the new generation TGV-M accelerates its testing phase

The emotion is palpable at the SNCF South-East European Technicentre, which has specialized in TGV maintenance since the early 1980s. Upon arrival at the platform, Friday October 6, of this new test train of the TGV-M, the fifth generation of high-speed train. “I’ve been on the project for eight years, confides David Goeres, director of TBM projects at SNCF Voyageurs. Seeing him pass, I had goosebumps.”

There is still a long way to go, however, before this TGV-M takes passengers on board. It will normally only transport its first passengers in 2025, on the Paris-Lyon-Marseille line. It will first have to complete the pre-validation testing phase, before beginning those of admission and then pre-operation. In short, it requires driving, a lot of driving in real conditions, summarizes Alain Krakovitch, director of TGV Intercités. “To give you an idea, in terms of number of kilometers, we are at around 50,000 kilometers while we need to do a million. That’s why it’s going to take a little more time …”

In the meantime, on board, no seats, but computers, screens, kilometers of visible cables to equip the various test laboratories installed in the cars, including the electrical laboratory where Michael Martins-Blanco, engineer at the SNCF. “It’s our office, in fact, with our various computers. There, we are in the electrical laboratory, with cameras installed on the roof.” He is precisely a “brake player”. In short, it tests braking, a key element of safety. “This train, when it arrived on the network, we started at low speed, we start at 30 km/h, for example. We gradually increase to 320 km/h.” And at 320 km/h, it takes more than three kilometers to stop when it’s not raining.

The SNCF, for its part, does not intend to stop the TGV model and will even spend a total of 3 and a half billion euros to purchase 115 trainsets from Alstom. Its CEO, Jean-Pierre Farandou, recalls that this investment will also benefit “everyday trains”. “We need the TGV to go well, because we have to buy these 115 trains. And then let’s not forget that the money from the TGV also goes to the network. There is financial solidarity. We actually need to put money into this network and TGV needs it too.” The SNCF is also banking heavily on the savings ultimately generated by the TGV-M, including a 20% reduction in energy consumption compared to the current TGV Duplex.