From Patrick le Corre
Sheffield
I wish to point out erroneous information about the capacities of
conventional trains (“Star Wars express”, 6 April, p 32).
First, the author says: “At speeds of around 300 kilometres per hour . . .
`The wheels literally spin out from under you’ ” and “a train pushes a huge
cushion of air in front it and this effectively limits its top speed to around
320 kilometres per hour. The only way to reach speeds approaching 500 kilometres
per hour is to build elevated tracks . . . that allow the air to pass under the
train.”
Well, I am afraid that France’s TGV-Atlantique 325 reached a speed of 515.3
km/h in trials in May 1990, and this without using elevated tracks. Nor can the
possibility of collisions with animals be a justification for elevated tracks.
Existing fast tracks are fenced, ruling out this possibility.
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In any case, if Seraphim is to reach such speeds it is unlikely to do so on
existing tracks because they usually curve too sharply in places. Furthermore,
the joints between rails of old tracks are very inconvenient, at least for the
passenger. It would be better to replace these with the welded, bumpless track,
as has been done on some British lines.
