TGV

The TGV (French: [teʒeve] ; train à grande vitesse, [tʁɛ̃ a ɡʁɑ̃d vitɛs] , 'high-speed train') is the generic name of the trainsets used for the intercity high-speed rail service run by France's national rail operator, SNCF Voyageurs. It is also a quasi-generic initialism for high-speed trains in French, even when not operated by SNCF Voyageurs. With commercial operating speeds of up to 320 km/h (200 mph) on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocket and Concorde supersonic airliner; sponsored by the Government of France, those funding programmes were known as champion national ('national champion') policies. In 2025, the TGV network in France carried 168 million passengers. The state-owned SNCF started working on a high-speed rail network in 1966. It presented the project to President Georges Pompidou in 1974 who approved it. Originally designed as turbotrains to be powered by gas turbines, TGV prototypes evolved into electric trains with the 1973 oil crisis. In 1976 the SNCF ordered 87 high-speed trains from Alstom. Following the inaugural service between Paris and Lyon in 1981 on the LGV Sud-Est, the network, centred on Paris, has expanded to connect major cities across France, including Marseille, Lille, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Rennes and Montpellier, as well as in neighbouring countries on a combination of high-speed and conventional lines. The success of the first high-speed service led to a rapid development of lignes à grande vitesse (LGVs, 'high-speed lines') to the south (Rhône-Alpes, Méditerranée, Nîmes–Montpellier), west (Atlantique, Bretagne-Pays de la Loire, Sud Europe Atlantique), north (Nord, Interconnexion Est) and east (Rhin-Rhône, Est). Since it was launched, the TGV has not recorded a single passenger fatality in an accident on normal, high-speed service. A specially modified TGV high-speed train known as Project V150, weighing...