France: The ceremony took place at the Gare de Lyon in Paris.
The train design has been developed by Arep, part of the national operator SNCF, and Japanese Nendo. The audience could see the interiors of the first and second classes, as well as of the double-deck bistro car with 28 seats. A separate deck with areas for five wheelchairs was also displayed. Meanwhile, there are no conditions for passengers with reduced mobility to enter the bistro car. Each train will be able to accommodate between 586 and 744 passengers, depending on configuration.
SCNF has ordered 115 Avelia Horizons worth €3.5 bln. These are the TGV Inoui model, formerly TGV M, the fifth generation of Alstom’s high-speed trains. The first trains are expected to start running between Paris, Lyon, and Marseille from 2026. Initially, the launch had been planned for 2022 but was postponed several times, partly due to technical issues.
