France introduced the world’s first high-speed railway outside Japan with the opening of the TGV.
France’s first TGV service began in 1981 on the initial high-speed line between Paris and Lyon. The trains were developed by the French national railway SNCF with industrial partners, and the system combined purpose-built high-speed track with conventional railway approaches. This design allowed TGV services to reach city-centre stations rather than requiring every destination to build a new high-speed terminal.
Japan’s Tokaido Shinkansen had already begun service in 1964, so France was not the first country overall to operate high-speed passenger rail. France was the first country outside Japan to establish such a system. The TGV name is an abbreviation of “Train à Grande Vitesse,” meaning “high-speed train.”