The FRA has put a restiction on the Talgo trains used by Amtrak in the NW Cascadia Corridor to run at 79 MPH top speed. This is due to it not meeting FRA crash specs. This will severly hinder Washington State's attempts to shorten the trip time between Portland and Seattle to under 3 hours. Currently the trip is about 4 hours. ------------------ Subwaymark (Mark Kavanagh) Salem, OR Transit Photos website: http://www.trainweb.org/subwaymark
RULES RULES RULES. I know they are meant to protect us but situations like this make the choice between trains or driving easier to make. Unfortunate as the railroads have enough problems attracting passengers these days. Just fix the darn thing. ------------------ Robin member #35 Maberly and Tayside
Anyone know what speed these trains run at in Spain? I suppose that in the USA, more crashes are expected, due to the unfenced right of way, and American drivers' attitude to waiting for trains to pass ------------------ Alan Curtis. Moderator. Member #12 The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale! www.alancurtismodels.com Andersley Western Railroad Alan's American Gallery [This message has been edited by Alan (edited 20 December 2000).]
The FRA guidelines are stupid in this case. The Cascade Talgos have been involved in 4 accidents in the last 18 months-only one resulted in injuries to passengers. The train, travelling at track speed, hit a large mudslide. Only the F59PHI locomotive derailed, the worst injury was a broken ankle. The way the Talgos are set up, it would take a major collision to result in a death to a passenger. A locomotive is at one end, a cab car (F40PH demotored) is at another (altho sometimes they run with an F59PHI at both ends. Between the power and first passenger car there is a "power car" on one end, and a baggage car at the other. In other words, to really get into the passenger compartment, an object would have to travel thru the locomotive or cab car, then the power/baggage car. The safety of these trains has already been demonstrated in Spain, where the current generation runs at speeds approaching 150 mph. The last fatal (passenger) accident involving a Talgo that I am aware of was in 1997. I do not have the particulars, but I think only 1 or 2 died.
Will this hurt Amtrak? Were they even running above 60 MPH??? On the former Mt. Baker International Route (now just called 'Cascade') They don't hit above any where above 40 on Canadian soil, and 50 on American! Dane
