After a first prototype in 1967, the TGV (high-speed train) commercial service opened to the public between Paris and Lyon on September 27th, 1981. France thus entered high-speed rail history 17 years after Japan's Shinkansen. In 1989 the TGV Atlantique, which reduced traveling time between Paris and Bordeaux to three hours, was inaugurated. In 1993, the TGV linked Lille and the north of the country, and the Eurostar, which crosses the Channel, was inaugurated in 1994. The TGV connected with the Mediterranean in 2001, six years before extending to France's east. The TGV's high speed and reliability make it a flagship of French industry, to whom the Cité du Train in Mulhouse pays homage.