The TGV is France's train à grande vitesse; literally " high-speed train". Developed and operated by SNCF, the French national railway company, it connects Paris to cities in France and in some other neighbouring countries, such as Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. TGVs or trains based on the TGV design also operate in the Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. TGV trains are manufactured by Alstom.The TGV is a passenger train, except for a small series of TGVs used for postal freight between Paris and Lyon, France.
1 History
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The idea of the TGV was first mooted in the 1960sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around. The first prototype, known as TGV 001, was powered by gas turbineA turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow. The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor-blade assembly. Moving fluid acts on the blades to spin them and impart energy to the rotor. Early turbine examples are windmills ands and generated its own electricity from oil, but after the 1973 energy crisisThe world oil shock of 1973 began in earnest on October 17, 1973, when Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), in the midst of the Yom Kippur War, announced that they would no longer ship petroleum to nations that had sup and the consequent sharp rise in the price of oil this was deemed impractical. The first fully electric prototype was completed in 19741974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). Events January-February January 5 Dungeons & Dragons officially released. February 4 Patricia Hearst, the 19 year old granddaughter of publisher William Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped, with the final version delivered in 19801980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. Events January-February January 1- April 1 National steel strike in United Kingdom January 1 Changes to the Swedish Act of Succession creates Victoria of Sweden, Crown Princess over her younger brother January 5 He and the service opened to the public between Paris to Lyon on September 27, 1981.
Since then, dedicated lines to Tours/ Le Mans, Calais, Brussels and Marseille have opened. A line to Strasbourg is under construction, as are dedicated high-speed lines to London, Cologne and Amsterdam. Further extensions into Spain and Italy are planned for the future.
The TGV is not the world's first commercial high-speed service, as the Japanese Shinkansen connected Tokyo and Osaka from October 1, 1964, nearly 17 years before the first TGVs entered commercial operations.
