High-speed rail in France

Three TGVs at Paris's Gare de l'Est (2010)
A Ouigo train in Marseille (2022)

France has a large network of high-speed rail lines. As of June 2021, the French high-speed rail network comprises 2,800 km (1,740 mi) of tracks, making it one of the largest in Europe and the world. As of early 2023, new lines are being constructed or planned. The first French high-speed railway, the LGV Sud-Est, linking the suburbs of Paris and Lyon, opened in 1981.

In addition to serving destinations across France, the high-speed rail network is also connected to the United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. SNCF, France's state-owned rail company and the network’s main operator, runs both a premium service (TGV inOui) and a budget service (Ouigo). The French national high-speed rail network follows the spoke-and-hub model, centred on Paris. Besides SNCF, it is also used by Eurostar, Thalys, Deutsche Bahn, Trenitalia France, RENFE, and the Swiss Federal Railways.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.