FRANCE: SNCF Voyageurs and supplier Alstom have revealed the colour scheme for the operator’s future fleet of TGV-M trainsets.
At a presentation staged within Alstom’s premises in Belfort on April 29, a fully-painted unit was rolled out to a display area for the benefit of photographers and journalists.
In marked contrast to earlier TGV liveries that ranged from bright orange for the first generation to blue and silver for later members of the family, TGV-M features a sober pale grey power car with a shade of white chosen for the double-deck trailers. The nose of the power cars has a black panel round the windscreen and headlights, while a dark grey low level band stretches over the bodyside above the bogies; this is continued on the trailer cars.
Entrance doors on the aluminium-bodied trailers are picked out in a dark red colour described as ‘Frenchberry’, and the same shade is used for the TGV inOui logo on the power car sides.
SNCF placed the styling for TGV-M in the hands of French design agency AREP and Japanese house Nendo, both of which have also been involved in the interior décor of SNCF’ future high speed flagship.
In contrast to some earlier liveries that used adhesive panels, the full TGV-M livery is painted, which Alstom suggests will have better weather resistance. The very light tones will also reflect heat in the summer, reducing the load on air-conditioning equipment and contributing to the train’s climate-friendly attributes.
Alstom says that that 10 days are required to paint the steel body of a TGV-M power car, a process carried out in eight stages. The drying process requires a further 14 days.
Entry into commercial service of the first TGV-M trainsets, originally envisaged in 2024, is now expected in the second half of 2025. Testing of the first production set and four-pre-production units is currently in hand as part of the process needed to obtain authorisation for commercial deployment from the European Agency for Railways.
