Oct
19
Written by:
REL Blogger
RailEuropeUK
Wed, 19 Oct 2011 23:28:00 GMT
‘New High Speed Line Opens’ – It’s a familiar headline in the rail industry with operators and networks showing ambition to cut journey times and make the world a smaller place. We take a look at the 5 fastest trains currently available for commercial use in Europe...
5) Thalys
The sleek and stylish Thalys runs on routes between France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. Speeds are capped on these services to a staggering 186mph. Whilst there hasn’t been much evidence of Thalys recording a faster speed – they do have high speed internet on board, which is always a bonus, right?
4) Eurostar
Connecting the UK to mainland Europe, Eurostar has a fleet of 27 high speed trains. Capped to 186mph, London to Paris is a whizz at 2h15mins. However, on its inaugural journey carrying journalists and VIPs between London to Paris, using the new high-speed line in Britain – speeds of up to 202mph were recorded.
3) AVE
The flagship of Spanish rail will this month be hitting speeds of up to 192mph from Madrid to cities including Barcelona and Seville. But this particular feat of Spanish engineering is capable of more. On a test run in 1993, the AVE achieved a top speed of 221mph on a line between Madrid and Malaga.
2) ICE
With a sleek design reminiscent of Japanese bullet trains, the ICE is the ‘poster-train’ for German rail transport. The ICE has hit speeds of a cool 198mph when brought onto selected lines in France (such as Paris-Strasbourg). However, a closer look at the test runs shows that in 1988, a showcase and experimental version of what we now know as the ICE recorded amazing speeds of 253mph.
1) TGV
With a rich history of breaking speed records, it is no surprise that TGV sits at number one as the fastest train in Europe. Whilst limited to speeds of around 200mph commercially, depending on the route, TGV also holds the world speed record for a conventional train. On 3rd April 2007, the TGV recorded an unprecedented speed of 357.2mph on a special 3 carriage train. Va-Va Voom indeed.
10 comment(s) so far...
Re: 5 fastest trains in Europe
A Sad fact that while Europe has invested its money in fast business/leisure express rail network, while Conservative Britain has just sold off it railways to the highest potential profit makers and failed to invest in any transport for people to actually use. - in 1994 Spain had a slow but efficient network, but had opened the successful AVE line from Madrid- Sevilla. - in 17 years the AVE network now covers all business centres in Spain- in the meantime in the UK it took 6 years to build Eurostars link to the Channel Tunnel and now Daily Mail readers and Tory xxxx voters in inbred land of Buckinghamshire want to prevent a recent high speed rail network being completed in the UK. - xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
By Nick Scales on
Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:12:02 GMT
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Re: 5 fastest trains in Europe
Agree entirely. Al prospect of affordable rail travel was wiped from the face of the earth when privatisation took over.
By john on
Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:23:37 GMT
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Re: 5 fastest trains in Europe
It is an achievement to run these fast trains. Sometimes I wish people also travel by slow trains that stop in every station through villages . I find it difficult to get information on such trains. Speed is good but sometimes one needs to enjoy the journey too.
By Ravichandhira on
Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:51:23 GMT
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Re: 5 fastest trains in Europe
Thanks for your comments - we do agree with you that we are way behind the rest of Europe with regard to high speed rail.
However, please be aware that this is a public forum. While we want to hear your opinions and we encourage lively debate, we must remind you that posts with content that we consider to be unsuitable or offensive will be edited or deleted.
By Rail Europe on
Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:12:01 GMT
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Re: 5 fastest trains in Europe
Why are the Italian Pendolino services not mentioned - particularly Rome - Milan an onwards via their high speed lines?
By Roger Whiffin on
Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:40:04 GMT
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Re: 5 fastest trains in Europe
I am a big rail fan, but Britain is a much smaller country than any of the other European countries mentioned and significantly more densely populated. The proposed High Speed Rail includes a reduction in the availability of local trains and would bring no benefit to local communities - quite the opposite. I don't live in the South - I live in the Midlands and we can already travel from Birmingham to London in less than 1 1/2 hours. We need to invest in and improve our current infrastructure - not carve up the country, destroying many communities by building new lines for little or no commercial benefit. One key argument for HS2 is that it will be good for business - in this era of improved technology companies are using much cheaper and more efficient methods to communicate (video conferencing etc) rather than face to face meetings. We can't afford the HS2 project - let's put what little money we have into bringing our current infrastructure up to date instead.
By Jan on
Sat, 22 Oct 2011 12:15:28 GMT
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Re: 5 fastest trains in Europe
exactly - improve what we have - IE the ECML and run 12 coach pendolinos - with less first class - and youve instantly increased capacity immeasurably
By james on
Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:48:32 GMT
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Vivian
Marks Web
www.imarksweb.net
By Books and Manuals on
Fri, 17 Aug 2012 00:21:09 GMT
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re:
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diana
www.avemariagp.org
By diana on
Mon, 17 Jun 2013 01:23:23 GMT
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re:
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www.guyfix.com
By progtech on
Mon, 17 Jun 2013 01:25:13 GMT
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