France launches new high speed train (successor to TGV)

[JohnyCanuck]

France unveils super-fast train

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has attended the launch of a new high-speed train made by engineering giant Alstom.

The AGV (Automotrice Grande Vitesse) train will travel at up to 360km/h (224mph), powered by engines placed under each carriage, the company says.

The absence of locomotives at either end allows it to carry more passengers.

SNIP

With an engine under each carriage, the AGV - which translates as "high-speed railcar" - is unlike the TGV, which has engines only at the back and front.

It was also built using Alstom's own funds rather than as a joint venture with the state rail firm SNCF as the TGV was.

The TGV's maximum speed currently is 320km/h. But a modified TGV achieved a world rail speed record for a train on conventional rails last April, reaching 574.8km/h.

The AGV's new engines are more energy-efficient and the innovative multiple-unit design allows more passenger space, Alstom says.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7227807.stm

[bryant69]

1. Cool I wish we had better train service in the US.

We americans are addicted to Cars though.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Benhurst]

2. Yeah, the French may have super-fast trains and the world's best medical care;

but are they The World's Only Superpower?

BushAmerica

:patriot:

Root, hog, or die!

[originalpckelly]

8. The idea for train service here, would be to replace airplanes with vehicles that...

can run on electricity and thus help us get off of foreign oil. I've been thinking about this for quite a while, if I had enough money I'd start a company to do something about it. But, I is po', so a silly idea it will remain.

[SpiralHawk]

3. "Ahh, but Mercury is Retrograde." - Ronald Regan's Dead Republicon Astrologer

"D'oh. You Frenchies should have checked with a republicon occultist. You are going to regret your timing. Smirk."

- Ronald Reagan's Dead Republicon Astrologer*



* Courageously channeled by Spiral Hawk, who consumed 1/2 dozen cream-filled doughnuts to protect his Precious Bodily Fluids while surfing about in the occult republicon Netherworld.

[russian33]

4. TGV is/was a very cool, comfortable train

I rode it from Nice to Paris in 2006, about 5 1/2 hour journey, through the country side, amazing trip

[DemoTex]

6. I rode the TGV from Bordeaux to Paris a few years back.

Then I rode the Air France Concorde from CDG to JFK. What a trip!

[kwassa]

5. The US should start high-speed service like this

Alstom already sells train and subway cars in the US.

I rode the TGV from Bern, Switzerland to Paris. It was a great way to travel.

[originalpckelly]

7. Oh yes! I've been waiting!

Dayum, that is one fine looking train! It'll travel at 223-ish mph, which is really only 20 or so MPH faster than the POS trains that run on the POS line.

[KharmaTrain]

9. Isn't This The New System From China?

I saw a report on their new high-speed...based on magnetic fields that helped it get to those speeds. Discovery Channel showed how the system worked and it'd sure be welcome here. Last summer we took the Acela from New York to Philly...took an hour, but going from downtown to downtown, no ugly TSA screeners and a nice view/ride made it a very pleasant experience. This country is long overdue to revise our long and short distance rail needs...the technology is there and it would revilitize the rail industry.