On Feb. 5, the Alstom rail transport group unveiled the prototype of its new high-speed train, the AGV, in the presence of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
This ‘meteor’, with the profile of a fighter plane, was presented by its manufacturer as the world’s fastest, most spacious and most environmentally-friendly train. Capable of speeds of up to 360 kph (224 mph) in commercial service, it is appearing on the market in a period of unprecedented growth for high-speed rail transport. With this launch of the new train, Alstom has openly expressed an ambition to export the AGV widely, beyond Europe’s borders.
This new-generation train offers numerous advantages. Designed to travel faster than the TGV (360 kph in commercial service compared with the TGV Est’s maximum of 320 kph), it combines for the first time the articulated structure that brought success to the TGV and offers a higher level of safety, with motors placed under each carriage which, as its manufacturer explains, significantly increases the amount of passenger space on board thanks to the absence of the locomotives at either end. This structure allows very flexible operation, since the length of the trains can be adapted to the operator’s needs and maintenance costs are lower. These advantages should allow this latest product from Alstom, which developed this train using its own funds, to win new markets. “We realized that the high-speed train market was going to diversify,” explained Patrick Kron, CEO of Alstom. “We had to expand and modernize our offering to maintain our leadership position.”
The formula offered by the AGV does indeed seem set to bring in new clients. In this rapidly expanding market, Argentina, for example, confirmed in January a project to build the first line of this new type in Latin America, entrusted to a consortium led by Alstom. This program will bring Buenos Aires to within three hours of Cordoba by rail instead of the current 14 hours. Brazil, the Republic of Korea, Morocco, Algeria and the GCC countries are also interested in high-speed rail transport. Saudi Arabia has just put out an invitation to tender for a link of this type between Makkah and Madinah, via Jeddah. “The high-speed trains would help the Haj and Umrah pilgrims to travel from Makkah to Madinah within an hour and half,” Fahd Al-Sultan, secretary-general of the Saudi Council of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said.
Francois Lacote, senior vice president of Alstom, said his company is making all arrangements to bid for new railway projects in the Kingdom. He said his company would be in a position to deploy high-speed trains to cover this distance for Haj and Umrah pilgrims between Makkah and Madinah which would cut down the travel time by half for those using bus services.
Lacote said that France is the world leader in very high speed trains. “The latest model could run at a speed of 578kph and has a capacity of 500 passenger seats with two decks. Lacote, who had participated in the maiden performance of the train said: “It was a fantastic experience with comfort and ease.”
Europe, which currently represents 70 percent of the world market for high-speed trains, is still a long way from having completed their development: 6,000 kms of line are expected by 2020. The length of the network is set to treble, offering ultra-fast links between major cities in the future, which will finally change the hierarchy of priorities and preferences of travelers. In the course of the last few years, high-speed rail has gradually been weaning the public away from air transport. It is now generally felt that on all connections of under three hours (or even four hours), high-speed rail represents the best transport option.
In this extremely buoyant market, the French at Alstom have taken on board the need to play the card of experience and excellence by offering, in addition to technical performance, perfection in terms of detail, especially in the environmental sphere: Reduction of sound pollution, use of reusable high-quality materials, capacity of the train to produce and reuse its own electricity, and so-called “permanent magnet” motors that reduce the trains’ energy consumption (15 percent lower than the competition). In terms of oil equivalent, the AGV offers per passenger consumption three times lower than a bus, eight times lower than a car, and 15 times lower than an airplane!
On this solid base, the world leader in high-speed trains fully expects to continue its expansion. And this does not mean neglecting the TGV, which this year celebrates its 27th anniversary and is pursuing its career with new orders placed by Morocco and Argentina.
