European Tribune - Comments - The EU's emerging high-speed networkS

The EU's emerging high-speed networkS | 136 comments (135 topical, 1 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Eurostar - Saturday December 19, 2009 (4.00 / 2)

Huh. Why did this never happen in 15 years?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Dec 19th, 2009 at 06:10:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Eurostar - Saturday December 19, 2009 (none / 1)

Interesting question: Thermal stress, they say.

Granted, this is really cold weather for December but that level of cold is not unprecedented.

Investigation is ongoing, we're being told.

Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.

by Bernard on Sat Dec 19th, 2009 at 04:11:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Eurostar - Saturday December 19, 2009 (4.00 / 2)

Could there be a lack of proper maintenance as an underlying cause perhaps?

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!

by A swedish kind of death on Sat Dec 19th, 2009 at 06:33:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Eurostar - Saturday December 19, 2009 (none / 1)

That or recent replacement/addition of some component. But they don't say what broke down. It may have been the train safety system itself.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Dec 19th, 2009 at 06:40:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Eurostar - Saturday December 19, 2009 (none / 1)

Do they say which component broke down? Eurostar itself only says:

Following the disruption to its services over the last 24 hours, Eurostar does not want to cause its passengers any further disruption and will be conducting a programme of `test-trains' tomorrow to better understand the problems that have been occurring.

I note such tunnel entrance temperature changes happen regularly elsewhere... even at high speed.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Dec 19th, 2009 at 06:37:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Eurostar - Saturday December 19, 2009 (4.00 / 4)

DoDo: I note such tunnel entrance temperature changes happen regularly elsewhere... even at high speed.

Pourquoi les Eurostar sont-ils toujours bloqués ? - LeMonde.fr		Why are the Eurostar trains still blocked? - LeMonde.fr
... Nicolas Petrovic, directeur général adjoint d'Eurostar, s'est dit surpris, car les conditions météo n'avaient pas provoqué jusqu'à présent de tels incidents. "Nos trains, depuis quinze ans, sont préparés pour ça puisqu'on a de la neige régulièrement et généralement, on n'a pas de problèmes", a-t-il expliqué à Reuters TV. "Il s'est passé quelque chose de spécial hier soir, nos ingénieurs se penchent sur la question", a-t-il ajouté.		... Nicolas Petrovic, Director General of Eurostar, said he was surprised because the weather had so far not led to such incidents. "Over the last fifteen years our trains have been prepared for this, since we regularly and normally have snow, we don't have problems", "he told Reuters TV. "It happened something special last night, our engineers are addressing the issue", he added.
"C'est un problème endémique aux trains Eurostar alors que la neige n'arrête pas nos navettes", a commenté de son côté Pascal Sainson, directeur des opérations d'Eurotunnel, qui a géré la situation de crise toute la nuit. Selon lui, "la neige entre dans le système de ventilation et court-circuite le système électrique des moteurs de traction des locomotives Eurostar qui disjonctent dans un tunnel où règne une forte chaleur. Les moteurs s'arrêtent et n'arrivent pas a redémarrer".		"It's a problem specific to Eurostar trains while the snow is not stopping our shuttles," said his Sainson Pascal, director of operations for Eurotunnel, which has handled the crisis overnight. According to him, "Snow enters the ventilation system and short-circuits the electrical traction motors for locomotives Eurostar disjonctent in a tunnel where there is high heat. The engines stop and fail to restart" .
Mais, selon le Times de Londres, des incidents du même type se sont produits en février et auraient pu être évités. Deux trains, transportant plus de 1 000 passagers, avaient alors eu près de trois heures de retard. Un expert ferroviaire cité par le quotidien britannique estime que "ces circonstances n'ont rien d'unique" et que "les ingénieurs auraient dû anticiper ces problèmes. (...) Il est tout à fait possible d'équiper les trains de systèmes spécifiques qui les auraient protégé de la neige".		But according to the Times of London, similar incidents occurred in February and could have been avoided. Two trains, carrying more than 1 000 passengers, had then been nearly three hours late. An expert quoted by the railway British daily believes that "these circumstances are not unique" and that "engineers would have anticipated these problems. (...) It is quite possible to equip trains specific systems that would have protected the snow.
La mauvaise gestion des passagers. La direction d'Eurostar est aussi sous le feu des critiques des passagers, dont certains ont passé plusieurs heures sous le tunnel. Plus de 2 000 passagers ont passé la nuit de vendredi à samedi bloqués, certains sans eau ni nourriture et dans le froid. Pour certains passagers, le voyage de vendredi a duré jusqu'à 15 heures. Un homme joint par France info a raconté que que son train avait erré dans la campagne anglaise après une véritable odyssée."On a l'impression que personne ne prend les décisions qui s'imposent", a-t-il dit. A son arrivée à Londres, un autre passager s'est élevé contre les conditions du voyage, sans eau, ni nourriture, ni couvertures. "La panne, ça peut arriver, mais la suite, on ne peut pas l'expliquer. On a été traités comme du bétail. C'est plus qu'un choc, je ne réalise pas encore", a-t-il expliqué.		Mismanagement of passengers. The management of Eurostar is also under fire from passengers, some of whom have spent several hours in the tunnel. More than 2 000 passengers spent the night Friday to Saturday stranded, some without food or water and the cold. For some passengers, the trip lasted from Friday until 15 hours. A man joined by France Info has reported that his train had erred in the English countryside after an odyssey. "We're under the impression that nobody is taking the necessary decisions," he said. On his arrival in London, another passenger stood against the travel conditions, without water, food or blankets. "Things like the breakdown can happen, but what happened after, that cannot be explained. We were treated like cattle. It's a shock, I still haven't realized it yet," he said.

Also posted in this morning's Salon.

La Chine dorme. Laisse la dormir. Quand la Chine s'éveillera, le monde tremblera.

by marco (cowannar at gmail punkt com) on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 05:47:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Eurostar - Saturday December 19, 2009 (none / 1)

"Snow enters the ventilation system and short-circuits the electrical traction motors for locomotives Eurostar disjonctent in a tunnel where there is high heat. The engines stop and fail to restart" .

Hm. Maybe they mean that suddenly a greater amount of (melt)water gets down to the traction motors once the snow on the cooler filters melts. Now, Eurostars have the big old-style side coolers, lots more surface for snow to stick on than the ICE1 trains crossing the Landrückentunnel every winter since 1991/2 at 250 km/h; still, something more special must have occured if Eurostar first saw such a problem only this February. However, the big refurbishment of the Eurostar fleet is only coming, so I have no obvious guess.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Dec 20th, 2009 at 07:13:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]

The EU's emerging high-speed networkS | 136 comments (135 topical, 1 editorial, 0 hidden)

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