French TGV's

[MattyJames]

Hello all, i was unable to find a thread with the information required on French TGV's so i hope this can help enlighten myself as well as others regarding info on the French TGV's.
I'm off to France in a few months and was wondering what's the status of the TGV Atlantique & Reseau sets on the French network are, e.g. how many sets are in service (approx) how often they run, where they are most common and if there are any plans to replace them soon. I hope to see a few of them when i'm over there and would love any info on these.
Many Thanks.

 

[gabrielhj07]

TGV Atlantique:

• 105 sets in service (2+10)
• Paris Montparnasse - Le Mans/Tours/Brest/Rennes/Nantes/Poitiers/Quimper.

TGV Reseau:

• 90 sets in service (2+8)
• Thalys operate 10 'PBA' sets
• SNCF send them to Bruxelles/Metz/Dijon

Most, if not all, of the Southern TGV routes will be POS/Duplex operated.
The TGV Sud-Est has already been replaced by POS sets, but I'm not aware of plans to replace the Atlantique sets. The oldets TGV sets in service are around the age of the Class 91.

If you want to see some while you're over there, I would suggest Paris Montparnasse/Gare de l'Est, as they seem to be the termini from which the oldest ones work.

 

[D6130]

TGV Reseau:

• 90 sets in service (2+8)
• Thalys operate 10 'PBA' sets
• SNCF send them to Bruxelles/Metz/Dijon

The first six TGV Reseau sets (4501-4506) are dedicated to the Paris-Milano services - which now have competition from FS-Trenitalia Frecciarossa trains - and are about to commence a new SNCF Milano-Genova-Ventimiglia-Nice service, where their top speed capability will not be required for a few years until the opening of the new 'Terza Vallico' HSL between Tortona and Genova. Current projections are that they will run for another five years until life-expired, but their 3,000 v changeover equipment has been unreliable for a few years now and has caused quite a few delays and cancellations.

 

[MattyJames]

TGV Atlantique:

• 105 sets in service (2+10)
• Paris Montparnasse - Le Mans/Tours/Brest/Rennes/Nantes/Poitiers/Quimper.

TGV Reseau:

• 90 sets in service (2+8)
• Thalys operate 10 'PBA' sets
• SNCF send them to Bruxelles/Metz/Dijon

Most, if not all, of the Southern TGV routes will be POS/Duplex operated.
The TGV Sud-Est has already been replaced by POS sets, but I'm not aware of plans to replace the Atlantique sets. The oldets TGV sets in service are around the age of the Class 91.

If you want to see some while you're over there, I would suggest Paris Montparnasse/Gare de l'Est, as they seem to be the termini from which the oldest ones work.

Thanks for that information, very helpful. I plan on seeing them In and around Paris as well as the main termini stations. So it's good to know there will be a variety to see, are there any stations within the vicinity of Paris to see them out of Montparnasse? I've found a few locations out of Gare De Lyon & Gare Du Nord which will suffice.

 

[StephenHunter]

Planning an overnight in Paris later this year - this will be useful for me.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

TGV Atlantique:

• 105 sets in service (2+10)

Errr... no; they built 105 sets but a large number of them have been withdrawn in recent years.

 

[hexagon789]

Errr... no; they built 105 sets but a large number of them have been withdrawn in recent years.

There were only 28 in traffic, may be fewer now.

And there are 26 bi-current, 27 tri-current and 10 PBA Réseau sets in service.

(Figures from December 2021)

 

[43096]

Thanks for that information, very helpful. I plan on seeing them In and around Paris as well as the main termini stations. So it's good to know there will be a variety to see, are there any stations within the vicinity of Paris to see them out of Montparnasse? I've found a few locations out of Gare De Lyon & Gare Du Nord which will suffice.

Ignore that information, it’s massively out of date. Fleet lists for French stock (including TGVs) can be found here: https://trainsso.pagesperso-orange.fr/page9.html

That should give a much better idea of what’s what.

 

[MattyJames]

Ignore that information, it’s massively out of date. Fleet lists for French stock (including TGVs) can be found here: https://trainsso.pagesperso-orange.fr/page9.html

That should give a much better idea of what’s what.

That looks very helpful and full of information, thank you very much. Good to see they're still in service

 

[jopsuk]

the POS sets, are, of course, Réseau trailers.

Very tangentially related- I've seen recently videos of "TGV-M" trailers and power cars being moved- aka Avelia Horizon, the next gen Duplex. There's 100 sets, which would more than replace the remaining single deck TGVs in the fleet and expand the fleet.
(not including the Thalys & Eurostar fleets)

 

[MattyJames]

the POS sets, are, of course, Réseau trailers.

Very tangentially related- I've seen recently videos of "TGV-M" trailers and power cars being moved- aka Avelia Horizon, the next gen Duplex. There's 100 sets, which would more than replace the remaining single deck TGVs in the fleet and expand the fleet.
(not including the Thalys & Eurostar fleets)

Ah right, interesting to know. Do you know if there's a time line for the implementation of the TGV M sets? As I hope to see the Reseau sets while out in France

 

[StephenHunter]

The Horizon is also the platform for the new Acela trains, but because it's America, they're assembling them locally and calling it in the Liberty.

 

[Davester50]

Do I remember rightly there was once a plan to join two sets together, removing two driving units, and putting in some other powered car?
Or am I making that up?

 

[MarcVD]

Do I remember rightly there was once a plan to join two sets together, removing two driving units, and putting in some other powered car?
Or am I making that up?

Jumbo tgv it was named. But it remained at the concept stage...

 

[Davester50]

Jumbo tgv it was named. But it remained at the concept stage...

Thanks for confirming my brain still does work!

 

[Strathclyder]

the POS sets, are, of course, Réseau trailers.

And of course there are the related Réseau-Duplex sets, with Réseau power cars mated to Duplex trailers. All 19 sets are now in the Carmillon livery, but they - particularly the power cars - looked rather odd in the old 'Duplex'-style sliver/white/blue livery (image attached below). That link provided by @43096 above indicates that they currently work with all the original Duplex sets, all the Dasye sets and 25 of the Euro-Duplexes in the South East division of the domestic TGV network (a good chunk of the Dasye sets are now operated under the Ouigo brand, it should be noted).


(copyright remains with original owner)

 

[jopsuk]

The Horizon is also the platform for the new Acela trains, but because it's America, they're assembling them locally and calling it in the Liberty.

ooh, not quite. The American ones are Avelia Liberty, the TGV M is Avelia Horizon . Very similar power cars, quite different trailer sets- as well as being single deck, the Liberty trailers are tilting, as compared to the non-ti;ting duplex Horizon trailers.

 

[StephenHunter]

ooh, not quite. The American ones are Avelia Liberty, the TGV M is Avelia Horizon . Very similar power cars, quite different trailer sets- as well as being single deck, the Liberty trailers are tilting, as compared to the non-ti;ting duplex Horizon trailers.

Noted.

 

[MattyJames]

Ignore that information, it’s massively out of date. Fleet lists for French stock (including TGVs) can be found here: https://trainsso.pagesperso-orange.fr/page9.html

That should give a much better idea of what’s what.

Just to clarify, the number of sets under the route indicate how many of them sets were out on that route on that day?
For example today (04/06) there were 26 TGV Reseau-Bi sets out on the Est Route & 22 TGV Reseau-Duplex sets out on the Sud-Est route?
Thanks for any help, I just needed some clarity when using that site

 

[43096]

Just to clarify, the number of sets under the route indicate how many of them sets were out on that route on that day?
For example today (04/06) there were 26 TGV Reseau-Bi sets out on the Est Route & 22 TGV Reseau-Duplex sets out on the Sud-Est route?
Thanks for any help, I just needed some clarity when using that site

No, the numbers represent the allocation for maintenance to a particular depot/route - the lettering in the grey section under the header gives the depot official name (e.g. TLL = Technicentre Le Landy) and by clicking on the hyperlinks on the Series you get a full allocation list for that type of TGV. So, for example, if you click on "TGV POS" you'll see 14 sets are allocated to Le Landy (TLL) and four to TEE - Technicentre Est Européen (aka Paris Ourcq depot).

 

[MattyJames]

No, the numbers represent the allocation for maintenance to a particular depot/route - the lettering in the grey section under the header gives the depot official name (e.g. TLL = Technicentre Le Landy) and by clicking on the hyperlinks on the Series you get a full allocation list for that type of TGV. So, for example, if you click on "TGV POS" you'll see 14 sets are allocated to Le Landy (TLL) and four to TEE - Technicentre Est Européen (aka Paris Ourcq depot).

Ahh that clears it up, many thanks for that useful information.