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  #61  
Old Posted Dec 28, 2006, 5:56 PM
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In Britain ...

Thursday December 28, 2006


Conservatives are to press ahead with detailed feasibility work on three major potential future rail projects, which could help address Britain's longer term transport challenges.

Working with experts, the Party will examine options which include the possibility of building up a high speed rail network in the UK to match the expanding systems already operating in Continental Europe - paving the way for the introduction of 300 mph magnetic levitation trains.

With discussions already underway with groups that have been developing high speed and freight options, including the High Speed Rail Panel of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Shadow Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: "Transport is one of Britain's big headaches. In the immediate future, we have to start making a difference to Britain's congestion problems quickly."

He declared: "So our focus in Government would initially be on "quick wins" - projects that can start to change things in a relatively short period of time. We believe that the right mix of smaller projects, for example longer trains, improvements to individual bottlenecks on the roads, making improvements to transport interchanges, represents the best way to start making a difference quickly."

Mr Grayling went on: "Beyond that we will need to bring forward longer-term projects to tackle the capacity constraints that are hindering both economic development and the kind of modal shift that will be needed to help our battle against global warming. We already know that major routes, like the West Coast Main Line, are going to be full to capacity in ten years time. That's why we have to start assessing in detail longer term solutions as well.

"Any of the three options we are looking at would be expensive, and would probably need to be developed in phases in the way our motorway network was. But we would not be doing our job properly if we were not looking at the longer term as well as short term challenges."

The three options under examination are:

• The construction of a conventional high speed rail network in the United Kingdom, using TGV-type trains running on traditional rails. This would probably initially involve extending the existing Channel Tunnel Rail link northwards. Typical trains of this kind run at around 180 miles per hour.

• The construction of ultra-high speed inter-city rail links using Maglev technology, capable of reaching speeds in excess of 300 miles per hour. Maglev is an experimental technology, though it is currently in public use in China. It has both advantages and disadvantages, and we want to assess its potential over both longer and shorter distances.

• The development of a new dedicated freight route, possibly using derelict or under-used rail corridors, to link our major ports, the Channel Tunnel, and Britain's major business centres. The aim would be to reduce pressure on motorways and existing rail routes.

The work will focus in particular on the relative construction cost of the three options; the overall commercial potential of the options and whether they would require public subsidy; the likely impact of the development of each of the options, and particularly their ability to link in to existing transport corridors; and the ability of the different options to secure a shift of traffic away from congested roads and motorways and onto rail.
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  #62  
Old Posted Dec 28, 2006, 6:04 PM
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In France...

France hopes to set world speed record of 342mph with new TGV
By John Lichfield in Paris
Published: 19 December 2006

The French railways will attempt to raise the world speed record for a conventional train to at least 342mph in the new year - smashing their own 16-year-old record.

Tests with a new generation high-speed train, or train à grande vitesse (TGV), will attempt to push the speed record for steel wheels on steel rails to at least 550kph (342 mph) and possibly 570kph (354mph).

The tests will try out a new line to the east, from Paris to Metz, which is due to open to the public at a maximum speed of 320kph (200mph) in June. The record attempt will also make a strong statement that France is ready to take on competition from Japan and Germany in the multibillion-pound market for high-speed trains.

The record for conventional trains is 515.3kph (320mph), which was set by the French railways, SNCF, in 1990. Monorail or magnetic levitation trains have reached higher speeds on experimental tracks. The tests will form part of a "programme of French high-speed excellence" launched yesterday by the Transport Minister, Dominique Perben. A new, more powerful type of double-decker TGV - to be unveiled in the next couple of days by Alstom, the French transport engineering company - will make runs east of Paris from February.

Philippe Mellier, the president of Alstom's transport division, said yesterday that a shortened train of two power cars and two carriages would attempt to reach 570kph. M. Mellier denied reports that SNCF and Alstom would try to smash the 600kph barrier. The tests will nonetheless take rail travel almost up to commercial aircraft speeds. In the medium term, SNCF hopes to upgrade all its high-speed lines to 320kph, possibly 360kph (224mph), for ordinary service trains.

The top speed of service trains on Britain's railways is 140mph on the east coast main line and 125mph on the west coast. The exception is the French-style, purpose-built, high-speed line from the Channel tunnel, which is due to open its second stage to St Pancras in London next year, with a top speed of 300kph (186mph).

M. Perben said that the programme of rail excellence would also explore improvements to track and signalling, and study any environmental effects of service trains with even higher speeds. The aim was to "define railways of the future and allow France to keep its world leadership in high-speed trains".

Alstom and SNCF are competing with Siemens of Germany and Kawasaki-Mitsubishi of Japan to supply high-speed trains to China, South Korea, Spain and Argentina. France has won orders for Spain and South Korea but the first Chinese orders have gone to Siemens.

The domestic high-speed trains to Kent, which will share the Channel tunnel rail link with Eurostar from next year, will be supplied by Japan, but will be operated by Keolis, a subsidiary of SNCF.
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  #63  
Old Posted Dec 31, 2006, 1:44 PM
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A question a little off-topc : Is the RFF/SNCF thinking on building new designed TGV's in future ??
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  #64  
Old Posted Dec 31, 2006, 10:44 PM
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I would see japanese train in european HSR
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  #65  
Old Posted Jan 1, 2007, 1:39 AM
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^In a way, you will Local trains on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) and connecting lines south-east of London will be Hitachi and basicallyy be a variant of Shinkansen technology adapted for the TGV standards.
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  #66  
Old Posted Jan 11, 2007, 10:40 AM
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Eurostar boasts record sales for 2006

Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:52 AM GMT



PARIS (Reuters) - Eurostar, the passenger train service linking London to Paris and other European cities through Eurotunnel's Channel Tunnel, reported on Thursday record sales figures and traveller numbers for 2006 as it won over customers from rival airline services.

Eurostar said its sales last year topped half a billion pounds for the first time, rising 11.7 percent on the previous year to 518.3 million pounds and passenger numbers up 5.4 percent at 7.85 million travellers.

Eurostar said it benefited from increased security at airports and foggy weather in Britain during December which caused major disruption to flights and meant that thousands of passengers switched from the airlines to Eurostar.

"We expect 2007 to be another good year, with events such as the Tour de France in July and the (France-hosted) rugby World Cup in the autumn already generating strong demand in the group's market," Chief Executive Richard Brown said in a statement.

Eurostar was owned, when launched, by France's SNCF railway body, Belgium's SNCB and British Rail. The British interests are now held by Eurostar UK Ltd (EUKL).

SNCF and SNCB are responsible for the running of Eurostar services on their own territory.

On the British side this is done by the ICRR consortium, which comprises the National Express Group, which has a 40 percent stake, SNCF with 35 percent, SNCB with 15 percent and British Airways with 10 percent.

© Reuters 2007.
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  #67  
Old Posted Jan 12, 2007, 1:33 PM
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Not technically HSR, as their top speed will be 140mph, but these will be the first Shinkansens to run in Europe. That means that Britain will be operating the fastest diesel trains in the world, Italian Pendolino's, French TGV's, and Japanese Shinkansens. Only ICE trains to add to the collection!





29 have been ordered, and are currently being built by Hitachi. They will run between large commuter settlements in Kent via the CTRL into new platforms at London St Pancras. Eurostar will also terminate at London St Pancras.
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  #68  
Old Posted Jan 12, 2007, 3:52 PM
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Nick, what's the CTRL? Could you post a map of the future "Shinkansen" network and one of Britain's high-speed network?
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  #69  
Old Posted Jan 12, 2007, 6:39 PM
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CTRL = Channel Tunnel Rail Link. It's the project for upgrading the Eurostar tracks between the Chunnel and The London terminus, so the trains can run faster.
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  #70  
Old Posted Jan 12, 2007, 11:00 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BXC View Post
Nick, what's the CTRL? Could you post a map of the future "Shinkansen" network and one of Britain's high-speed network?
Eurostars will run from London St Pancras - with some trains stopping at either (but not all) Stratford/Ebbsfleet/Ashford before entering the Channel Tunnel.

The Shinkansens will operate along the entire CTRL, as well along the 'yellow route', but that isn't going to be the actual timetabled route (otherwise it would be pretty pointless!).




Visitors to London currently travel on South London commuter lines into London Waterloo which takes up far too much space (the trains are 400m long). Next year, visitors will enter London via 2x19km tunnels under London, emerge at the Stratford (site of the 2012 Olympics) station which is built within a 1km trench, before going underground again to re-emerge just outside the final Eurostar terminus of London St Pancras. The Shinkansens will also use this route.


A Eurostar on the CTRL Phase I which opened 3 years ago. Phase II opens next year and is by far the most complicated and involves the most tunneling. Google Earth has updated the area around the Stratford trench (nor hard to miss) and the work around London St Pancras.

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  #71  
Old Posted Jan 13, 2007, 9:42 AM
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Thanks.
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  #72  
Old Posted Jan 25, 2007, 7:29 PM
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German High Speed Trains






^Berlin



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  #73  
Old Posted Jan 28, 2007, 4:55 PM
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Well, Turkey also jumped on the high speed wagon - although a bit late if you ask me - and is currently building two separate lines, each in two phases.

The first and the shorter line is one that runs from Ankara, the capital, to Konya, a city of approx. a million residents to the south. The following map shows the line, where "1. Kesim" is the first phase and "2. Kesim" is the second phase.



The travel times between Ankara and Konya will be reduced drastically from 10 hrs 30 to 1 hr 15 when this line is completed.

Some rather old pictures from the construction:






Currently, the second phase is close to completin while the first phase is about to be started. The line, as seen from the map, connects with the other line under construction (Ankara - Istanbul).

The second line under construction is a link between Ankara and Istanbul. The following map illustrates the layout of the line:



This 533km line will cut travel times between the two cities to 3 hrs.

Some pictures:





























The first phase, Ankara to Eskisehir, will open this year.
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  #74  
Old Posted Jan 28, 2007, 5:41 PM
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^Very impressive.

Quote:
Originally Posted by xgokhan View Post
The first phase, Ankara to Eskisehir, will open this year.
What kind of thechnology will it use ?
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  #75  
Old Posted Jan 28, 2007, 10:35 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fabb View Post

^Berlin
That's just such a cool lay-out for a station. Puts the trains up on display.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fabb View Post
Something about that pic just screems 80s sci-fi to me.
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  #76  
Old Posted Jan 29, 2007, 8:30 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fabb View Post
^Very impressive.



What kind of thechnology will it use ?
As far as I know, technical consultancy is provided by Spanish firms - CAF trains will be used initially, to perhaps be replaced later by ROTEM trains (Korean). One of the members of the consortium building the line is OHL (www.ohl.es).
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  #77  
Old Posted Jan 29, 2007, 8:49 PM
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What will be the top speed of those trains ?
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  #78  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2007, 5:00 PM
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They are planned for an initial speed of 250kph. Hopefully it won't stop there, but even that is a huge improvement where ordinary train travels take at least half a day.
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  #79  
Old Posted Jan 30, 2007, 9:38 PM
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that Turkish update is fantastic , thx
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  #80  
Old Posted Feb 14, 2007, 9:47 AM
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The TGV-est (new line between Paris and eastern France) is currently being used for high speed tests.

New unofficial world record : 553km/h (announced today).
More records to follow.

Info in French :

Quote:
Le Train à grande vitesse a pulvérisé son record en circulant à 553 km/h sur la ligne du TGV Est.

Record battu pour le TGV : le Train à grande vitesse a franchi un cap, mardi 13 février, en circulant à 553 km/h sur la ligne Est, qui relie Paris à Strasbourg. Il bat ainsi son précédent de record de 515,3 mk/h homologué le 18 mai 1990 près de Vendôme, sur la ligne TGV Atlantique.
La rame expérimentale, composée de deux motrices encadrant trois voitures spécialement équipées a circulé sous le nom de code V 150 (pour 150 mètre par secondes). Le but de cet essai était d'atteindre les 540 km/h. C'est à la hauteur de Passavant-en-Argonne, à 50 km à l'est de Chalons-sur-Saône, que le TGV a atteint sa vitesse record.
Mais la SNCF, Alstom et le Réseau ferré de France ne comptent pas en rester là : ils tablent sur une vitesse de 560 à 570 km/h pour la fin de cette campagne d'essais, en avril.

Last edited by Fabb; Feb 14, 2007 at 9:52 AM.
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