Train à Grande Vitesse

Shortened to TGV translates as:  "high-speed train" - is France's high speed rail service with the national rail operator SNCF - Société nationale des chemins de fer français (French National Railway Company).

Conceived in the 1970s - today the TGV holds the world speed record for conventional railway trains - reaching 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph).

Nowadays, SNCF transports more than 100 million passengers per year.  In 2010 SNCF was ranked 214th globally on the Fortune Global 500 list.  It is the main business of the SNCF group and in 2014 employed 245,763 people and had €27.2 billion of sales in 120 countries.

Last week Braumeister and our wives rode the TGV from Paris to Reims (and back). Brau estimated the speed at around 110 MPH (give or take).  My guess is closer to 200 mph.  Smooth ride too...