The trains in France have a history of over one hundred fifty years. Trains in France were introduced in the year 1832. Although the first train was started early in France, there were no developments in this field due to restrictions on financial investments by private players. The actual development happened only after ten years, when the Government of France took over the control over the industry. The government had entered into a public private partnership, which helped ensure faster development of railroad infrastructure, including tunnels, bridges and rail tracks for long distance travel. In the beginning of the twentieth century, the development of trains in France was set back due to the construction of a new network of roads. Eventually, the French Government took complete control over the railroad industry. The governing body, Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais (SNCF), was established in the year 1938.

France today has a rail network of over 30,000 kilometers. The complete network of the trains is governed by SNCF. Until recent years, the tracks, trains and other railway infrastructures were owned by SNCF. Now, another government agency, the Reseau Ferre de France, owns the tracks and infrastructure while the trains are under SNCF’s control. The Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) and the Reseau Express Regional (RER) are both owned by the SNCF. The safety regulations for private trains are drafted by the SNCF and generally have very strict norms to ensure the safety of the passengers. These formalities are seen as a hurdle in more companies entering this industry of trains in France. The SNCF has recently replaced all of its trains that ran on fossil fuels with trains that run on electricity, which is generally generated from nuclear power plants.

The TGV is the network of high speed trains in France, which can run up to 198 miles per hour. The TGV networks are spread across the country and are used for long distance travel. The TGV has a first class and second class accomodations. The first class has powered control seats for reclining”not the case in second class. There are duplex TGV trains in France that have seating arrangements on two floors. These trains have a café bar that serves food at an extra cost. Apart from these high speed trains there are other trains in France, called Corail Teoz, which run at the speed of 125 miles per hour. The Corail Teoz trains provide sleeper facility that makes traveling comfordiv and efficient.