Fast track: a highspeed TGV en route through France

New high-speed rail link from Paris: Breakfast in London, dinner in Barcelona

   It’s possible to dine in three different countries in one day. Philip
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   very novel. I remained in my seat. Then I gazed out at the darkness for
   four minutes until the train accelerated smoothly away to continue its
   high-speed journey south.

   Until very recently, I would have disembarked and crossed the platform
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   Stephenson’s standard gauge, as adopted by the French. The Figueres
   link is the final element in a long process – Eurostar, French TGV,
   Spanish AVE, new tunnels, stations, sections of high-speed line – that
   have whittled the journey time down to the point where it is now
   possible to breakfast in London, lunch in Paris and dine in Barcelona.
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   process and on to the train.

   At 8.19am we left, the Eurostar rushing on its way down High Speed 1,
   across the North Downs, over the Medway viaduct. Suddenly, the
   warehouses bore names like Conforama and La Maison Picarde. Southern
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   each with its own power point.

   As the train hit top whack (not all of the line is yet high speed) we
   hummed through the rolling wooded farmland into Burgundy. The colour of
   the cattle on the lush slopes changed from Charolais cream to Auvergne
   chestnut, and I glimpsed solitary walkers on country roads and herons
   by ponds. I tracked our route as best I could with a tableful of maps.
   High-speed rail travel is a cross between train and plane – the top
   speed of a TGV exceeding take-off velocity of a passenger jet – and the
   latest TGV is rather like a 1950s Caravelle, from the era when
   airliners still had space, big windows and saloons. Taking in visual
   detail isn’t easy, with passing station signs requiring a high-speed
   head rotation to read as you hurtle past.

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 Created with Sketch. New high-speed rail link from Paris: Breakfast in London,
                                   dinner in