TGV Coupling System

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TGV trainsets themselves are unitized: they cannot be taken apart outside of special maintenance facilities. However, two or more TGV trainsets can be coupled together, using a special, high-tech coupler that is unique to the TGV.

The photo above shows what this coupler looks like. A yardman flips a lever to retract the cowling on the end of each trainset, and then the engineer gently bumps them together to attach the couplers. (Incidentally, an engineer is not absolutely required—TGV trainsets can be piloted by remote control, like a child’s train set!)

TGVs are routinely run in pairs. Trainsets can be added or substracted to any train in order to accommodate seasonal variations in load. Often, the trainsets will separate after leaving Paris, with one trainset going to one final destination, and the other going to some other destination. They are recombined for the return trip.

As the sign in the background makes clear, this photograph was taken at the Montparnasse train station in Paris.

Photographed on November 7, 1997.