TGV

The official date for the commercial launch of the TGV M is approaching. Perhaps on Monday, November 2, with two return trips, as some rail enthusiasts’ bloggers are announcing? Or on Friday, November 6, the day of the inaugural journey between Paris and Marseille? The latter will be held in the presence of the press and officials: Philippe Tabarot,…

An increase in supply, more accessible fares and, ultimately, a rise in passenger traffic: such is the initial assessment of the opening of the rail market to competition, according to a study conducted by the consultancy Frontier Economics on behalf of the French Rail Association (AFRA), which is thus actively pursuing its lobbying efforts. According to the study, this opening...

Trenitalia is continuing its European expansion. The Italian company, a subsidiary of the FS (Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane) group, has begun test runs of its Frecciarossa high-speed trains on the Rome–Munich and Milan–Munich lines. Commercial services are scheduled to open in the summer of 2027, as soon as all authorisations and certifications have been obtained.

That's what you call breaking them in! SNCF is encountering the worst difficulties with the launch of the fifth-generation TGV built by Alstom. Expected for early September, SNCF is still unable to provide a start date for the commercial operation of this «TGV of the future». As a reminder, this was...

A casualty incident that occurred this Tuesday, 8 September at around 7 am near Fresnoy-le-Luat, in the Oise department, is causing severe disruption to traffic on the Northern high-speed rail line (LGV Nord). According to SNCF Voyageurs, traffic is «very heavily disrupted in both directions» between Paris and Arras. SNCF Réseau specifies that...

Things are speeding up for Velvet. Following the presentation of its first high-speed trainset in its corporate colours – purple and green – last April, the up-and-coming rail operator has just been granted its railway undertaking licence by the Directorate General for Infrastructure, Transport and Mobility (DGITM). This key milestone will enable it to "order...

Japan is making a strong impact in the railway sector. After its famous Shinkansen, the country has just given the green light for the construction of the first magnetic levitation line between Tokyo and Osaka, a distance of some 500 km, passing through Nagano, Nagoya and Kyoto in particular. The project has seen significant progress in recent days,...

Faced with the saturation of its rail network, but also with global warming and the carbon emissions of air travel, India is converting to high-speed rail to connect its megacities in a country that has 1.45 billion inhabitants. The first high-speed line (HSL) is under construction between Mumbai, the capital…

Following its new Première Signature in 2025, TGV Lyria has just implemented a loyalty program based on annual spending by business travellers or companies with the Franco-Swiss rail operator, a subsidiary of SNCF. The system is thus based on 4 different tiers according to total expenditure, with...

The California high-speed rail project is of more interest than ever to French rail sector specialists. United within a joint venture integrated into the Momentum Alliance Partners consortium, Keolis and SNCF Voyageurs have indeed just concluded a co-development agreement with the California High-Speed Authority, which is responsible for the construction of the California high-speed rail link. More precisely,...

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the France-Brussels link, celebrated last June 12th in the Belgian capital in the presence of Jean Castex, the chairman of SNCF, the rail company announced the extension of the TGV Inoui Brussels-Strasbourg to Basel, Switzerland, from July 2027. The service will be scheduled for Fridays, Saturdays and...

After Morocco at the end of 2018, will Ivory Coast be the second country on the African continent to have a high-speed train? The government of this West African country indeed wishes to build a high-speed line between Abidjan, the economic capital, and Yamoussoukro, the political capital created by the former...

Updated 9 June at 6:00 PM It was already announced as being quite well-followed at the beginning of May, when four SNCF unions filed notice of a strike against the ongoing reorganisation within the group and the spin-off processes which, according to them, are causing dramas among employees. It is indeed expected to be.

Eurostar has unveiled its results for the 2025 financial year, during which it surpassed the 20 million passenger mark. This represents a slight increase of 31% in passenger numbers, with turnover of €2 billion (+1.71% compared to 2024) and EBITDA of €337 million (-2.61%). The SNCF subsidiary is therefore performing somewhat…

Expected on July 1st on the Paris-Lyon-Marseille route, the TGV M should finally begin commercial operation in early September. This is despite the fact that this 5th generation TGV has finally obtained its approval from the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA). Although the commercial loss of the summer season is significant for the SNCF, the…

It's the SNCF's "Arlésienne" (a long-awaited, never-arriving event). The TGV M, which is due to run on the Paris-Marseille axis as well as Paris-Milan in order to compete with Trenitalia, doesn't seem ready to show its white nose on the horizon anytime soon. As a reminder, this "TGV of the future", built by Alstom, was supposed to be launched at the end of 2023, then for the...

This is a small revolution brewing in the railway sector if the European Commission manages to get its proposal adopted. In order to reduce the role of air travel and thus carbon emissions at the European level, it intends to promote train travel in Europe. After supporting the creation of ten cross-border routes, the European body…

"Optimum+ is finding its customers," assures Benjamin Huteau, Director of the South-East TGV Inoui Division, who this week presented an initial assessment of this new class, launched exclusively at the beginning of January on the Paris-Lyon route. An improved version of the Optimum class, which replaced Business 1ère, Optimum+ is offered on all 19 daily return services…

The London-to-Switzerland service project is on track. Eurostar, SNCF, and SBB, the Swiss railways, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect, which foresees a feasibility study for a London-Geneva service by 2030. The three rail operators will thus be able to work on…

Cross-border invasions continue in Europe as part of the opening up of rail competition. While SNCF will enter the Italian market in 2027 with its low-cost brand Ouigo, the Italian company Italo has just announced its intention to establish a presence in Germany in 2028 in order to compete with Deutsche Bahn (DB). The…