No decent photos have yet emerged of the visit, but the TGV was brought through the Channel Tunnel at night, whizzed up HS1 to St Pancras, then returned the same way. The TGV test train ensures that TGVs will fit the loading gauge of a route and can operate safely without electronic interference, etc.
The French seemed to be losing their grip on Eurostar (which has ordered German-built Siemens trains to enlarge its current fleet rather than more French-built Alsthoms), and the published intentions of German state railway DB to compete on the London-Brussels route now appear to have spurred SNCF into action. Interesting times ahead, I hope.
2 comments:
I was interested to see the name De Dietrich (which I think of as domestic appliance makers) clearly labelled on the Eurostar train last time I travelled on one (having assumed they were all Alstom-built - I gather the "h" has been quietly dropped for some reason) which makes me wonder how many manufacturers are actually suppliers.
Bienvenue en France ;-)
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