It might seem astonishing that the French were able to define each epoch of the railway. Yet, the origins of French rail didn’t begin with rail at all – it began with “the struggle between order and freedom in the paintings of Gérôme and Monet, in the sculpture of Rodin, in the music of Perotinus and Debussy… [and] the splendid and brutal history of her streets: the bold building and savage destruction, Gustave Eiffel and Emperor Napoleon, the Cathedral of Notre Dame and the Temple of Reason.”1 It is no understatement to say that the origins of the railway as we know it today came out of the heart of France, Paris and the soul of that city.

This website will look at each era of railway technology and how it began in France not as a new technology, but as movement, like that which can be found in art. We will look at the history of steam engines and the nationalization of the rail system. We look at the Paris Métro and the subsequent creation of the RER. Finally we look at the TGV and next-generation of high-speed rail, the AGV. For each of these technologies we will discuss who made it, and why. Then we will describe the historical context of the trains in France and what they tell us about the time it was created. Finally, in brief, we will describe how each era of railway in France has become a model for other rail systems around the world.