Fly to Lyons On Wheels!

By “Awake!” correspondent in France

“BILLETS, s’il vous plaît!” Clad in a navy-blue uniform and wearing a smart cap, the ticket inspector asks to see your ticket. His presence reminds you that you are not on a plane but on France’ Train à Grande Vitesse, or TGV (High-Speed Train), the world’s fastest. Once you are well outside Paris you will cruise along at 260 kilometers (160 mi) an hour on the way to Lyons, France’ third largest city and the main stop on the line to the Alps and Italy or Marseilles and the Riviera.

But in these days of supersonic flight and space shuttles, what is the advantage of developing a revolutionary new form of railroad transport? Why did the French National Railways decide to embark on this new venture?

A New Trunk Line

The Paris-Lyons rail link has always been one of France’ busiest. Even though four-tracked over a third of the distance and double-tracked the rest of the way, it was no longer adequate to deal with peak traffic periods. Having considered progress abroad​—especially Japan’s successful “bullet” train on the Tokaïdo line—​an entirely new track was decided upon.

From the start it was decided that the new line from Paris to Lyons would be exclusively for passenger traffic, with appropriate rolling stock designed for high-speed performances. The most surprising thing about this new line is the total absence of tunnels. But you may ask, How do the trains get across the hills?

This brings us to a most important feature of the TGV​—it’s a featherweight, much lighter than a regular train. Each group of eight cars has very powerful electric engines, enabling the train to take much steeper grades than a heavy freight train or even a regular passenger train could do. Gradients reach 3.5 percent, whereas they do not exceed 1 percent on ordinary tracks. This is especially noticeable when the train plunges down a slope. Why, you feel as if you were on a plane about to land rather than on a train.a Due to its high speed the train for the most part is carried uphill by its own momentum. As you can also imagine, a track without tunnels is much cheaper to build.

The Train and the Track

This orange-and-charcoal-colored train, with its long sleek nose, is low-slung in comparison with standard models. This is because the bogies are situated between the cars, not under each end. Thus no passengers are seated above the wheels, which makes for a quieter and more comfortable journey. Moreover, it is easier to get in and out of the train.

Other factors concerning the actual track also contribute to a comfortable ride. Rails are welded into very long sections and sit on thick rubber cushions in the clips that are anchored to the cross-ties, or sleepers. Furthermore, the ballast is considerably deeper than usual.

Don’t Forget to Reserve Your Seat!

For security reasons no standing is allowed on the TGV, so reserving your seat is a must. The ticket reservation system was already computerized several years ago in France and now is slightly modified for the new train. Of course, you can still reserve your seat at a station or a travel agency, but for the TGV it is also possible to do so at the entrance to the platform.

You can even “talk” with automatic distributors that inform you if there is an available seat on the train you wish to take, if a peak-traffic supplement is due and (if the train is full) the time of the next TGV. Seats may be reserved up until five minutes before departure time. However, with this last-minute booking there is no way of choosing a preferred no-smoking car.

All Aboard!

Sit down and make yourself comfortable. Judging by the blue or green upholstery we are in a second-class car, for in first class the seats are either orange or brown. The individual lighting, separate seats and central aisle make you think you are aboard a plane, and the illusion would be perfect were it not for the countryside flashing past at 260 kilometers an hour.

Are you hungry? Depending on what time you travel, in first class hot meals may be ordered from stewards and hostesses. Remember, you are on your way to Lyons, a Mecca of French gastronomy! Second-class passengers may go to a snack bar situated in the middle of each group of eight cars.

Security

Computers are used not only to reserve seats; the one at the Gare de Lyons, the terminal where you board the TGV in Paris, has the general oversight and management of the network. In the normal traffic periods, the PAR (Poste d’Aiguillage et de Régulation, Switching and Control System) regulates the spacing of trains and transmits instructions to the engineer, either by automatic remote-controlled transmission or, if necessary, by telephone and radio. At such high speeds it would be very difficult for the engineer to read signals placed along the track and respond to them.

You will see no grade crossings on this railroad. Also, every time a highway crosses overhead there is a wire-netting safety device that can detect any heavy object that may fall on the line. An alarm would sound and halt all approaching trains. The entire line is also protected by wire fencing along each side.

Air or Rail?

Traveling on the TGV is no more expensive than on the regular trains and it has many advantages. For example, its prices are highly competitive with short-distance air travel. Also, when the entire track is completed in 1983, passengers will be able to travel from the heart of Paris to the heart of Lyons (426 kilometers, or 265 miles) in just two hours. At present the trip is often longer by air, taking into account time needed to get to and from the airports.

Since the line is built on the same gauge as the overall European network, you are not obliged to limit your journey to Lyons but may go on to Geneva and, in the near future, Lausanne (both in Switzerland), Grenoble and even Nice, on the Riviera. For these destinations the TGV leaves Paris on the new line and later diverts onto an old one. It has to slow down, of course, but it still cuts down on the travel time between Paris and these other cities.

High-Speed Trains in Other Countries

According to research carried on in this field all over the world, it seems that rail transportation is far from being on the way out. The energy crisis has given the railways a new lease on life, for their fuel efficiency is higher than any other type of land transport. Germany is improving its mainline network, with some trains already traveling at 200 kilometers (125 mi) an hour. Italy, also, has a fast new line called the Direttissima, linking Rome and Florence.

In Great Britain the problem has been approached from a different angle, with the APT (Advanced Passenger Train) designed to run on existing standard tracks. British researchers have come up with a tilting train that inclines like a motorcycle on the curves, thus increasing maximum speed by 20 to 40 percent over the fastest trains now using these tracks.

The Japanese are by no means behind, for they plan to enlarge their network of Shinkansen high-speed trains, which already travel at 210 kilometers (130 mi) an hour. Having met up with climatic problems in the colder regions, they have even conceived a system for spraying the rails with hot water in order to maintain regular services.

But for the present, it is France that holds the blue ribbon for the fastest passenger train service. So if you come to France one day and wish to go down south, either on business or for pleasure, please do not forget that you can fly to Lyons​—on wheels!

[Footnotes]

[Map/​Picture on page 16, 17]

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PARIS

DIJON

LYONS