The trains at high speed are passenger trains (generally, because there exist postal TGV) circulating in business service with high speeds to 250 km/h in exploitation.

The highest speeds are practiced on new lines, whose characteristics of layout (ray of the curves) and equipment (indication) are adapted at the high speeds.

It should be noted that the Sigle TGV is a Registered trademark of the the SNCF which reserves the regular commercial practice of it.

In fact indeformable oars (except workshop) can possibly be coupled. The TGV are not strictly speaking railcars since they are two engines framing of the trailers for passengers. The new generation of TGV, called AGV, will be it a railcar as well as all the shinkansen and the ICE3.

Up to now, they are very with normal spacing (only the normal and broad spacings allow regular circulation more than 200 km/h).

Except for the oars (replaced soon) circulating on the line Direttissima Rome-Florence, fed in 3000 V continuous, the trains at high speed use an alternative course supply with high tension: 15 Kv - 16 Hz 2/3 on the networks where this system is the standard (Germanic countries), 25 Kv - 50 Hz or 60 Hz in a great part of the world, 20 Kv - 50 or 60 Hz in Japan. Only these systems allow the very high calls of instantaneous power necessary to accelerations. According to the courses to be carried out on the preexistent networks certain oars are polycourants (case of the TGV Thalys, TGV POS and ICE 3 in particular).

After the Japan, pioneer in 1964 with the startup of the Shinkansen, several countries built lines at high speed and brought into service of the trains at high speed:

• the France: TGV POS (last generation of TGV) and TGV, with its international extensions Thalys, Eurostar, TGV Artesia and TGV Lyria;

• the Germany: ICE;
• the Spain: AVE (derivative of the TGV), Velaro (derivative of the ICE 3) and Talgo 350;
• the Italy: Pendolino, in the plural Pendolini (ETR 450 and 460/480 pendular and nonpendular ETR 500) and very new projects of TAV (Treno AD Alta Velocità, Train at high-speed) like, for example, the transalpine Rail link Lyon-Turin;
• the South Korea: KTX (derivative of the TGV);
• the the United States of America: Acela (very weighed down derivative of the TGV, circulating only on traditional line where it briefly reaches 240km/h);
• the Russia: Sokol;
• the Belgium: connected to the French, Dutch, German networks with TGV Brussels - France, Thalys, Eurostar and ICE. A many building work of LGV was undertaken;
• the Morocco: in project (derivative of the TGV).

Several technologies were implemented:

• In Japan, the Shinkansen with motorization distributed. Integral or not, according to the type of material.

• In France, the TGV and their derivatives, Thalys, Eurostar, AVE, KTX, Acela, developped at the point by Alstom in co-operation with the SNCF, use formed oars of two motor coaches with two bogies framing an articulated section, composed of trailers whose Bogie S intermediaries are common to two adjacent cases. The two extreme bogies of the articulated section can be motorized (TGV PSE, Eurostar).

• In Germany, ICE initially were with concentrated motorization (ICE 1, long oars with two motor coaches of end; ICE2 short oars with only one motor coach and couplables by two), before generation ICE 3 (and its derivatives (Velaro), manufactured by Siemens) does not open the way with the motorization distributed, with a motorized axle on two.

• In Italy, the Pendolino use a technique of pendulation, developed by FIAT ferroviaria (begun again since by Alstom) without necessarily aiming high speed. Certain series are conceived to reach 250 km/h on new line. To circulate up to 300 km/h Italian industry developed the oars ETR 500, nonpendular, consisted of two motices framing of the trailers intermédiares.

• In Spain the oars Talgo 350 consist of a section Talgo framed of two motor coaches with two bogies built by Adtranz (repurchased since by Bombardier).

Railteam

See also: Railteam

To facilitate synergy and the transfer between European networks the name suggested for this co-operation is Railteam, in reference to SkyTeam, the air association taken along by Air France.

See too

• Railroad
• Line at high speed
• Displacement at high speed
• Pendolino - ETR 450 - ETR 460 - ETR 500
• TGV
• ICE, Velaro
• Train at pendular high speed
• Shinkansen

External bonds

• Trains at High speed

• Alstom, manufacturer of Trains at High speed
• Technological History of Thalys and other Trains at High speed of Alstom, by Isabelle Saillot

Zh-min-nan: KB-sok-thih-lō·