Cross-border regional trains blocked by new German braking regulations
November 2025
Recently acquired by the Grand Est region, the 30 trainsets of the new Franco-German cross-border TER (regional express train) are awaiting certification before they can operate in Germany. Ordered in 2019, these trains are intended to allow Franco-German connections without requiring passengers to change trains at the border, between Mulhouse and Freiburg or between Strasbourg and Saarbrücken.
Designed by French and German engineers and co-financed by the German Länder of Baden-Württemberg, Saarland, and Rhineland-Palatinate, these trains could not be approved in Germany due to a change in regulations concerning the emergency braking module, adopted at the federal level. Pending the modification of this module by spring 2026, these blue trains, bearing both flags, will therefore operate for the time being only in France, on lines between Strasbourg, Sarreguemines, and Haguenau.
