There are many hundreds of miles of LGV in France where TGV's travel at full line speed, even though the track may not be straight. The tracks usually follow the contours of the terrain, and the trains are powerful enough to climb quite steep grades without slowing down very much. The sight of a fast moving TGV or Eurostar going over hills rather like a roller coaster is very impressive!
Hi, Please take a look at the following link: TGV World Speed Record You will see that the record breaking route isn't actually dead straight. Best wishes, John. [ 12 May 2002, 17:00: Message edited by: John Whitby ]
