No - standard signs, drivers will need to know the locations of the changes.
Thats not quite right.
It was also originally to ensure a 390 couldn’t go above 110 mph without the tilt activated .
Correct, and 221s.
Thats not quite right.
Their angle of tilt was 6 degrees where a Pendolino tilts at 8 degees.
This is part of why I don't expect any more tilting trains in the UK after the Pendolino reaches retirement. Once they stop making up the bulk of intercity traffic then TASS will be redundant, and tilting trains were already something we probably wouldn't have seen a continuation of anyway, especially with new MU profiles.
It very did my friend and I fear we’ll never see the likes again. With so much to go wrong many (and not just the usual doom mongers) thought it would be a poisoned chalice but it has proved them wrong.
Is this just about cost, or are there reasons to consider the technology obsolete?
Faster acceleration and deceleration and shorter door open-close cycles on more modern rolling stock has reduced the need for tilt on regional and intercity lines around Europe as well. SBB deactivated their tilting Bombardier Twindexx IC and IR trains in 2022 despite taking delivery of the first ones in 2018.
It was a bit controversial over there as tilt was meant to reduce journey times, and Switzerland for obvious geographical reasons has a lot of curvy track, but they've deemed infrastructure upgrades and even building new bits of track is better than tilt.
At risk of too detailed an answer, both ETCS and TASS use the same type of Balise, but each Balise can/will have a data type, and if the train isn't looking for that type, it will ignore the message.
One of the factors will be the new straight base tunnels, which wipe out many km of curving mountain track (Lötschberg, Gotthard, Ceneri etc), plus NBS lines like Ulm-Stuttgart-Mannheim and Frankfurt-Köln.
The time benefit of tilt has always been quite small, and the costs it imposes quite large, long term. With some works, I do think HS2 trains will be able to keep to similar timings (maybe losing 1-2 mins) from Handsacre to Edinburgh/Glasgow as pendolinos on any given stopping pattern, given how the north WCML speed profile is less aggressive than the ECML.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of the IEP's, but the acceleration (on electric power) is another level. As @RailWonderer says that and improved braking allows faster timings without the complication of tilt equipment.
It really varies outside the UK.
That is not entirely correct. The TWINDEXX do not have tilting technology, but WaKo (roll compensation). This is technically a completely different system and is only designed for a very limited tilt of two degrees instead of eight degrees. Tilting technology would also not be feasible for a double-decker train.
Travel time reductions are not being implemented. Infrastructure investments have not yet been decided.
The 807 would lose by a fair margin if you talking about the Trent Valley service.
On a delayed Up Liverpool service, this is where a 390 really claws back time from the 80x friendly timings. Especially on the 80x "corridor of death" through Stafford.
Not entirely. With tilt isolated a Pendo could go as fast it could get, when originally introduced. In fact im sure even with the initial TASS software, there wasnt much of an upper limit ! With TASS active there were areas of plus 110mph tilt inhibited running, mainly due to tight load gauges. It was only in fairly recent memory that the Train Management System software was altered to give a warning when operating at 113mph non tilt & when creeping above 127 in tilt. There has been so much fettling in the years since introduction, the memory gets a bit fuzzy.
Something similar might’ve been achievable with the 390s had their 140 mph capability been fully exploited.
3h56 to Glasgow is entirely possible today with 390s, just with no stops, no TSRs and no allowances whatsoever. 140 would have enabled a couple minutes to be saved, but not enough to get even a routine nonstop London-Glasgow under 4h, with the normal allowances. 125 isn't possible for a 390 on much of the northern WCML.
