Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2003 10:35:55 +0100 From: Martin Rich <M.G.Richnopsam.ac.uk> Subject: Re: GM to increase SAAB lineup
davehinznopsamcop.net wrote: > Mark Gerritsma wrote: >> Trains do not work well at all for commercial shipping in Europe. At >> every border the locomotive has to be replaced (different safety >> systems and overhead wire voltages) and especially at transit >> stations lots of time is lost. The extra costs of road shipping is >> usually far outweighed by the shortenend delivery time. > > That whole rail size and voltage thing hasn't been standardized _yet_? > I'm surprised at that. I believe you, mind you, but I'm just >shocked. Third rather off-topic contribution ot this thread, so excuse me. This sounds more like a lack of managerial will to recognise that freight trains might be time-critical, than any insuperable technical problem. There are perhaps four or five different electrical standards but there are plenty of passenger trains that support several of these - the Eurostar service that runs from London to Paris and Brussels for a start.. If you're running one train through several countries you also have staff training issues, as the driver needs to know what to do in an emergency in each country. That includes some knowledge of the language. Much of the world including vast swathes of Western and Central Europe uses one standard gauge (distance between the rails). There are non-standard gauges in Spain, Portugal, Ireland and the former Soviet countries but even then the technology to run trains across these boundaries has been around for many years. Martin
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