Corail is the name given to a class of passenger rail cars of the SNCF that first entered commercial service in 1975. When introduced, the Corail carriages had improved passenger comfort, featured air-conditioning, and better levels of suspension and sound-proofing compared with previous InterCity carriages.
History and design
The acquisition of the Corail coaches was a huge investment for SNCF with nearly 4000 carriages ordered, and represented a major leap in quality of service for French rail passengers. The name Corail, which is also used as a designation of service for trains made up of these carriages, derives from combination of 'comfort' and 'rail'. Additionally, 'corail' means 'coral' in French, giving a play-on-words and making it memorable.
The carriages were designed by the French industrial designer Roger Tallon and built by the Société Franco-Belge in Raismes, northern France,[1] and by Alstom's La Rochelle factory in Aytré.[2]