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VIDEO: France unveils its next-generation high-speed TGV trains

TGV M test trains will travel 1million kilometres in France before going into service early in 2025

VIDEO: France unveils its next-generation high-speed TGV trains
Screengrab / TGV INOUI / Twitter

French train operator SNCF has unveiled the environmentally friendlier next-generation of TGV trains.

The fifth-generation “TGV M” can carry more passengers, will less energy than current TGVs, and is 97 percent recyclable, SNCF’s CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou told journalists at the train’s official launch at SNCF’s South-East European technicenter in Paris.

  • Each train will be able to seat 740 passengers, compared to 630 on TGVs currently operating
  • The standard train will have 9 carriages instead of 8 (although TGVs can also be coupled together to form a ‘double train’ that then divides half way down the line to go to different destinations)
  • The new trains will use 20 percent less energy than the current models

“In the great battle for the railways, this new train is an essential victory,” said Clément Beaune, Minister of Transport.

“It should enable us to meet our two challenges: growth in passenger numbers and the arrival of competition,” added Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF Voyageurs.

READ ALSO 9 things you might not know about France’s high-speed TGV network

The train is continuing trials on the national network, after successfully completing the first stage in Czechia. 

“We’re in the pre-validation phase, during which we’re mainly testing speed and braking. There are still two more phases,” Alain Krakovitch, Director of TGV-Intercités, said

In total, test trains will cover 1 million kilometres on French tracks before going into service. “We’re at 50,000 at the moment,” Krakovitch said. “There’s still a long way to go.”

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TRAVEL NEWS

France’s SNCF to offer high-speed passenger links in Italy

French national rail operator SNCF said on Wednesday it planned to offer high-speed passenger services in neighbouring Italy from 2026, competing with rival Trenitalia on its home turf.

France's SNCF to offer high-speed passenger links in Italy

“Italy is a natural market for high speed, with 56 million passengers per year,” said Alain Krakovitch, head of intercity TGV (high-speed train) services at SNCF Voyageurs.

“But it’s a market that’s yet to mature, with many passengers still to bring in.”

SNCF plans eventually to offer nine daily return services between Turin, Milan, Rome and Naples, as well as four Turin-Venice trains.

The French heavyweight moved into Spain with intercity services in 2021, and has seen Trenitalia itself look to pick up business in France on the profitable Paris-Lyon line.

SNCF hopes to claim 15 percent of the Italian high-speed market within a decade, or 10 million passengers per year.

In Spain, it has built its passenger base to 20 percent with its low-cost Ouigo service.

European business already accounts for one-third of SNCF’s annual high-speed revenues, or €3 billion.

The publicly owned firm is also responding to explosive demand for rail travel at home in France.

READ MORE: MAP: Where high-speed trains can take you in France

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