Under the auspices of Valerie Pécresse, Minister for Higher Education and Research
Christian Forestier, Chairman of the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers,

 

presents the Honoris Causa award delivery of The Conservatoire des arts et métiers to
Vukan R. Vuchic.
UPS Foundation Professor of Transportation Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.

 

The development of the TGV in the United States: A new locomotive to drive the economy forward.

Franco-American cooperation in the rail industry dates back to the 1930’s. Initially commercial (sale of tickets), it quickly moved on to an industrial level.
French companies began to establish themselves in the US in the 1980’s via the TGV Company. The goal at the time was to promote high speed rail transportation in the United States, starting with Florida.
30 years later, in 2009, the Obama administration revisited the French idea as part of a giant project designed to boost the American economy:  more than 10 billion dollars are to be invested for the development of ten high speed railway lines in the United  States.
The Americans appreciate French knowhow  and services: Alstom supplied subway cars to the city of New-York in 2007, and at end of 2008, Geodis secured a major contract with IBM for its internal logistics, in 2009 Keolis won its first development contract in Virginia and Veolia, who is   now the number one private operator for public  transportation in North America, has also began a contract in July 2010 with the city of Phoenix (one of the most important contracts of this type in the  United States).
Today, the tenders that several American States are about to launch following the initiative of Barack Obama will represent historical opportunities for the French railway industry that must face  competition from other countries such as Germany, Spain, Japan, Korea, etc. The competition will begin in 2011 and should first concern the Tampa-Orlando link.
“The French system is superb (…), France is the country that opened the way for high-speed train” recently declared Ray Lahood, the US Secretary of Transportation, during a tour of a Parisian station. The Americans appreciate the pioneer status of French railways, with experience and technological expertise that correspond to their requirements in terms of reliability and safety. These assets will be valuable in enabling the French rail industry to win this new challenge and thus build a new locomotive to drive the economy forward.