On the Fast Track - French Railway Modernization and the Origins of the TGV, 1944-1983

For much of the postwar era, French society had a contradictory view of passenger trains, scorning them as quaint anachronisms on the one hand, yet also fearing their economic and social impact. All this changed with the introduction of the famed Train á Grande Vitesse (TGV) between Paris and Lyon in the early 1980s. In vivid detail, Meunier describes the political, economic, and social factors that both helped and hindered the development of the world's fastest, most technologically advanced train.

The present-day enthusiasm in France for high-speed rail travel dates only to the successful launch of the now-famous TGV in 1981. Until now, most published accounts of French high-speed rail have been of a technical nature and have ignored or minimized the historical, political, economic, and social context. Historians have been left with detailed descriptions of locomotives and experimental test runs, but there has been scant information cercerning why the machines were built and why the tests were carried out in the first place. This book is the first full-length treatment of high-speed rail travel and the bibliography is one of the most complete on the subject.

List of contents

Foreword
Introduction
The Postwar Recovery of the Railways, 1944-1960
Competition, 1947-1970
The Origins of High Speed Rail, 1950-1970
The AÉrotrain: Origins and Failure, 1963-1975
The C03 Project: Proposal and Reception, 1965-1974
The Train à Grande Vitesse: Construction and Protest, 1974-1981
The Train à Grande Vitesse: Implementation, 1981-1983
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

About the author

JACOB MEUNIER is a transportation analyst at Cambridge Systematics, Inc., a nationally-recognized consulting firm specializing in transportation planning, policy, and management. In the past, Dr. Meunier has worked as a research assistant for a member of the European Parliament in Brussels, and has taught economics, French, and European history at independent schools near Boston. He is co-author of Bridges and Barriers: The European Union's Mediterranean Policy, 1961-1998.

Product details

• Authors: Jacob Meunier, Meunier Jacob
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.10.2001
• EAN: 9780275973773
• ISBN: 978-0-275-97377-3
• Subjects: Guides > Motor vehicles, aircraft, ships, space travel > Rail vehicles; Postwar 20th century history, from c 1945 to c 2000, European History, HISTORY / Europe / General, TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / History, TRANSPORTATION / Railroads / General, BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Industries / Transportation, Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999, History of engineering and technology, Transport industries, History of engineering & technology, c 1945 to c 2000 (Post-war period), Railway transport industries, Railway technology, engineering and trades, Railway Technology, Engineering & Trades, World History: Science and Technology