France Bids Adieu to TGV Trains, Unveils InOui Brand

By Paul Riegler on 30 May 2017
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IMG_4720SNCF, France’s national rail company, announced the rebranding of the storied TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, or high-speed train) name for its intercity high-speed trains that connect the country’s various regions to the capital city of Paris.

The new name will be “inOui,” the railroad said.

Along with the rebranding, SNCF is rolling out new trains with premium services that include Wi-Fi, more comfortable seats, more legroom, and trains with restaurant cars.

“A TGV is a TGV. We want to develop a new travel experience,” said Rachel Picard, an SNCF executive, in a post on Twitter.

The inOui brand will begin to appear on trains on the new Paris-Bordeaux line starting July 2 and on trains linking Paris to Lyon and Strasbourg by the end of 2017. It will be applied to the remainder of the TGV routes by 2020.

The trains themselves will technically still be TGVs, even with the inOui brand.

SNCF already uses Ouigo and Izy as separate brands for low-cost TGV services.

The TGV was first put into service in 1981 on the Paris-Lyon route. The trains regularly reach 200 mph (320 km/h) on several routes. The TGV became so popular by the mid-1990s that SNCF president Louis Gallois said it was “the train that saved French railways.”

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

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