The French national rail corporation SNCF has opened two new high-speed rail lines, including the long-awaited Paris to Bordeaux route.
The longer of the two new lines will allow a reduction in travel time from Paris’ Gare Montparnasse to Gare de Bordeaux-Saint-Jean from over three hours to just two hours. At the same time, the journey from Paris to Rennes in Brittany has been cut by 45 minutes to only 90 minutes.
The lines will be serviced by trains dubbed TGV l’Ocane, which can carry over 500 people. Passengers will be able to utilise individual charging points and USB ports. All passengers will be able to benefit from wi-fi throughout the train, as well as real-time information about the journey.Speaking to French radio station RTL, SNCF chief Guillaume Pepy said bookings were up 40% for the new lines with over a million reservations already made.
