France has revealed the inside of its new £3.3billion high-speed trains, which officials say will be in service from 2026. The fifth generation TGV stock was unveiled earlier this month by the country’s passenger rail operator SNCF Voyageurs, and Alstom, the manufacturer. So far 115 TGV M sets have been ordered at a cost of €4billion. Designers said: “The Flow Train represents a new experience in the railway environment, from the front of the train to its interior fittings. The concept reflects the train’s ecological ambition and AREP’s commitment to a post-carbon design.”
They added: “The ‘flow’ is based on a simple idea: the train is unlike any other means of transport, it carves its way through the landscape, a bit like a river flowing. The concept thus plays with a fluid horizon line that runs through all the elements, gives a horizon, reinforces the perspective and evokes the surface of the water. All the interiors and details have been redesigned with a central theme: comfort.
“The idea was to take a fresh look, to introduce a lasting break in the railway world and to re-enchant a technical and industrial environment in order to create a softer and more personal bubble of comfort in a shared space.”