Travel in France

Railways

Total: 31,939 km (31,940 km are operated by French National Railways (SNCF); 14,176 km of SNCF routes are electrified and 12,132 km are double- or multiple-tracked)
standard gauge: 31,840 km 1.435-m gauge
narrow gauge: 99 km 1.000-m gauge (1998)

Trains, unlike road traffic, drive on the left (except in Alsace-Moselle). Metro and tramway services are not considered trains and thus generally follow road traffic in driving on the right.

See also: TGV, high-speed rail, French railway history, Chemins de Fer de Provence, Channel Tunnel.

Métros:

Paris Metro, operated by the RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens) and the RER
Laon, Poma 2000
Lille, VAL (Véhicule Automatique Léger, "Light Automatic Vehicle"), operated by Transpole.
Lyon Metro
Marseille, operated by the RTM (Régie des Transports de Marseille)
Rennes Metro, VAL
Toulouse, VAL

Tramways and light railways:
This mode of transport started disappearing in France at the end of the 1930s. Since the 1980s, several cities have re-introduced it.

List of cities operating a tramway or light rail system:
Bordeaux, since 2003
Caen, since 2002, 'trams on tyres' guided bus system featuring a single guidance rail while running on tyres (partially separate tracks)
Grenoble, since 1987
Île-de-France
T1 between Saint Denis and Noisy-le-Sec, since 1992
T2 between La Defense and Issy Plaine, since 1997
Lille — Roubaix — Tourcoing
Lyon, since 2001
Marseille
Montpellier, since 2000
Nancy, since 2000, 'trams on tyres' guided bus system featuring a single guidance rail while running on tyres (partially separate tracks)
Nantes, since 1985
Orléans, since 2000
Rouen, since 1994
Saint-Etienne
Strasbourg, since 1994

Under construction:
Mulhouse
Nice
Valenciennes
Paris, T3 around the city

Planned:
Angers
Brest
Le Mans
Toulon

Closed:
Paris, since March 1937
Caen, 1935

Rail links with adjacent countries
Andorra — no
Belgium — yes
Germany — yes
Italy — yes
Luxembourg — yes
Monaco — yes
Spain — yes — break-of-gauge 1435mm/1676mm
Switzerland — yes
United Kingdom — yes; see Eurostar

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Roads

Total: 893,300 km (including 10,300 km of Motorways) (1998 est.). Most motorways in France are toll and operated by private companies (such as the SAPN).

All french roads have tarmac surfacing.

Specific motorways
A1 autoroute (France), from Paris to the Belgian border
A6 autoroute
A75 autoroute, from Clermont-Ferrand to Béziers
List of motorways in France
Paris ring road Périphérique

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Waterways / canals

14,932 km; 6,969 km heavily traveled

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Air travel in France

There are ~478 airports in France (1999 est.) (see List of French Airports).

Among the airspace governance authorities active in France, one is Aéroports de Paris (see http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/ADP/en-GB/Passagers/ homepage]), which has authority over the Parisian region, managing 14 airports including Charles De Gaulle International Airport and Orly Airport.[1] The former, located in Roissy en France near Paris, is one of Europe's principal aviation centers and is also France's main international airport.

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Railways

Even in France, where, because of water transport, railways were of lesser importance than in other nations, railways were still an extremely important area of economic development. Despite already having a well developed water transport system, by 1875 railways were carrying four times as much cargo as canals and rivers combined.

French railways started later, and developed more slowly than those in other nations. While the first railway built in France was in operation in 1832, not long after the first line had opened in Britain, French progress failed to keep pace over the next decade.

After the war of 1870 the French rail system was overhauled and made far more efficient. By 1914 the French rail system was a match for Germany's and played a crucial part in France's victory in the First World War.

In the 1930s Léon Blum's socialist government nationalised the French rail system, along with many other industries, and the transport system was successful in World War II.

After the war the French train system began a slow movement to electric trains. Eventually TGV high speed trains were introduced providing extremely quick links been France's urban centers.