LGV Nord

The Ligne à Grande Vitesse Nord (English: North High-Speed Line), typically shortened to LGV Nord, is a French 333-kilometre-long (207 mi) high-speed rail line, opened in 1993, that connects Paris to the Belgian border and the Channel Tunnel via Lille.

With a maximum speed of 300 kilometres per hour (190 mph), the line appreciably shortened rail journeys between Paris and Lille. Its extensions to the north (Belgium, the Channel Tunnel) and the south (via the LGV Interconnexion Est) have reduced journey times to Great Britain and Benelux and for inter-regional trips between the Nord (Pas de Calais) region and the southeast and southwest of France. Its route is twinned with the A1 for 130 kilometres (81 mi), which is why it was given its official nickname, the A1 Highway. As it is mostly built in flat areas, the maximum incline is 25 metres per kilometre (2.5‰).

Of all French high-speed lines, the LGV Nord sees the widest variety of high-speed rolling stock: the Alstom-made TGV POS, TGV Réseau, TGV Atlantique, TGV Duplex, Eurostar e300, Thalys PBAand PBKA and the Siemens Velaro-derived Eurostar e320, as well as rolling stock on local trains. Traffic is controlled by the Lille rail traffic centre.