On 27 September 1981, the first TGV line from Paris to Lyon opened to the public. The opening of the 425 kilometer route marked the debut of France's massive expansion of high speed rail. Today, hundreds of trains depart Paris for Geneva, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Marseilles, Cannes, Dijon, Brussels, London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and even Milan. TGV trains at certain points, switch onto conventional rail tracks allowing more destinations to be served. Trains roll down grade separated tracks at up to 300 km/h, or 187 mph, dramatically cutting down travel times. France's rail company, the SNCF guarantees an arrival within 30 minutes on high speed rail routes or a refund of one third of the ticket price. Airlines have given up long ago in the competition against high speed rail and have decided to use the TGV system to their own advantage. Sometimes Air France flight numbers are TGV codeshare trains, and thanks to a convenient terminal connection at Charles de Gaulle airport, passengers can slide off the train, go up the escalator and through security, and then board a flight. SNCF recently opened the long awaited TGV-Est Européan line that travels through Reims and the Lorraine region, to Strasbourg, near the German border (some trains cross over to Frankfurt and Mannheim). The former four hour milk train ride now takes a little more than two hours.
A TGV train broke a speed record in April attaining 574.8 km/h, or 357 mph, a speed faster than a plane taking off (but no commercial passengers were onboard). That's a speed that puts Amtrak's Acela Express to shame.
Photo: A TGV train leaves Paris Montparnasse bound for the southwest of France.
