wrote in message
On Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:26:30 +0100
"Recliner" wrote:
True, but the new Victoria line trains are longer, faster and more
frequent, so that may account for some of the extra power.

I suppose.

I don't see why trains shouldn't also get significantly more
efficient, more comfortable and more reliable over time (though, of
course,

I don't know about reliability but there does seem to be a trend of
every new electric train in this country using more power than its
predecessor. In the case of the 377s significantly more. This is in
stark contrast to cars which despite getting heavier year on year are
still using less fuel with each generation. Whatever the train
builders are concentrating on in their designs, energy efficiency
doesn't seem to be it.

That does indeed seems to have been the trend until recently, but I
think they're now getting the message.

For example, after Captain Deltic described the Desiro as a lardbutt,
Siemens has responded with a new lightweight Desiro City train. It
claims that, "The lightweight design of the train and the bogies
combined with an intelligent vehicle control system reduce overall
energy consumption by up to 50 per cent compared to preceding models."
http://w1.siemens.com/press/en/pressrelease/?press=/en/pressrelease/2009/mobility/imo20090736.htm