High speed rail
Distance between stations, gradients, capacity, track, signalling, communication systems and interoperability with conventional lines are all important factors when planning a new high-speed rail system. In order to get the best solution, we must take lessons from around the world
H High capacity
HS2 aims to operate at a capacity of 18 trains per hour, which will be a new achievement for high-speed rail. This will be a challenge according to SYSTRA’s HSR technical director Jacques Rabouel, who led the Operational Concept Study commissioned by HS2 Ltd in 2011. ‘I would not say that running a
railway with so many trains an hour is straightforward, but with current high- speed rolling stock orders increasing, manufacturers and operators are finding ways to respond to that market. There are some areas of uncertainty, but investment in braking performance, for example, is now an area of active development for some suppliers.’
The Operational Concept Study looked at every aspect of the new line’s operation and made recommendations which have hopefully helped inform decision making. The study provided engineering and operating support for the proposed
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igh-speed rail was born in Japan. In 1964 the first Shinkansen or ‘bullet train’ made its way from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka. Second off
the starting blocks was France, with its TGV line between Paris and Lyon, the first section of which opened for business in 1981.
Since then, high-speed rail has spread around the world to countries including South Korea, Taiwan, Spain and China – and continues to spread. Most recent HSR projects include a new line in Morocco currently being put into service and Kazakhstan’s first high-speed line, for which feasibility studies are underway. ‘There tend to be two styles of high- speed rail in development,’ said Andrew Boagey, SYSTRA’s business director for Northern Europe. ‘Those where new lines are generally isolated from the conventional tracks, such as Spain and Japan, and the more integrated solutions that permit trains to run further afield, using conventional lines.’
The UK’s HS2 falls into the latter
category. One of HS2’s challenges will be achieving its capacity goals while accommodating trains joining the system from conventional lines to the North.
timetable plans to run 15 trains per hour in the first phase of operation and to raise the capacity to the much-quoted 18 trains per hour during phase two. ‘Every HSR project sponsor has to target a future scenario,’ pointed out Rabouel. ‘We have to, quite deliberately, recognise that when a new line is being procured, some of the technology we see on operational railway lines today will have moved on.’
There are also challenges at control
system level. European high-speed rail lines are obliged to use the new European Train Control Systems (ETCS) which provide a range of interoperable technological solutions for cab-based signalling at high speed.
‘The main driver for the technological
development of ETCS has been their interoperability and their compliance across a broad range of speed applications, rather than their responsiveness at high speed,’ said Rabouel. ‘The market has to put a focus on this aspect.’ Considering rolling stock, the distance
between stations plays a major part in defining the design. In Germany, for example, where stations tend to be around 80km apart, fast acceleration and hard braking are more important than reaching high top speeds. In France, where distances between stops are longer, attaining higher speeds takes precedence over the needs for rapid acceleration and braking. This average speed effect has implications right across
the design. Speed and acceleration impact on
the extent to which manufacturers have historically planned the number and position of power units. ‘Distributed traction is a feature of some of the newer high-speed rail rolling stock developments,’ said Boagey. ‘This is a good example of how the suppliers are responding to the increased diversification of the high-speed rail market to meet the demands of a wider variety of lines and operational needs than we saw in the 20th
century.’ There are few high-speed lines which
can really be considered similar to HS2. One current comparison could be Morocco where 200km of new high speed line between Tangier and Kenitra is being built with upgrading of lines between Kenitra and Casablanca.
‘The distance and the relatively flat topography are similar,’ said Rabouel. ‘But the traffic will be far lower, so they don’t have the same capacity challenges. They will be looking to run six or seven trains an hour, at least initially.’
Similarities in capacity and operation can be found in the Southern Europe Atlantic (SEA) high-speed line which will connect the French Atlantic Coast to the rest of the European high-speed network. Currently under construction, the line involves building 340km of new track, 300km of which will be high speed. SEA’s operators will face the same challenges as HS2, where, for example, a
Image: Systra
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