In 1981, these are the fastest
trains in the world. But French engineers want to see just how fast they
can go. Reaching 380 kilometers an hour, the TGV smashes past a world record that’s held for over 25 years. The French have something to prove. Because 40 years ago amid controversy and
doubt, this train took on the plane and won. Only a few decades earlier, it seemed that trains
had reached their limit. In experimental runs, railway engineers had pushed them to incredible
speeds. But in actual service, trains around the world weren't anywhere near as fast. Nore
were they weren’t getting any faster.
The problem was, engineering a faster
locomotive would only get you so far. With many rail lines having been built a
half century earlier, they had sharp curves, steep grades to climb, and outdated signaling
that just couldn’t handle higher speeds.
Getting trains to go faster would mean having
to rebuild the tracks they ran on. Which was not only expensive, many were convinced it was
pointless. Because the 1960’s was the dawn of the jet age. Air travel offered unparalleled
speed, while the automobile promised unmatched freedom and convenience. The train was no match
for either. Around the world, billions were spent building new superhighways. Short haul air routes
were growing in popularity. And just around the corner, new technologies and radical transport
solutions promised to reshape travel entirely.
Many saw trains as an antiquated 19th century
technology. But halfway around the world, the Japanese were about to change everything. When everyone else had given up on railways, the Japanese had just completed one of the
most ambitious rail projects of the century. Building more than five hundred kilometers
of near perfectly straight track, tunneling through mountains, and
constructing over a thousand bridges.
The Japanese called it the Shinkansen.
And when it opened in 1964, the trains on this new railway ran at over two hundred kilometers per
hour. Faster than anywhere else in the world. The Shinkansen was a new kind of railway, one reserved
exclusively for high speed trains. Taking the most direct route possible, it cut the travel time
between Japan’s two largest cities in half.
But it wasn't just its speed that was impressive,
it was the scale. The Shinkansen could move a huge volume of people. A single train carried
nearly a thousand passengers. And over one hundred and twenty trains ran every
single day, one every 15 minutes. In just the first three years, the Shinkansen moved
more than a hundred million passengers.
And two cities, located nearly
five hundred kilometers apart, were seemingly pulled closer together.
But as the world looked on in admiration, railway engineers in France were dismayed.
The French were no strangers to getting their
trains to go fast. Only a few years earlier, French engineers had set a remarkable
train speed record, putting themselves at the forefront of railway technology.
In areas of acceleration, braking, and electric pickup at high speeds, they were world leaders.
But none of that seemed to matter. Because the top brass running France's railways, the SNCF,
lacked vision. Facing record deficits, they were obsessed with short-term fixes. Cutting costs,
reducing service, and closing down rail lines.
But the opening of the Shinkansen
sparked a profound shift in thinking.
Up until then, the fastest trains in France had
almost always been luxurious trains. Scheduled to run maybe once or twice a day, with all
first class seating and expensive fares. But the Japanese had shown how speed and frequency
were commodities that could be sold to an eager public. And that got them thinking. In the preceding years, French domestic air travel had exploded in popularity. A trend that was only expected to continue. But the irony was that an ever-increasing share
of the time flying to a destination was actually spent on the ground, stuck on congested
roads or in crowded airports. Turns out, going faster didn't always mean saving time.
And SNCF could use that to their advantage.
At a distance of up to a thousand kilometers,
a high speed train scheduled to run frequently, could go head-to-head with the
airplane. And if it was made affordable, it could win back passengers.
Within months, SNCF went on the offensive with a bold plan for high-speed
point to point connections between major cities. But where the Japanese had spent enormous sums building an entirely new rail network right
down to all new stations, that wasn't going to work for the French. SNCF would have to keep costs
down, utilizing as much of their existing network as possible. Instead, they'd focus their efforts
on developing a new kind of train, experimenting with locomotives powered by gas turbines
taken straight from military helicopters.
Using aircraft technology had a few
key advantages. Gas turbines were light and powerful and would allow trains
to run on steeper grades, so tracks could be built with fewer tunnels and bridges. And
Kerosene-fueled gas-turbines would eliminate the need to build expensive overhead lines.
And the French were prepared to take it a step further than the Japanese, aiming
for dramatically higher speeds.
In 1972, SNCF unveiled the TGV-001.
An experimental train with cutting edge technologies and a top speed of more
than three hundred kilometers per hour.
This was a train designed to sell
high-speed rail to a skeptical public.
World-renowned designer Jacque Cooper was hired
to design a train that didn’t look like a train. Taking inspiration from his earlier work on sports
cars, Cooper gave the TGV bold sleek lines that were undeniably cool.Gone were the opulent
railcars of earlier French express trains, replaced with modern aircraft-like cabins.
Gas turbines produced an impressive 5,000 horsepower, and powered electric motors that
drove each of the train's wheels.Articulated bogies reduced weight, improved stability
and offered a smooth, quieter ride.
In testing, the prototype racked up over half
a million kilometers and accelerated beyond three hundred kilometers per hour more
than a hundred and seventy-five times. Just about anyone with political sway was
invited to ride the train of the future and hear SNCF’s vision for a high speed-rail.
With proven technology, the French were on the verge of putting the world's
fastest trains into service.
But many leaders wanted nothing to do with the
TGV. There were fears that it would be a Concorde on rails, another massively expensive vanity
project without hope of ever turning a profit.
Others dismissed it as benefiting the
wealthy, with new lines skipping past smaller cities to serve the Paris elite.
And there were still competing visions for the future of French Transport. The Aerotrain, a
radical tracked hovercraft that ran on an elevated concrete guideway, was also making headlines. With
a promised speed of up to 400 kilometers an hour, it stole some of the TGV’s thunder, and
gained considerable support. Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Administration pushed for
the development of airliners capable of short takeoff and landings, and even the construction of
compact runways right in the center of Paris.
Support for the TGV wasn't anywhere
near what the SNCF hoped for, and things would only get worse.
In 1973, the price of oil began to skyrocket, rising nearly 300% in a single year. Oil
exporting nations in the Middle East had imposed an embargo on the West, sending
shockwaves throughout the global economy, and causing widespread fuel shortages.
France was among the worst hit, where almost three quarters of the country's
energy needs depended on imported oil.
After years of development, SNCF found itself
having gone all in on fuel-thirsty gas-turbines, right as the era of cheap oil was ending.
But for the TGV, the energy crisis would turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
In 1974, The French Prime Minister launched an ambitious plan to meet the
country’s energy needs with Nuclear power, pledging to build over a hundred and fifty
nuclear plants under the slogan: "In France, we do not have oil, but we have ideas.”
For SNCF the decision was a game-changer They began working on an
electric version of the TGV.
Switching from gas-turbine to electric
traction was a huge undertaking, calling for the development of new pantographs,
suspension and braking systems. But French railway engineers, who had a history of pushing
electric locomotives to their limits, managed to complete the modifications in just two
years. And the switch from gas to electric would soon pay off in a big way. Cars, airliners, and
Aerotrains depended on imported oil, while the TGV could run on French nuclear energy.
The optics were powerful, but the energy crisis also forced leaders to prioritize
public transport. And by March 1976, the necessary approvals were in place for the
construction of a new line connecting France’s two largest cities. And it would largely be paid for
with private capital, not government subsidies.
Soon large swaths of countryside bore
witness to a massive construction project, the first major Western European rail
line in nearly a half century. With a sleek new look for the 1980s, the TGV
was set to debut as the fastest train in the world. But just months before its opening in 1981,
French railway engineers would do what they did best. Find out just how fast it could go.
In a highly publicized event, they pushed the TGV well beyond its initial operating speed,
all the way up to 380 kilometers per hour, smashing the world record they set decades
earlier. But while the 1955 record had pushed railway technology to its literal breaking point,
380 kilometers per hour was achieved with the very same train that would soon go into service. Paving
the way for even higher speeds in the future.
From its opening in September 1981, the success
of the TGV surprised even the SNCF. Only two months after opening, it had already carried
its millionth passenger. And within a year, France’s largest domestic airline saw a 60%
decline in passengers between Paris and Lyon.
Many of the public’s criticisms faded as
the price of a ticket wasn’t any higher than on a regular train, and an aggressive
marketing campaign promoted the TGV’s efficiency, time savings and accessibility.
And as if on cue, politicians who had vehemently opposed the TGV in the 1960’s and 70s now proudly
proclaimed their support for it all along
Almost immediately, SNCF began to plan for
new lines connecting more French cities. Over the years, service speeds also
increased. And in experimental runs, French railway engineers continued to push the
limit, ultimately reaching 574 km/h in 2007. A rail speed record that holds to this day.
Like the Shinkansen, the TGV was an immediate technical and commercial success. And by
the mid 1980s, it had become a symbol of national pride. A nearly two-decade-old
vision had finally been confirmed. The train had taken on the plane and won.
And as a testament to the forward thinking of railway engineers, today high-speed
rail is more relevant than ever.
The 1991 Gulf War was a defining moment in
modern warfare, a showcase of advanced military technology on a massive scale. And In the opening
hours of the conflict, Iraq commanded the fourth largest military in the world, with an Air Force
of nearly seven hundred combat-ready aircraft.
Among these was the Soviet-built MiG-25 Foxbat.
A Cold-War era interceptor that was by many accounts too heavy, too unmaneuverable and
too outdated to put up much of a fight,
But the Iraqis would push the aircraft to its
limit, leveraging any advantage they could find, in a daring plan to ambush state of the
art American F-15s as they patrolled the skies over Baghdad. The outcome wasn't
what anyone would have expected.
You can learn more about the incredible
Samurra Air Battle in my latest video, now on Nebula. Nebula is home to a growing
number of exclusive Mustard videos, whether it’s the stories behind iconic machines
or bringing unrealized concepts to life.
And it’s where you can expect to see a
lot more exciting projects in the near future. Including reimagining what the world would have looked like if mass supersonic
air travel had become a reality.
But you might be asking, why are
these videos only on Nebula?
On YouTube, algorithms influence which videos
you see. And advertisers restrict the type of content that creators can make.
Nebula is not like Youtube, and that fundamentally changes how I make videos.
On Nebula, I can make a video as long as it needs to be. The videos only have to make
Mustard viewers happy, not a general audience, which is what the YouTube algorithm demands.
And that means I can cover fascinating technical details in more depth, bring lesser-known concepts
to life, or experiment with entirely new formats. There’s no algorithm. There’s only you.
But, there’s one other very important difference. Nebula is owned directly by us, the
creators. There’s no one else to answer to and we’re not lining someone else’s pockets.
And that means your support goes directly into funding more high quality projects that
otherwise would have never have been made.
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Sign up using the link below, and you’ll get a twenty dollar discount, meaning for just $2.50
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Pour égayer la front page r/française et peut-être vous faire découvrir une chaîne youtube de grande qualité.
L'une des meilleures chaine d'histoire technique qui existe !
Ça faisait bien longtemps que je n'avais pas regardé cette chaîne, merci pour ce partage. Ces vidéos sont toujours aussi plaisantes.
Sans trop rentrer trop dans la politique, dès que je me renseigne sur les quelques grands projets industriels français, je peux pas m'empêcher de penser qu'il y avait une sacrée vision à l'epoque, rien que la complémentarité entre le TGV électrique et le plan Messmer c'est quand même assez remarquable.
Un peu à côté du sujet mais pour qui aime les trains
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rDjPLvOShM&t=17467s
C'est d'un zen.
France baise ouais!