SNCF is testing the latest generation of TGV trains as France, TGV-M looks to expand its high-speed rail service and shift travellers from air travel to trains. The French train operator is testing new double-decker trains with a maximum speed of 320 km/h that will begin operation in 2024. SNCF has so far ordered 115 new trains, which promise to be 20 per cent cheaper to operate, 25 per cent more energy-efficient, and seat 20 per cent more passengers than the current TGV trains.
By 2030, the operator plans to extend the Paris-Bordeaux route to Toulouse, cutting more than an hour of travel. That extension will eventually be linked with a high-speed rail line in Spain and allow high-speed train travel between Paris and Madrid. Another major expansion is an LGV line from Lyon to Turin under the Alps.
France is also planning an expansion of the Montpellier-Perpignan line to close the high-speed rail gap between Paris and Málaga/Seville, creating a high-speed line more than 1,000-kilometres long.
SNCF is looking to improve service and fend off attacks from rival train operators like Trenitalia, which has been expanding into France via Milan and taking pasengers from SNCF.
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