SNCF and Alstom are combining their expertise with the launch of the first innovation partnership to create the next generation of the TGV, which will offer a unique, high-quality traveling experience while meeting the new economic and environmental challenges of high-speed travel.
Today, Wednesday 7 September 2016 in Paris, Rachel Picard, CEO of Voyages SNCF, and Jean-Baptiste Eymeoud, President of Alstom France, inaugurated the shared workspace of this ambitious, innovative cooperation, embodied by a team of multidisciplinary experts from the two companies.
The SNCF-Alstom innovation partnership will design and produce the new TGV with planned entry into commercial service in 2022.
The partnership will lead to the definition of a new technological, commercial and industrial strategy for high speed. It will offer a real breakthrough in terms of competitiveness, with a major objective of reducing investment and operating costs and enhancing the train’s appeal on the mobility market, providing a new experience for passengers in terms of comfort and onboard services.
The ambitions for the new-generation TGV are high:
- Reduce acquisition and operating costs by at least 20%,
- Optimize the environmental footprint, with a material recyclability rate of over 90% and a reduction in energy consumption of at least 25%,
- Develop the commercial offer to improve passenger experience: a 20% increase in capacity enabling more onboard services and/or more passengers. The trains will also offer greater modularity in terms of interior layout and carriage composition, offering enhanced quality in terms of customer service, comfort and connectivity.
The results of this collaboration will complement the high-speed trains of Alstom’s Avelia range (partially developed in the context of the “TGV of the Future” program co-financed by the state).
The SNCF-Alstom innovation partnership will be conducted in three phases:
- Joint definition and specification of the new TGV, until the end of 2017.
- Detailed design, industrialization and approval, for a duration of approximately 4 years.
- Production, train delivery, and entry into commercial service scheduled for mid-2022.
An integrated, multidisciplinary team of 20 experts from SNCF and Alstom, fully dedicated to the project, is from now on working in a single, stand-alone site located on Avenue du Maine in Paris. This method of working enables rapid decision-making, simultaneously taking into account all aspects of the project: passenger services, operation and maintenance, technical and industrial feasibility, costs.
The SNCF-Alstom team, working in close conjunction with the internal resources of both companies, is also open to the outside. It regularly invites experts and guests to contribute their knowledge, particularly in terms of innovative working methods and advanced technical solutions. The team is thus enriched through successful collaborations with engineering and design schools, as well as other industrial companies and startups.
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