TGV

SNCF Voyages Italia will launch its low-cost TGV Ouigo services in Italy in September 2027, aiming to compete with the two existing rail operators, Trenitalia and Italo (*). SNCF Voyageurs will dedicate a budget of €800 million to this venture. This budget will be used for the acquisition from Alstom of 15 Avelia Horizon trainsets, more commonly known as…

Rail competition could intensify a little further in France. On Thursday, following heated debate, the Senate opened up access to SNCF Connect for rail companies other than SNCF, thanks to the vote on Article 9bis of the framework bill on the development and financing of transport in France. From 31...

Many upgrades are planned this year on the TGV Lyria lines between France and Switzerland, which will have repercussions on services and journey times for the TGV operated by the partnership between SNCF and CFF, the Swiss Federal Railways. Starting with the Paris-Lausanne connections in…

The work carried out by SNCF Réseau is incessant, some of it with significant implications for TGV and TER (regional train) traffic. The latest announcement from SNCF is that they plan to replace no fewer than 9 points at the entrance to Marseille Saint-Charles station in May. This will have an impact on...

While its AVE, its high-speed trains built by Talgo, already run between Lyon and Barcelona and from Marseille to Madrid, Renfe has been trying in vain for years to get these same trains approved for departure from Paris. Faced with these difficulties, as well as the lack of prospects for real progress on…

TGV Lyria, the Franco-Swiss railway company, has partnered with International Workplace Group (IWG) to offer a coworking service through a selection of spaces from its brands Regus, Spaces and Signature, located close to the French and Swiss stations it serves. Business travellers will benefit from advantages on the day of their journey with TGV Lyria.…

SNCF Voyageurs has just renewed its partnership agreement with CFF, the Swiss railways, until 2032, to develop rail links between Switzerland, France and neighbouring European countries. The honeymoon between the two carriers has been going on for 45 years, particularly within TGV Lyria, which has...

Will it roll? Will it run? Uncertainty once again seems to be hanging over the start of operations for the first four TGV M trains, scheduled for 1 July. Rumours of yet another postponement have been circulating for several weeks. Last Friday, the specialist website Ville, Rail & Transport (VRT) went one step further, announcing that this so-called...

Change of strategy for Le Train. While the future rail company was aiming to operate direct high-speed train services between the major cities on the Atlantic seaboard, with Bordeaux-Nantes and Bordeaux-Rennes at the forefront, it has just announced that it wants to operate on the Paris-Nantes and Paris-Bordeaux routes. Two framework agreements have been signed with...

After decades of procrastination and delays, high-speed rail is beginning to gain momentum in English-speaking countries. The latest market is Australia, where the first high-speed line could be built on the island's east coast, between Sydney and Newcastle, a coastal city further north. For...

While Jean-Pierre Farandou, its Chairman for the last six years, has left for the Ministry of Labour, leaving Jean Castex in charge since November, the SNCF group has achieved stable sales in 2025 at €43 billion (-0.31TP3Q/2024) and, above all, a net profit of €1.8 billion. This is the fifth year in a row...

Trenitalia continues to grow in Europe. The Italian company, part of the FS Group, has just unveiled a revamped logo and a new brand image to accompany the arrival in its fleet, by 2030, of 74 Frecciarossa 1000s, its high-speed trains with a red livery and a single "F"...

Despite having clocked up 13.8 million kilometres, the 377-seat TGV No. 4718, which entered service on 3 March 1995, is looking its best in the Landy technicentre in Saint-Denis. For 7 weeks, it has undergone a €2.5 million facelift as part of the SNCF's project to extend the service...

For over a week now, Paris Est SNCF station has had a completely refurbished TGV Inoui lounge to cater for the 14,000 passengers who use it every month. Located opposite the tracks, right in the heart of the station, the Salon Grand Voyageur Le Club TGV Inoui has undergone major work to make it...

SNCF has announced that it is buying 15 additional TGV M trainsets from Alstom for €600 million. The trains will be delivered from 2029 onwards, and are scheduled to operate between the Belgian Brussels-Midi station and major French cities other than Paris (such as Marseille and Lyon). With this contract, SNCF is raising...

On 8 January, SNCF launched the new Optimum class, which replaces Business 1ère, as well as its Optimum + version on the Paris-Lyon route alone. On this route, the company operates 19 daily round trips on the TGV Inouï, with departures every 30 minutes on the hour...

High-speed development before a phase of consolidation in the years to come: Trenitalia has taken stock of a year 2025 full of new developments for the Italian company. Celebrating four years on the French railways this month, Trenitalia's first event in April was the reopening of the...

The Paris-Lyon line, SNCF's most profitable, continues to whet appetites. After Trenitalia at the end of 2021, and while waiting for Renfe's AVEs still blocked at Lyon Part-Dieu, a newcomer has come out of the woodwork, Claret, following the favourable opinion issued on 1 December by the French Transport Regulation Authority (ART). This...

SNCF is not just focusing on the Mediterranean, one of its most profitable routes. The Atlantic route is also receiving a great deal of attention in the run-up to the expected launch of new rail competitors with Le Train theoretically in 2027 and Velvet in 2028. The national company is preparing for the arrival of these possible challengers by...

Faced with criticism of its high fares and to counter the arrival of competitors on its most profitable lines, SNCF intends to push ahead with the development of Ouigo, its low-cost brand launched in 2013. Ouigo is expected to account for a third of TGV traffic by 2030, thanks to an expected increase of...