New TGV at over 500KPH

[idun]

I like the TGV when it is working properly, lovely smooth ride and so quick, and I can compare, as I have had one journey when we had the clackety clack all the way from Lyon to Lille, and that, that day, felt like a very long way.

And now they are building a new one that'll go at about 518kph. Now that sounds fine and I'm sure that the carriages'll be great, but what has me worried, (and to some extent with the current one), is if anything gets on the line, because the faster it goes, surely there is more risk and any crash would be horrific?????

I am not good at science, so are these 'fears' of mine, silly, or reasonable?

[andyh4]

You really should have no real fear, but equally your concern is not silly.

The TGV speed record is 574kph (IIRC). During one of the test runs on the then soon to be opened LGV Est, a piece of loose ballast stone from the newly laid track bounced up and severed the brake pipe between two of the coaches. This caused the train to automatically go into an emergency stop from its speed of around 500kph. The stopping distance was 15 kilometres. So I can understand the concern.

However, the design of the TGVs with articulated coaching stock leads to a very stable arrangement and in the very few occasions hen a TGV has come off the track, the coaches have remained upright and there have been no serious injuries.

The main danger then is if a TGV hits something at speed. The LGV has a very secure signalling system with automatic overrides. Driver error is essentially eliminated.

LGV lines (which is where the high speeds are achieved) do not have level crossings (so an incident such as we saw on the Paris Roubaix bike race will not happen at the high speeds - and remember such incidents are almost always the result of cretins on the road).

So I think your fears are understandable, but unfounded.

Finally is flying in a fast jet plane more dangerous than in an old propeller driven one?

[Val_2]

Warp drive TGV! Here you have to wait for two hours of normal train speeds before the faster TGV speed kicks in when the train gets past Rennes near Laval for Paris but they are currently working on upgrading the system for TGV speeds across the peninsula. This new desired speed won't leave much in it's wake if it hits an object on the line