 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'.The carriages were designed by the French industrial designer Roger Tallon and built by the Société Franco-Belge in Raismes, northern France, and by Alstom's La Rochelle factory in Aytré.