Recently the tram has seen a very big revival with many experiments such as ground level power supply in Bordeaux, or trolleybuses pretending to be trams in Nancy. This way of travelling started disappearing in France at the end of the 1930s.
The railway system is a small portion of total travel, accounting for less than 10% of passenger travel. From 1981 onwards, a newly constructed set of [rail|high-speed] Lignes à Grande Vitesse (LGV) lines linked France's most populous areas with the capital, starting with Paris-Lyon.
In 1994, the Channel Tunnel opened, connecting France and Great Britain by rail under the English Channel.
The TGV has set many world speed records, the most recent on 3 April 2007, when a new version of the TGV dubbed the V150 with larger wheels than the usual TGV, and a stronger engine, broke the world speed record for conventional rail trains, reaching 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph). Trains, unlike road traffic, drive on the left (except in Alsace-Moselle).
Like the road system, the French railways are subsidised by the state, receiving €13.2 billion in 2013.
Dualis is a strictly modular partial low-floor car, with all doors in the low-floor sections. Prominent bi-articulated "tram-like" Van Hool vehicles (Mettis) are used in Metz since 2013.
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Page generated on 2021-08-05