TGV Med rail service to 'shrink France'

NEW YORK -- France is shrinking.

Starting June 10, the $3.5 million TGV Mediterranee rail service, to run from Paris to Marseilles, will reduce the travel time between Paris and the south of France by about one hour on most routes, with the Paris-Avignon ride taking two hours and 38 minutes; Paris-Marseille, 3 hours, and Paris-Nice, five hours and 36 minutes.

The management of the French railroad, SNCF, came to the U.S. last week to hail the new line, known as TGV Med, as the greatest advent in European rail since the French introduced high-speed train service to the continent in 1981 between Paris and Lyon.

Louis Gallois, president of SNCF, said he expects the new line to carry 23 million passengers annually, attracting at least 6 million away from air and road transportation by 2003.

"Right now, the split between Paris and Marseilles is 60% air and 40% rail," Gallois noted during a press conference here. "With the TGV Mediterranee, we plan to reverse that share.

"Wherever the travel time is two to three hours, rail is getting the bulk of the market. For instance, between Paris and Lyon, rail captured 92% of the travel," he added, referring to the country's most popular high-speed rail link, a two-hour trip.

"We have shrunk France with high-speed rail," said Bernard Frelat, president of Rail Europe, the U.S. subsidiary of SNCF. "Parisians now travel to Lyon just to have lunch."

The TGV Med, to run at 186 miles per hour, also will create more frequent stops throughout the French Riviera and Provence, with an increase of service by 20% to 200%, depending on the route.

A one-way ticket on the TGV Med will cost approximately $100 from Paris to Marseilles -- which is less than 50% of the air tariff, as is often the case with high-speed rail tickets.

The TGV Med line consists of 155 miles of new track, 168 new trains and three new stations in Aix, Avignon and Valence, as well as newly renovated stations in Lyon and Marseilles.

TGV Med took 10 years to build "because of environmental considerations," Gallois explained.

"We were going through one of the most beautiful areas of France and had to obtain the right to cut through towns by getting permission from each one," he said. "We had to spend a lot of money to protect small animals."

The value of the TGV Med line to tourists is "that it offers repeat visitors to France an entirely new way to see the country side of Provence and the Riviera," said Guillaume Pepy, SNCF's managing director, passenger services.

"When you look at Mt. Saint Victoire, the mountain that Cezanne painted from the top of an viaduct, well, that's just not an experience you can duplicate."

Gallois added that the TGV Med "is the first rail lien where aesthetics were considered as important as logistics. We are talking about one of the world's top tourist destinations."

The French Government Tourist Office estimated that the TGV should help increase U.S. arrivals to southern France by 8% in the next three years.

Thirty-six million Americans traveled to France in 2000, with 6 million heading to the south of France. The tourist office expects an overall increase of 5% in U.S. travelers for 2001.

An early look at the service's future network

NEW YORK -- Here is a look at the future of France's high-speed TGV rail network: