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What I was saying is that 90 kPa isn't low enough to even start to cause altitude sickness ; it corresponds to an altitude of 1000m. Altitude sickness very rarely starts before 3000 m...

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

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Wed Apr 4th, 2007 at 05:49:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]
At 350 km/h I get a 6 KPa drop, which is not much. The problem is that if you pressurise the train for a 6 Kpa pressure difference and then run the train at a speed causing a 16Kpa pressure difference, you can have some problems. I would also imagine pressurisation gets harder as the pressure difference mounts, and not in a linear fashion.

"It's the statue, man, The Statue."
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Apr 4th, 2007 at 06:47:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Hm. As far as I know, pressure regulation is kind of standard for air-conditioning, and in trains, higher than surrounding pressure is even preferred as a means of reducing dust buildup.

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.

by DoDo on Wed Apr 4th, 2007 at 07:02:15 AM EST
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