SNCF TGV La Poste

The TGV La Poste were dedicated trainsets for high-speed freight and mail transportation by the French railway company SNCF on behalf of the French postal carrier La Poste. They were essentially TGV Sud-Est trainsets modified for carrying mail, built by Alstom between 1978 and 1986, with a top speed of 270 kilometres per hour that made them the fastest freight trains in the world. Five half-trainsets, numbered 1 to 5, were built, and two more, numbered 6 and 7, were converted from former TGV-SE trainset number 38; each half-trainset consisted of a power car and four intermediate trailers. In 2009 La Poste reduced services from eight to six daily round trips, and a demonstration freight train ran to London St Pancras on 21 March 2012 with no follow-up. In mid-2015 La Poste ended TGV postal services, shifting mail to swap bodies, and the final service ran on 27 June 2015 between Cavaillon and Charolais. In December 2016 three trainsets were dismantled, leaving only a half spare trainset.