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French Trains – Classy Comfort, Chic and Smart, Speed and Space.
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by Fripouille | March 7, 2009 at 09:33 am
737 views | 41 Recommendations | 23 comments
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You have to hand it to them. When the French decide to ally elegance and ergonomics the results are often impressive to say the least.
First, here are a couple of figures. The rail network in France is extremely dense and it covers an area four-fifths the size of Texas. It carries over 850 million passengers a year over almost 35 thousand kilometers of track, which means billions of kilometers covered using over twenty thousand engine units and carriages.
Not all French trains are new of course, but older rolling stock is becoming more and more scarce with every passing year. The fastest train here, the TGV, holds the world speed record for wheeled trains, 357mph, and is the world’s fastest in-service train, with commercial speeds of 200mph being common. Many trains run on electical power too, which helps to reduce the pollution engendered by the transport of us humans.
French trains are generally light years ahead of their English and American counterparts in terms of speed, passenger comfort and amenities. Moreover most other mainland European railroad companies possess many French-made trains. Modern trains here are very quiet, and the romantic “clattering of the rails” is a thing of the past (sorry for the nostalgics!)
This collection of photos show you what you can expect to see when you get on a train here. It’s all about using design, light and colour to create an agreeable environment. This isn’t surprising though when you think that people like Christian Lacroix helped to design them. Even the toilets are attractive.
I particularly like the double-decker trains. I mean, a stairwell in a train?! It’s like being in a 747. There are video screens giving the list of upcoming stations and realtime arrival times, the weather and other information, the bar wagons are sublime, and, for the would-be-drivers among you, the driver’s compartment looks like something out of a futuristic movie….
Oh, and talking of the future, although wi-fi net connection is common, upcoming plans include built in computers in business class, individual video screens, leather seat-beds, and meeting rooms.
All they need to do now is install cellphone-blockers for the “I’m on a train, how’s your budgie’s arthritis?” brigade, and travelling will have reached Nirvanic levels of perfection...
Enjoy, and a good weekend to all!
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Fripouille
Lyon, France
Recommendations (41)
gerrypopplestone
London and elsewhere, United Kingdom
kuuva
Sunnyvale, California, United States
Paschen
Narita, Chiba, Japanzeet
New York, New York, United States
ms. negativity
London, United Kingdom
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (23)
at 10:20 on March 7th, 2009
Yes, American trains are a long way short of French standards, that's incontestable.
Then again, America is a big country which needs other means of moving people nowadays, and taking a plane there is almost like taking a taxi! Amazing!!!
at 11:14 on March 7th, 2009
Really fancy trains - there is one in Canada that goes through the Rocky Mountains that is kind of like this, but it's really really expensive.
at 11:53 on March 7th, 2009
I don't know what expensive means over there, but - and this may seem surprising to many people,
I can get a round-trip Lyon-Paris ticket (620 miles) for 48 dollars if I book in advance, and a ticket to go see my god daughter (76 miles round-trip) for 16 dollars.
And that's without old-age/student reductions!!
at 19:03 on March 9th, 2009
In Canada we dismantle a lot of the railroad tracks and made them into hiking trails.
at 00:28 on March 10th, 2009
Well, I suppose if you're going to dismantle them, hiking trails is a great idea! Gives it all back to nature, which is cool.....
As long as doing so doesn't deprive people of needed transport (trains to far-flung rural areas for example) I say do it!!
at 12:56 on March 7th, 2009
I have been informed by experts in business that one of the best things the French do is public works projects and that this goes back to Napoleon and is one of the good legacies from his rule.
You also have the best nuclear reactors in the world, very safe and now you have designed the new fourth generation reactors, which will be even better.
at 13:29 on March 7th, 2009
You are absolutely right here Roy, on all the points you raised (and god knows I'm not a romantic Francophile).
French transport and nuclear technologies are amongst the best in the world, if not the best, and it all started with Napoleon's dream of a Great and Glorious France.
(Shame he had to louse it all up though, what with his disastrous Russian campaign and being captured by us British...lol!)
at 21:23 on March 7th, 2009
Yes, but I think they are also just very skilled at the management of large scale projects. They certainly put us Brits to shame: we seem to be useless at them.
at 13:37 on March 7th, 2009
Interesting post. I haven't taken a train since 2000. Definitely want to give this one a try. Looks very nice.
at 14:03 on March 7th, 2009
Well yeah!
I mean, I'm not an anti-car militant by any means, but, if you can, smoke a joint, get on the train, look at everything going by, relax...
...and talk with the person next to you......!
at 13:48 on March 7th, 2009
There are many cities that have very good mass transit systems such as Atlanta, Boston, NY, San Francisco, Chicago etc. They are economical and very easy to use. Living in a country where you can reach every village by train no matter how remote is really a wonder. The service is excellent, on time, comfortable, clean and used by everyone. However Switzerland is 1 1/2 times the size of Massachusetts and has some of the most expensive roads in the world. More can be done for sure to provide better mass transit in the US. I always travel on the mass transit systems in France, Italy, England and Switzerland. I love the comfort and ease of the train, but when it comes to being able to travel around the countryside, I prefer to have the flexibility that a car give you.
at 14:12 on March 7th, 2009
Yes, as you quite rightly say, France isn't the only place with good transit systems, and so much the better. The post wasn't meant as a comparative study of course....and the U.S., given the size of it's territory, needs more planes than trains in order to move people around.
The countryside? Well yes, cars are still necessary...ironically..
Thank you!
at 15:24 on March 7th, 2009
Apart from the food, the drinks, the people, the nature, and the culture I enjoy the French transportation system as being one of the best in Europe! Fast, reliable, safe, environmentally friendly - and not all that flying around, from airport to airport without ever really seeing anything.
We should establish a few lines here (which is exactly what Obama thinks)!
Man...Delta and American Airlines would have seen my a** for the last time...
at 17:24 on March 7th, 2009
Man, Delta and et al should shut up shop and let's get into something real!! Couldn't agree more....
Hell, Delta Atlantic flights suck!!
Nice to see you here!
at 20:02 on March 7th, 2009
Thanx! :)
at 17:12 on March 7th, 2009
The TGV, the ICE and the Shinkansen are the World most comfortable and fastest train. The decor remains a question of taste.
at 17:27 on March 7th, 2009
Hah! It's true, taste is taste.
Hey Paschen, unless I'm wrong, the ultimate speed record (wheels/other systems) is held by a Japanese train, isn't it?
at 17:44 on March 7th, 2009
It still is and they are in the process of betting them self with new Shinkansen.
at 18:11 on March 7th, 2009
Thanks for the info, Paschen. The Japanese are really hot here. I love their trains!
But I bet you can't get a real expresso coffee on them!
:)
at 17:20 on March 7th, 2009
European high speed rail is the best - its super smooth, everything is clean, and tickets are affordable.
at 17:30 on March 7th, 2009
Yeah, this is a cool place to live for trains. Europeans like their trains.
It's weird though, the U.S. is often depicted using images of the big and magnificent trains that were there before, but it just doesn't seem to exist any more...snif....
at 21:26 on March 7th, 2009
Whenever I go to France, I get a fantastic feeling of excitement at being in such a techno country. There is something a bit naff about we Brits (eg the design of BBC World is far behind what TeleCinq does). And the cost of rail travel is so much lower in France. And since you recommend the toilets so high, I will make a point of using them. A great post, Fripouille. Also, the design of that park in NW Parisn is such an eye opener for style, elan, and sheer cheekiness! That's what I like about French design.
PS: The other thing I like about French trains is that, unlike the smarmy, patronising smiles and greetings yiou get on airlines, the staff great and serve you professionally. And their snacks are much better than NetworkRail rubbish.
at 13:07 on April 10th, 2009
I agree about French trains being great and "techno"... it's thrilling to travel on the TGV and I always opt for the Eurostar over the plane if time permits (I live in Edinburgh) =)
I'll have to disagree about the cost of rail travel being lower in France, though. That might be true for regular peak hour fares but the UK has a large variety of cheap advance and off-peak fares that are comparable to any in France. Train tickets in the UK can be really cheap if you book in advance. I just bought an Edinburgh-York return for £20 with a Railcard... that would be £30 without a Railcard!
If you don't live in London and travel off-peak, regular fares in the UK are also quite reasonably priced. For example, an Edinburgh-Newcastle off-peak return costs £44.50. Compare that to 57.6 euros return for Paris-Le Havre, a journey of similar distance. Admittedly, there is no peak/off-peak distinction for Paris-Le Havre; a peak-hour ticket would cost the same (unlike TGV)... but that is exactly the point I am trying to make: if you're selective about when you travel and (again) don't live in London, you can potentially travel for less in the UK than you do in France.