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How Can Germany's High-Speed Trains Get Back on Track?

spiegel.de

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Re: How Can Germany's High-Speed Trains Get Back on Track?

#41
It's not the trains that are the problem, it's the tracks. There are enough high-quality, high-speed trainsets to choose from (TGV, Velaro, ETR 500+, AGV, etc), but they don't have enough track to run them on.

Spain gets it. There, the government has invested an insane amount in a dedicated HS infrastructure which is used by all types of (high-speed) trains. Madrid-Barcelona is 3 hours and has already halved the need for the air shuttle that runs between the cities.

What we need is for governments to stop trying to do everything and do what they do best: Build the rail infrastructure according to the relevant standards (ETMS, ERTMS) and cooperate to fill the gaps in the network (Perpignan-Figueras, Lyon-Turin, etc). Then let private companies do what they do best: Run the trains, compete and drive down prices.

Re: How Can Germany's High-Speed Trains Get Back on Track?

#42
post #15
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love trains, too. Using high speed rail to see my parents is one the favourite things about my decision to move back to Germany. ICEs are great and it is such a shame that the network is so patchy. When they actually do go up to speed it's thrilling.

Ah, the 200 km between Cologne and Frankfurt – if only every track were like that :) (Here’s a overview over the current state of the German network: http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Datei:ICEtracks.pn... )

That Wikipedia graphic looks a lot better than the Spiegel one. Well, maybe we're complaining on a high level. That doesn't change anything about the ridiculous stops mentioned in the article.
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