SNCF draws up a mixed assessment of summer 2026 and announces the upcoming arrival of new TGV and Oxygène trains

The summer of 2026 was “absolutely extraordinary” for the SNCF, which this Thursday, October 1, provided a mixed assessment of this painful summer period, marked by severe heat which caused some traffic disruptions. But the company also announced good news for travelers, with the very imminent arrival of new rolling stock. Enough to ensure better quality of service, particularly during heatwaves, declared the group's CEO Jean Castex.

Thus, the new TGV, called TGV M, initially announced for the summer of 2024 and delayed every year since, will finally be ready “in the fall of 2026”. A precise date of entry into service must be revealed in the coming days, confirmed Alain Krakovitch. The deputy general director of SNCF Voyageurs, also director of rolling stock, recalled in passing that the decision did not depend only on SNCF, but also on the manufacturer, in this case the French Alstom, which is showing some delivery delays.

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As a reminder, this “little gem of technology”, according to the SNCF, contains more than 400 innovations, while being capable of carrying 20% more passengers – up to 740 people per train – compared to the current TGV Inoui. And this, with much lower energy consumption and maintenance costs. A first order of 115 trainsets is expected: 100 for the French network and 15 for European routes.

The highly anticipated “Oxygène” trains

Alain Krakovitch, former boss of TGV Intercités, also confirmed that the operation of the first trains called “Oxygène”, replacing the old Intercités Corail, should start “in the summer of 2027”. “Once the approval phase has passed, the operating phase of the 28 Oxygène trains will come on the Paris-Limoges-Toulouse and Paris-Clermont lines,” explained Alain Krakovitch. More comfortable and more capable, these trainsets are particularly awaited by users of these two lines, who suffer on a daily basis from the age of this rolling stock, dating from the 1970s and 1980s.

“The Corail trains which run on the Intercités lines are much more fragile,” recognized Jean Castex, who recalls that at the time of their construction more than 50 years ago, “no one predicted these temperature levels”. In fact, their air conditioning system was not designed to withstand temperatures around 40°C, the former prime minister stressed. “In reality, only rolling stock whose design is after 2015 are resistant to the rise in temperatures that we were able to observe this summer,” said the former boss of the RATP.