Simulatortracks News

Simulatortracks News

The work on the Paris - Lille TGV route:

The work on the Paris - Lille route is finished. The bridges and tunnels are in place, the scenery is good and we are performing test runs to see if everything is OK. You can take a look at some screendumps http://www.simulatortracks.com/ENGLISH/parislilleroute1.asp we have taken. We tried to make the route as real as possible. That means that we have constructed the original bridges, tunnels and stations for this route. For example, the Verberie bridge which is about 1500 m long. We have also constructed the original Aeroport Charles de Gaulle TGV station, Marne La Vallee station, Lille Europe station, TGV Haute Picardie station and Paris Gare du Nord station. We have visited the stations to construct it as real as possible. Here http://www.simulatortracks.com/ENGLISH/parislilleroute1.asp you can find screendumps. We have illustrated them with some reality pictures of the route itself.

Railtracks:

The main railtrack starts on two places:

Location 1: South of Marne la Vallee - Chessy TGV station (Parc Disneyland).

The Marne la Vallee - Chessy TGV station is located directly on the Ligne Grande Vitesse (High Speed Line). The track is heading north to Airport Charles de Gaulle TGV, which is a dedicated TGV station too. After a few miles heading north the line joins the main TGV line from Paris Gare du Nord to Lille.

Location 2: Paris Gare du Nord. In this station a lot of Eurostars, Thalys and TGVs depart and arrive. This station has a lot of tracks which are used by these trains. When driving north the TGV line starts about 10 minutes after leaving Gare du Nord station. 16 km (10 miles) later the line is joined by the TGV line from Airport Charles de Gaulle TGV.

The railtrack continues heading north. It passes the Verberie tunnels and bridge which is about 1500m long. It crosses the A1 highway to Lille which stays a long time next to the railtrack. Half way the Paris - Lille route you will pass TGV Haute Picardie station. This four track station serves the passengers which live in the Amiens and St Quentin area for journeys to the south of France. Further to the north there is a junction (bifurcation) to Arras. Turning left to Arras after 12 km (9 miles) the high speed line ends and continues on the conventional track. When the train goes straight on the Arras-junction, it is heading for Lille. Near Henin-Beaumont it passes the black hill which is typical for that region. Near Seclin it crosses again the A1 highway heading for the Fretin triangle (junction) to Lille Europe and Brussels Midi. When turning left on this triangle, after a few miles it will arrive at Lille Europe or Lille Flandres. Turning right on the triangle it will arrive at Brussels South/Midi after 112 km (70 miles).

To make this line complete, we have constructed some (parts of) RER (Express metro) lines as well, including an underground station at Gare du Nord.

Upgrading to Brussels - Lille version 2: For customers who didn't upgrade yet to version 2, you can ask us for the upgrade link to our shop at sales@simulatortracks.com. Version 2 of thr Brussels - Lille line is necessary to make the connection with the Paris - Lille Line.

Special offer: Buy now your Lille Europe - Brussels TGV line for only EUR 19.95 and you will get a discount on the upcoming Paris - Lille line. This is a limited time offer and expires on 26/10/2002 at 11.59pm GMT. Click here before it's too late.

Watching real trains:

Some people like to spot trains:

In the case of TGVs this is real special, because not everyday a train passes you with 300 km/h at 5 meters distance. This is an experience we suggest to do yourself.

We like the following locations: When travalling to Paris from the Great-Britain, Belgium or The Netherlands, TGV Haute Picardie station is a real good experience. This station is located between Lille and Paris. On the highway A1 you take exit N29. There are signs for the route to the station.

When you go on holiday to the South of France or to the French alps: Macon-Loche TGV station (50 km north of Lyon) is a good one. On this station every 5 minutes a TGV passes at 300 km/h. On the A6 Paris - Beaune - Lyon you take exit Macon-Sud. There are signs for the route to the station.

When you are on the A6 travelling from Paris to Lyon, near Auxerre the TGV line crosses the highway. Just after this crossing highway there is a parking. You can watch here TGVs very well.

Info about TGVs and related information:

When you are looking for new information about TGVs, we can help you. As a service we have preconfigured searchengine boxes on our site. To find info about a lot of TGV related subjects, you only have to press the search button. That's all! You find them on the TGV photo pages under TGV Info on the menubar.

New photos of TGVs speeding at 300km/h:

We have added more pictures of our collection on the web site. You find them on the TGV photo pages under TGV Info on the menu bar.

Enjoy the ride.

Simulatortracks