TGV M: will the new TGV, launched this Friday by the SNCF, increase ticket prices?

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All white, with a slender nose, the new TGV M set off in the morning, Friday November 6, with its first passengers on board. A Paris-Marseille journey. Most travelers are won over, like a family: “We are all surprised a little bit by the light, by the facilities, we are very happy”, summarizes the father.

“There’s more room for the legs, that’s the first thing I noticed,” adds a young man. And also more space for luggage. Another big novelty, in the bar car, on two levels, there is room for self-service.

A new TGV to accommodate ever more passengers. Inside, up to 740 seats, or 20% more than the previous generation. But will ticket prices increase?

The SNCF assures us that no. “The principle of this train is to offer more space, more comfort, to consume less energy and that for the same price,” assures Alain Krakovitch, industrial director of SNCF Voyageurs. So, more profitability for the SNCF?

“We will have more room, so, at some point, indeed,” he agrees. Cheaper maintenanceThe TGV has come a long way since its launch in 1981 and its orange trains. The cars change appearance and are modernized over the years, until those of 2008, models still in service today.

For the purchase of these TGV M, SNCF invested 4.6 billion euros. But maintenance should cost less. “There will be everything called predictive maintenance which will allow the train to be repaired before it breaks down.

The SNCF has calculated that it could benefit from 30% less maintenance costs", underlines Marie-Hélène Poingt, editor-in-chief of La Vie du Rail. The TGV M are designed to run for 50 years. The new trains will gradually replace the entire existing fleet within 10 years.

Machine-translated from French