Enchante !!!: France celebrates 30 years of high-speed rail

[marmar]

from RailEurope:



France has been a crossroads of trade, travel (and invasion) since prehistoric times and perhaps this rich travel history is what has helped create an understanding of the importance of being able to transport people and products quickly, comfortably and safely across its varied terrain.



While all trains can be credited for being able to transport products such as fine wines from the Champagne, Bordeaux or Burgundy regions and fine cheeses from the Rhone Alps to all parts of France; it is the iconic TGV that can really be credited for connecting people to places and changing the way people in France live their lives and even choose where they wish to work.



The first TGV line was built between Paris and Lyon and opened in 1981. TGV trains have transported over 1.5 billion passengers since it first opened. Its impact was and still is immense, as it introduced the option of living in one city and working in another – a concept never even considered possible before that. Travel between these two major cities takes only two hours and offers commuters a stress free and faster alternative to driving. Currently one in three TGV passengers is a business traveler and TGV owns about 90-95%of the market share vs air, for journeys under 2 hours.



It is only fitting that such an iconic French train should be influenced by an iconic French designer. Christian Lacroix designed the interior of the TGV East, which carries passengers from the city center of Paris to the city centers of cities such as Reims (in Champagne), Metz, Nancy and Strasbourg in eastern France. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://blog.raileurope.com/high-speed-rail-news/30th-anniversary-of-the-first-high-speed-train-in-france-19812011

[aquart]

1. They figured it out but we haven't.

Republican governors have shit for brains.

[marmar]

2. "Republican governors have shit for brains"

You're being far too charitable......At least sh*t has some usefulness.

[WhiteTara]

5. not all shit is equal

and his is probably toxic.

[aquart]

9. Only once you get rid of it.

[CTyankee]

3. But, but, we were told that the soshalism is BAAAD...that's why we changed

to Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast!

It's better to be a "Murkin" and ride on piece of crap trains (altho THAT's suspect, too!).

[DFW]

4. I take these things all the time

The TGV, Thalys, ICE (in Germany and neighboring countries) trains have shortened the travel time in so many instances that
the number of airplanes I take here in Europe has been reduced by more than half in the last 25 years. Especially with the
delays involved with heightened security at airports (although this WILL come to train stations sooner or later after the
next major bomb at a train station or on a train) plus the traffic snarls getting into town from airports (Paris, London,
Madrid and Munich are especially horrendous), the trains have become my number one choice for a long time now in Europe.
Madrid is way the hell away from where I am stationed, so I have to fly there, but Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt and Munich,
even London are now destinations I travel to by train as a first choice, and by air only if there is a REALLY good reason
why the train is out.

[Turbineguy]

6. In the US such things are considered

a "cost". Everywhere else they are considered an "asset".

[Overseas]

7. K&R.

So sad that it could have been us celebrating if we had stayed with Jimmy Carter, but Reagan told us conservation and alternative energy sources were unnecessary-- it was "Morning in America" and we could continue to zoom ahead with oil and rip those solar panels off the White House.

[madrchsod]

8. the united states will never have european,japanese,or chinese high speed rail

the hundreds of billions in cost and the years of litigation over the right of ways will kill any hope of a nation wide system.
as we have seen in wisconsin and ohio the possibility of even linking regions with a system that achieves a 100 miles an hour is impossible.