TGV is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF.
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Originally designed as turbotrains to be powered by gas turbines, TGV prototypes evolved into electric trains with the 1973 oil crisis.
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Idea of the TGV was first proposed in the 1960s, after Japan had begun construction of the Shinkansen in 1959.
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The first prototype, TGV 001, was the only gas-turbine TGV: following the increase in the price of oil during the 1973 energy crisis, gas turbines were deemed uneconomic and the project turned to electricity from overhead lines, generated by new nuclear power stations.
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TGV 001 was not a wasted prototype: its gas turbine was only one of its many new technologies for high-speed rail travel.
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The TGV was considerably faster than normal trains, cars, or aeroplanes.
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Eurostar service began operation in 1994, connecting continental Europe to London via the Channel Tunnel and the LGV Nord-Europe with a version of the TGV designed for use in the tunnel and the United Kingdom.
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TGV was the world's third commercial and standard gauge high-speed train service, after Japan's Shinkansen, which connected Tokyo and Osaka from 1 October 1964, and Britain's InterCity 125 on main lines such as the East Coast Main Line, which entered service in 1976.
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In 2007 the TGV was the world's fastest conventional scheduled train: one journey's average start-to-stop speed from Champagne-Ardenne Station to Lorraine Station is 279.
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On 28 November 2003 the TGV network carried its one billionth passenger, a distant second only to the Shinkansen's five billionth passenger in 2000.
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Several TGV types have broken records, including the V150 and TGV 001.
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TGV technology has been adopted in a number of other countries:.
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The development of TGV trains is being pursued in the form of the Automotrice a grande vitesse high-speed multiple unit with motors under each carriage.
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Since July 2017, TGV services are gradually being rebranded as TGV inOui and Ouigo in preparation for the opening of the French HSR market to competition.
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