3 ms·

At these speeds, how are they guaranteeing that the tracks are in PERFECT working order? e.g. even a small earthquake that shifts the tracks a few inches would

At these speeds, how are they guaranteeing that the tracks are in PERFECT working order? e.g. even a small earthquake that shifts the tracks a few inches would probably cause, at minimum, a degradation in service.

thenthenthen 8mo ago
There are high fps cameras that monitor the overhead lines on every carriage, maybe also pointing at the rails? It is a engineering marvel though, the rides are so smooth, in my home country the trains have issues with leafs on the tracks … lol
- pixl97 8mo ago
  This sounds like a Plainly Difficult moment.
arethuza 8mo ago
I suspect ~200 years ago in England people were saying pretty similar things!
piva00 8mo ago
Japan has solved that 60+ years ago in a much more seismically active zone, it's not a major issue.
- K0balt 8mo ago
  That’s fascinating, what do they do?
  - SapporoChris 8mo ago
    seismometers installed along the coast and near the tracks. Senses the earthquake and trains respond if necessary. I believe if the epicenter of the quake occurred directly under a moving train this system would fail(or too close react). However, that appears never to have happened and is probably extremely unlikely.
api 8mo ago
Sensors all over the tracks? There’s probably many different sensor strategies you could use to detect imperfections. I know that modern roller coasters are outfitted with a bunch of stress, vibration, conductivity, etc sensors. There’s a theme park near me where huge fast roller coasters run all day every day all season. The speeds aren’t as high but I bet given the twists and turns the stresses and tolerances are worse.
Animats 8mo ago
It does require really good maintenance-of-way work. Having all trains inspect the track is feasible. The latest round of Shinkansen trains does that. They're moving away from running a Dr. Yellow track inspection train every 10 days.[1] [1] https://www.railway.supply/n700s-trains-to-be-equipped-with-infrastructure-diagnostics-equipment/ https://www.railway.supply/n700s-trains-to-be-equipped-with-...
expedition32 8mo ago
In my country there are special trains equiped with sensors that drive around at night to measure the tracks. Would have prevented that disaster in Spain.

thenthenthen 8mo ago

There are high fps cameras that monitor the overhead lines on every carriage, maybe also pointing at the rails? It is a engineering marvel though, the rides are so smooth, in my home country the trains have issues with leafs on the tracks … lol

pixl97 8mo ago
This sounds like a Plainly Difficult moment.

arethuza 8mo ago

I suspect ~200 years ago in England people were saying pretty similar things!

piva00 8mo ago

Japan has solved that 60+ years ago in a much more seismically active zone, it's not a major issue.

K0balt 8mo ago
That’s fascinating, what do they do?
- SapporoChris 8mo ago
  seismometers installed along the coast and near the tracks. Senses the earthquake and trains respond if necessary. I believe if the epicenter of the quake occurred directly under a moving train this system would fail(or too close react). However, that appears never to have happened and is probably extremely unlikely.

api 8mo ago

Sensors all over the tracks? There’s probably many different sensor strategies you could use to detect imperfections. I know that modern roller coasters are outfitted with a bunch of stress, vibration, conductivity, etc sensors. There’s a theme park near me where huge fast roller coasters run all day every day all season. The speeds aren’t as high but I bet given the twists and turns the stresses and tolerances are worse.

Animats 8mo ago

It does require really good maintenance-of-way work. Having all trains inspect the track is feasible. The latest round of Shinkansen trains does that. They're moving away from running a Dr. Yellow track inspection train every 10 days.[1] [1] https://www.railway.supply/n700s-trains-to-be-equipped-with-infrastructure-diagnostics-equipment/ https://www.railway.supply/n700s-trains-to-be-equipped-with-...

expedition32 8mo ago

In my country there are special trains equiped with sensors that drive around at night to measure the tracks. Would have prevented that disaster in Spain.