documentary on the prestigious 'Le Mistral' train from Paris to Nice

 

The blurb:

"Who remembers? There was a time when taking the train wasn't very popular. The Citroën DS, the first motorways, and Air Inter's Caravelle jets were far more appealing than the old railway. Concerned by this decline, spurred on by this worrying disaffection, the SNCF (French National Railways) had the idea of ​​offering "express" trains to cater to this burgeoning taste for speed. 

"The construction of Europe had given rise to the TEE (Trans Europ Express), which connected the continent's major cities in just a few hours. The launch of the Mistral was part of this general movement toward accelerated mobility, facilitated by the magic wand of electricity, which gradually replaced steam traction, a major consumer of coal. 

"The golden age of the SNCF's "legendary express trains," with the Mistral as its flagship, also represented a technological evolution: air conditioning, a bar/drugstore, a shop, a secretary's office, a telephone, and even a hair salon. The trendiest "express" train of the Trente Glorieuses (Thirty Glorious Years) was revolutionary. 

"Archivist Clive Lamming pulled out his slide rule. On the Paris-Lyon line, no less than 600,000 tons of coal were burned each year, more than 1,000 tons per kilometer… The work required to transition from one era to the next was monumental. On the Paris-Lyon section alone, “173 bridges, 21 footbridges, and 21 tunnels had to be modified, the PTT and SNCF telephone installations had to be modified, and 51 electrical substations had to be built,” summarizes Clive Lamming. 

"The Mistral, then numbered 1 and 2, was created in 1950. It was a daytime train, departing from the Gare de Lyon, platform A, the least congested with switches. It followed in the wake of the Train Bleu (Blue Train) on the “Imperial Line” (Paris-Lyon-Mediterranean), the major economic and tourist route established by the Second Empire. From May 14, 1950, the Paris-Lyon journey was completed in 4 hours and 15 minutes, with breathtaking speeds of up to 140 km/h. At that time, it connected Paris to Marseille. 

"In October 1952, it was extended to Nice, and on May 30, 1965, it became a Trans Europ Express (TEE). In May 1971, it was renumbered 10 and 11. With the introduction of the Paris-Lyon TGV on September 27, 1981, this train was converted into a first and second class train, numbered 180 and 181. It disappeared permanently on May 23, 1982, when the TGV reached Marseille. The Mistral train was one of the SNCF's legendary trains. Even though it's no longer in service, it continues to be used as a venue for public and professional events. 

"Today, and since June 10, 2001, no fewer than twenty TGVs depart daily in each direction, providing service between Paris and Marseille in just over three hours. Each "Duplex" train carries approximately 1,000 passengers. The service therefore offers around 20,000 seats with a train departing roughly every hour. Cars are still plagued by traffic jams, even on the highway, and the journey still takes around ten hours. Flying is not only politically incorrect, but absurd given the time wasted in airports and the time lost on the road to get there. So, compared to 1954, the SNCF of 2022 has more than tripled the speed of a large number of its services, and has multiplied the supply and number of seats by more than 10."