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Europe has had trains travelling at 200mph for three decades https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVE & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

by ktzar 7y ago

Europe has had trains travelling at 200mph for three decades https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVE & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TGV Britain is just way behind, and it's gonna stay that way.

NeedMoreTea 7y ago
Whyever would you think that? BR had a plan in the 70s, to be ready early 80s, to get a reasonably modern network. We had the East Coast main line that was historically the "record breaking" line, where for some stretches 125mph+ was possible. 4468 Mallard got the steam record on it in 1938 - 126mph! We had some extremely old bits of track too. So, plan was APT - a 155mph tilting modern electric, and HST - a 125mph diesel for lines that needed uprating or electrification (most of them), only temporarily. Plans for a Channel tunnel were resurrected and agreed. The French SNCF was just getting on with building TGV, with enough funding to build a network fit for purpose. Thatcher threatened APT with cancellation, so there was a far too early demo, that went infamously poorly. HSTs were rolled out. A year or two later APT was quietly ready for service. Thatcher sold everything to Fiat, complete with patents. That's not the end of that story. HST is limited to 90 and 110mph across most of the network as it's not up to 125mph. Bits of East Coast can have it run as designed. Many years later, UK train companies want to buy Pendelino, an Italian tilting train to modernise the network. Pendelino is the descendent of APT we sold off. West Coast main line - one of Europe's busiest - finally finished upgrade, ready for 150mph Pendelino. Except to HST suitable speeds - 125mph in the 2010s! We now have 150mph capable trains limited to 125mph. Yep, most definitely gonna stay that way.
- TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
  The UK has some of the best tech and some of the worst politics in all of Europe. Considering the talent available, the country really has been badly run to the point of criminality.
  - NeedMoreTea 7y ago
    Yup, and we keep doing the same things over and over. Like BT being ready for fibre rollout, having invented half the tech, and being required to sell it off to S Korea around 1990. Supposedly so they weren't "unfair" competition to Blueyonder cable TV. Somewhere through the 60s or 70s we just about completely lost the ability to do national projects, and joined up thinking.

by ktzar 7y ago

NeedMoreTea 7y ago

Whyever would you think that? BR had a plan in the 70s, to be ready early 80s, to get a reasonably modern network. We had the East Coast main line that was historically the "record breaking" line, where for some stretches 125mph+ was possible. 4468 Mallard got the steam record on it in 1938 - 126mph! We had some extremely old bits of track too. So, plan was APT - a 155mph tilting modern electric, and HST - a 125mph diesel for lines that needed uprating or electrification (most of them), only temporarily. Plans for a Channel tunnel were resurrected and agreed. The French SNCF was just getting on with building TGV, with enough funding to build a network fit for purpose. Thatcher threatened APT with cancellation, so there was a far too early demo, that went infamously poorly. HSTs were rolled out. A year or two later APT was quietly ready for service. Thatcher sold everything to Fiat, complete with patents. That's not the end of that story. HST is limited to 90 and 110mph across most of the network as it's not up to 125mph. Bits of East Coast can have it run as designed. Many years later, UK train companies want to buy Pendelino, an Italian tilting train to modernise the network. Pendelino is the descendent of APT we sold off. West Coast main line - one of Europe's busiest - finally finished upgrade, ready for 150mph Pendelino. Except to HST suitable speeds - 125mph in the 2010s! We now have 150mph capable trains limited to 125mph. Yep, most definitely gonna stay that way.

TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
The UK has some of the best tech and some of the worst politics in all of Europe. Considering the talent available, the country really has been badly run to the point of criminality.
- NeedMoreTea 7y ago
  Yup, and we keep doing the same things over and over. Like BT being ready for fibre rollout, having invented half the tech, and being required to sell it off to S Korea around 1990. Supposedly so they weren't "unfair" competition to Blueyonder cable TV. Somewhere through the 60s or 70s we just about completely lost the ability to do national projects, and joined up thinking.