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[–] 38 points 1 year ago (15 children)

Were there any advantages over normal trains except cool factor?

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  • [–] 27 points 1 year ago* (3 children)

    They allowed for >250km/h speeds. They were basically competing technology and were developed at the same time as modern high speed rail (and lost).

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I imagine they'd have less wear and tear and would require less maitenence would they not? Potentially at least depending on how they hover.

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  • [–] 20 points 1 year ago

    Not really. Needs its own rails too so you can't use other trains on it or it on other tracks. Regular high speed trains are capable of going faster than UK speed limits anyway so really it would be better to upgrade the existing infrastructure to allow higher speeds if speed was a concern.

    A high speed train can also go onto non high speed lines, just at a lower speed. The reverse is also possible although generally you want to avoid blocking up the line too much with slower trains.

    Build HS2 and then start HS3-12. Tell NIMBYs to go fuck themselves.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago (6 children)

    https://youtu.be/3APay0wgYt0

    Speed, at the cost of an incompatible and more expensive infrastructure, and even "regular" raillines are now can be upgraded to 300km/h.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    even "regular" raillines are now can be upgraded

    I assume this is contingent on the existing line being fairly straight and direct? Where I live, the tracks are very meandering to navigate hills and valleys, and train staff told me the chance of an upgrade was basically zero.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago

    Definitely impossible for most tracks. Possible for some, but at high costs. Germans have been upgrading some lines for decades now... The best (worst) example being the north-south towards Basel. For high speed the paths need to be further apart from eachother, there need to be better barriers between tracks and what's around them, the curves indeed need to be wider, the 'tilt' in the track in curves might need to be adjusted too... All of which leads to necessity of many new bridges and tunnels where this upgrading is impossible due to surroundings. It costs many millions of € per km and many decades to accomplish. The French on the other hand mainly went for "build new lines", it was clearly the better approach to get shit done fast (tho skipping many possible stops altogether on the new lines).

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    It's possible to upgrade a line like that, but it will involve a lot of cutting through hills or building bridges over valleys

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  • [–] 9 points 1 year ago* (1 child)

    Taking the french Aérotrain advantages:

    • Higher speed (due to inexistant rail drag)
    • More comfortable
    • Less noise
    • Faster braking
    • Way cheaper rails and maintenance (just concrete rails that don’t get rolled on, no steel)
    • Rails can be easily elevated, taking less space on the ground and avoiding intersections with roads as well as landlocking. Basically, you can cross fields without bothering farmers too much
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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago

    The trouble is you have to replace existing infrastructure which means as soon as you start ripping up old rail lines you can no longer run traditional trains so the level of service is actually going to go down not up. Hence why it was abandoned.

    Any revolutionary train technology is going to have to work on the existing infrastructure, or it's not going to happen regardless of how revolutionary it might otherwise be.

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