Today TGV trains accumulate of the order of 50 billion passenger-kilometres per year on lignes à grande vitesse (high-speed lines) alone.
Trainset involved: Sud-Est, unknown Service: Marseille to Paris Location: Near Tain-l'Hermitage, south of Lyon in the Rhône Valley Injuries: 2 people died in the bombing of the TGV.
Injuries: 2 dead, 60 injured A special road transport with a weight of 80 tons became stranded on level crossing 74.
The large mass of the road vehicle made this crash much worse than it might otherwise have been; the engineer and one passenger died, and many more were injured when the first trailer was ripped open by debris.
This wreck, the most violent to date, became a reference for the design and crash testing of safety features for the next generation of TGV, as embodied by today's Duplex trainsets.
Location: Mâcon-Loché TGV station, kilometre post 334, LGV Sud-Est high speed line
Injuries: 27, slight The accident trainset had been involved in an emergency stop previously, which resulted in a significant wheel flat.
At 0733, the flat spot caused one bogie of the trainset to derail as it passed through the Mâcon-Loché station at 270 km/h (170 mph).
Projections of ballast stones caused injuries to people standing on the station platform waiting for train 970.
Location: TGV Haute-Picardie station, kilometre post 110.5, LGV Nord (Paris-Lille) high speed line
It occurred before the TGV Haute Picardie station was built, near the southern end of where the platforms are located today.
The sinkhole was traced to unstable terrain beneath the track bed, possibly caused by galleries and trenches from World War I.
How closely a disaster was averted is a matter of debate; however, the trackbed has since been carefully inspected to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
Injuries: 2, slight A tractor-trailer combination with farm equipment became stuck on the level crossing in a relatively tight, canted curve of the Paris-Brest line.
The trailing power unit serves as a spare, and trailers R1 and R2 may be used to repair Thalys 4345, involved in the May 1998 level crossing collision.
An emergency stop was performed, and fire services began extinguishing the blaze a half hour later.
Injuries: 6, slight A tractor-trailer combination carrying a load of calcium carbonate became disabled on a level crossing.
The driver was able to escape from the vehicle before the train hit it at 140 km/h (87 mph), derailing one bogie and damaging tracks and catenary.
Injuries: none On a day when rail workers were on strike, a double TGV trainset that had left Brest at 0854 struck a stranded semi-truck/lorry just 8 minutes into its journey near Guipavas.
The 23‑year‑old driver of the truck jumped out of the way and escaped uninjured after losing his way and getting stuck on the crossing while attempting to turn around.
Travelling at less than 120 km/h (75 mph) the TGV struck and destroyed the vehicle, throwing debris onto a waiting car whose occupant also escaped unharmed.
Injuries: 14, slight Belgian trainset 3101-3102 was covering Eurostar 9047 (Paris to London), travelling northbound on track 1 of the LGV Nord high speed line at 300 km/h (190 mph) with 501 passengers on board.
14 people including the British engineer were treated for light injuries or shock, and passengers resumed their trip to London on buses.
Once again, as in the 1993 TGV derailment, the articulated trainset architecture was credited with maintaining stability and integrity of the train as it came to a stop.
The engineer/driver of the 0649 TGV out of Brest, headed for Paris, saw the slide about 300 m ahead and was able to slow to 120 km/h (75 mph) before hitting the mud.
Injuries: 1, slight Travelling at 106 km/h (66 mph), the train collided with a heavy goods vehicle stuck on the level crossing at Esquelbecq in northern France.