MANUFACTURER Alstom and operator SNCF Passenger announced on December 10 that they have submitted an application to the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) for the Authorisation to Place on the Market (Apom) that will enable the new TGV M double-deck high-speed train to enter service.
Testing of the TGV M on the French national network has been underway since June 2023, following pre-validation testing which began in December 2022 at the Vélim test circuit in the Czech Republic and climatic testing undertaken at the Rail Tec Arsenal facility in Vienna, Austria, in March 2023.
SNCF Passenger has now started the pre-operational phase for its new high-speed fleet, with the aim of introducing four TGV M trains into commercial service from July 1 2026. Four more trains will follow from September next year, with 13 due to be in passenger service by the end of 2026.
The first TGV M sets will be deployed on services from Paris to Lyon and Marseille, freeing TGV Duplex trains for transfer to other regions of France. Initially, this will enable service frequencies to be increased, while the TGV M will eventually the replace the oldest single-deck members of the SNCF Passenger high-speed fleet, the 10-car TGV Atlantique trains dating back to 1990 and eight-car TGV Réseau sets introduced from 1992.
Under a framework agreement with Alstom, SNCF Passenger has ordered a total of 115 TGV M high-speed trains for €3.5bn. Known as the Avelia Horizon by Alstom, the design has also been ordered by Moroccan National Railways (ONCF), which will receive 18 trains, and French open-access operator Velvet (formerly Proxima) which expects to begin testing of the first of its fleet of 12 trains next year.
In October Eurostar announced a €2bn order for up to 50 trains under the framework contract awarded by its parent SNCF Passenger, comprising a firm order for 30 trains with an option for 20 more.
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