In the 1960’s, Britain's railways were in decline. The country’s railways were slow and antiquated and facing fierce competition against growing automobile ownership and booming air travel. But elsewhere in the world, railways were beginning to make a comeback, and the key seemed to be much higher speeds. Japan’s new high speed Shinkansen Bullet Trains proved enormously successful with passengers, carrying over 100 million passengers in just the first three years of service. The French had also begun working on a revolutionary new high train, the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"). If British Rail was going to compete with automobiles and airliners, the solution seemed clear: much faster trains.