This car was originally built as a B11tu (VTU-75 or 78). It was refurbished in 2001/2002 with funding from Région Centre, under the "Aqualys" program. Aqualys is an EIG between SNCF-GL and Région Centre, which runs GL (yet non-reservable) services on Paris-(fast) Orléans- (semi-fast) Tours.
This car now features 80 seats, arranged with a pitch of 870mm, as pre-refurbishment. 8 of the original seats have gone to make room for 2 (ex-B5rtux) curved sofas, so as to offer a "relaxation area"... There is also a "multimedia area", with power points for laptops and mobiles.
Paris-Austerlitz. 30th December 2003. P.L.Guillemin (plguillemin@yahoo.fr)