Long overshadowed by the prestige of the TGV, France’s conventional inter-city services — Trains d’Équilibre du Territoire, which encompass traditional day and night services — are finally on the road to modernisation. Jérémie Anne investigates the transformation of this important business.
Between the high speed TGV services and regional TER networks, a specific category of French passenger rail has historically been relegated to the background: the Trains d’Équilibre du Territoire, which today are commercially branded as Intercités.
Forming a rump of conventional long-distance services, the TET designation was established in 2011 to bring together those trains which national operator SNCF ran under the Corail Téoz, Intercités, Interregional and Lunéa (night train) brands.
With the national government taking on the role of organising authority, the years following their creation were marked by a contraction of the TET offering. Between 2018 and 2020, several routes were transferred to regional control with financial support for new rolling stock, while almost all of the night services were abolished. However, the Covid crisis marked a ‘return to grace’ for the Intercités concept; several routes have since been relaunched, and various revitalisation programmes initiated.
In 2025, the Intercités network recorded 33 000 daily passengers, giving approximately 12 million annual travellers. This represented a relatively stable volume (-1%) against an annual turnover of €670m, a 2·9% increase compared to 2024. Today, 150 stations are served daily.
Oxygène is a breath of fresh air
As of 2026, the daytime Intercités network comprises eight routes. Three of these require mandatory reservations: Paris – Clermont-Ferrand (419 km), Paris – Orléans – Limoges – Toulouse (715 km), and Bordeaux – Marseille (504 km).
Currently, these services are operated using Corail coaches hauled by dual-system BB 26000 Sybic locomotives. A fleet of 62 is allocated to the Intercités operation, shared with the overnight train routes. However, service reliability has in recent years been overshadowed by reliability problems with the locomotives, which were built between 1988 and 1998, and by recurring infrastructure faults, leading to frequent delays.
While various life extension efforts have been needed for both the locos and the coaches over recent years, renewal of the TET daytime fleet is finally getting nearer, albeit after some lengthy delays. The government has opted to procure a fleet of multiple-units to replace the hauled formations. Designed to be the ‘Intercités of the 21st century’, these were initially known as the AMLD (Automotrice de Moyenne et Longue Distance) or Confort 200 fleet. The trains now on test will be known simply as Oxygène.
The Oxygène fleet is being supplied by CAF under a contract let by the government and SNCF in October 2019. The initial firm order was for 28 multiple-units: 12 for Paris – Clermont-Ferrand, and 16 for the ‘POLT’ route between the capital and Toulouse. An option for 22 additional trains to operate on the Bordeaux – Marseille route was exercised in December 2024. The first seven trainsets are being produced at CAF’s Beasain plant in Spain, with the rest being built at the ex-Alstom works at Reichshoffen in eastern France.
More seats, better amenities
Designated Class Z26700, an articulated Oxygène set with 10 aluminium-bodied coaches is 188 m long. There are 420 seats, which is 24 more than a rake of seven Corail coaches. The three first class coaches have red seats arranged 2+1, and the five second class coaches with 2+2 seating in a blue moquette.
The first class section includes power and USB sockets, reading lights, and advanced tables designed to accommodate a laptop and mouse. Car 4 is the PRM accessibility coach, which has an area for wheelchair users reached via level boarding, and an accessible toilet. The aim is not to allow services to run if these toilets are out of use.
Car 5 has space for bicycles and catering facilities. As was traditional on Corail trains, at-seat catering is to be provided via a trolley service, albeit using equipment redesigned for the narrower aisles of the multiple units.
The four remaining second class coaches are laid out to prioritise the ‘duo’ side-by-side airline arrangement. Seats include armrests, USB/power sockets and digital reservation displays. The EMUs feature sliding-plug doors designed to withstand the pressure of passing trains.
The dual-system multiple-units are equipped to operate under 1·5 kV DC or 25 kV 50 Hz overhead; the two end cars and two centre cars each have two axles driven by asynchronous traction motors, giving a continuous rating of 4·1 MW. The trains are fitted with ETCS and KVB signalling and train protection equipment, and are capable of operating at up to 200 km/h. The articulated trainsets can be split in the middle to facilitate maintenance.
Driver-only operation
One notable aspect of the transition away from loco-hauled trainsets on the daytime TELT services is the switch to Equipement Agent Seul, effectively driver-only operation whereby the driver is responsible for opening and closing the doors. Train managers will remain onboard, but their role will focus entirely on passenger service and comfort.
Each EMU costs between €20m and €25m; the initial investment for the first 28 trains was €700m, while the 22 additional trains for the Bordeaux – Marseille route added another €650m to the total. This has been fully underwritten by the national government.
Distributed Technicentres
At the heart of the revamped operating plan is the newly developed Technicentre Oxygène concept. This ‘distributed depot’ approach will create a set of servicing and repair facilities for the fleet, representing an investment of around €100m of government funding. The sites are state-owned but will be operated by SNCF Voyageurs; the chosen locations are Villeneuve-St-Georges and Masséna for heavy maintenance, and Clermont-Ferrand and Brive for minor work and routine servicing.
Testing on the Paris – Clermont and POLT lines is scheduled for May 2026, with commercial entry into service now expected in March 2027. By December 2027, all 28 trains in the first batch should have been delivered, allowing an additional daily return service to operate on both routes.
On the Clermont route, there will be nine trains each way per day with a maximum 2 h interval between trains. Journey times are expected to fall by around 15 min to 3 h 15 min for the end to end run. On the Toulouse corridor, 10 trains per day are envisaged between Paris and Limoges, with a best time of 2 h 51 min.
A slew of infrastructure upgrades are also being delivered alongside the new trains, including reinforced power supplies on the line to Clermont and track renewals and resignalling around Vierzon on the POLT main line.
Competitive tendering
As part of the liberalisation process in the French passenger market, the government is now introducing competition for TET operations. The first lot to be offered to the market covered the Nantes – Lyon and Nantes – Bordeaux routes, and this is due to be followed by Lot 2, embracing the Paris – Clermont and POLT corridors. However, this will only be tendered once the Oxygène fleet has been fully deployed.
First contract let
For the Nantes services, SNCF Voyageurs was designated the winner against bids from private entrant Le Train and Spanish incumbent RENFE Viajeros. The 10-year contract, worth approximately €924m in total, begins in December this year; a dedicated subsidiary, SNCF Voyageurs Océan, will be based in Nantes with 180 employees.
Planned improvements include:
- increasing the Nantes – Bordeaux service from four to five daily return trips (six at weekends);
- refurbishing the 15 Coradia Liner DEMUs allocated to the route to enable them to be powered by B100 biofuel, and increasing second class capacity;
- introduction of personalised passenger information, WhatsApp customer service, and the introduction of drinking water fountains onboard — SNCF Voyageurs claims this will be a first for French trains;
- a simplified fare structure with capped prices and €5 child fares;
- a €54m maintenance workshop is to be built at Nantes-Blottereau; on-site works are due to start in 2028, with commissioning planned for 2030.
Night trains endure
Elsewhere within the TET portfolio, three more daytime routes are operated, linking Toulouse and Bayonne, Clermont and Béziers, and Nancy and Lyon. Each of these is managed through a somewhat anomalous set of arrangements, often using TER rolling stock and staff. While there is an ongoing debate about transferring them formally to the régions, their current retention in the TET grouping is seen by some as a symbol of their national importance.
Meanwhile, seven overnight trains continue to operate on selected long-distance domestic routes. These trains link Paris with Briançon, Nice, Rodez, Latour-de-Carol, Cerbère, Aurillac and Tarbes, but despite a 75% occupancy rate in 2025, the quality of service remains an issue. Reliability is hampered by the use of ageing Corail coaches and BB75300 diesel locomotives, as well as by frequent nocturnal engineering possessions.
To address the problems, the government called tenders in February for 180 new coaches and 30 locomotives. But in a notable break from established French policy, it sought financing and ownership of the fleet through a ROSCO model. The hope among policymakers is that the first of the new trainsets will be in service on the Paris – Briançon route by December 2029, just in time for the 2030 Winter Olympics.
Sales and distribution
Alongside the opening up of the conventional inter-city market comes revisions to the way in which sales and ticketing is managed.
With its eye on a multi-operator future, the government has agreed a contract with payments technology specialist Wiremind to deploy an integrated distribution platform for the TET portfolio known as GITE (Gestionnaire de l’Inventaire, de la Tarification et de l’Exposition des données). The aim is that GITE will serve as a ‘neutral backbone’ for inventory and ticketing, using Wiremind’s Paxone technology package. The new arrangements are due to come on stream in December 2026, alongside the formal launch of the SNCF Voyageurs Océan business unit, and will eventually be expanded to integrate all TET operators to simplify the booking process for travellers.