Xenon
New Member
- Joined
- 1 Sep 2017
- Messages
- 4
From the shortlisted bidders: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41844885.
I'm just interested in what people think. If you didn't care, then you needn't have replied.Poll needs another option: don't care. Unless all the bidders are going to supply prototypes for us to sample how can anyone form a useful opinion? So long as the specification has been put together properly I would expect all options to be perfectly satisfactory.
I'm just interested in what people think. If you didn't care, then you needn't have replied.
A UK-gauge ICE3 with the full DB interior (including the actual wood, glass and chrome) would be my ideal. And the Bistrowagen with draught beer.
The ICE3s are pretty decent but for some reason Siemens products all seem to ride abysmally.
That's largely because DB have a much higher standard of track maintenance than the UK, and long have had. Of course, with HS2 being new-build, there is no excuse for it being anything other than perfect.
I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest that DB have higher general track standards, it's just that many other foreign-built trains running on UK metals seem to be able to ride perfectly well on somewhat...we'll say 'indifferent' track, but Siemens seem to be unable to compensate for this.
Siemens. A UK-gauge ICE3 with the full DB interior (including the actual wood, glass and chrome) would be my ideal, possibly also a few actual UIC gauge ICE3s for London to Birmingham. And the Bistrowagen with draught beer.
DB really know how to do high speed right in my view, from timetables to operational models to fare structure to the stock itself.
Hitachi also make tilting trains and double deck trains. But not in massive quantities - neither are super-popular in their core market in Japan.Alstom. Just because they have double decker and tilting trains
And the 458s...Alstom gave the world Class 373s and 390s. Love them both.
Hitachi also make tilting trains and double deck trains. But not in massive quantities - neither are super-popular in their core market in Japan.
Tilting Train
Hitachi aims to achieve higher speeds on curves using existing infrastructure with a failsafe and energy-saving tilting system.
Photos of the Tilting Trains
The system has been developed to increase the operational speed of the trains on Japanese narrow gauge lines which have many curves. With the system, car bodies are tilted at curves to compensate for unbalanced car body centrifugal acceleration to a greater extent than the compensation produced by the track cant, so that passengers do not feel centrifugal acceleration and thus trains can run at higher speed at curves.
Features
Tilting trains are being operated in Europe and Canada, other than Japan. However, for the following reasons, it is obvious that the Japanese system is the most suitable one for a meter gauged line which has many reverse curves.
Today more than 536 units of tilting train cars are in operation in Japan and Australia.
The N700 series (N700系 Enu nanahyaku-kei) is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train with tilting capability developed jointly by JR Central and JR-West for use on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines since 2007, and also operated by JR Kyushu on the Kyushu Shinkansen line.
N700 series trains have a maximum speed of 300 km/h (186 mph), and tilting of up to one degree allows the trains to maintain 270 km/h (168 mph) even on 2,500 m (8,200 ft) radius curves that previously had a maximum speed of 255 km/h (158 mph). Another feature of the N700 is that it accelerates quicker than other shinkansen trains, with a maximum acceleration rate of 2.6 km/h/s. This enables it to reach 270 km/h (170 mph) in only three minutes. Because of these improvements, trains can travel between Tokyo and Osaka on a Nozomi run in as little as 2 hours and 22 minutes on a fastest service. (8 minutes faster than before).
I chose Bombardier, mainly because they are the only manufacturer who both designs and builds stock from scratch in the UK. I also think the Zefiro looks quite smart.
Alstom. Just because they have double decker and tilting trains
The trains for HS2 will most likely be neither of those.
Those have been ditched haven't they? It's all going to be "classic compatible" until at the earliest they full Y is open.Except double deckers are very much being considered for "captive gauge" stock.
Those have been ditched haven't they? It's all going to be "classic compatible" until at the earliest they full Y is open.
where's Metro-Cammell when you need them?
Polls can't include everything all the time.Not much of a poll if you want to exclude people from it!