Early national high-speed rail networks High-speed rail in Europe

1 national high-speed rail networks

1.1 britain
1.2 france
1.3 germany
1.4 italy
1.5 spain

early national high-speed rail networks

the first high-speed rail lines , services built in 1980s , 1990s national projects. countries sought increase passenger capacity , decrease journey times on inter-city routes within borders. in beginning, lines built through national funding programmes , services operated national operators.

britain


an intercity 125 train @ hull paragon station in 1982. intercity 125 world s fastest diesel train.

britain has had history high-speed rail, starting high-speed steam systems, including gwr 3700 class 3440 city of truro, steam-record holder lner class a4 4468 mallard. later, high-speed diesel , electric service introduced, utilising upgraded main-lines, great western main line , east coast mainline. intercity 125, otherwise known high-speed train (hst), launched in 1976 service speed of 125 mph (201 km/h) , provided first high-speed rail services in britain. hst diesel-powered, , great western main line (gwml) first modified new service. because gwml had been built straight, 4 tracks , distance of 1 mile (ca. 1.6 km) between distant signal , main signal, allowed trains run @ 125 mph (201 km/h) relatively moderate infrastructure investments, compared other countries in europe. intercity 125 had proven economic case high-speed rail, , british rail keen explore further advances. in 1970s, british rail began explore new technologies enabling high-speed passenger rail services in uk. while japanese , french railway authorities had decided build new tracks respective shinkansen , tgv high-speed rail systems, british rail opted instead develop train capable of running on existing rail infrastructure: advanced passenger train (apt), top speed of 155 mph (249 km/h). experimental version, apt-e tested between 1972 , 1976. equipped tilting mechanism allowed train tilt bends reduce cornering forces on passengers, , powered gas turbines (the first used on british rail since great western railway, , subsequent western region utilised swiss built brown-boveri, , british built metropolitan vickers locomotives (18000 , 18100) in 1950s). 1970s oil crisis prompted rethink in choice of motive power (as prototype tgv in france), , british rail later opted traditional electric overhead lines when pre-production , production apts brought service in 1980-86.

initial experience advanced passenger trains good. had high power-to-weight ratio enable rapid acceleration; prototype set record speeds on great western main line , midland main line, , production versions vastly reduced journey times on wcml. apt was, however, beset technical problems; financial constraints , negative media coverage caused project cancelled.

france

high-speed rail in france , bordering countries

europe introduced high-speed rail when lgv sud-est paris lyon opened in 1981 , tgv started passenger service. since then, france has continued build extensive network, lines extending in every direction paris. france has second largest high-speed network in europe, 2,647 km of operative hsr lines in july 2017, behind spain s 3,240 km.

the tgv network gradually spread out other cities, , other countries such switzerland, belgium, netherlands, germany, , uk. due adoption of high-speed rail , important location of france (between iberian peninsula, british isles , central europe), other dedicated high-speed rail lines in europe have been built same speed, voltage , signalling standards. obvious exception high-speed lines in germany, built existing german railway standards. also, many high-speed services, including tgv , ice utilize existing rail lines in addition designed high-speed rail. reason, , due differing national standards, trains cross national boundaries need have special characteristics, such ability handle different power supplies , signalling systems. means not tgvs same, , there loading gauge , signalling considerations.

germany

ice network

construction on first german high-speed lines began shortly after of french lgvs. legal battles caused significant delays, intercityexpress (ice) trains deployed ten years after tgv network established. ice network more tightly integrated pre-existing lines , trains result of different settlement structure in germany, population more numerous third of france, on territory smaller third, resulting in more twice population density of france. ice trains reached destinations in austria , switzerland after entered service, taking advantage of same voltage used in these countries. starting in 2000, multisystem third-generation ice trains entered netherlands , belgium. third generation of ice reached speed of 363 km/h (226 mph) during trial runs in accordance european rules requiring maximum speed +10% in trial runs, , certified 330 km/h (210 mph) in regular service.

in south-west, new line between offenburg , basel planned allow speeds of 250 km/h (160 mph), , new line between frankfurt , mannheim speeds of 300 km/h (190 mph) in advanced planning stages. in east, 230 km (140 mi) long line between nuremberg , leipzig under construction speeds of 300 km/h (190 mph). fast lines berlin leipzig , nuremberg munich, completed in 2000s, allow journey times of 4 hours berlin in north munich in south, compared 8 hours same distance few years ago.

italy

italy s high-speed rail network

the earliest high-speed rail line built in europe italian direttissima , florence–rome high-speed railway (254 km/158 mi) in 1978, used fs class e444 3 kv dc locomotives. italy pioneered use of pendolino tilting train technology. italian government constructor treno alta velocità has been adding high-speed network in italy, lines opened. italian operator ntv first open access high-speed rail operator in europe, since 2011, using agv etr 575 multiple units.

in march 2011, contract second phase of construction on milan–verona high-speed line signed. section 39 km long. construction should complete 2015.

the italian high-speed railway network consists of 1342 km of lines, allow speeds of 300 km/h. safety system adopted network ermts/etcs ii, state-of-the-art in railway signalling , safety. power supply follows european standard of 25kv ac 50 hz mono-phase current. direttissima segment still supplied 3kv dc current, planned conformed rest of network.

frecciarossa 1000 fastest train in eu.

with imminent entering service of etr1000 trainsets, have top speed of more 400 km/h , commercial speed of 360 km/h, rail network upgraded safely allow trains run @ such speeds. commercial run of first etr1000 planned 2014.

spain


ave network

the alta velocidad española (ave) high-speed rail system in spain has been in service since 1992, when madrid–sevilla (seville) route started running. ten other lines have been opened since, including 621-kilometre long madrid–barcelona line. of august 2017 total length of network 3,240 kilometres, making longest in europe, , second longest in world after mainland china.

the ambitious ave construction programme aims @ connecting high-speed trains provincial capitals madrid in less 3 hours , barcelona within 6 hours. initial deadline set 2020, program slowed down financial crisis: 2 main lines still under construction, mediterranean corridor , lisbon line, expected completed 2022.

the spanish , portuguese high-speed lines being built european standard or uic track gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ⁄2 in) , electrified 25 kv @ 50 hz overhead wire. first hsl madrid seville equipped lzb train control system, later lines etcs.

elsewhere in europe, success of high-speed services has been due in part interoperability existing normal rail lines. interoperability between new ave lines , older iberian gauge network presents additional challenges. both talgo , caf supply trains variable gauge wheels operated automatic gauge-changer equipment trains pass through without stopping (alvias). lines being constructed dual gauge allow trains iberian , uic gauge run on same tracks. other lines have been re-equipped sleepers both iberian , uic gauge, such track can converted iberian uic gauge @ later time without changing sleepers.

the first ave trains link french standard gauge network began running in december 2013, when direct high-speed rail services between spain , france launched first time. connection between 2 countries made possible construction of perpignan–barcelona high-speed rail line (a follow-up of madrid-barcelona line), completed in january 2013, , international section perpignan-figueres, opened on december 2010 , includes new 8.3-kilometre (5.2 mi) tunnel under pyrenees. high-speed rail link connecting 2 countries @ irun/hendaye planned.

several new high-speed lines under construction design speed of 300–350 km/h, , several old lines being upgraded allow passenger trains operate @ 250 km/h.

three companies have built or build trains spanish high-speed railway network: spanish talgo, french alstom , german siemens ag. bombardier transportation partner in both talgo-led , siemens-led consortium. france build 25kv tgv lines way spanish border (there gap between nîmes , perpignan), multi-voltage trains still needed, trains travelling paris need travel last few kilometres on 1.5kv lines. end, renfe decided convert 10 existing ave s100 trains operate @ voltage (as french signalling systems), cost €30,000,000 instead of expected €270,000,000 new trains.