Rail: High Speed Trains network

Grumpy · #1 Posted **Oct 10, 2006, 7:38 PM**

Let use this thread for the several High-Speed-Train network extensions throughout Europe.

Amsterdam - Belgian border:

Paris - Baudrécourt:
http://www.lgv-est.com/trace-tgv-est.php

travelling time from Paris to several destinations:

Grumpy · #2 Posted **Oct 11, 2006, 6:52 PM**

I would like to know how the German and French network is going to be connected in the future.
Next year when the TGV-Est line is open to Baudrécourt trains are going to run from Paris to Munich/Frankfurt and vice versa.

Are there plans to cross the river Rhine near Strasbourg and what about Baudrécourt towards Frankfurt ?
A new line along Saarbruecken/Kaiserslautern to Mannheim or another solution ?

Fabb · #3 Posted **Oct 11, 2006, 8:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grumpy

Let use this thread for the several High-Speed-Train network extensions throughout Europe.

Amsterdam - Belgian border:

Will this line open next year ? I've heard contradicting news.

Grumpy · #4 Posted **Oct 11, 2006, 8:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fabb

Will this line open next year ? I've heard contradicting news.

Fully in service on April 1st 2007 (no joke)

but : Thalys service will use the regular lines until december 2007 + the HSA trains by Ansaldobreda to ride on the new line are scheduled by the end of 2008

AJW · #5 Posted **Oct 11, 2006, 8:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grumpy

Fully in service on April 1st 2007 (no joke)

It will be in service from the 1st of June 2007 according to the HSL website.

Fabb · #6 Posted **Oct 11, 2006, 8:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grumpy

but : Thalys service will use the regular lines until december 2007

That's very disappointing... and I can't think of a good reason for the delay. So, what kind of trains will use the line at the beginning ?

Swede · #7 Posted **Oct 11, 2006, 9:06 PM**

One thing i'd like to see is a highspeed line to Copenhagen (from Germany). connecting by way of the proposed/agreed upon Fehmarn Belt bridge/tunnel (connecting Fehmarn & Lolland), basically a straight line from Hamburg to Copenhagen (thru Lübeck).
Having real highspeed rail all the way to Stockholm would be cool, but is just unrealistic. Too far for one city of 1.8M (metro).

Grumpy · #8 Posted **Oct 12, 2006, 8:50 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by qzzq

It will be in service from the 1st of June 2007 according to the HSL website.

Correct , my appologies for giving wrong information

CHapp · #9 Posted **Oct 13, 2006, 5:01 AM**

Eh guys, April 1 or June 1 in the same year, that's just a difference of a couple of months. No big deal!

AJW · #10 Posted **Oct 13, 2006, 10:39 PM**

^Yeah, it's no biggie.

Big projects like this get delayed all the time. I would actually be surprised if they made it the 1st of June. It'll probably get delayed some more.

Grumpy · #11 Posted **Jan 11, 2007, 8:16 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swede

One thing i'd like to see is a highspeed line to Copenhagen (from Germany). connecting by way of the proposed/agreed upon Fehmarn Belt bridge/tunnel (connecting Fehmarn & Lolland), basically a straight line from Hamburg to Copenhagen (thru Lübeck).
Having real highspeed rail all the way to Stockholm would be cool, but is just unrealistic. Too far for one city of 1.8M (metro).

Is this project still alive ?
Got any renderings ?

Swede · #12 Posted **Jan 11, 2007, 10:28 PM**

^Haven't heard anything since then, but the news back in the fall was that the German and Danish goverments had taken a step forwards with the agreement needed for the whole Link to happen.

In other HSL news, the Norwegians seem to be considering real HSR on dedicated HSL (they've got money to spend...). graciously, they're including a Oslo-Göteborg HSL in their studies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Norway

Grumpy · #13 Posted **Feb 3, 2007, 8:40 PM**

Would love to see something about the new HSL from London to Kent

Grumpy · #14 Posted **Feb 23, 2007, 8:13 PM**

Pictures of some High Speed lines around Brussels that were recently taken

Swede · #15 Posted **Feb 23, 2007, 8:44 PM**

News on the Scandi front: http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1298&a=618705
Basically, the Swedish Rail Authority has said that in the future the Stockholm-Göteborg line is to take just 2h15min including all (2?) stops inbetween. That means a top speed in 300 or 320km/h

a quick graphic I put together:

Blue - what they've now said is eventually to be a real HSL
Green - possible connections to Oslo
Red - possible connection to Köbenhavn and on to Germany
Gray - other routes done by X2000 today

Grumpy · #16 Posted **Feb 24, 2007, 8:40 AM**

Trains who leave CPH are going to where in Sweden/Norway actually ?

Swede · #17 Posted **Feb 24, 2007, 9:14 AM**

Afaik, there's just two long distance lines ending at Copenhagen (i.e., not counting commuter trains to Skåne). Stockholm and Göteborg/Oslo. The Bridge is almost at capacity iirc, so eventually they'll need doubble-decker trains for the Copenhagen-Malmö commuters (serious crowding during rush-hour).

pricemazda · #18 Posted **Feb 24, 2007, 12:35 PM**

Are there any plans to build a rail/road link across the Baltic to the Alands and Finland?

To me that and a link from Helsinki to Estonia and a UK/Ireland link are the only gaps since the Oresund and Channel Tunnel links.

Swede · #19 Posted **Feb 24, 2007, 2:50 PM**

No serious ones, no. The market is already pretty well set up with large ferries and plenty of flights. If you need to get there in a couple of hours, just take a plane, but if you need cheap the ferries start at under 10€ (even cheaper to get to Åland). So there's no need for it and it would be extremely costly to build.
Oh, and Finland has it's own guage for the railways anyway

HKI-TLN is more realistic, but that'd need better connections south from Tallinn (the Rail Baltica project that's in the works).

pricemazda · #20 Posted **Feb 24, 2007, 6:41 PM**

I think a UK/Ireland link will be difficult as well.

The shortest distance is from Scotland to Northern Ireland, therefore the UK govt alone will have to pay for the costs.

Also the sea there is very deep making engineering very hard as well. I think we will see a UK HS network first before any new bridges to Ireland or even a road tunnel to France.