We now have the first of our new Japanese arrivals for testing, as a schoolboy a popular joke was, the train standing at platforms 1 to 20 has come in sideways, whereas now I am trying to get my ideas about them straight.
The new bullet trains which look to be going to knock about 20 minutes of the journey time from Thanet to London nearly all of the time saving being on the stretch between Ashford and London.
I asked around a few engineering friends why there would be hardly any time saved between Ramsgate and London and have formed the impression that a further 20 minutes could be saved by two new investments on the line.
The first being updating the signalling system between Ashford and Thanet, apparently it is very antiquated and means that trains have to wait for very long lengths of line to be clear of a train before the next one can enter.
The second being straightening out the approaches to those stations where the line curves round platforms instead of running straight between them.
It also looks as though there is an intention to run the new trains on slow local services, which would appear to be a bit of a waste of money.
I may have got this all wrong so am interested in any comments from those who know better.
The new bullet trains which look to be going to knock about 20 minutes of the journey time from Thanet to London nearly all of the time saving being on the stretch between Ashford and London.
I asked around a few engineering friends why there would be hardly any time saved between Ramsgate and London and have formed the impression that a further 20 minutes could be saved by two new investments on the line.
The first being updating the signalling system between Ashford and Thanet, apparently it is very antiquated and means that trains have to wait for very long lengths of line to be clear of a train before the next one can enter.
The second being straightening out the approaches to those stations where the line curves round platforms instead of running straight between them.
It also looks as though there is an intention to run the new trains on slow local services, which would appear to be a bit of a waste of money.
I may have got this all wrong so am interested in any comments from those who know better.
