Since yesterday, Sunday 15 December 2013, a new TGV service has started operating between Barcelona and Paris, as well as to cities like Marseille, Toulouse and Lyon.
A new TGV line between Paris and Barcelona!
The direct TGV service links Gare de Lyon in Paris and Sants Station in Barcelona in 6h25 with a speed reaching 320 km/h (199 mph).
Approximately 82 million trips are made between France and Spain each year. Renfe, Spain’s train operator, and SNCF, France’s state-owned rail operator, hope to attract travellers that will appreciate arriving in the city centre without going to and from the airport.
Two TGV trains will depart Paris to Barcelona and fares for a single trip range from 59 to 170 euros.
17 cities on both sides of the border will be serviced by the new TGV link.
For the moment, the TGV is in limited speed between Nîmes and Perpignan as it runs on conventional line. The high-speed track is under work between Nîmes and Montpellier (80km) and the Montpellier-Perpignan new track is still not planned by the French government.
When the Nîmes-Montpellier track will be completed, the duration of the Paris-Barcelona TGV trip will only take 5h35.
Next in line will be the second phase of the TGV-Est between Paris and Strasbourg. The completion of the 106 km new high-speed line from Baudrecourt (Lorraine) to Strasbourg is expected in March 2016. Strasbourg will be 1h50 away from Paris…
English-French Vocabulary
(f) for féminin, (m) for masculin, (adj) for adjective and (v) for verbs
- Barcelona = Barcelone
- completion = achèvement (m)
- conventional line = ligne classique (f)
- duration = durée (f)
- fare = tarif (m)
- France = France (f)
- high-speed train = train à grande vitesse (m), TGV (m)
- line = ligne (f)
- link = liaison (m)
- Spain = Espagne (f)
- station = gare (f)
- train = train (m)
- trip = voyage (m)
