XBR1YD1R%DDATHD21.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU (YD1R@BR1.THDNET) (01/27/86)
In Europe there are several countries, where trains run on the left track, even though the traffic on street uses the right side. I know it from Italy and France and I think they do so in Austria. In Paris it's very strange: The Metro (RATP) rides on the right side, the new Metro (RER/SNCF) which uses tubes deep under the rails of the old Metro runs on the left side, because it is own of SNCF. Btw.: The "rails" of the old metro are not always rails from iron. On some lines the trains run on air-pneus led in concrete-"rails". In Germany the trains are not turned. The seats are in compartments, like in most european countries. So half of the seats are forward half of the seats are backward. The seats are fixed and cannot be flipped. But there is no preferation of any seats. In some newer cars the seats are arranged like in busses or air-planes. But I like more travelling in compartments. In Germany they are building a new high-speed line between Hannover and Wuerzburg. This new line is for freight trains and Inter-City-Trains. In December there was a test of the new train ICE for this high-speed line. It ran about 317 km/h (=200 MPH ) in the test. Later when the trains will run regulary they think about a speed of 280 km/h. 317 km/h were world record for three phase current powered trains. TGV in France ran in a test more than 100 m/s (=360km/h) - and the train looks more elagant than the german ICE. The ICE (InterCity Expermental) gets its power from overhead line 15000V 16 2/3 Hz which is converted in the engine into three phase current. The new line between Hannover and Wuerzburg has a very little gradient (less than 1 percent), because of the long freight trains. So they have to built many tunnels and bridges. Some people say there are more bridges and tunnels than tracks on the ground. In France the TGV climbs hills with much more grade without loosing speed. The tracks there where built for exlusive use of TGV. So they do not bother with other slower trains. When the TGV (train a grande vitesse) rain shoots over the top of a hill, the children are having much pleasure jumping in the aisle (gangway?) of the train. Concerning the signals: The german railroad company "Deutsche Bundesbahn" has light signals and semaphors. But the semaphors are more and more dissapearing. Installing new signals they take light signals only (so it seems to me). Because the DB is the only (and federal) railway company there are very few different types of signals in germany. Bye Stephan Preis (#d1r@ddathd21.BITNET via WISCVM.WISC.EDU) Technische Hochschule Darmstadt Rechenzentrum - Benutzerberatung Petersenstrasse 30 D-6100 Darmstadt West Germany