France unveils super-fast train

[kg4kww]

This is what we need in the US instead of Hillary or Obama.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has attended the launch of a new high-speed train made by engineering giant Alstom.
The AGV (Automotrice Grande Vitesse) train will travel at up to 360km/h (224mph), powered by motors placed under each carriage, the company says.

The absence of locomotives at either end allows it to carry more passengers.

Full Story (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7227807.stm)

[K8MHZ]

Does it have a cow catcher on the front?

[n7rjd]

Didn't these same people used to have a super-fast airplane? Is the train going to fall apart too?

[ve2nsm]

Didn't these same people used to have a super-fast airplane? Is the train going to fall apart too?

Did the Concorde fall apart?

[kc2orw]

Did the Concorde fall apart?
Can't recall the details but parts were definitely falling off.

[G0GQK]

Oh dear, that was a bit naughty ! The reason why the Concorde crashed was because the runway had not been scanned for debris and a piece of metal had fallen from an aircraft which had just taken off. The undercarrige of the Concorde threw up the metal which was about 18 inches long and it struck the underside of the fuselage and pierced the fuel tank. The reason why the runway had not been checked was because those employed to do this were at a trade union meeting at the airport. Dereliction of duty.

It would be an excellent idea if the vast continent of the US could have a super train service which could rival airlines. There is no reason why not, just reduce spending on space gadgets which cost billions and do something for the travelling public on earth. It could also reduce the dependence on huge gas guzzling trucks using fuel and causing pollution.

Incidentally both the US and Russia attempted to make copies of Concord and Concorde, and both failed.

G0GQK

[kc2orw]

Oh dear, that was a bit naughty ! The reason why the Concorde crashed was because the runway had not been scanned for debris and a piece of metal had fallen from an aircraft which had just taken off. The undercarrige of the Concorde threw up the metal which was about 18 inches long and it struck the underside of the fuselage and pierced the fuel tank. The reason why the runway had not been checked was because those employed to do this were at a trade union meeting at the airport. Dereliction of duty.

Oh well I didn't remember it too well, did I. That indeed is the correct version of the story.

[kg4kww]

I guess the Brits will try to top the French with a faster train. To bad us yanks don't know how to build a super train.

[kc2orw]

I gues the Brits will try to top the French with a faster train. To bad us yanks don't know how to build a super train.
Oh but we do there just doesn't seem to be any will to do that, maybe someday? :o

[kg4kww]

Maybe when people get enough of high gas prices they will start to want these trains.

[kc2orw]

Maybe when people get enough of high gas prices they will start to want these trains.
That is what experts and pundits have said...
I figured two lanes out of two main highways could be grabbed for extra train capacity here. It is pretty densely populated and eminent domain issues could be more readily avoided that way. So only time will tell for certain...

[kb2vxa]

I had no idea Alstom made aircraft but the rolling stock must have something on the ball. NJT is building a new fleet, Alstom and BBA replacing Bombardier and EMD.

What you guys in the UK don't seem to know is while Amtrak has the Acela it has so little electrified rail to run on and the Boston to Washington run has more curves than Marylin Monroe. In NJ it can only run at speed for the few miles between New Brunswick and Princeton Junction where it's relatively straight. Everything else is Diesel using conventional power and this isn't Japan, redesigning the entire rail system is cost prohibitive. That's why the Acela runs on a 25Hz 11KV system installed in 1937 rather than an upgraded one like the few newer 60Hz 25KV systems.

I've got to hand it to your Eurostar that runs on HV overhead catenary, 600VDC third rail AND Diesel so it can go just about anywhere. Then there are the love birds.

[ab1ga]

I had no idea Alstom made aircraft but the rolling stock must have something on the ball. NJT is building a new fleet, Alstom and BBA replacing Bombardier and EMD.



They have someone on the ball; his name is Nicholas Sarkozy.

When he was a minister in an earlier government Alstom was in serious financial trouble, enough to threaten the company. Foreign investors (gasp!) were going to buy up the pieces, and a French national champion was going to bite the dust.

Sarkozy arranged for a French bailout of Alstom in 2004 to the tune of $5.7 billion; in order to keep the EU competition commissioner sweet he had to promise to allow partnerships with Alstom to buy out the government stake within 4 years.

I wonder if that's happened.

[kl7aj]

Oh dear, that was a bit naughty ! The reason why the Concorde crashed was because the runway had not been scanned for debris and a piece of metal had fallen from an aircraft which had just taken off. The undercarrige of the Concorde threw up the metal which was about 18 inches long and it struck the underside of the fuselage and pierced the fuel tank. The reason why the runway had not been checked was because those employed to do this were at a trade union meeting at the airport. Dereliction of duty.

It would be an excellent idea if the vast continent of the US could have a super train service which could rival airlines. There is no reason why not, just reduce spending on space gadgets which cost billions and do something for the travelling public on earth. It could also reduce the dependence on huge gas guzzling trucks using fuel and causing pollution.

Incidentally both the US and Russia attempted to make copies of Concord and Concorde, and both failed.

G0GQK


I agree....but we can't even keep AMTRAK running. Also, there is indeed the cow-catcher issue. I can't even drive to work without having to evade moose. I'd hate to hit a moose at 500kmh.

Eric

[W1GUH]

Our rail problems are deeper than the pitiful state of passenger trains. Our major transcontinental routes (you, know the ones that bring us all those shiny Chinese products) are pretty much saturated now. And the efforts of the railroads to increase capacity, as intense and welcome as they are, don't support much future growth.

Apologies for no link...I keep reading that in Trains Magazine, and those columns don't usually make it into their online version. Sorry.

[K8ERV]

I don't think England is big enuff for a really fast train. Would just get up to speed when it would have to slow or go over the edge----

TOM K8ERV Montrose Colo

[kg4kww]

What this country needs is a good fast train. So, stop bitch'n and build one.

[KG4CGC]

What this country needs is a good fast train. So, stop bitch'n and build one.

We can't. We're in the hole for a long time to come over a war that could have at least waited until the job in Afghanistan was finished.

[KG6YTZ]

Does it have a cow catcher on the front?
No - it has a cow pulverizer. :D

[oh2gra]

It looks like development is going to develop.