The fifth generation of the SNCF high-speed train is a concentrate of technologies but initially, it all starts with steel plates and welders. Report within the industrial and historical cathedral of Alstom which is in charge of manufacturing power cars.
More capacity, more economical in energy consumption, benefiting from a brand new very successful design, the future TGV M should start circulating to the South-East of France in the second half of 2025 if all goes well.
115 trainsets were ordered by SNCF from its partner Alstom and production has started on several sites of the French industrialist. A bit like Airbus, different components of the train are manufactured across the four corners of France in the group’s different sites: nine factories are mobilized in total (in La Rochelle for the cars, in Le Creusot, etc.)
In the historic Belfort factory, teams work 24 hours a day to assemble the power unit of the TGV M, i.e. the entire front part of the train, including the cabin. There are a total of 40,000 pieces (bogies not included).
To meet deadlines, or at least limit delays (deliveries were to begin this year), technicians, welders and painters are working hard to deliver a motor vehicle every two weeks and hope to move to one every nine days very soon. in order to increase to a dozen motor cars per year.
Industrial Cathedral
The challenge is big. Because it was necessary to adapt Alstom’s historic industrial cathedral of 88,000 m2 for this completely new train compared to previous generations of TGVs.
“The power unit is completely new compared to the old one, the assembly line has been reviewed and adjusted to adapt to this new product,” confirms Marion Faverger, project manager.
The hundred workers dedicated to the TGV M line also had to review their methods through new training even if the steps remain more or less the same. We also had the chance to visit part of this immense building built in 1879.
It all starts with steel, lots of steel. Huge plates which, cut and welded, will constitute what is called a “cauldron”, or the body of the motor car (the cars are made of aluminum).
Soldering is a critical step. “There are 4,700 welds per meter. They are then checked by laser with a tolerance of a tenth of a millimeter,” explains Martial Marhem, Paint Boilermaking Workshop Manager at Alstom.
Welders are also a rare commodity that Alstom pampers. The profession does not attract, so the industrialist himself trains and empowers young people. Moreover, in total, 180 people have been hired over the last eighteen months for this project.
Once assembled, the cauldron then goes to painting, an operation which mobilizes 18 people for no less than 8 stages. It has a dual function: to protect the vehicle against corrosion and it is also the aesthetic finishing element which reveals the visual identity of the train.
Degreasing of the body, shot blasting (steel balls are projected along the wall in order to give better adhesion to the paint), smoothing of the welds, application of the aftercoat, false color, application of varnish, etc. ., it takes no less than 150 hours to completely paint a body and wait 14 days for drying. Finally, the painters affix pictograms and SNCF logos. It’s unique know-how, insists Alstom.
All corners are inspected at each stage because unlike previous TGVs, there is no lamination (colored adhesives) placed on the body which is painted white. Painting represents 10% of the production cost of a power car.
150 hours to paint the engine
The choice of white (which divides the ferrovipaths a little), and of paint instead of a simple lamination (which was the rule until now) are not just aesthetic choices.
“The livery of this new TGV was an opportunity to shake up usual ways of thinking. The colors chosen made it possible to increase the albedo (the share of solar radiation which is returned to the atmosphere, Editor’s note) of the entire train in order to significantly reduce the energy requirements for cooling in summer and particularly during extreme heat”, explains Isabelle Le Saux, design director for SNCF Voyageurs.
“The entire livery is now made of paint, which is infinitely more resistant over time,” she continues.
Once dry, the workers move on to finishing activities during which all the functional parts of the engine are installed in the painted cauldron.
The body receives the traction chain, 12 kilometers of cables, the electronics, its equipment, the layout of the cabin which was designed in association with the drivers of the SNCF.
Ultimately, the modular TGV M can carry up to 20% more passengers than previous trains, i.e. a maximum of 720 seats instead of 634 in a classic train with one additional car (9 instead of 8) and this thanks to a motor vehicle 4 meters shorter.
It offers the possibility of adjusting the number of cars on demand as closely as possible to market needs by transforming a First class space into a second class, reconfiguring the interior, removing or adding seats, bicycle or luggage spaces.
Strategic issue
While consuming 20% less electricity (and emitting 32% less CO2), a feat made possible in particular by the new design of its nose elongated by 2.6 meters, more profiled which generates less friction in the air.
Among the other new features, the TGV M will carry a backup battery (or plug-in), which should allow the train to travel a few kilometers in the event of a power outage and to power the air conditioning, the light on board being a real added value.
The interior layout, which still remains a well-kept secret, should give pride of place to comfort, services (including Wi-Fi worthy of the name) and a two-story bar car that is billed as revolutionary. It will be revealed at the end of the year, the seats were presented a few months ago.
The TGV M is a strategic and even crucial issue for the SNCF, which will spend no less than 3.5 billion euros to acquire 115 trainsets. “It must support the growth in the number of travelers and the arrival of competition.”
Olivier Chicheportiche Journalist BFM Business
