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Richard · October 14th 04, 07:37 PM posted to uk.railway,uk.transport.london

On 14 Oct 2004 03:29:03 -0700, (Richard
Thomas) wrote:
Would it not be cheaper to upgrade the max 100 miles of track to the
overhead wires system that's used on the CTRL? Then the trains
wouldn't have to be so versatile...

Not really, the original article said that the trains would have to
be: "specially built to cope with the different electrification
systems on the domestic and CTRL tracks", which is complete nonsense.
There's nothing special about dual-voltage trains. All trains on the
CTRL and some on the classic route already are.

How much should it cost? Across the channel there's exactly the same
situation. Years ago the service from Boulogne and Calais to Lille
was appalling with clapped-out trains and long gaps between them. Now
there's the TerGV that uses the old line from Boulogne to Calais and
then onto the "new" line to Lille. The supplement over the normal TER
(regional, unreserved) fare is €3 for a day, 10 for a week and 18 a
month. I'm sure the government have much higher figures in mind for
our new services...

Richard.