Home
»
Trains Magazine
»
Forums
»
Passenger
»
Deep dive into the future of California high-speed rail

Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote user="CMStPnP"]Well it's certainly news to me as I am going to presume it is to Japan that they started with a 200+ mph railway system.[/quote] They started in 1964 on a new RofW as the Shinkansen runs on standard gauge while the norma speed system is narrow gauge. It was built for high speed from the beginning though the trains were not capable of 220 mph at that time. [quote user="CMStPnP"]It has always been built incrementally by the state sponsored systems as the technology matured (Germany, France, Japan)[/quote] That is only partly true. The French and German railroads started to improve their existing trackwork. In Germany it was improved for speeds of 125mph and sometimes 143 mph. All true HSR-lines with speeds above 155 mph were newly built to the according high-speed standards in Germany as well as France and Japan. In France newly built routes were not built to a 220 mph standard from the beginning as trains weren't expected to get that fast at the time of construction. SNCF is now looking for ways to upgrade the early routes from 170 mph and 186 mph to 220 mph. [quote user="CMStPnP"]Additionally, I might point out that the Swiss didn't tunnel under the Alps with the long rail tunnel to replace Gotthard Pass with a straighter, more direct and higher speed route until just recently. [/quote] The first studies for a Gotthardt Basis Tunnel started in the early 1960s. A rezession beginning in 1973 posponed decisions. It took some time until more capacity was required again. Around 1990 was decided to build the tunnel. [quote user="CMStPnP"] The NEC is not a wholesale replacement project. They only intend to replace the parts where it is not already able to support the speeds they want.[/quote] One can't compare NEC with California HSR. NEC is an existing line in need of expensive upgrades, California HSR is a completely new built line. From my point of view it doesn't make sense to build to lower speed standard and than upgrade later. The technology for 220 mph trains is here already. [quote user="CMStPnP"]Most of Britain is still stuck on 125 mph HSR rail. Not because the routes can't be corrected to run higher speed trainsets but because Britain is not willing to really spend the money yet and seems content with things the way they are.[/quote] The british existing routes can't be upgraded because of the small load gage. As everywhere they need new lines for HSR. The have one line called High Speed 1 from London to the Eurotunnel. A second, High Speed 2, is going to connect London with Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester. Planned opening is from 2026 in phases till 2033. Designed for speeds up to 250 mph. Regards, Volker
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag