V150
The V150 is the name of the high-speed train that set a new world speed record for wheel-rail vehicles in France on April 3, 2007 . The train , specially put together for the record run, reached a speed of 574.79 km / h on LGV Est européenne .
V150 stands for Vitesse 150 (in German: speed 150 ) and describes the planned speed of the record run of at least 150 meters per second (540 km / h). The train used consisted of two power cars of the TGV POS 4402 and three double-decker - intermediate cars .
The multiple unit thus surpassed the world record set by the TGV Atlantique 325 at 515.3 km / h on May 18, 1990. At the same time, however, the record train remained below the record for track-guided vehicles , which was set in April 2015 by the Japanese maglev Shinkansen series L0 with 603 km / h was set up.
The record run was the culmination of a test program known as L'Excellence Française de la Très Grande Vitesse Ferroviaire , organized by Alstom , the network operator RFF and the SNCF . In addition to setting up the new world record, the driving comfort at speeds over 500 km / h was to be examined and the safety reserves of the TGV system in regular operation were to be explored. In the record train, Alstom also tested new technologies that are used in the TGV successor AGV .
A total of around 500 employees were involved in the project, including around 300 engineers and technicians. Around 60 of them were on board during the record run.
preparation
A three-month period was available for the record runs on LGV Est, between the completion of the electrification in January 2007 and the start of training runs for train drivers in April. Regular operations on the route began on June 10th.
The test program for the record began on January 15, 2007. The speed of the train was gradually increased above the regular maximum speed of 320 km / h permitted on the route.
On February 9th, a speed of more than 500 km / h was reached for the first time. Overall, this mark should be exceeded in a dozen trips. Unofficially, the 515 km / h record of 1990 was increased several times before the official record run: on February 13, between the route kilometers 194 and 191, at Passavant-en-Argonne, initially to 554.3 km / h. This was followed by more unofficial journeys with 559 and finally 568 km / h. After the unofficial record runs, the train was transferred to the Ourcq depot on February 23 , where it was also given a special black and blue paintwork. In addition, a stripe in the national colors of France was attached to both power cars, which merges into the adjacent center car. After the official opening of the route by President Jacques Chirac on March 15th, the preparatory program was resumed.
By March 14th, 40 test drives were carried out at speeds of more than 450 km / h; the speed was increased again gradually. In addition to evaluating the measurement results, the Mauzin test train (TGV POS) carried out a measurement run after each test drive to check the position of the track. During test drives, around 2200 km were covered at over 400 km / h and more than 700 km at more than 500 km / h.
Before each express journey, TGV POS 4404 traveled the route as a sweeper train (French rame balai ) at 380 km / h and examined the condition of the superstructure, the track position and the overhead line . Minimum requirements for visibility, temperature, weather and wind speed were set for the record run. Only one of the test drives had to be canceled due to fog .
During an emergency braking from 506.8 km / h on March 28th, peak temperatures of 650 degrees Celsius were measured on the brake discs.
technology
The 106-meter-long train with a total mass of 268 tons consisted of two power cars and three driven intermediate coaches .
The two power cars (384 003 and 384 004) come from the TGV-POS multiple unit, but received a number of modifications. Three of the four pantographs were removed and the roof was aerodynamically optimized. The front flaps (with the coupling behind them ) on the front were removed and replaced with a solid plate; The windshield wipers have also been omitted . The car crossings were also smoothed with rubber seals. The front coupling, the high-voltage line between the power cars and the underbody of the vehicles have also been aerodynamically optimized. Overall, this reduced the aerodynamic drag on the entire multiple unit by 15 percent.
A TGV duplex double-decker car was attached to each of the two power cars. The middle of the three intermediate cars was a double-deck dining car, the lower level of which housed electrical equipment from which the two powered Jakobs bogies were fed with 4,000 kilowatts each. The permanently excited synchronous motors used for this purpose are to be used in the next generation of high-speed trains from the manufacturer Alstom .
The output of the four axle motors in each of the power cars has been increased from 1,160 kilowatts to 1,950 kilowatts. The four engines of the driven intermediate car produced an output of 1,000 kilowatts each, which corresponds to an increase in output of 40% compared to the pure traction unit output. In total, the six motor bogies generated an output of 19,600 kilowatts (in contrast to 9,280 kilowatts of the TGV-POS series trains). All bogies received an additional suspension.
The diameter of the driving wheels has been increased from 920 to 1092 mm, changing the transmission ratio to avoid substantially higher engine speed than 5000 rpm.
The first car was occupied by around 60 technicians. They monitored the data from 600 sensors, which picked up around 800 parameters at 350 measuring points. Among other things, power consumption, static friction , dynamic stability and vibrations were measured . After the record run, these data were also used to test preliminary models for the further development of TGV trains with regard to aerodynamics, acoustics, dynamics and vibrations for their validity. In total, about three times as much data was recorded as in the record run in 1990.
The third car accommodated around 60 guests of honor. For the first time in a French world record run, guests were on board a train, 105 media representatives and politicians traveled with them.
Course of the record run
On April 3, the two TGV units 4402 and 4404 were transferred in double traction to route km 264. A measuring vehicle had previously traveled the route.
At 11:15 am, TGV Réseau 533 reached kilometer 264 on the southern platform with journalists and guests of honor. At 11:35 am, TGV 4404 began the exploratory drive over the record section, while the guests were able to take pictures of the record train.
The world record train left at 1:01 p.m. The journey began at kilometer 264 in a westerly direction. 200 km / h were reached at kilometer 258, 300 km / h at kilometer 248, 400 km / h at kilometer 242. At kilometer 226 a speed of almost 500 km / h was briefly reached, at kilometer 221 the threshold was exceeded again . At 191.92 kilometers (near Le Chemin in the Marne department ), the new world record was set at 1:13 p.m. with 574.79 km / h. The train maintained a speed of around 570 km / h up to kilometer 191. Then, up to 170 km, the train was braked to 350 km / h. At 1.30 p.m., 29 minutes after the start of the record run, it came to a halt in the Champagne-Ardenne TGV station .
Overall, the train traveled over 37 kilometers (kilometers 221 to 184) at a speed of over 500 km / h. According to the journalists traveling with them, from around 400 km / h demolition sparks jumped out of the pantograph, and from 500 km / h strong vibrations were felt.
The weather on the day of the official world record run was considered ideal: sun and light winds. The SNCF transport police and around 100 gendarmes stopped road traffic on the bridges that spanned the route when a train was expected to pass. Two and a half hours before the trip, a measuring train had traveled the route.
The train was accompanied in the air by a Corvette jet plane on its world record run .
route
The record runs took place exclusively on the northern track with the direction of travel to Paris (contrary to the regular travel direction). The record stretch was between 264 km (near Prény , near Pagny-sur-Moselle ) and 114 (Champagne-Ardenne TGV station, near Reims ). It was planned that the maximum speed should be reached at around 190 kilometers. This section was chosen for the record run because the curve radii in this area flatten from 12,000 to 17,000 meters and finally merge into a dead straight line. The cant in the tighter curves had been increased by up to three centimeters.
The track position and superstructure were also specially optimized for the record runs, the rails in this section were specially sanded. The mechanical tension of the overhead line was increased to prevent the pantograph from catching up with the transverse wave generated in the contact wire , the electrical voltage was increased from 25 to 31.5 kilovolts - in normal operation a maximum of 27.5 kilovolts is reached. According to a source, the critical speed on the part of the overhead line could be increased to 620 km / h. Another source speaks of a critical speed of around 575 km / h on the part of the overhead line - the vibration effects above this mark have not been researched, and the overhead line could possibly have ruptured. In substation Trois-Domaines other transformers were specially built. Capacitors were built in to stabilize the high voltage and to absorb some of the braking energy.
All switch tongues and movable frogs of the switches were fixed, and individual track sections were leveled or raised. In addition, an analog train radio was installed to ensure uninterrupted contact with the train (the new GSM-R system had only been tested up to 350 km / h until then).
meaning
The test drives also served to test a number of components under extreme conditions and to collect data for the further development of the high-speed system (e.g. also GSM-R ). The record drive is seen as a boost to the image of the manufacturer Alstom and SNCF as the operator of the TGV system. In the very high speed range (over 300 km / h), Alstom competes with Siemens Transportation Systems ( Velaro ), Kawasaki , Mitsubishi and Hitachi ( Shinkansen ) and Bombardier ( AVE S-102 , Zefiro ).
Estimates assume total costs of around 30 million euros.
More high-speed trips
After the record run of April 3, 2007, rides at speeds of at least 520 km / h followed almost every day until April 15, 2007. A total of 500 km / h or more were reached over a length of over 700 kilometers. The record train was at least 450 km / h for a total of around 3200 km.
Whereabouts of the record move
The record train was separated some time after the record run. The two power cars were connected with a modernized TGV-R wagon set for France-Germany traffic and put into operation as the 4402 multiple unit. The Jakobs bogies, each with two traction motors, which were arranged between the three intermediate cars, were removed, the interior was converted into that of a regular train and the vehicles were finally added to the TGV-R 618 set. Part of the train was presented on a barge in Paris in May 2007 .
The manufacturer Alstom rejected assessments by the competitor Siemens that the train was "ready for scrap" after the record run, and that trains and wagons would continue to be used in passenger service.
One of the record power cars, with new decals, in June 2008 in Saarbrücken
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c For the record… In: Today's railways Europe . Issue 140, August 2007, ISSN 1354-2753 , p. 7 .
- ↑ a b Tempo 574.8: TGV breaks world record on the track. In: spiegel.de. April 3, 2007, accessed July 24, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t New world record - 574.8 km / h . In: Today's railways Europe . Issue 137, May 2007, ISSN 1354-2753 , p. 6th f .
- ↑ a b c TGV hits 554.3 km / h (yes, that's 344.4 mph!) . In: Today's railways Europe . Issue 136, April 2007, ISSN 1354-2753 , p. 6th f .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k TGV: World record with over 574 km / h . In: AHEAD . No. 5 , May 2007, ISSN 1438-0099 , p. 57 f .
- ↑ Le record de vitesse de 2007 . In: Revue générale des chemins de fer . No. 305 , June 2020, ZDB -ID 2042624-0 , p. 17 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Tomas Meyer-Eppler: The big party . In: Geramond Verlag (Ed.): Bahn Extra . 19th year, no. 92 , 2008, ISBN 978-3-89724-194-7 , pp. 86-89 .
- ↑ a b Schuss travel on rails. (No longer available online.) In: abendblatt.de. April 4, 2007, archived from the original on December 21, 2008 ; accessed on July 24, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ TGV breaks world record. (No longer available online.) In: tagesschau.sf.tv. April 3, 2007, archived from the original on November 2, 2013 ; accessed on July 24, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ World speed record CI - SP - railway technology. (No longer available online.) In: ntn-snr.com. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013 ; accessed on July 24, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Flying on rails. In: tagesspiegel.de. April 4, 2007, accessed December 16, 2017 .
