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Article: TGV Est shows eastern promise: Eastern France, a relative railway backwater, is about to witness the TGV effect of tumbling journey times and rising prosperity with the opening of TGV Est Europeen on June 10. But as David Briginshaw reports from France, the economic prospects for Europe's latest high-speed line are less rosy.(High speed)
- Article from:
- International Railway Journal
- Article date:
- June 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE start of commercial services on the 300km TGV Est Europeen will revolutionise rail travel between Paris, cities in eastern France such as Metz, Nancy, and Strasbourg, and destinations in Luxembourg, Germany, and Switzerland. The new line will be the first in France to allow trains to run at 320km/h throughout its length, rather than 300km/h. As a result, journey times will be cut by up to 50% hopefully resulting in large market share gains for French National Railways (SNCF).
The biggest reductions in journey times will be achieved to cities closest to the new line which runs as far as Beaudrecourt, east of Metz. Paris--Reims will fall from 1h 35min to 45min, ...