The Transport express régional (TER) trains are also very important forms of travel in France with around one million passengers each day. The TER trains are slower than TGV trains, moving at around 160 kilometers/hour (100 miles/hour), but they service smaller cities in France to connect them to larger cities like Paris and Rennes.
During my trip over winter break to Strasbourg, I took an intercity TER train from Strasbourg to visit La Cité des Trains in Mulhouse, France. La Cité des Trains is a huge exhibition/museum dedicated to the history of the SNCF. I’ve shared more pictures here. I hope you like them!
The first time I took a TGV train between Paris and Rennes, I remember being surprised by how smooth the ride was considering how fast we were moving. There was of course the occasional bump, but overall the ride was quite smooth (certainly compared to the Northeast Regional Amtrak train that I took between Boston and New York many times).
Another thing that took me by surprise was the sound that was made when two TGV trains passed on another going in different directions. There’s a short burst of sound from the air moving between the two trains that can be startling, but since the trains are both moving so fast, it only lasts mere seconds.
Finally, I also remember thinking how it was pretty amazing that I was only 90 minutes from Paris.
