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TGV breaks unofficial world record |
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Wednesday, 14 March 2007 |
Information has leaked from
the trials of the new highspeed
track between Paris
and Strasbourg that the French
high-speed train has already
broken the world rail speed
record, travelling at 553kph.
The official attempt at the
record is to be made in April
prior to the grand opening of
the line by President Chirac.
The previous record of 515kph
has stood since 1990. To be
official the speed test has to be
conducted in the presence of a
representative of the
International Railway Union
and a huissier de justice – a
court-approved bailiff.
The train used for recordbreaking
is not the usual TGV
but a special unit built by
Alstom in conjunction with the
French railways – the SNCF. It
consists of two engines and
one carriage with special
streamlining to keep it stable.
Built at the Alstom works in
Belfort, it was tested at the
SNCF workshops at
Bischheim and then at Aytré
near La Rochelle, all in the
greatest secrecy.
To reach the highest
possible speeds in April it is
expected that the outside
surfaces of the rolling stock
will be specially coated.
Alstom will probably be
tempted by the record of
581kph held by the German
electromagnetically suspended
Maglev, built by Siemens and
Thyssenkrupp, which was
achieved in 2003. However,
off the record, engineers say
that the performance of the
overhead wire system which
supplies the electric current is
unknown beyond 580kph.
At a more modest level,
the new line will operate at
higher speeds than other TGV
tracks – 320kph compared
with around 300kph elsewhere.
The newly revealed ticket
prices are on a par with other
TGV lines but are 17% to
25% more expensive than
existing fares to Paris. This
has led to criticisms that many
taxpayers have contributed to
the cost of the line which only
a few will be able to afford to
use. Yann Wehrling of the
Green Party complains that
this will help reduce the
number of aeroplanes but
not the number of cars. He
commented: “When you
consider that half the
population of France has an
income below €1,350, a return
ticket to Paris of €158 means
that couples, at least, will take
their cars.” Rather hopefully,
he proposed that the new fare
structure should produce
cheaper tickets than the
present ones.
It currently takes four
hours and 10 minutes to get
from Strasbourg to Paris. This
will be reduced to two hours
and 20 minutes on June 10
when the line opens.
The proposed inauguration
by the President of the
Republic has also been
criticised with one million
euros being spent on
floodlighting 300km of track.
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