European Railroad Discussion > SNCF, DB eyeing super high speed freight

Could this be made true?

-John

"SNCF, DB eyeing super high speed freight
The railroad giants SNCF (the French National Railways) and Deutshe Bahn are both studying the possibility to carry super high speed freight on rails with the manufacturers. While this has been on the Alstom marketing material for years, now there is a firm possibility for creating such a system while the super high speed market in Europe is otherwise not growing in 2008 - 2009 period, maybe not even in 2010.

The system would work so, that high speed trains like TGV or Velaro modified to carry freight would be used. This would involve some modifications to the existing designs including airplane like large cargo doors. Standard airplane cargo containers would also be used. This would allow automatic moving of the containers on the train floor and interchangeability with the airlines. These containers could be transported on rails for shorter distances of say 3000 kilometers (2000 miles) and on the airliners to cross the great waters, areas without rails and longer distances. This would also mean that the super high speed freight terminals would be built (as planned) on the major European airports like Munich or Charles de Gaulle in Paris.

Vehicles for this new business could be converted from the existing older super high speed trains, like the aging TGV-PSE units, or their cousins TGV La Poste trains, which the French Postal services is using less and less, since the basic mail business all around the world is in general decline (not the parcel courier business). The train builders are eyeing also for totally new units, which would enable using the maximum loading gauge for transportation (when needed).

Besides parcels and critical spare parts etc. these trains could carry anything found currently on the roads as long as its high value to weight freight. Like fresh vegetables to the Scandinavian winter from Spain to Stockholm, or SKF roller bearings from Sweden to Munich Germany. For the right price the demand for the services would be huge! In Europe the building of the high speed infrastructure has progressed steadily for 2 decades now. With rail networks connected and waters crossed either with tunnels or huge bridges the super high speed freight could be made true today!"

Copied from the article at: http://4rail.net/ref_superfast_news.html

I wish we would do that in the United States....

I hope you eventually will...large country, lots of trade, lots of traffic, lots of hard working people, capital needed, the HSR projects and running the systems after they are finished will create tens of thousands of jobs.

CPRR Wrote:
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> I wish we would do that in the United States....

See this thread too, pretty close to what we are talking here...

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,1991744

There is also an interesting reminder of the DHL (DHL is owned by the German postal services) "fast" freight trains.