NationMaster - Encyclopedia: High speed train

There are three types of trains in the UK, which have been traditionally viewed as being high speed trains: Japanese Shinkansen trains began the development of modern high-speed railways (shown here: West Japan Railway Company 500 Series Shinkansen at Kyoto) French-Belgian-German-Dutch Thalys train at Paris Gare du Nord station High-speed rail is public transport by rail at speeds in excess of 200 km/h... from http://www. ... from http://www. ... Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ... Map sources for Dawlish at grid reference SX963767 The Great Western Main Line runs along the Dawlish seafront Dawlish is a town on the south coast of Devon, England, 12 miles from the County town of Exeter, with a population of around 13,000 people. ...

More recent 125mph trains which could be classed as high speed trains include: The Advanced Passenger Train (APT) was an unsuccesful prototype tilting train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s. ... This page covers the British Rail Intercity 125 High Speed Train. ... HST power car 43 127 is shown here crossing the Kennet and Avon Canal. ... Mark 3 DVT at Norwich station British Rails third design of carriages was designated Mark 3. ... Class 91/1, no. ... A class 91 at Peterborough in the late 1980s wearing original InterCity Swallow livery. ... Interior of a refurbished first class coach. ... A Driving Van Trailer or DVT is a purpose-built railway vehicle that allows the driver to operate a locomotive from the other end of a train. ...

A lot of money and resources were put into fundamental research into vehicle dynamics which, among other benefits, led to the development of the APT. This was designed to travel at high speeds around curves by tilting. Although the prototype was deemed successful and production units were built, they never entered regular service. Class 180, no. ... A Class 220 Voyager stops at York. ... A Class 220 Voyager stops at York station. ... A four-car Midland Mainline Class 222 passing through Loughborough on 19 November 2005. ... Class 390 no. ... The Advanced Passenger Train (APT) was an unsuccesful prototype tilting train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s. ...

By this time, development into another high speed train was in operation, which later became the InterCity 125 two Class 43 power cars with a rake of Mark 3 coaches sandwiched in between. This page covers the British Rail Intercity 125 High Speed Train. ... HST power car 43 127 is shown here crossing the Kennet and Avon Canal. ... Mark 3 DVT at Norwich station British Rails third design of carriages was designated Mark 3. ...

The origins of the InterCity 125 are steeped in irony because it was initially planned as a stop gap. Research had begun for the tilting Advanced Passenger Train (APT) but it was not possible to predict when it could enter service. The HST would apply what had been learned so far to traditional technology - a parallel project based on conventional principles but incorporating the newly discovered knowledge of wheel/rail interaction and suspension design. Although the APT never achieved all its design objectives the InterCity 125 was an outstanding success. This page covers the British Rail Intercity 125 High Speed Train. ... The Advanced Passenger Train (APT) was an unsuccesful prototype tilting train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s. ... This page covers the British Rail Intercity 125 High Speed Train. ...

The InterCity 125 was introduced between 1976 and 1982 by British Rail, at a time when the maximum speed of British trains was limited to 100 mph (160 km/h). The increased speed and its rapid acceleration and deceleration made it ideal for passenger use, which slashed journey times around the country. The prototype class 252 (power cars 43000 and 43001) took the world record for diesel traction, achieving 143.2 mph (230 km/h) on June 12th 1973, running on the ECML between Northallerton & Thirsk. On November 1st 1987 this record was raised to 148.4 mph (238 km/h) by a shortened class 254 set running speed trials, again between Darlington & York. At the time of writing (2006) the InterCity 125 still holds the UK start-stop speed record for a passenger carrying train. On September 27th 1985 a shortened class 254 carrying passengers ran non-stop from Newcastle to London King's Cross,averaging 115.4 mph. It is likely that this record will finally be broken by a Eurostar once the full length of the CTRL opens in 2007. This page covers the British Rail Intercity 125 High Speed Train. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Logo of British Rail British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ... Determining the fastest railed veichle in the world is difficult, because of the wide variety of designs. ... The East Coast Main Line viaduct at Durham. ... This page covers the British Rail Intercity 125 High Speed Train. ... Kings Cross refers to a district in two places: Kings Cross, London, England Kings Cross railway station, is a major London railway terminus and Kings Cross, New South Wales is a district in Sydney, Australia Kings Cross railway station, Sydney is an underground railway station in Sydney. ...

More than 30 years on, the InterCity 125 is still used on many British long distance routes, and many people consider it to be the best train that Britain has manufactured in recent years - ironically the tilting trains it was supposed to complement and ultimately be replaced by have only begun to appear on British railways in the early 2000s. This page covers the British Rail Intercity 125 High Speed Train. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

The earliest replacement of InterCity 125s started with the introduction of the InterCity 225 between 1988 and 1991. This page covers the British Rail Intercity 125 High Speed Train. ... Class 91/1, no. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

More recently, some of the InterCity 125s have been replaced or supplemented by: This page covers the British Rail Intercity 125 High Speed Train. ...

Class 180, no. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... First Great Western is a British train operating company owned by First Group, which operates services principally on the Great Western Main Line. ... A Class 220 Voyager stops at York. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ... A Class 220 Voyager stops at York station. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ... A four-car Midland Mainline Class 222 passing through Loughborough on 19 November 2005. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Midland Mainline (MML) is a British train operating company, created after the privatisation of British Rail. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1000x576, 171 KB) Prototype of the British High Speed Train National Railway Museum, York By ChrisO, 27 May 2006 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1000x576, 171 KB) Prototype of the British High Speed Train National Railway Museum, York By ChrisO, 27 May 2006 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

The future

The InterCity 125 is still in widespread use. First Great Western has supplemented their HSTs (but not replaced any) with fourteen diesel multiple-unit Class 180 Adelante trains, which can travel at the same speed as the 125s. Because every carriage has an underfloor engine, they can accelerate approximately twice as quickly, which reduces journey times and allows for more frequent train services. In-car noise levels, however, are higher than in the 125 because of the underfloor engines, which, combined with less-comfortable seats and harsh interior lighting, has made them unpopular with passengers. They also proved to be unreliable, leading to a significant overhaul programme in 2004 to fix the major problems. These trains have now been replaced by more HSTs, and have been cascaded into First Great Western Link services. However from 2007 the Adelantes will be leaving Great Western for another TOC (probably Virgin Cross Country or Midland Mainline). This page covers the British Rail Intercity 125 High Speed Train. ... First Great Western is a British train operating company owned by First Group, which operates services principally on the Great Western Main Line. ... A classic Belgian multiple unit of type 74 A multiple unit (MU) is a passenger train whose carriages have their own motors, either diesel (DMUs) or electric (EMUs), and do not need to be hauled by a locomotive, and can be coupled with other similar units to operate together, in... Class 180, no. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... First Great Western Link is a train operating company owned by First Group that provides train services, on a franchise basis, from Paddington Station to destinations such as Slough, Reading, Didcot, Oxford, Basingstoke, Newbury, Bedwyn, Hereford, Worcester and Banbury. ...

In 2004, First Great Western announced a major overhaul upgrade for their Class 43 locomotives (125 power cars), including a new MTU engine. Two Power Cars are currently undergoing trials in service with the new engine. In 2005, they undertook a trial refurbishment of a pair of 125 coaches to bring them up to modern standards. Another coach has been refurbished with experimental aircraft style seat back screens. As part of the Great Western franchise commitments First Great Western have announced that they will be refurbishing the entire fleet as well as re-engining all Powercars with the MTU engine [1] 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... HST power car 43 127 is shown here crossing the Kennet and Avon Canal. ... MTU Friedrichshafen is a manufacturer of commercial engines and is a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In January 2006 the first batch of power cars were taken to Brush Traction to have MTU engines fitted. Class 47 diesel locomotive, no. ...

26 of Great Western's 125 fleet are to be refurbished into a high-density layout of mostly airline seats for services in the M4 corridor to Bristol and Cardiff; to improve acceleration, the Buffet cars will be removed. The remainder will be refurbished with new seating (leather in First Class) and at-seat power-points, and retain the buffet for the long-distance services to Swansea and the West Country.

Midland Mainline has recently updated their 125 livery, and is supplementing its 125 fleet with Class 222 Meridian units (similar to Virgin Cross-Country's Class 220 and 221 Voyager trains), which will replace the slower Class 170 Turbostar units. Midland Mainline (MML) is a British train operating company, created after the privatisation of British Rail. ... A four-car Midland Mainline Class 222 passing through Loughborough on 19 November 2005. ... Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ... A Class 220 Voyager stops at York. ... Class 170/2, no. ...

GNER still operate 125 sets on non-electrified portions of its ECML franchise - upon its taking ownership of the sets in 1996, the Mark 3 coaching stock was given an extensive interior refurbishment. Today the sets are found operating ultra-long distance services between London King's Cross and the North of Scotland. GNER are committed to giving their HST sets a further refit as part of its new franchise, in order to bring them up to the same Mallard standard as their recently refurbished 225 fleet. 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Class 91/1, no. ...

The Great Western power cars have also had major modifications to their cooling system to prevent overheating on hot days. GNER's solution to the overheating problem is to haul sets under the wires using Class 91 Electric Locomotives. A class 91 at Peterborough in the late 1980s wearing original InterCity Swallow livery. ...

The proposed HST2 replacement is currently on hold. Siemens submitted an electro-diesel design based on their new Venturio models, but the Strategic Rail Authority has ordered a halt to any further progress, amidst much debate about the form a replacement should take. Work on developing HST2, in the form of a Working Group, is now being progressed by the DfT. Siemens AG (FWB:SIE, NYSE: SI) is the worlds largest electronics company. ... An Electro-diesel locomotive is a special type of locomotive that can be powered either from an external electricity supply (i. ... Categories: Stub ...

Encyclopedia > High speed train

The future

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