British Rail Class 374 (e320 Eurostar)

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It has been a while since I’ve talked about fast trains. This week, we’ll do just that. Let me introduce you a beautiful derivative of German Engineering from Siemens, the next Channel Tunnel High Speed Train, the Velaro D based British Rail Class 374, the e320 Eurostar electric multiple unit. Most likely to be introduced sometime in 2015, the e320 will rule the Channel along side the current Eurostar, the Alstom push-pull TGV, British Rail Class 373, aka le train à grande vitesse transmanche super train. Though the Eurostars will not be the only trains operating in the Channel Tunnel at the time, Deutsche Bahn’s London-Frankfurt InterCity Express service will have hopefully begun by then, with DB’s own Velaro D, or DB Class 407s (and we are off topic).

A mock up of the e320 shown in Britain
For the safety of Channel Tunnel operation, the e320 has a consist of M-T-M-T-T-M-T-M-M-T-M-T-T-M-T-M (M denotes motor, or powered cars, T denotes trailer, or unpowered cars; unlike the Japanese, European builders prefer to power only half of the high speed train consist rather than 75-100%). The 8-cars on either end of this 16-car EMU form a half-set that could still self propel and exit the tunnel should the rest of the train get stuck in an emergency situation. The Class 374 is designed to be compliant with the ERA TSI (European Railway Agency Technical Specifications for Interoperability), meaning that she will be able to work beyond the limits of TVM (transmission voie-machine, the French LGV, ligne à grande vitesse, signal system) territory of Great Britain, France, and Belgium which the current Class 373 is bounded by.


The e320 will have a total maximum output of over 21 000 horsepower and be compatible with multiple European overhead electric systems. She will seat comfortably 900 and cruise at a speed of 199 miles per hour or 320 km/h.

Comments

Unknown said…
One more fastest train is going to added in United Kingdom railway.Eurostar e320, it is scheduled to start operation in late 2015 and it is a high-speed train and it will be run on the London-Paris-Brussels line.It is capable of carrying more than 900 passengers as a result of the 20% capacity boost given to it.It's propulsion system and technical modules are distributed under the floor.Wow...so UK railway system is getting more powerful and speedy ...
Mar 4, 2015, 7:35:00 AM
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