SNCF and the French state made a strategic decision long ago to commit to high-speed lines on new infrastructure, to let the existing rail system to chug along and/or close down progressively, and to completely ignore the median option of higher-speed services on existing or improved lines.

EELV has a rather seductive vision of what level of service such a system could provide  : mouse over the shockwave map to see travel times. The site is light on technology (they talk of passive pendulum trains for higher speeds on existing track) and there are no costings, but this neglected sector probably offers some pretty quick wins for the "heart of France".

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II}