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[[File:TGV-Duplex Paris.jpg|thumb|right|300px|TGV ''Duplex'' in Paris's ''[[Gare de Lyon]]'']]
[[File:TGV-Duplex Paris.jpg|thumb|right|300px|TGV ''Duplex'' in Paris's ''[[Gare de Lyon]]'']]


The '''TGV''' ({{lang-fr|Train à Grande Vitesse}}, meaning ''high-speed train'') is [[France]]'s [[high-speed rail]] service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the [[Intercity rail|long-distance rail]] branch of [[SNCF]], the French national [[rail transport operations|rail operator]].
The '''TGV''' fast train ({{lang-fr|Train à Grande Vitesse}}, meaning ''high-speed train'') is [[France]]'s [[high-speed rail]] service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the [[Intercity rail|long-distance rail]] branch of [[SNCF]], the French national [[rail transport operations|rail operator]].
# [[LGV Sud-Est]] ([[Paris]] [[Gare de Lyon]] to [[Gare de Lyon-Perrache|Lyon-Perrache]]), the first LGV (opened 1981)<ref name="QuidTGVstats">[http://www.quid.fr/zoom/index.php/2007/11/14/151-transports-trains-eurostar-au-coeur-de-londres-en-tgv-100-grande-vitesse?page=3 Quid.fr, Autres TGV]</ref>
# [[LGV Sud-Est]] ([[Paris]] [[Gare de Lyon]] to [[Gare de Lyon-Perrache|Lyon-Perrache]]), the first LGV (opened 1981)<ref name="QuidTGVstats">[http://www.quid.fr/zoom/index.php/2007/11/14/151-transports-trains-eurostar-au-coeur-de-londres-en-tgv-100-grande-vitesse?page=3 Quid.fr, Autres TGV]</ref>
# [[LGV Atlantique]] (Paris [[Gare Montparnasse]] to [[Tours]] and [[Le Mans]]) (opened 1990)
# [[LGV Atlantique]] (Paris [[Gare Montparnasse]] to [[Tours]] and [[Le Mans]]) (opened 1990)

Revision as of 04:34, 22 September 2011

For other uses, see TGV (disambiguation).
File:Tgvlogo2000.jpg
The logo of the TGV
TGV Duplex in Paris's Gare de Lyon

The TGV fast train (French: Train à Grande Vitesse, meaning high-speed train) is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator.

  1. LGV Sud-Est (Paris Gare de Lyon to Lyon-Perrache), the first LGV (opened 1981)[1]
  2. LGV Atlantique (Paris Gare Montparnasse to Tours and Le Mans) (opened 1990)
  3. LGV Rhône-Alpes (Lyon to Valence) (opened 1992)
  4. LGV Nord, HSL 1 (Paris Gare du Nord to Lille and Brussels and on towards London, Amsterdam (HSL-Zuid) and Cologne) (opened 1993)
  5. LGV Interconnexion Est (LGV Sud-Est to LGV Nord Europe, east of Paris) (opened 1994)
  6. LGV Méditerranée (An extension of LGV Rhône-Alpes: Valence to Marseille Saint Charles) with a branch to Nîmes (opened 2001)
  7. High Speed 1 (Channel Tunnel to London St Pancras International) (Phase 1 opened 2003, phase 2 opened 14 November 2007)
  8. LGV Est (Paris Gare de l'Est-Strasbourg) (opened 10 June 2007)[2]
  9. LGV Perpignan-Figueres (Spain to France) (construction finished February 17, 2009, TGV service from 19 December 2010)[3]

Lines under construction

  1. LGV Rhin-Rhône[4] (Lyon-Dijon-Mulhouse), due to open December 2011.
  2. LGV Est second phase, due to open March 2016.
  3. LGV Sud Europe Atlantique (Tours-Bordeaux), extending the southern branch of the LGV Atlantique (also called LGV Sud-Ouest).[5] due to open in 2019 and 2017.
  4. LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire (Le Mans-Rennes), extending the western branch of the LGV Atlantique.[6]Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

Amsterdam and Cologne are served by Thalys TGVs running on ordinary and high speed line track. London is served by Eurostar trains running on High Speed 1 – Eurostar now runs on fully-segregated line once in the United Kingdom.

TGV technology outside France

TGV technology has been adopted in a number of other countries separately from the French network:[7]

Future TGVs

SNCF and Alstom are investigating new technology that could be used for high-speed transport.

File:TGV duplex.png
The new configuration scheme for TGV Duplex (bilevel rail car) trains would increase capacity by 10% by 2010.

The development of TGV trains is being pursued in the form of the AGV, automotrice à grande vitesse (high speed multiple unit). The AGV design has motors under each carriage.[14] Investigations are being carried out with the aim of producing trains at the same cost as existing TGVs with the same safety standards. AGVs of the same length as TGVs could have up to 450 seats. The target speed is 360 kilometres per hour (220 mph). The prototype AGV was unveiled by Alstom on February 5, 2008.[15]

In the short term, plans are being considered to increase the capacity of TGVs by 10% by replacing the central two power cars of a double TGV with passenger carriages. These carriages would have motorised bogies underneath them, as would the first and last carriage of the train, to make up for the lost power.[16]

Italian operator NTV is the first customer for the AGV, and intends to become the first open access high speed rail operator in Europe, when it starts operation of its AGVs in Italy in 2011.[13]

Accidents

Main article: TGV accidents

In almost three decades of high-speed operation, the TGV has not recorded a single fatality due to accident while running at high speed. There have been several accidents, including three derailments at or above 270 km/h (168 mph), but in none of these did any carriages overturn. This is credited in part to the stiffness that the articulated design lends to the train. There have been fatal accidents involving TGVs on lignes classiques, where the trains are exposed to the same dangers as normal trains, such as level crossings.

On LGVs

  • 14 December 1992: TGV 920 from Annecy to Paris, operated by set 56, derailed at 270 km/h (168 mph) at Mâcon-Loché TGV station (Saône-et-Loire). A previous emergency stop had caused a wheel flat; the bogie concerned derailed while crossing the points at the entrance to the station. No one on the train was injured, but 25 passengers waiting on the platform for another TGV were slightly injured by ballast that was thrown up from the trackbed.
  • 21 December 1993: TGV 7150 from Valenciennes to Paris, operated by set 511, derailed at 300 km/h (186 mph) at the site of Haute Picardie TGV station, before it was built. Rain had caused a hole to open up under the track; the hole dated from the First World War but had not been detected during construction. The front power car and four carriages derailed but remained aligned with the track. Of the 200 passengers, one was slightly injured.
  • 5 June 2000: Eurostar 9073 from Paris to London, operated by sets 3101/2 owned by NMBS/SNCB, derailed at 250 km/h (155 mph) in the Nord-Pas de Calais region near Croisilles.[17] The transmission assembly on the rear bogie of the front power car failed, with parts falling onto the track. Four bogies out of 24 derailed. Out of 501 passengers, seven were bruised[18] and others treated for shock.[19]

On lignes classiques

  • 31 December 1983: A bomb allegedly planted by the terrorist organisation of Carlos the Jackal exploded on board a TGV from Marseille to Paris; two people were killed.
  • 28 September 1988: TGV 736, operated by set 70 "Melun", collided with a lorry carrying an electric transformer weighing 100 tonnes that had become stuck on a level crossing in Voiron, Isère. The vehicle had not been permitted to cross by the French Direction départementale de l'équipement. The weight of the lorry caused a very violent collision; the train driver and a passenger died, and 25 passengers were slightly injured.
  • 4 January 1991: after a brake failure, TGV 360 ran away from Châtillon depot. The train was directed onto an unoccupied track and collided with the car loading ramp at Paris-Vaugirard station at 60 km/h (37 mph). No one was injured. The leading power car and the first two carriages were severely damaged, and were rebuilt.
  • 25 September 1997: TGV 7119 from Paris to Dunkerque, operated by set 502, collided at 130 km/h (81 mph) with a 70 tonne (77 short ton; 69 long ton) asphalt paving machine on a level crossing at Bierne, near Dunkerque. The power car spun round and fell down an embankment. The front two carriages left the track and came to a stop in woods beside the track. Seven people were injured.
  • 31 October 2001: TGV 8515 from Paris to Irun derailed at 130 km/h (81 mph) near Dax in southwest France. All ten carriages derailed and the rear power unit fell over. The cause was a broken rail.
  • 30 January 2003: a TGV from Dunkerque to Paris collided at 106 km/h (66 mph) with a heavy goods vehicle stuck on the level crossing at Esquelbecq in northern France. The front power car was severely damaged, but only one bogie derailed. Only the driver was slightly injured.
  • 19 December 2007: a TGV train from Paris to Geneva collided at about 100 km/h (62 mph) with a truck on a level crossing near Tossiat in eastern France, near the Swiss border. The driver of the truck died; on the train, one was seriously injured and 24 were slightly injured.[20]

Following the number of accidents at level crossings, an effort has been made to remove all level crossings on lignes classiques used by TGVs. The ligne classique from Tours to Bordeaux at the end of the LGV Atlantique has no level crossings as a result.

Protests against the TGV

The first environmental protests against the building of a high-speed line in France occurred in May 1990 during the planning stages of the LGV Méditerranée. Protesters blocked a railway viaduct to protest against the planned route, arguing that it was unnecessary, and that trains could use existing lines to reach Marseilles from Lyon.[21]

Lyon Turin Ferroviaire (Lyon-Chambéry-Turin), which would connect the TGV to the Italian TAV network, has been the subject of demonstrations in Italy. While most Italian political parties agree on the construction of this line, inhabitants of the towns where construction would take place are vehemently opposing it. The concerns of the protesters centre around storing dangerous materials mined from mountain, like asbestos and uranium, in the open air. This serious health danger could be avoided by using more appropriate but expensive techniques for handling radioactive materials.[citation needed] A six-month delay in the start of construction has been decided in order to study solutions. In addition to the concerns of the residents, RFB – a ten year old national movement – opposes the development of Italy's TAV high-speed rail network as a whole.[22]

General complaints about the noise of TGVs passing near towns and villages have led the SNCF to build acoustic fencing along large sections of LGVs to reduce the disturbance to residents, but protests still take place where SNCF has not addressed the issue.[23]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ Quid.fr, Autres TGV
  2. ^ Le Moniteur-Expert (October 24, 2005), Fin des travaux de génie civil de la LGV Est européenne (in French). Retrieved November 23, 2005.
  3. ^ http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/tgv-tickets-to-figueres-on-sale.html
  4. ^ http://www.lgvrhinrhone.com/index_bas.html
  5. ^ "Extra funds will speed up French investment". Railway Gazette. 4 February 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  6. ^ "Funding agreed for LGV Bretagne". Railway Gazette. 31 July 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2009.
  7. ^ "French Railway Industry: The paths of excellence" (PDF). DGE/UBIFRANCE. Retrieved 2009-05-01. [dead link]
  8. ^ Ryo Takagi. "High-speed Railways:The last ten years" (PDF). Japan Railway & Transport Review. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  9. ^ "Korea develops high-speed ambitions: a thorough programme of research and development will soon deliver results for Korea's rail industry in the form of the indigenous KTX II high-speed train. Dr Kihwan Kim of the Korea Railroad Research Institute explains the development of the new train". BNET (International Railway Journal). 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-31. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  10. ^ "TGVweb Acela Express page". TGVweb. 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-10. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  11. ^ "Engineers begin work on Moroccan high-speed rail link". BNET (International Railway Journal). 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  12. ^ 'Cobra' offers high speed future Railway Gazette International August 2007.
  13. ^ a b "Alstom awarded Italian AGV contract". Railway Gazette International. 2008-01-17.
  14. ^ "Alstom unveils AGV prototype train". Railway Gazette International. 2008-02-05.
  15. ^ "France unveils super-fast train". BBC News. 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  16. ^ "TGV Duplex Grande Capacite". SNCF. 2008-05-01.
  17. ^ "TGV Accidents". trainweb.org. 2009-05-01.
  18. ^ Eurostar derails; seven passengers bruised Associated Press (5 June 2000), Retrieved 24 November 2005
  19. ^ "Eurostar train derails in France". BBC News. 5 June 2000. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
  20. ^ French TGV train hits lorry and kills one Reuters UK (December 2007)
  21. ^ New Scientist (issue 1719, June 2, 1990), High-Speed Protest. Retrieved November 15, 2005.
  22. ^ Planet Ark (reprinted from Reuters November 1, 2005), Environmental Protesters Block French-Italian Railway. Retrieved November 1, 2005.
  23. ^ Environmental Science and Engineering (November 2001), Train à grande vitesse causes distress. Retrieved November 24, 2005.

Further reading

  • Cinotti, Eric and Tréboul, Jean-Baptiste (2000) Les TGV européens : Eurostar, Thalys, Paris : Presses universitaires de France, ISBN 2-13-050565-1 (in French)
  • Perren, Brian (2000) TGV handbook, 2nd ed., Harrow Weald : Capital Transport, ISBN 1-85414-195-3
  • Soulié, Claude and Tricoire, Jean (2002) Le grand livre du TGV, Paris : La Vie du rail, ISBN 2-915034-01-X (in French)
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