Infrastructure characteristics of the high-speed rail network in France

Cilj rada je utvrditi temeljne značajke, nastanak i razvoj brzih željeznica u Europi i svijetu te opisati razvoj mreže, infrastrukturne značajke i vozni park brzih željeznica u Francuskoj. Na temelju prikupljenih podataka može se zaključiti da su se brze željeznice u Europi razvile početkom osamdesetih godina u Francuskoj. Mreža brzih željeznica u Francuskoj je dobro razvijena i nalazi se na drugom mjestu u Europi iza Španjolske po broju kilometara pruge velikih brzina. Razvojem vlakova velikih brzina javila se potreba za nadogradnjom i razvojem željezničke infrastrukture te je Francuska mreža u stanju trajne promjene i redovito se modernizira i nadograđuje kako bi se poboljšala mobilnost putnika i prijevoza robe te kako bi se povedala sigurnost prometovanja. Francuski operator za prijevoz putnika danas posjeduje najviše vlakova velikih brzina te posjeduje vlak koji je postavio svjetski brzinski rekord.The main goal of this paper is to identify basic characteristics, and development of high-speed railway in Europe and in the world, and to describe the development of the network, infrastructure and high-speed train network in France. Based on the collected data it can be concluded that the high-speed railways in Europe were developed in the early 1980s in France. The high-speed network in France is well developed and is second in Europe, behind Spain, with the number of kilometres of high-speed rail. With the development of high-speed trains, the need for upgrading and development of the railway infrastructure has emerged. The French network is in a state of permanent change and is constantly upgraded and modernized to enhance the mobility of passengers and freight transport and to increase traffic safety. The French passenger operator today owns the highest speed trains and has a train that has set the world record in speed