Something that I've been thinking about recently is the difference in design between trains in the UK and trains in Mainland Europe and Asia. Arguably the most distinctive difference in shape is that of the train carriages. UK trains have a distinctive "pear-shape" to the bodyshell in which it tapers to fit within the restrictive loading gauge. South Africa's Gautrain uses the same loading gauge and thus it's Electrostar fleet has the same bodyshell design as UK Electrostars. However what I am particularly interested in is the shape of the front of train designs, particularly the nose cones. It seems to me that while the British railway network can accommodate streamlined trains with the InterCity 125, 225, Pendolino, Eurostar and Hitachi A-Train fleets, they are all relatively simplistic. Contrast this with some designs in Europe and Asia where trains can have long duck-bill tapering such as on the N700 Shinkansen, or even the E5 series whose nose tapering begins even behind the driver's cab.
Allegedly during the designing of the Pendolino, the nose was intended to taper as far forward as 7m (23ft) before being scaled back. I imagine in reality this may have given it a similar shape to the ETR 600 Pendolinos seen on the continent, or maybe even somewhat closer to the more bulbously designed nose of the ETR 675 Italo Evo Pendolino used in Italy. In the end though we can see that the British Pendolino nose design and front tapering is very much similar to other streamlined high speed trains in the UK. Even the future Zefiro stock used on HS2 will share this shape, though to be fair the Frecciarossa 1000/Zefiro 300 design it is based on isn't remarkably different either. So it had me left wondering, is this simple streamlined shape of UK high-speed trains due to the UK loading gauge restricting the shape of the nose preventing more streamlined designs? Or is it due to other factors such as capacity reasons (a long nose will undoubtedly reduce passenger space in the leading car, and unlike the E5 series in Japan for example, UK trains cannot so easily be lengthened in coaches to offset this capacity loss). Could it even simply be a design choice? In particular, could something like the ETR 610 or 675 be scaled down to UK size without affecting the nose cone design?
Allegedly during the designing of the Pendolino, the nose was intended to taper as far forward as 7m (23ft) before being scaled back. I imagine in reality this may have given it a similar shape to the ETR 600 Pendolinos seen on the continent, or maybe even somewhat closer to the more bulbously designed nose of the ETR 675 Italo Evo Pendolino used in Italy. In the end though we can see that the British Pendolino nose design and front tapering is very much similar to other streamlined high speed trains in the UK. Even the future Zefiro stock used on HS2 will share this shape, though to be fair the Frecciarossa 1000/Zefiro 300 design it is based on isn't remarkably different either. So it had me left wondering, is this simple streamlined shape of UK high-speed trains due to the UK loading gauge restricting the shape of the nose preventing more streamlined designs? Or is it due to other factors such as capacity reasons (a long nose will undoubtedly reduce passenger space in the leading car, and unlike the E5 series in Japan for example, UK trains cannot so easily be lengthened in coaches to offset this capacity loss). Could it even simply be a design choice? In particular, could something like the ETR 610 or 675 be scaled down to UK size without affecting the nose cone design?
