TGV sets new speed record (357.2 mph)

[Yarrah]

French train breaks speed record

PARIS, France (AP) -- A French train with a 25,000-horsepower engine and special wheels broke the world speed record Tuesday for conventional rail trains, reaching 357.2 mph (574.8 kph) as it zipped through the countryside to the applause of spectators.

Roaring like a jet plane, with sparks flying overhead and kicking up a long trail of dust, the black and chrome V150 with three double-decker cars surpassed the record of 320.2 mph (515.3 kph) set in 1990 by another French train.

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Source: AFP

That's...quite fast. Last time I used a TGV it didn't go this fast

Anyone of you ever used a High Speed Train?

[James]

Does Eurostar count? That was quite fun.

[Yarrah]

Yes, Eurostar is also a kind of TGV.

[TexasStooge]

If I only wish the DART Light Rail systems and the Trinity Railway Express was that fast here in Dallas/Fort Worth, TX.

[Yarrah]

^^ They'd have to switch to electricty first. You won't even get near 300mph with a train that runs on diesel. 170mph is more likely.

[TexasStooge]

That's true. Then again, our trains don't go fater than 60 MPH, otherwise they would miss their station. Still fun to ride 'em nontheless.

Matter in fact DART is constructing another light rail line going from Downtown Dallas to the north side of my town. It is scheduled to operate on 2011.

http://www.dart.org/about/expansion/orangeline.asp

[P.K.]

Just a little faster than the Tube goes..... Been on the Eurotunnel if that counts and have seen the TGV going past the motorway in France.

Fastest I've been on a normal passenger train is one of the Virgin trains which tilt round corners letting them corner at 201km/h.

[Chacor]

You'd be lucky to get on a mass-rapid train in Singapore that goes faster than 50 mph.

[gtalum]

I wish the US federal government and the states would work on subsidizing a true high-speed electric rail network in the US. It could be very nice for short to medium length routes, like Florida to Atlanta, New York to Chicago, etc, as well as help reduce oil consumption and air pollution.

[Yarrah]

It can be a great way to travel distances up to 300 km. If the distance is beyond that, there will be serious competition from cheap airlines. It's a succes in Germany and France, both large countries, so I don't see why it shouldn't work in the US. Maybe the car is more 'sacred' in the US?

BTW, is the Acela Express the only High Speed Train in the US?

[P.K.]

Quite often you are lucky to get a seat but at least they run. This evening I was stood (On a national rail service as opposed to the Tube) and could barely move.

Will be using the high speed train to get to Birmingham for the FA Cup semi final in two weeks though, just over an hour from here really isn't bad (Two hours by car).

[gtalum]

BTW, is the Acela Express the only High Speed Train in the US?

Yes, and it's not really "high speed" by world standards. Its maximum speed is 150 miles per hour, but it only reaches that speed for a very short stretch of track between New York and Boston.

[Yarrah]

Well, my country could use some of these trains too. Right now, only two lines are being used, one by the ICE-3 (which stops in my city and connects Amsterdam with Frankfurt)) and one by the Thalys, which connects Amsterdam with Paris. Both aren't allowed to go faster then 120km/h, because they still use the regular tracks. A special railway just for the Thalys will be opened in a few months though, so it will finally be possible to travel with 300km/h.

[P.K.]

A special railway just for the Thalys will be opened in a few months though, so it will finally be possible to travel with 300km/h.

The 200km/h line is the upgraded one here. Before they were limited to 175km/h. Problem we have that places like France don't have is limited space so the lines have lots of bends and hills. The main French lines tend to be very straight as do the motorways which they sometimes run alongside.

[vbhoutex]

It can be a great way to travel distances up to 300 km. If the distance is beyond that, there will be serious competition from cheap airlines. It's a succes in Germany and France, both large countries, so I don't see why it shouldn't work in the US. Maybe the car is more 'sacred' in the US?

BTW, is the Acela Express the only High Speed Train in the US?

That is exactly the problem here in the US!!!

[gtalum]

That is exactly the problem here in the US!!!

The reason for the problem, however, is the lack of convenient alternatives. A convenient rail system would alleviate som eof the pressure.

[Yarrah]

^^ That's still subject of a fierce debate. My country is dealing with very heavy congestion and it has been like that for more then two decades. A logical solution would be to improve public transport and that is exactly what the government and some private parties decided to do in the 1980's. It worked; just to give an example, I live in a city which has 280.000 inhabitants, but our main railway station is used by 50 million people per year in 2002 (expected to be 100 million in 2020) and in the same year, 15.5 billion kilometers were travelled by train.

It had no effect on the usage of cars though. Congestion and the number of people using a car are still increasing, while the number of people using public transport is also increasing. Research showed that the improvement of public transport didn't convince drivers to leave their cars in the garage and use public transport, it only convinced the people already using public transport to use it more often. Alternatives have to be very, very good to pull people out of their cars and push them into public transport and I think more drastic measures have to be taken (i.e. toll roads, high taxes on fuel for passenger cars, overall, make driving a car very expensive).

[P.K.]

Alternatives have to be very, very good to pull people out of their cars and push them into public transport and I think more drastic measures have to be taken (i.e. toll roads, high taxes on fuel for passenger cars, overall, make driving a car very expensive).

Cost £8 a day to drive in central London now. That is about €12 and I think they said the stats showed although there was a 17% drop to begin with car use was increasing again anyway.

[TexasStooge]

You'd be lucky to get on a mass-rapid train in Singapore that goes faster than 50 mph.

The DART light rail and Trinity Railway Express here goes that fast, depending on distance between rail stations.

[kmanWX]

Well to throw in my two cents, the fastest and the more maintained line which could allow trains to go to speeds in excuse of 100 mph is the Northeast corridor (NEC). Mainly given to the fact that a good deal of the rail which uses is the continuous welded rail (CWR) rail, verses the belted rail which is used on most of the routes. Another issue is the curvature of the track as well., you can not run trains in excess of 100mph on so many railroads in the USA due to the sharp curvature of the track.

BTW for those who doesn't know - the Acela runs on the NEC and in certain places the speed of the train has been reported at 168mph!!!