Any pictures fished from the Internet would be welcomed! *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
*Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Are the lines dedicated, so it never has to slow down between destinations? (My son was on a French train in 2003, when a cow decided to cross the track and there was an oncoming train...) Are the cars pressurized like a plane? What happens to the nearby land with the regular swoosh? The dust cloud behind it.
I´m really glad that there will be less reasons to fly and I wouldn´t mind trying this one to get to BCN on Friday, but what are the reasons to beat more records instead of choosing, say, 300-350km/h and implementing it on more lines a lot sooner and cheaper? Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.
So, which of these places must we stop at? "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
For the second, from memory, you'd only need:
# from London # to:brussels # to:frankfurt # to:linz, austria # to:ceske budejovice # to:cesky krumlov # to:prague # to:plzen # to:regensburg # to:munich # to:verona, italy # to:milan # to:genova # to:nice, france # to:marseille # to:toulouse # to:irun # to:bilbao *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
For instance, if you don't want to do more than 5h on any given day, and you want to stay overnight where you stop, is Aachen preferable to Brussels? Nurembers preferable to Frankfurt? And so on. "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
Start from London
Why the stop at Vitoria between San Sebastian and Bilbao? "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
But as said, I first forgot about FEVE, then about the Basques separating off their part. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Hey, make that another midday stop! *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
That's why the passengers have difficulties standing up in place : the line have been designed for confortable runs at 350km/h, they didn't smooth it for the 570 km/h run. The swoosh is on because of the very high speed, and the fact that it's a fairly new line ; most of that dust isn't risen at normal operating speed. And the cars are climatized, but there is no need for pressurization...
The lines are indeed dedicated, and no cows wander on TGV lines (for their own safety ; at that speed the cow won't survive (the result would make Happy tree friends seems nice) but the train will). And they are built for 350 km/h ; service starts in a couple months. Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères
That poor vache did not survive and two trains full of people (tracking LeTour) suddenly watched something resembling a war scene, after being thrown around by the fast braking. Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.
I must correct you at this point. There is such a need already because of the speed. I note that in South Korea, where the first generation of high-speed trains are adapted TGVs but the second will be locally made by ROTEM, a big problem with the prototype of the latter was just this: not airtight doors caused many hurting ears. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
At 160 m/s the pressure difference will be approximately 1/8 of atmospheric pressure, or enough to bring pressure below 900 mbar inside the train. "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
If the pressure drops below 900 mbar at the top speed you would be dizzy because you'd suffer from something akin to altitude sickness. "It's the statue, man, The Statue."
What I wonder is if the TGV is actually pressurized (keeping a inside pressure of 100 kPa) or just dampens pressure variations (more likely, because much less expensive) Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères
TGV lines have less tunnels, so making the trains airtight was less of a priority than for the German ICE. Still, though I'm not sure about what was built into the first generation and the TGV Atlantiques, from the TGV Réseau (the second subgroup of second-generation TGVs), they have a strong pressure isolation (for which is needed: double windows, isolation at car joints, and say pressurized air into the rubber bands around doors). *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
As for limits on pressure changes, I found the following international railway norms: 1 sec: ≤0.5 kPa 3 sec: ≤ 0.8 kPa 10 sec: ≤ 1.0 kPa 60 sec: ≤ 2.0 kPa entire tunnel crossing: ≤ 10 kPa *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Trains have to fit within strict ride characteristics criteria at a speed of maximum service speed +10%. For these trains, that would be 352 km/h. 574.8 km/h is WELL above that. Also consider that the main force acting, aerodynamic drag, rises with the square of speed, e.g. during the record it was more than three times of what it will be in normal service.
Are the lines dedicated
Yes, of course! Like Madrid-Sevilla/-Toledo or Madrid-Lleida. They have to have curves of only large radiuses (otherwise tracks would have to have large inclinations and passengers would feel strong forces), the two tracks of the line must be at a larger distance for safe passing, rails must be strong enough and switches shouldn't be bumpy, the catenary must be very tense, no slow trains should get in the way, there should be no level crossings with road, the signalling system is special, and various safety measures should prevent f.e. a cow coming on the line.
Are the cars pressurized like a plane?
Yes, to some extent. Going fast (=>pressure drop) already calls for it, and high-speed trains going across tunnels have to 'filter out' the pressure shocks at the portals, or else passengers' ears will pop.
What happens to the nearby land with the regular swoosh? The dust cloud behind it.
At regular service speed, the right-of-way is enough, and there is no dust cloud. You can stand at the foot of a catenary mast and watch a train go by (though there it would be a bit loud and you'd feel strong winds). Interestingly, if you go to the www.record2007.com homepage, go to the history section and watch the videos of the earlier French records, you'll see that the 1955 record runs looked just like the present one (pantograph pulls arc-lights, dust cloud, bumpy ride), while achieving a record (331 km/h) around what is normal service speed now.
what are the reasons to beat more records
Publicity, what else. Hope for new customers from across the pond (including South America), and leaving a greater impression than rivals. Hope for more willingness from the French state to order more trains. Hope that some people who had no clue about the new TGV Est line and would have continued flying/driving now took notice. Plus, a little bit of worthwile research, trying to find eventual problems that show up faster at a higher speed.
instead of choosing, say, 300-350km/h
These trains are for that speed range, this line will go in service with 320 km/h. The record run was one-off, and I guess it cost much less than a new line. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
