The impressive graveyard of the TGV, France's famous high-speed trains

@ElentirENG ES 1·10·2024 · 22:57 0

We have already seen abandoned trains here on a few occasions. They were generally steam locomotives or old trains from decades ago.

Old abandoned trains in Germany that will be familiar to many Spaniards
Some abandoned steam locomotives that were waiting for a nuclear war

But and what about modern high-speed trains? One of the most famous, without a doubt, is the TVG (Train à Grande Vitesse), operated by the French railway company SNCF. The first TVG, the TGV Sud-Est, which sported a beautiful orange decoration, entered service in 1981, 43 years ago. The last units were withdrawn from service in 2021. In 1988 the more modern TGV Atlantique appeared and in 1993 the TGV Réseau. Furthermore, in 1994 the Eurostar appeared, a version of the TVG adapted to the Eurotunnel that connects France with the United Kingdom.

Those of us who have been around for a few years (48, in my case) have seen these trains as the latest in technology, and that is why it is difficult for us to imagine that the first models of the TVG have already been removed from service and are in the process of being scrapped strong>, a difficult process due to the presence in these trains of a toxic product, asbestos. Gabriel & Corentin, two French urban explorers, published a few days ago a interesting video showing an impressive cemetery of TGV trains in Ambronay, in which we can see several units of the TGV Sud-Est, the TGV Atlantique and even some Eurostar, awaiting dismantling.

The authors of the video point out that this train cemetery is on military lands, so they decided to only record images with a drone, without risking legal problems for entering the premises (the video is in French , you can activate automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):

You can see some screenshots from the video here. In the center of this image we see a Eurostar, the TVG variant designed for the Channel Tunnel. It is hard to believe that 30 years after entering service they are already on their way to scrapping.

I end here with three images of this cemetery, in which dozens of TVG trains wait for the moment to be dismantled. Some impressive images.