September 30, 2025
From Construction to Commissioning: The CETEX in Babinière Is Now Open!
In Babinière, north of Nantes, construction of the new Technical and Operations Center (CETEX)—a project led by SEMITAN on behalf of Nantes Métropole—was completed in late August. Equans France, through its subsidiaries Ineo UTS, Ineo Infracom, and Bouygues Energies & Services – Urban and Road Transport, carried out the electrical and technical installations. After hosting an open house in mid-September for the public and employees, the site is now operational and ready to fulfill its mission in support of the Nantes transit network.
One of the largest tram depots in France
The new CETEX meets the growing mobility needs of the Nantes metropolitan area. In 2024, nearly 150 million passengers will use the Naolib network, which serves 24 municipalities and covers more than 30 million kilometers. The site brings together all the functions essential to the network’s operation in a single location. It includes a large 12,000 m² maintenance workshop capable of accommodating 16 next-generation tram trains simultaneously. It also houses an operations building that includes offices, training areas, rest areas for drivers, and the network’s control center.
Finally, CETEX has a service station for cleaning and sandblasting the trains, as well as a storage facility for the new-generation trains.
Inside CETEX ( ©: Leo Panchevre)
Expertise to Support a Complex Construction Project
The Equans France teams, which began work in 2022, carried out 18 months of preparatory work before construction began. The Ineo teams, specializing in electrical engineering, handled all high- and low-voltage installations, as well as the implementation of the fire safety system.
This includes high- and low-voltage power supply, site lighting, power outlets and power supplies for machinery and the ventilation system, as well as the integration of a dedicated data center for data management. All of this equipment is controlled by a building management system capable of detecting energy or technical anomalies in real time.
Unprecedented technical coordination
Bouygues Energies & Services – Urban and Road Transport provided the electric traction systems essential for powering the tram trains. The project also involved Ineo UTS and Ineo Infracom for the video surveillance and access control systems. The project’s success hinged on meticulous coordination among the various stakeholders, with constant attention paid to crew safety and the management of technical interfaces.
Alongside Equans France, Colas Rail—another subsidiary of the Bouygues Group—contributed to this major project by overseeing the extension of Line 1 of the Ranzay and Babinière tramway, as well as the construction of 8 km of rail tracks within the CETEX. This included the construction of a new terminal station in Babinière, 16 storage tracks, 3 washing and sanding tracks, and 9 workshop tracks for maintaining the new trains. In total, more than 19 km of track were laid, and more than 1,500 aluminothermic welds were performed.
