Speedier trains are making European city breaks by rail a breeze

[marmar]

from the Guardian/Observer UK:



The high-speed rail revolution
Fast new trains are making city breaks across Europe simple. Andrew Eames makes a quick hop to Zurich

Andrew Eames
The Observer, Sunday 20 September 2009




Usually I try to blot out other people's mobile phone conversations when I'm on a train, but there was something intriguing about this one. I was on an early Eurostar heading for Zurich via Paris, sitting across the aisle from a typical British banker, when he took a call from his wife. Even across the carriage I could hear her agitation at the other end of the line, and his attempts to hush the call only made it all the more interesting. He signed off by promising to call someone – which he then did.

By the sound of it that "someone" was both a friend and business contact, and after the usual niceties my fellow passenger cleared his throat nervously, and dived in. "Jacques, I have a difficult question to ask," he started. "But is our au pair staying with you?"

Of course, I couldn't hear the answer, but judging by his reaction it was neither a clear yes nor a definitive no. Evidently, the plot had just thickened. At which point, possibly aware that I was listening in, my fellow passenger rose from his seat and left the compartment to conclude the conversation in the corridor.

Although I'm not proud of the eavesdropping component, this tantalising glimpse of someone else's life is actually typical of travel by train. On a plane, you see nothing but clouds, and on a motorway you see the back end of the lorry in front. But a train allows insight into a destination, peering into a nation's backyards as it runs unfettered through country and city, transporting a cross-section of locals and travellers, some of whom may be disposed to talk – even if it's just on a mobile phone. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/sep/20/city-break-rail-zurich

[msongs]

1. u are not eavesdropping, he was putting his business in your ears... nt

[Gedankenaustausch]

2. Hurray for efficient mass transit! Will the US ever get on board?

Living in Germany for a while now has definitely spoiled me with their excellent rail system. I go to Köln once every week and always take Deutsche Bahn's ICE (Inter-City-Express). Don't quote me but I think it has the highest operational speed of any train in Europe. I know SNFC's TGV holds the land speed record but I think it's regular operational speed is lower than DB's.... but I'm not 100%. They're both fast as hell so it's not that big of a deal.

The train that I take every week makes 2 stops in between and the stops are about 5 mins each. The distance traveled adds up to somewhere around 250km (155 miles) . It makes the trip in 1.5 hours. I think that gives you an average speed of just over 160kmh (100mph). And considering the train makes two full stops during the trip, it's pretty amazing. The train will sometimes go over 300 kmh (186mph), which is the quoted operational maximum speed of the ICE train. The fastest I've ever seen it, and I have photographic proof, is 318kmh (197mph!). Which is a thrill like no other.

Not a day goes by that I don't enjoy living here.

[marmar]

3. Yep. I took the ICE from Frankfurt to Amsterdam the last time I was in Europe.....

Pure riding bliss.

[A HERETIC I AM]

5. A question for you;

Is it not true that the ICE, TGV and the other high speed lines are dedicated railbeds/right-of-ways specifically for passenger trains? It is my understanding that there is virtually zero heavy freight traffic on those high speed lines.

Am I correct in my understanding?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

9. Yes. Mostly.

To achieve high speed the lines are built to a different set of specifications than normal rail lines (the radii of curves for instance needs to be much larger) but in the cities and in certain other areas the high speed trains operate on normal shared lines, which limits their speed.

[A HERETIC I AM]

11. Right. Which seems to be something many DU'rs don't seem to get.

Dedicated right-of-ways that are designed to carry speed, not heavy freight, very gentle curves and grades that exceed typical freight railway grades in areas where the speed is sufficient to carry the train up and over without too much slowing.

Many that post on high-speed rail and lament it's absence in the US seem to miss a few of these very important logistical points. If you want a high speed network in this country, it has to be new right-of-way which means going through private land. New tunnels through mountains and bridges over rivers and valleys are required for any system to be put in place here. The infrastructure costs alone are staggering.

Also, most of Europe is situated at latitudes well north of the lower 48 (Athens, one of the southernmost large European cities is about the same latitude as New York) and as a consequence, heating of steel rails is not nearly the problem in Europe as it would be in areas of this country that regularly experience 100 degree summer temperatures.

It just isn't as simple as running the Acela on CSX, UP, BNSF or Norfolk Southern right-of-way.

(Yes, I know the Acela is electric)

[Gedankenaustausch]

13. Freight question,

I think the general rule in Germany is that freight can only run from times when the high speed passenger trains are not running. You usually only see freight trains running past 9 or 10pm until around 6 am. Of course in a country the size of Germany, a 8 hour long freight trip will probably cover the entire country, or at least most of it. While, sometimes you do see freight running during the day, it is usually only in the high industrial areas, and it's something that usually doesn't happen.

The high-speed ICE lines run along side the other tracks, the ICE trainset uses the same lines that other's do. They can switch most tracks. However, between certain cities ex. Berlin-Hanover, there are dedicated railbeds that are only for ICE. These railbeds allow the train to go up to a maximum of 350kmh. Which is waaaaaay past the operational top speed of 300 that DB claims. So these dedicated lines do exist but are definitely not the norm, they are only explicitly dedicated for the trains such as the ICE sprinter, which is the fastest of the ICE set. It's only used for commuting traffic to and from large population centers, it makes very few stops in between.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. It certainly depends on giving the passenger trains priority

London to Newcastle in England is about 270 miles, and the no-stop train does it in just under 3 hours - so an average of over 90 mph. That's on the original 19th century line, on which freight runs too, but the freight trains have to yield, in timetabling terms, to the passegner ones.

That line was built relatively straight (the top speed of the trains is 140 mph; it can't do that everywhere, but has to be able to sustain above 100 mph for significant stretches to get the 90mph average). The English west coast main line has tighter curves, so for that they have to use tilting trains. That manages about 180 miles from London to Manchester in just over 2 hours - about an 87 mph average. Again, a 19th century line. The average speed to Glasgow (same line, longer distance) gets up to about 94 mph.

It's true England doesn't have to deal with such wide track temperature changes. But I think the main thing to do is to give passenger trains a striaght run through, with the slower freight trains working their routes around them.

[Puzzler]

15. True.

[kath]

6. Yep - here is yet one MORE area where the US is so, SO far behind the rest of the developed world...

It's pathetic...

[Puzzler]

14. The standard operating (and normal maximum) speed is ...

... 300kph (186mph). This applies to the ICE, the Eurostars, and to most of the TGVs. There's a new line that just opened in France that allows for 320kph (200mph) speeds in normal operation.

The Eurostar trains between London and Paris are normally limited to 186mph, but they are capable of higher speeds. For example, a Eurostar press run late last year was allowed to go as fast as 208mph.

[noiretextatique]

18. it's a shame that we were too busy destroying Iraq

to invest in our infrastructure.

[Initech]

4. I wish we had ICE here in the states.

I took one from Brussels to Munich via Antwerp and it was great. High speed rail could be a huge business here if they were to ever get on board.

[texanwitch]

7. That would be great for Texas.

Just jump on a fast train instead of driving for hours.

[pinto]

8. Kick

Kick for rail transit. :thumbsup:

[Selatius]

10. You want to make mass transit in America sexy, chic, fast, and efficient? Watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB6tgKT-u1Q

Honestly, tell me you are not impressed by this advertising. This is how you sell a fucking idea, folks. The French KNOW how to sell.

[leftstreet]

12. Hey that was cool!

Nice!

:thumbsup:

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

21. Sweet!!!

Thanks for sharing

[midnight]

17. The oil industry keeps us from competing in the 21st century.

[Libertas1776]

19. Granted, high speed rail is more

difficult to establish in more crowded areas, such as the N.E. corridor, but it should be a breeze going cross country, through the vast openness of what we like to call the flyover states. In the old days, you could take a train to so many points in this country, even some of the most isolated small towns (granted it could take a long time) You would think such locales would be on board for such a project that has the ability to return rail to these areas, and thus return people and commerce.

[reggie the dog]

20. Marseille to Paris

is three hours in the TGV
with Lyon in between.....

[LeftishBrit]

22. The Eurostar is great!