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TGV

TGV France High-Speed Rail Network, France

France has been in the vanguard of high-speed passenger rail travel since the 1950s and covers long distances at speeds of up to 300km/h (186mph). Since the first high-speed line was built between Paris and Lyon in 1981, the TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse) has pushed into Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, the UK and Italy. Although the core routes are TGV-only, the high-speed trains make extensive use of existing lines and many classic routes have had a complete facelift. To prolong the life of track formations, strict 17t axle weight limits are imposed on tracks over which the fast trains run...

While many rural communities in France lobbied to be included in the TGV network - and their campaigns attracted wide attention - SNCF has adopted a range of measures aimed at reducing noise disturbance in villages, towns and cities adjoining the new railways. Paris remains at the heart of the TGV network, despite its spread across France, with depots for the trains at Le Landy just north of the Gare du Nord, Chatillon near Montparnasse and Sud Est, near Gare de Lyon in the city. Le Landy sees the most variety and has three distinct parts, a northern section which maintains and repairs the coaches, a central area for the maintenance of TGV, Eurostar and Thalys trainsets, and Le Landy Sud which carries out routine examinations. A fourth depot will open at Ourcq to maintain TGVs used on the Est Europeen route when it opens in 2007.

Double-deck trains have been introduced on the Paris Sud Est (PSE) route to meet rising passenger numbers, although even this is now proving insufficient and SNCF is exploring ways of coupling two Duplex sets together to form a 20-vehicle set with more than 1,000 seats. Repeat orders for TGV Duplex in 2005 has taken the number of trains up to 82. Early 2004 saw another €305 million allocated for seven more complete 2+8 trains and 15 sets of eight trailers for delivery in 2006-07. The trailers are paired with power cars from existing TGV Reseau sets. These power cars have been made available by the construction of eight new 320km/h multi-voltage power cars to be matched with refurbished Reseau trailers for TGV Est services

BRN: B1831238J