On many levels, a better train (S/L article on bilevels)

Ill check later on, but I think it said both, push and pull, but ill check and post later

Here's a bilevel train that's good for 186 mph! I wonder if it would meet NYP clearance requirements. Too bad NJ Transit didn't order some of these! :D

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=65630

DutchRailnut wrote:So if a person in wheel chair gets on at lower level how is he getting off at high level ?? hop up those stairs?? plus you would end up having two vestibule areas one of which would be in middle of seat area.

You're right about that. I guess that just proves that the design they went with is a good one.

hsr_fan wrote:Here's a bilevel train that's good for 186 mph! I wonder if it would meet NYP clearance requirements. Too bad NJ Transit didn't order some of these! :D

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=65630

.... And also 17tonne axle load to boot, and does not meet FRA buff strength requirements. Can't be used in the US of A given FRA regs, so furget it for NJT or any other RR here

hsr_fan wrote:Here's a bilevel train that's good for 186 mph! I wonder if it would meet NYP clearance requirements. Too bad NJ Transit didn't order some of these! :D

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=65630

I rode that train! They are really quiet and comfortable inside. And fast.

http://photos.yahoo.com/njtransit21

Can't be used in the US of A given FRA regs

Those regulations haven't been scientifically proven. Not to mention what with automatic train stop systems, the buff strength requirements are superfluous. Not that the TGV Duplex runs at 186 mph outside of the LGVs (they don't) but they do operate at established track speeds on traditional rails (usually 138 mph).

trainstop does not prevent sideswipes at speed. derailment damage is not prevented with PTC so don't compare apples and oranges.

Those are not issues addressed by Tier II either.

As for the TGV, I seem to recall that they have derailed on more than one occasion and did not sustain a lot of damage.

Yup and all derailments were on perfectly straight rail with a 10' wide sixfoot.
Try derailing one on NEC would be catastropic with its curvature.

Not any more catastrophic than a Tier II car. And I seriously doubt that it would be running around Elizabeth Curve at 186 mph for example...(not that it can run around curves fast, the TGV Duplex does not tilt)

Speaking of curve speeds, when I rode aboard the Acela Express recently, my GPS showed us doing about 97 mph through Metuchen! I believe that's an 80 mph curve for all other passenger equipment. And we were stopping at Metropark, so they obviously can slow down pretty fast!

The first curve (going west) is 80mph, the next is 90, the last is 100.....

I think its the same speeds for the Acela as other passegner equipment through those curves, but im not absolutely positive.

DutchRailnut wrote:Yup and all derailments were on perfectly straight rail with a 10' wide sixfoot.
Try derailing one on NEC would be catastropic with its curvature.

Point well taken....

However, let us not underestimate the value of articulation in TGVs. TGV's articulated nature tends to keep the train together in derailments(more than tight lock couplers do) thus reducing the chances of cars getting hit from the side. In the best known TGV derailments at 150+mph near Gare Haute-Picardie on LGV Nord-Europa the train set stayed together and pretty much aligned with the track. The only injuries were outside the train to a bunch of hapless passengers waiting on the platform at Gare Haute-Picardie from flying ballast.

Of course in our good ol' US of A, articulated trains appear to be not acceptable (except if it happens to be from TALGO) because it takes the freedom away from the likes of the mechanical department of NJTransit to mix up every possible type of car in a single train so that destination signs and doors do not work properly anymore . It is inconceivable that we would give up such valued freedom to screw things up

If the FRA set airliner standards, they would insist that planes be built out of thick steel armor plate. They would say it wasn't their problem if their safety rules prevented the planes from getting off the ground.

Jtgshu wrote:The first curve (going west) is 80mph, the next is 90, the last is 100.....

I think its the same speeds for the Acela as other passegner equipment through those curves, but im not absolutely positive.

Well, I was showing 97 mph just as we passed the interlocking and Edison station, and I'm pretty sure that's the 80 mph part for other trains.

Oh, and which way is east and which is west? I always think of the NEC as north-south.