnels,
ports and palm trees. Then, our fi nal
stop at Ventimiglia. Only a few minutes more.
The moon behind us, the train follows
the rocky corniche between San Remo
and Nice. In each car, it’s time to put
our belongings away. The Provotniks suggest
a fi nal tea, dusting the bar, cleaning
their samovars. Everyone will shortly be
saying goodbye.
Nice. Already. At last. A little after 19 .00 pm.,
the hall of the Gare Thiers, an immense glass
dome in the Haussmann style,
welcomes train number 17 from Moscow.
I look for a red church with gilded
onion-shaped domes. In vain. Nevermind.
A stone’s throw from the station the orthodox
cathedral of Saint-Nicolas stands, considered
the fi nest outside Russia. A symbol.
Éric Dumoulin
Tale of a return to life
3,318 km for a journey time
of 50 hours 23 minutes departing
from Moscow and 49 hours
34 minutes departing from Nice;
fi ve countries crossed – Belarus,
Poland, The Czech Republic, Austria
and Italy; twenty nine stops including
Minsk, Warsaw, Vienna, Milan and
Genoa… With this new service, RZD,
in partnership with the SNCF, is
mainly targeting a wealthy Russian
clientele who appreciate the train
and wish to travel to ski resorts
in the Alps for the winter and
to the beaches of the Côte d’Azur
in the summer.
The train is composed of twelve cars
and has capacity for 136 passengers.
Not to mention the 28 members
of its crew, all Russian, recruited
through a competitive application
process based on their language
skills and hotel know-how.
The tickets, presently on sale
in Russia and France, will soon be
available in the main stations of
the countries crossed.
For passengers who are not of
Russian nationality, it is necessary
to obtain a Russian visa and
a Belarus transit visa. Eventually
RZD’s objective is to reduce
the journey time to 36 hours and
to propose up to four services each
week if the commercial success
is confi rmed.
67

guest
68

PARADOX
Maurice Allais,
Economist, Nobel Prize 1988.THE ALLAIS
Biography
Maurice Allais had accepted to participate in this issue of AT Magazine.
Very sadly, he died on 9 October 2010 while this project remained unfi nished.
We are nevertheless offering you the opportunity to read the few lines
that he had begun to prepare. It had been agreed that he would evoke for
us the famous allegory of the Calais Passenger, known as the Allais Paradox.
We invite you to discover this innovative idea on pricing at marginal cost
compared with pricing at average cost. The application of these ideas
to the transport or energy sectors mobilised in the post war period a group of
economists and industrialists which included Maurice Allais, Marcel Boiteux,
the future President of EDF, and Gabriel Dessus, Sales Director at EDF.
French economist, born in Paris
on 31 May 1911, died
in Saint-Cloud on 9 October 2010.
Engineer service des Mines
de Nantes from 1937 to 1943.
Director Bureau du documentation
et de statistique minière from 1943
to 1948.
Director of Research
CNRS from 1946 until his
retirement in 1980.
In 1944, he was appointed
Professor of Economics
at the École nationale
des Mines de Paris, a position
which he occupied until 1988.
Director Centre d’analyse
économique from 1946.
Director Economic and Social
Research Group (1944-1970).
Professor of Economic Theory
at the Institut de statistiques
de l’Université de Paris
(1947-1968).
1958-1959: Distinguished
Visiting Scholar at
the Thomas Jefferson Centre
at the University of Virginia.
Professor at the Institut
des hautes études
internationales de Genève
(1967-1970). From 1970 until
1985, he ran the Monetary
Analysis Seminar at
the Université de Paris-X.
Maurice Allais retired in 1980
with the title of Ingénieur
général honoraire au
Corps national des Mines.
“I believe I know quite a lot about transport
as I was responsible, in 1936, at the age
of 25, for checking the accounts of
establishments fi nanced by the State.
I was an engineer working in the service
ordinaire des Mines in Nantes, and
my task in particular included controlling
the accounts of the Compagnie
des chemins de fer de l’Ouest* and those
and formulating proposals. Theory shows
us that for a given distribution of income,
optimum management of the economy,
that is to say maximisation of the social
yield, is attained when each product
or service is sold at its marginal cost,
in other words at a price equal to what
its production actually costs.”
One of the simplest and most accessible
of tramways. After the war, I continued expressions of this work is the Allais
working on this subject Paradox or the Paradox of the Calais �
* The SNCF was not created until January 1938, through the merger of several rail companies, severely weakened by the effects
of the economic crisis of 1929 and by the growing competition from road transport. The Chemins de fer de l’Ouest had been bought
by the State as early as 1909, because of their loss-making situation.
69

70
guest
Prizes and distinctions
�
Economics
Prix Laplace 1933 and Prix Rivot
from the Académie des sciences
for his passing out rank (n°1)
at the École polytechnique.
Prix Charles Dupin from
the Académie des sciences
morales et politiques (1954).
Lanchester Prize from the Johns
Hopkins University and
the Operations Research Society of
America (1958).
Prix Joseph Dutens from
the Académie des sciences
morales et politiques (1959).
Prix Robert Blanché from
the Académie des sciences
morales et Politiques (1983).
Grand prix Guido Zerilli Marimo
from the Académie des sciences
morales et politiques (1984).
Special jury prize, on the occasion
of the creation of the Prix Dupuitde-Lesseps
(1987).
Nobel Prize for Economics (1988).
Physics
Prix Galabert from the Société
française d’astronautique (1959).
Laureate of the Gravity Research
Foundation, 1959, USA.
Passenger: how to estimate the cost of
a journey for a passenger boarding a train at
Calais station to travel to Paris? This ‘paradox’
is only one in the sense which is given to it by
decision theory. It evokes the diffi culty
of determining the price of a passenger’s train
ticket from an estimation of its marginal cost.
The problem is as follows. As soon as there
is at least one passenger on board a train,
the train has to leave. A passenger in Calais
goes to the station. He wishes to travel
to Paris. He boards the train leaving
for the capital, but he has not yet bought his
ticket. He notices that there are people
in the compartment and he waits. Just before
the departure of the train, he observes
that several seats remain unoccupied.
He sits down in one of these. When the ticket
inspector passes and asks him to show his
ticket, he argues that the train was anyway
obliged to leave once a passenger had
boarded it, and that it costs the transport
company no more to run the train when
it is full than when there are only one
or two people aboard. Consequently, as his
presence on board does not change
the situation, there is no justifi cation in asking
him to pay for a ticket. In conclusion, of
all the passengers present on board the train,
the only one who should pay for his ticket
is the fi rst to have boarded the trainset…
The paradox is resolved by employing
the concept of marginal development cost.
If the train is not full, the cost generated by
the presence of this additional passenger
can correspond to the price of the additional
energy consumed to transport him,
the cleaning and ticket inspection costs
that he personally generates, as well as
the additional wear caused to equipment.
These costs will a priori be low.
If however the train is full, this passenger
necessitates the mobilisation of an additional
car… If the maximum number of cars
that can be towed by the locomotive or that
can be received by platforms has already
been reached, this additional passenger
requires putting into service a second train…
If the Calais-Paris line is saturated
by the existing trains, the operator is then
obliged to build a second line…
The same event cannot therefore be
assessed in the same way if
the circumstances in which it occurs and
the type of decision that it generates, vary.
According to the availability or not of
various resources (cars, trains or lines…),
the appraisal of the costs generated by
this additional passenger will differ according
to whether they are assessed by the ticket
inspector, the guard, the line manager
or the network director.
The answer proposed by Maurice Allais is
based on the mode of addition of these costs,
in response to the points of view of
the different economic actors whose analyses
then become complementary. Therefore,
the decision is also the responsibility of
the additional passenger: if his late arrival
obliges mobilisation of additional physical
resources such as a car or a train,
the price at marginal cost indicates to him
the enormous weight which he is going to be
imposing on everyone, whether this be for
other passengers or for the entire community.
Faced by the true fi nancial cost of his wish
to board the train, he can decide knowingly
to maintain his choice or to wait for a following
train – which will be less expensive.
Pricing at marginal cost therefore sends
an ‘economic signal’ to each consumer
and each actor, and helps them to adopt
more rational behaviour with regard
to scarce resources.

According to Maurice Allais, the context
in which an economic agent takes a decision
and the consequences that he expects from
that decision are essential. The allegory
of the Calais Passenger illustrates therefore
the need to consider the cost of a decision
taken by an economic agent identifi ed
in a specifi c context versus the average cost
of a product or service. This apologue also
emphasises the existence of discontinuities:
costs do not always meet in a linear manner,
but as they increase they reach levels at
which suddenly new related costs have to be
integrated. In the example of the Calais
Passenger, this is for instance the cost arising
from the mobilisation of a new car.
Bibliography
The Guidelines of my work, Nobel
Conference pronounced before the Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences, 1988.
À la Recherche d’une discipline
économique (1943).
Économie pure et rendement
social (1945).
Abondance ou misère (1946).
Économie et intérêt (1947).
La Gestion des houillères nationalisées
et la théorie économique (1949).
Le Comportement de l’homme
rationnel devant le risque: critique
des postulats et axiomes de l’école
américaine, dans Econometrica, vol. 21
(1953) p. 503-546.
Les Fondements comptables
de la macro-économique (1954).
L’Europe unie, route de la prospérité
(1959).
Le tiers-monde au carrefour (1961).
L’Algérie d’Évian (1962).
The Role of Capital in Economic
Development (Rôle du capital dans
le développement économique) (1963).
Reformulation de la théorie
quantitative de la monnaie (1965).
Growth Without Infl ation
(Croissance sans infl ation) (1967).
La Libéralisation des relations
économiques internationales -
Accords commerciaux ou intégration
économique (1970).
L’Infl ation française et la croissance -
Mythologies et réalité (1974).
L’Impôt sur le capital et la réforme
monétaire (1976).
La Théorie générale des surplus
(1978).
Les Conditions monétaires
d’une économie de marchés (1987).
Autoportrait (1989).
Pour l’indexation (1990).
Les Bouleversements à l’Est. Que faire?
(1990).
La Théorie générale des surplus
et l’économie de marchés” (1990 -
trois mémoires de 1967, 1971, 1988).
Contributions à la théorie générale
de l’effi cacité maximale et des surplus
(1990 - quatre mémoires de 1964, 1965,
1973 et 1975).
Pour la réforme de la fi scalité (1990).
L’Europe face à son avenir. Que faire?
(1991).
Erreurs et impasses de la construction
européenne (1992).
Combats pour l’Europe. 1992-1994
(1994).
La Crise mondiale aujourd’hui
(Clément Juglar, 1999).
Nouveaux combats pour l’Europe.
1995-2002 (2002).
L’Europe en crise. Que faire? (2005).
La Mondialisation, la destruction
des emplois et de la croissance,
l’évidence empirique
(Éd. Clément Juglar, 2007).
71

Free subscription to AT Magazine
• You wish to change the address to which your AT Magazine was sent.
Please complete the attached form and send it to the address indicated:
Name……………………………………. First name ………………………………
Company or local authority ……………………………………………………………
Position ……………………………………………………………………………………
Full address ………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Post code……………….. City ……………………………………………………………
Country ……………………………………………………………………………………
• You wish to subscribe one of your colleagues to AT Magazine.
Please complete the form below and return it to the address indicated:
Name……………………………………. First name ………………………………
Company or local authority ……………………………………………………………
Position ……………………………………………………………………………………
Full address ………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Post code……………….. City ……………………………………………………………
Country …………………………………………
Return to:
AT Magazine
c/o Alstom Transport
48, rue Albert Dhalenne
93482 Saint-Ouen Cedex
France
Adresse e-mail:
at.magazine@transport.alstom.com
2011
06
AT
©
MOROCCO IS
ACCELERATING!
Alstom Transport’s
contribution to the future of rail
In conformity with the law of 6 January 1978 on data processing and liberty, you dispose of a right of access,
correction and deletion of data which concerns you. You can exercise this right concerning Alstom Transport.

�����������������������������������������������������������������
����������������
���������������������������������������
��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
������������������������

���������������������������������������������������������������������
������
����������������������������
���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
����������������������������������������������������������������� ��� �������������������������������������
���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
������������������������