Distributed traction and the Channel Tunnel

[blackfive460]

From Railway Gazzette...

There is no intrinsic reason why trainsets with distributed traction should be banned from operating through the Channel Tunnel, according to a Technical Opinion issued by the European Railway Agency on March 21.
...
On the thorny question of distributed traction, ERA concludes that ‘the notified rules do not explicitly prohibit distributed power’ and ‘there is no justification for any discrimination between the two traction design configurations’. It does not believe there is any justification for a further study, suggesting that ‘any traction configuration’ that ‘meets the appropriate generic requirements for fire safety’ as set out in the TSIs ‘should be allowed’.

Full text here.

 

[Old Timer]

The original (and I presume still current) arrangements were :

1) High Voltage traction supply cables not permitted through the train, and ;

2) Each traction unit must be capable of operating the complete train under its own power singly from the tunnel in the event of an incident.

This of course again has implications for the train being split in an emergency if there were HV traction cables.

As far as I am aware there has never been any issue concerning distributed traction being allowed, the issue more being the ability of any intermediate pantograph to collect current due to the OHL Contact wire bouncing after the first pantograph has run through it. Albeit this can be dealt with by a higher tensioning and increased support.

 

[gordonthemoron]

do Alstom still make TGVs or do they just make AGVs now?

 

[jopsuk]

As far as I can track down, the newest TGV POS or Duplex power cars were delivered 2009. There's no AGV sets in service yet, and only NGV (Italian) seem to have ordered so far. I bet if SNCF wanted "traditional" TGVs Alstom would make them.