**45 years on, the TGV at a turning point**
*Le Journal du Dimanche, 27 September 2026, by Humbert Angleys*
**Anniversary and track record.** The first TGV entered commercial service between Paris and Lyon on 27 September 1981, five days after François Mitterrand inaugurated the line. Paris–Lyon dropped to about two hours once the high-speed line was completed in 1983. Since then, some 3 billion passengers have used the TGV, including 168 million in 2025.
**The delayed TGV M.** The fifth-generation train (TGV M, developed as the "TGV of the future") was originally promised for 2024, then pushed to 2025, spring 2026, autumn 2026, and now "from autumn 2026." It has run more than a million test kilometres since May. Its selling points: 20% lower energy use, modular interiors and up to 740 seats, 20% more than its predecessor.
**Chronic under-supply.** François Delétraz, outgoing head of the national passenger association Fnaut, calls under-supply the TGV's main problem, arguing SNCF deliberately cut capacity about a decade ago to improve profitability. The TGV M won't fully fix it: Delétraz says even if it were running today, supply would still fall short, and it will take five years before travellers can reliably find tickets.
**Infrastructure limits.** SNCF Réseau expects traffic to grow 25% between 2024 and 2033 and has identified 25 sections at risk of saturation. The ageing network needs massive renewal, which Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot calls a priority and essential to meeting French demand. Former minister Dominique Bussereau, who delivered a report in July on regional TGV services, counters that the high-speed network itself is not saturated, citing spare capacity on Tours–Bordeaux. SNCF CEO Jean Castex noted that €60 billion of renewal and modernisation spending has been deferred since 1980, and that the state long underinvested, relying on SNCF profits to fund new lines at the expense of everyday lines.
**The French model.** Bussereau defends the TGV's distinctive feature: unlike the Shinkansen, it was designed to leave high-speed lines and serve the classic network (e.g. 300–320 km/h out of Paris, then 100 km/h into an Alpine valley). Nearly 180 domestic destinations remain served. Delétraz agrees the TGV improves metropolitan links but says it worsens the problem of regional coverage, pointing to cuts in Paris–Lorraine service, though some routes such as Lyon–Nancy have returned.
**Competition and funding.** Open access erodes the profits SNCF once used to cross-subsidise loss-making routes, as newcomers target the most lucrative markets. Bussereau's mission proposes productivity gains, modulated track access charges, regional planning criteria in slot allocation and possibly an operator-funded solidarity fund. In Brittany, the region co-funds extensions beyond Rennes, offset partly by fewer regional TER trains. Bussereau also warns France's third city, Toulouse, cannot be left outside the European high-speed network, as the Bordeaux–Toulouse line is not yet built. Delétraz nonetheless refuses to call the TGV a damaged jewel, saying it is mostly underused: it became a cash machine when it should be a passenger machine.
**Sidebar: new entrants.** Five years after launch, Trenitalia carried 1.8 million passengers in 2025 and expanded its offer, though it does not expect to be profitable in France before 2026. Velvet has its licence and targets Paris–Bordeaux in 2028, then Rennes, Nantes and Angers. Le Train has secured capacity on Paris–Bordeaux and Paris–Rennes. Delétraz criticises Trenitalia for an airline-style, point-to-point model poorly connected to regional trains; Bussereau urges patience, as competition took time to deliver in aviation.