Amazon is using high-speed passenger trains to move parcels swiftly between cities. In Europe, this started in May 2025 between Paris and Lyon, thanks to a partnership with Rail Logistics Europe, the new logistics arm of the French state railway company Sncf. The target is to exceed half a million shipments annually. Parcels are loaded into dedicated, enclosed compartments located in the technical zones of TGV high-speed trains, fully separated from passenger areas. In Paris, up to two-thirds of last-mile deliveries are carried out using electric vehicles, cargo bikes or on foot.
Each train can carry around one thousand parcels per trip, with two daily journeys scheduled from Monday to Saturday, covering the 470 kilometres between Lyon and Paris in just two hours and eighteen minutes, travelling at a speed of 320 km/h. The route is managed by Hexafret, a subsidiary of Rle, and the service was launched on a regular basis following a successful pilot phase in 2024. Amazon and Sncf are considering extending the model to other railway corridors in France and, potentially, across borders to Spain, the Benelux countries and Germany.
