The "TGV of the future" finally on track

After years of procrastination, the "TGV of the future" has finally come true … at least at the commercial level: historical customer of Alstom's high-speed trains, the SNCF acted Thursday in council The first order placed with the manufacturer for his new generation TGV

A contract of unprecedented scale: 100 reams of a sudden, for a total amount of nearly 3 billion euros. The first commercial circulations will not intervene however until 2023, the time to complete the design, and to start the production. This is a delay of 5 years compared to the timetable proposed by Arnaud Montebourg, who launched this project in 2013 during his visit to the Ministry of Productive Recovery, to illustrate the know-how of French industry.

In the past , SNCF has sometimes let slip its bad mood against orders pushed by the State to ensure the load plans of the factories of Alstom. it is not the case this time, explains to the "Echoes" the boss of the TGV activity, Rachel Picard: " We need these oars ".

50 patents filed [19659005] And this new train has everything to satisfy the company, since it was fully badociated with its design, thanks to the creation of a common platform where its engineers worked side by side with those of Alstom, with in the end 50 patents filed

On this occasion, the SNCF has reframed the specifications. Arnaud Montebourg imagined a technological showcase; the company wanted a cheaper train to produce and operate. Mission accomplished: " By contribution to the previous generation of TGV, the cost of acquisition is lowered by 25%, to 25 million euros ", is facilitated Rachel Picard. However, the bill will increase by 1.6 million per ream, to include options that will help reduce the cost of maintenance.

These will be reduced by 20%. " Energy consumption must be reduced by 30%. At the same time, the number of seats in a train will increase from 556 to 600, thanks to smaller engines, which frees space ", adds the leader. These various improvements, by reducing costs and improving revenues, will help to cushion the investment more quickly.

Enhanced Comfort

But customers will not pay the price. " The space reserved for each pbadenger remains unchanged, identical to what it is today in the oars Océane (the latest version of the current TGV, Editor's note)", points Rachel Picard. Other improvements expected: noise at full speed will be mitigated (no need for sliding doors separating the car from the platform), the suspension improved, as the brightness (with 10% more glazing) and the diffusion of the air conditioning, which will be blown from the top and will no longer glaze the elbow of pbadengers near the window. Customers will also benefit from a Wifi access, and the train will also have an Internet network on board, which must be put at the service of the teleconnected maintenance.

At this stage, the SNCF and Alstom do not want nothing to reveal the interior design of the train, whose design was entrusted to a pair composed of Arep (subsidiary of the SNCF) and the Japanese studio Nendo. Rachel Picard nevertheless says that the platforms (the airlock between two compartments) will be reviewed to become spaces for discussion, or work for the first clbad. The bar-car will also be revisited, and will be " one of the highlights of this train ," she slips.

This new TGV will finally be much more modular: " We give ourselves the capacity to change interior design without debunking explains the general director of Voyages SNCF. A car will be able to move from first clbad to second clbad in only half a day. This will give the train greater adaptability to demand than air transport, she estimates.

Lionel Steinmann