The LGV Atlantique (French: ''Ligne à Grande Vitesse''; English: Atlantic high-speed line) is a

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...

line running from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

(

Gare Montparnasse Gare Montparnasse (; Montparnasse station), officially Paris-Montparnasse, one of the six large Paris railway termini, is located in the 14th and 15th arrondissements. The station opened in 1840, was rebuilt in 1852 and relocated in 1969 to ...

) to Western

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It opened in 1989–1990 and comprises two stations: Massy TGV station and Vendôme-Villiers-sur-Loir TGV station. It divides into two parts at Courtalain, one going westward to

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

(towards

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

and

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" (). ...

), the second one going southwestward to

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

(and onward towards

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by ...

). Both branches have been extended, by the LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire and the

LGV Sud Europe Atlantique The LGV Sud Europe Atlantique (LGV SEA), also known as the LGV Sud-Ouest or LGV L'Océane, is a high-speed railway line between Tours and Bordeaux, in France. It is used by TGV trains operated by SNCF. It is an extension of the LGV Atlantique ...

Route

The line leaves

to cross Paris's southern suburbs, partly under the Coulée Verte. This is a tunnel above which footpaths and recreational areas have been created, to reduce the effect of the LGV running through the area. The line at this point follows the route of the former railway line from

Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as def ...

. TGVs coming from the north or southeast of France via the LGV Interconnexion Est join the line at Massy. After the new Massy TGV station, the line passes through the Villejust tunnel and then follows the A10 motorway. Near the Saint-Arnoult toll plaza, the LGV turns south and leaves the motorway. The line then follows the ''ligne classique'' from Paris to

Vendôme Vendôme (, ) is a subprefecture of the department of Loir-et-Cher, France. It is also the department's third-biggest commune with 15,856 inhabitants (2019). It is one of the main towns along the river Loir. The river divides itself at the ...

until the junction at Courtalain.

Stations

The LGV Atlantique serves the following stations: * Paris Montparnasse * Massy TGV *

¹ * Vendôme TGV *

¹ Le Mans is located on the western branch of the LGV Atlantique.

History

* 1 January 1983: creation of

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffic ...

''new line no. 2'' committee * 25 May 1984: public utility declaration * 15 February 1985: official beginning of works at Boinville-le-Gaillard * 1 July 1987: laying of first LGV Atlantique rail at

Auneau Auneau () is a former commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Auneau-Bleury-Saint-Symphorien.Montrouge to

Connerré Connerré () is a commune in the Sarthe department in the Pays de la Loire region of Northwestern France. In 2017, it had a population of 2,902. Geography Connerré is best known as where the LGV Atlantique meets the LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loir ...

* 18 May 1990:

TGV world speed record The TGV (''Train à Grande Vitesse'', French for "High-Speed Train") holds a series of land speed records for rail vehicles achieved by SNCF, the French national railway, and its industrial partners. The high-speed trials are intended to exp ...

of 515.3 km/h * 25 September 1990: southwestern branch opens * 27 December 1990: baby born on a

TGV Atlantique The TGV Atlantique (TGV-A) is a class of high-speed trains used in France by SNCF; they were built by Alstom between 1988 and 1992, and were the second generation of TGV trains, following on from the TGV Sud-Est. 105 bi-current sets, numbered 3 ...

train

Extensions

Extensions to both branches have been built. The western branch is augmented by the LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire project, resulting in a reduction of 37 minutes between Paris and Rennes. The Southern branch is augmented by the

project, resulting in a reduction of around 50 minutes to Tours and Bordeaux.http://www.eib.org/attachments/press/lgv-sud-europe-atlantique-en.pdf Both lines entered service in July 2017.

References

External links