5G on board, less energy consumed, more seats… Alstom CEO unveils the TGV of the future

Romain Rouillard 5:12 p.m., January 13, 2023

The TGV makes its revolution.

Presented last September on the Alstom site in La Rochelle, the "TGV M", a new version of the high-speed train should come into circulation by the end of 2024. In the meantime,

received this Friday Henri Poupart-Lafarge, the CEO of the Alstom group, a French giant in the rail sector.

At the microphone of Elisabeth Assayag, he presented the main technological advances offered by these trains of the future. 

Better connectivity

First, Henri Poupart-Lafarge evokes the new "attractiveness" that these new trains will offer to travelers.

"We are working a lot on connectivity, brightness, simple comfort, the absence of vibration etc...", he says.

Concretely, this will result in particular in better access to the mobile network.

“We are working on making 4G and 5G go more easily from outside to inside the train,” he confirms on Europe 1.

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A feat made possible by a new system of glazing, equipped with "small holes that you will not see and which make it possible to avoid the Faraday effect, this effect which prevents the waves from arriving in the trains", specifies Henri Poupart- Lafarges.

These waves will then infiltrate into these holes and will optimize the reception of mobile data but also Wi-Fi. "There will be a better quality of connection in the future", summarizes the CEO of Alstom.

Something to delight regular TGV users for whom following a meeting remotely or watching a series without cuts often looks like an impossible mission. 

More space, more trains and less energy

Henri Poupart-Lafarge also promises more space within the cars.

"The TGV M will be 20% more capacitive. This will result either in more surface area per passenger, or in more passengers."

An evolution which will increase the capacity of the lines by 40%, according to the boss of Alstom, and which will be accompanied by a reduction in energy emissions.

"There will be more passengers while consuming 20% ​​less energy", welcomes Henri Poupart-Lafarge. 

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Finally, Alstom is planning a change in signaling systems which will lead to an increase in passing frequencies.

"It will make it possible to go from 13 trains per hour to 16 trains per hour", indicates its CEO.

On the other hand, the new TGV M should not run faster than the trains currently in service.

"It's not an end in itself. People seek to optimize their travel time between two points. And from this point of view, acceleration, deceleration, fluidity counts more than knowing if we are going to pass at 320 or 330 km/h."