France’s new high-speed train design has Americans asking: Why can’t we have that?

Claire Elise Thompson

Paris: Last month, France’s national railway operator released a glimpse of the designs for its upcoming fifth-generation high-speed train, the TGV Inoui. (TGV stands for train à grande vitesse, or “train of great speed.”) The glossy, well-lit photos show brightly colored interiors, cushiony seats, and sleek tables with rounded edges — even an eye-catching new table lamp, which has been described as adding “a touch of humor” to the space — as well as new accessibility features, like a platform for wheelchair users that will enable them to board without assistance.

As for the train’s exterior, a press release from the operator claimed its aerodynamic design will make it 20 percent more energy efficient than its predecessors.

The new trains will begin service in 2026, on the Paris-Lyon-Marseille route. But the designs have already turned quite a lot of heads, both at home in France and abroad. And one common sentiment from onlookers in the U.S. has been: Why can’t we have that?

High-speed rail is a form of inter-city transportation that is more efficient than driving, more convenient than flying, and can offer significant carbon emissions savings. (There’s no standard definition of what constitutes “high-speed.” Generally, that designation starts at 120 mph, which roughly translates to twice the speed of driving a car, but some place the bar even higher.)

According to the climate organization Project Drawdown, the projected growth of high-speed rail over the next three decades has the potential to save 1.26 to 3.62 gigatons of CO2 by displacing flights. And, as the buzzworthy designs of the new TGV Inoui show, the experience of taking the train itself can also be desirable — even enviable.

“I just thought it looked beautiful, and looked kind of different,” said Juan Buis, an Amsterdam-based design and UX specialist with a personal affinity for public transportation. “It’s kind of cool how they managed to make it both futuristic and retro at the same time,” he said. “Why wouldn’t you take the train, if it looks like this?”

Buis posted the photos of the new TGV interior on X, gushing that the reveal was “incredible” and touting the “70s space age vibes.” His thread quickly racked up millions of views — two days after posting, he added a comment to the thread, saying: “15 million views for some pictures of a train, public transport is BACK.”

Anecdotally, Buis said, many of the people who took an interest in his post were Americans “who were like, ‘Look at this, wow, we need more of this! Amtrak, what are you doing?’” he said. Some retweets of his post included comments like “Must be nice,” and “Could be us but you playin,” and even the wishful vision of “Taking one of these from Seattle to Missoula, Montana with a bucket of Miller Lite bottles.”