Advanced Passenger Train: Encyclopedia II - Advanced Passenger Train - APT versus TGV and Shinkansen

Advanced Passenger Train - APT versus TGV and Shinkansen

In contrast to the APT, France's high speed train, the TGV, developed around the same time, has been a great success. SNCF decided to develop not only a new train, but a new infrastructure for it to run upon as well. They built completely new Lignes à Grande Vitesse (high speed lines) with long, straight tracks designed for high-speed running, and so avoided needing a complicated tilting system, as did the Japanese with their Shinkansen.

Doing this in Britain would have been more problematic with public enquiries necessary as shown with the initial difficulty in obtaining permission to build the more recent Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL). In Britain's crowded island the cost and upheaval would simply be prohibitive, (and not politically acceptable as it was in, the even more crowded, Japan) particularly as British Rail was looking for a solution, not only for the West Coast Main Line, but others routes such the Western Region's services to Bristol, and the Midland Main Line to the Midlands and Yorkshire.

What is often not acknowledged is that the TGV was only a small part of France's total rail network, while, in Japan, the Shinkansen was conceived as a totally new system to replace an increasingly inadequate narrow-gauge service. There was a need to carry upwards of 120 million passengers per year, which meant that its financiers could safely predict a rapid return on investment.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "APT versus TGV and Shinkansen", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki