Turbotrain
This article is about the French Turbotrain. For the UAC Turbo used in Canada and the United States, see UAC TurboTrain. For the ANF and Rohr Turbotrains used in the United States, see Turboliner.
The Turbotrain was an early French high-speed, gas turbine train.
It was born in 1967, for use on France's SNCF intercity lines. There were several versions, four in total with the last exiting service in 2005 and it is the Turbotrain that made advances possible for the TGV.
- The experimental Turbotrain TGS (Turbine à gaz spéciale). Trials started on 25 April 1967. The TGS reached 252 km/h (157 mph) on 15 October 1971.
- First generation Turbotrain: the ETG (Elément à Turbine à Gaz), four carriage trains offered 188 seats and had one diesel engine and one gas turbine engine. The ETG entered service in 1971 on the Paris-Caen-Cherbourg.
- Second generation Turbotrain: the RTG (Rame à Turbine à Gaz) with hydraulic transmission. The train had five carriages with 280 seats and were introduced between 1972 and 1976. Forty-one trains were introduced. The train was equipped with two 820 kW (1,100 hp) gas turbines, reaching 160 km/h (99 mph). The RTG entered service in 1973 on the Strasbourg-Lyon and Lyon-Nantes lines, it subsequently entered service on the Paris-Caen-Cherbourg and Paris-Deauville-Dives-Cabourg lines in 1975. 6 examples of the RTG were built for Amtrak and ran as Turboliners.
- 4 units of Turbotrains were introduced in Iran in 1974 with max speed of 160 km/h (99 mph) between Tehran-Mashhad that later in 2008 were converted to DMU by substitution of diesel instead of turbines.
- Experimental Turbotrain TGV 001. It set the world speed record for gas turbine-powered rail vehicles with 318 km/h (198 mph) on 8 December 1972.
Turbotrain at Roanne.
The electrification in 1996 of the Paris-Caen-Cherbourg line moved the RTGs onto the Lyon-Bordeaux until 2005. The RTGs were well loved by the public and it is with regret and nostalgia that the Turbotrain was replaced by Corail trains.
One RTG is kept in running condition at the French National Railway Museum in Mulhouse.
See also
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