2023-10-06 10:26:00
In cathedral silence, his nose appears in the southeast European SNCF technical center in Paris. A few minutes earlier, the immaculate white train had passed along the rails arriving at Gare de Lyon, to a round of applause. The SNCF has, for the first time, officially presented the TGV M, its “train of the future”.
“It is a source of national pride, which must be our weapon of economic conquest,” welcomed Jean-Pierre Farandou, CEO of the SNCF group. “In the great rail battle, the arrival of this new train is an essential victory,” said Clément Beaune, Minister of Transport. “It must allow us to respond to our two challenges: the growth in the number of travelers and the arrival of competition,” noted Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF Voyageurs.
The test trains will travel a million kilometers
The “future TGV iNoui” will be put into commercial service at the start of 2025. With a capacity of 740 maximum seats, compared to 630 today, this fifth generation of high-speed train should allow the railway company to continue its development, t’s a time when “the appetite for trains grows stronger from year to year,” confides Christophe Fanichet.
This new TGV will have a maximum capacity of 740 seats, compared to 630 today. LP/Philippe Lavieille
At 97% recyclable, the TGV M will have 20% lower energy consumption than current TGVs. “It’s a real railway revolution,” insists Jean-Pierre Farandou. We are going to get a head start in global competition. »
For the moment, the train is continuing its tests, which began last December. After making its first runs in Velim, in the Czech Republic, the train now runs across the entire national network. “We are in the pre-validation phase, during which we mainly test speed and braking. There are still two remaining: that of approval and then that of pre-operation,” explains Alain Krakovitch, director of TGV – Intercités.
In total, before its official entry into service and passenger transport, the test trains will travel 1 million kilometers on the French rails. “We are at 50,000 at the moment,” confides Alain Krakovitch. There’s still plenty of time left. »The revolution will wait.
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