Despite already having a well-developed high speed train (TGV) network, the French have plans to double the length of the special TGV lines by 2020 from the current 1750km. Trains a Grand Vitesse (TGVs) do run on on many major routes, but not all the line is a dedicated TGV track which permits speeds of up to 320km/hr (200mph) – e.g. the TGV Atlantique to Bordeaux is only high speed track as far as Tours.
Several major extensions of the network include:-
Tours to Bordeaux via Poitiers and Angouleme, bringing Bordeaux within 2 hours of Paris. Utlimately the high speed line will extend south to Bayonne and into Spain!
Le Mans to Rennes in Brittany – bringing Brest within 3 hours of Paris!
Bordeaux to Toulouse in South West France, reducing the travel time to 1 hour!
Marseille to Nice will complete the line to Provence and the Côte d’Azur
Montpellier to Perpignan and on to Barcelona in Spain!
It’s a great example of why domestic air travel in France becomes less and less viable with city centre to city centre times such as these in the offing – speedy and green!
You can book any train journey to and within France including Eurostar, TGV and local lines through RailEurope
