June 10 will be a historic day for transportation. The Eastern European TGV, which has been waited for more than fifteen years, will finally get on the rails at a record speed of 320 km / h. Alsace and Lorraine, but also Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg will come closer than ever to Paris. Routard.com takes stock of the latest baby from SNCF, which puts Alsace at 2 h 20 from the capital and revolutionizes travel to the East.

East has never been closer

Here it is, it is coming, it is there! We had been waiting for at least a good fifteen years. Next June 10, it will finally be done: the first commercial train of the European TGV East will be on track. High-speed lines will link Paris to thirty French and foreign cities, thanks to 300 km of tracks on which the TGV trains will travel at 320 km / h.

For eastern France, this is a veritable revolution with undeniable economic and tourist benefits. Ultimately, SNCF intends to transport some 11 million passengers a year and reach a potential market of 37 million Europeans.

With the TGV, train journey times will be reduced by a third, and sometimes by half, compared to the Corail train. Departing from Paris-Gare de l’Est, Reimswill be just 45 minutes by TGV (against 1.35), Metz at 1.25 (against 2.45), Nancy at 1.30 (against 2.45), Strasbourg at 2.20 (against 4h), Colmar at 2.50 (against 4.40) and Mulhouse at 3h (against 4:25).

As for foreign destinations, Luxembourg will be 2 h 05 from Paris (against 3 h), Basel at 3:20 h (against 4 h 55), Stuttgart at 3:40 h (against 6 h), Frankfurt at 3:50 h (against 6:15 h), Zurich at 4:35 h (against 5 h 50) and Munich at 6:15(against 8:30 am). And, by 2015, with the addition of an additional 100 km of high-speed lines between the Moselle and the Bas-Rhin, Strasbourg will only be 1.5 hours from Paris. Enough to give weekend desires in corners previously neglected by tourists, such as Lorraine or Luxembourg.

The record line

The opening of the high-speed line is the result of pharaonic work that lasted five years. In all, 78,000 tonnes of steel were used for the rails, enough to build eight Eiffel towers. Sixty-four million cubic meters of earth have been cleared, nine times the volumes extracted from the Channel Tunnel. And, surprisingly, some 300 archaeologists visited the sites, unearthing 400 sites dating from the Neanderthal era (80,000 years BC) until the First World War.

The network’s 21 downtown stations have been renovated and fitted out to accommodate high-speed trains. Three new stations have also emerged: Lorraine TGV halfway between Metz and Nancy, Meuse TGV between Bar-le-Duc and Verdun and Champagne-Ardenne TGV 5 km from Reims. Brand new, they will serve as a hub to join other TGV networks, notably North and West, for region-to-region connections such as Lille-Strasbourg or Nantes-Lorraine TGV.

Also new on the 52 Eastern European TGV trains: first of all, they will travel at 320 km / h, 20 km / h more than other TGVs. During tests on this line, a speed record was even broken on April 3, with a peak at 574.8 km / h. In addition, the cars have been completely redesigned by Christian Lacroix and the multicolored, reclining armchairs with headrests are wider. Finally, on the Paris-Frankfurt line, travelers will travel aboard the ICE3, the new generation Deutsche Bahn train, which will also run at 320 km / h.

All this has a price

Such an enterprise necessarily has a cost: the bill for the TGV Est Européen amounts to some five billion euros; it is shared between 22 funders, including 15 local authorities. For the SNCF, the note is salty: a billion euros and the contribution of 30,000 railway workers.

The traveler must obviously expect an impact on the price of tickets. The TGV goes fast, but costs, at full price, 20 to 30% more expensive than the Corail trains (which will cease their service on June 9). Time is money

, at SNCF as elsewhere.

A Paris-Strasbourg trip goes from 46.20 to 63 € (79 € during peak hours), a Paris-Reims from 22.10 to 28 € and a Paris-Metz / Nancy from 38.80 to 50 € (€ 62 during peak hours). For Germany, prices will range from 87 € one way (Paris-Mannheim) to 99 € (Paris Frankfurt). In short, it is not given, even if the TGV customers are only 25%, according to the SNCF, to travel at full price. So, all you have to do is juggle the various reductions (Prem’s, Discovery Stay, subscriptions, idTGV, etc.) from the SNCF to find the price for your purse. We still wish you good luck if you leave on a Friday evening and return on Sunday by the last TGV.

Finally, if you want to discover the TGV Est European at a low price, the SNCF is offering a promotional offer until August 12. For French destinations, 5,000 seats at 10 and 15 € are available each day, for journeys between June 10 and August 26, 2007 included. Tickets are neither exchangeable nor refundable. They must be purchased 14 days in advance and before August 12. The operation, launched on April 10, was a resounding success: 200,000 tickets were sold during the first week. Hurry up, there are still some places to offer you, this summer, Alsace and Lorraine. By car.

The Backpacker’s Guide salutes the Eastern European TGV

The Guide du routard, who could not miss such an event, publishes several new guides to take advantage of the Eastern European TGV and (re) discover the east of France:

– The East, very high-speed escapades

A special guide, written in collaboration with the SNCF, on the regions that will benefit from the new TGV, from Champagne-Ardenne to Germany via Lorraine, the Alsace and Switzerland, without forgetting to make a detour through Luxembourg. With maps of regions, cultural information, address books, ideas for children’s activities and outings…

– Strasbourg 2007/2008

A new guide to learn all about the regional, economic and cultural capital of Alsace and Europe. With lots of good plans and good addresses!

– Lorraine 2007/2008

Another novelty to discover the riches of this region which deserves to be stopped there, and not just to pass there.

– Alsace-Vosges 2007

The blue line of the Vosges, the vineyards of Alsace, its villages out of a fairy tale and its opulent cities. A guide to make a success of your trip or your weekend in this region.

– The audio guides of Routard

In free download on the TGV Eastern European site until the end of September, three audio tourist guides in MP3 format on Champagne-Ardenne, Lorraine and Alsace. To listen to the Backpacker in his player.

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