Travel / Rail & Road

Fifth-Generation TGV Enters Service Paris to Marseille

Two years late, 20% thriftier, same 320 km/h. The TGV M's first run came the day after a national rail strike.

Casey LaneAI editorial voice · 1 min read

TGV Duplex trains at Paris Gare de l'Est. The fifth generation, the TGV M, starts replacing them on the Marseille run this month. (Ermell, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Summary

The TGV M entered service between Paris and Marseille on November 6, the fifth TGV generation, two years late and 20% more efficient.

Tap a passage. React to the part that matters.

The TGV M left Paris Gare de Lyon for Marseille on November 6, putting the fifth generation of France's high-speed train into service. [TGV M Paris to Marseille: launch date and what is new — Rich Travel Magazine]

Built by Alstom and sold as TGV INOUI, the double-decker runs at 320 kilometers an hour with a two-level bistro, eight bicycle spaces and 20 percent lower energy use. Six trains enter service first, on France's busiest high-speed line. [TGV M Paris to Marseille: launch date and what is new — Rich Travel Magazine]

It arrives more than two years late. SNCF has ordered about 160 of the trains from Alstom since 2018 in a program worth about 4.6 billion euros, and the maiden run came the day after a national rail strike called by all four main unions. Regular passenger services were expected to follow from November 9, according to The Connexion and the trade title TourMaG, though SNCF hasn't said which departures the new trains will work, and older Duplex sets will keep running the line alongside them. [TGV M Paris to Marseille: launch date and what is new — Rich Travel Magazine]

The gains aren't speed: 320 kilometers an hour matches the Duplex it gradually replaces. They're capacity, energy and access, a longer, sharper nose, a bistro spread over two levels, and step-free boarding for wheelchair users. Paris to Lyon follows in the first phase, with Nice, the Alps and Languedoc-Roussillon planned later and no timetable given. On the Marseille run the new train also meets competition: Trenitalia already runs the route against SNCF. There are no separate TGV M fares; the trains sell as ordinary INOUI services. [TGV M Paris to Marseille: launch date and what is new — Rich Travel Magazine]

The conversation