3 ms·

I think the french do a better job though, the TGV is way smoother than Virgin Trains despite travelling at about twice the average speed. You could do a hand d

by willyt 7y ago

I think the french do a better job though, the TGV is way smoother than Virgin Trains despite travelling at about twice the average speed. You could do a hand drawn sketch on a TGV, you can't do this on a UK train.

laurencerowe 7y ago
I think this is due to the track being much curvier. Virgin’s trains have to tilt so they can run fast on standard lines. Dedicated high speed lines are built much straighter.
- inferiorhuman 7y ago
  As someone who got stuck in between towns for about an hour while the conductor blamed passengers for the problem – UK rail is mediocre, to put it mildly. The engineer was a bit more constructive and spent his time on the phone with Hitachi. The London Underground is about the only exception here. Meanwhile tilting trains are designed to tilt so that they can run at faster speeds. They can be designed to ride just fine (e.g. Shinkansen, Amtrak's Acela Express, some of RENFE's AVE lines, etc).
  - laurencerowe 7y ago
    Moving to California gave me a new appreciation for UK rail.
    - inferiorhuman 7y ago
      Most of California's rail is low speed and diesel powered. There's almost certainly a higher density of rail service in England, but electrified and/or high speed rail is fairly rare. The infrastructure was so poor around the reign of Thatcher that a lot of the notorious British innovation went into high speed service on low quality tracks. It's all quite unfortunate as the Brits really had a chance to build out an amazing system (something California hasn't really had the interest in doing). The Underground is pretty great, DLR is at least as dirty and disgusting as BART, and the regional stuff… they don't call it Worst Western Railway for nothing. Electrification is coming at a snail's pace both to California and the UK.

3 ms·

I think the french do a better job though, the TGV is way smoother than Virgin Trains despite travelling at about twice the average speed. You could do a hand d

by willyt 7y ago

laurencerowe 7y ago
I think this is due to the track being much curvier. Virgin’s trains have to tilt so they can run fast on standard lines. Dedicated high speed lines are built much straighter.
- inferiorhuman 7y ago
  As someone who got stuck in between towns for about an hour while the conductor blamed passengers for the problem – UK rail is mediocre, to put it mildly. The engineer was a bit more constructive and spent his time on the phone with Hitachi. The London Underground is about the only exception here. Meanwhile tilting trains are designed to tilt so that they can run at faster speeds. They can be designed to ride just fine (e.g. Shinkansen, Amtrak's Acela Express, some of RENFE's AVE lines, etc).
  - laurencerowe 7y ago
    Moving to California gave me a new appreciation for UK rail.
    - inferiorhuman 7y ago
      Most of California's rail is low speed and diesel powered. There's almost certainly a higher density of rail service in England, but electrified and/or high speed rail is fairly rare. The infrastructure was so poor around the reign of Thatcher that a lot of the notorious British innovation went into high speed service on low quality tracks. It's all quite unfortunate as the Brits really had a chance to build out an amazing system (something California hasn't really had the interest in doing). The Underground is pretty great, DLR is at least as dirty and disgusting as BART, and the regional stuff… they don't call it Worst Western Railway for nothing. Electrification is coming at a snail's pace both to California and the UK.