Article: New trains are right on track

[colinw]

The Advertiser: New trains are right on track

The first delivery the $269 million dollar A-City electric trains will be made in late 2012

FIFTY-FOUR railcars from Adelaide's existing fleet will be electrified and an extra 66 added.

The State Government yesterday signed a contract with Bombardier Transportation Australia as part of a $269 million deal to upgrade the network and boost the system's carrying capacity by 540 people.

Transport Minister Pat Conlon also released images of the trains, which will be painted blue and travel at a maximum 110km/h.

The 66 new A-City railcars will be operational within two years and the first in Australia to meet tough new national safety guidelines.

Mr Conlon said the new railcars would be assembled as 22 three-car trains and specially designed for Adelaide's upgraded electric network.

They will seat around 240 passengers and provide standing room for another 300.

"The A-City will be the first railcar in Australia to use an advanced best practice crash protection system now in use in Europe and will be a wide body train providing more room for passengers," Mr Conlon said.

Other features will include enhanced security systems, airconditioning and disability access and a passenger emergency intercom at each doorway.

They will also be fitted with a smartcard ticketing system.

The 66 new railcars will be complemented by an on-going program to refurbish 70 vehicles while converting 54 to electric propulsion.

"Our new fleet will service an electrified network and be the backbone of a state-of-the-art, modern and integrated public transport system, delivering the best train, tram and bus services," Mr Conlon said.

The Government's multi-billion-dollar overhaul of public transport was dealt a blow last month when $61 million was pulled from the planned O-Bahn extension to help rebuild Queensland in the wake of natural disasters.

The Federal Government announced almost $1 billion in cuts to infrastructure projects to help fund the $5.6 billion rebuilding program.

[Fares_Fair]

Quote
Transport Minister Pat Conlon also released images of the trains, which will be painted blue and travel at a maximum 110km/h.

Wow, so this is high speed rail ?  

Footnote:
For the lightspeed physics buffs, blue is a much slower colour (wavelength) than red.

Regards,
Fares_Fair

[#Metro]

If you can't make the train go fast, paint it with "zoom zoom" lines.

[Fares_Fair]

... ensure there are no tortoises in the foreground when photographing the trains ! 
... paint the lines blurry so that they at least look fast ! 

Regards,
Fares_Fair

[colinw]

For the lightspeed physics buffs, blue is a much slower colour (wavelength) than red.

Eh?

The speed of light in vacuum is invariant. The longest of wavelength infrared goes at exactly the same speed as the shortest wavelength gamma rays.

Higher energy = shorter wavelength and vice versa.

Blue light has shorter wavelength than red, and hence is more energetic.

Getting this thread back on track - that train looks like a cross between a 260 class SMU and a V/Locity.

There is nothing at all wrong with what is planned for Adelaide.  In Perth the 110 km/h "A" class electric trains created a "rail revolution" (a genuine one, not a Rachel Nolan one).  Adelaide will be similar, particularly if they get the service frequency right at 15 or 10 minutes.

The distances over which rail operates in Adelaide don't need high speed, rather close station spacing requires very good acceleration & braking.  The longest line in Adelaide is the Gawler Line, which at 42km is similar in distance to the Beenleigh Line.  The next longers line - the Seaford Line - will be the next longest, at about 35km.  Similar in length to the Cleveland Line. The rest are no longer than Ferny Grove or Shorncliffe.

[Fares_Fair]

For the lightspeed physics buffs, blue is a much slower colour (wavelength) than red.

Eh?

The speed of light in vacuum is invariant. The longest of wavelength infrared goes at exactly the same speed as the shortest wavelength gamma rays.

Higher energy = shorter wavelength and vice versa.

Blue light has shorter wavelength than red, and hence is more energetic.

Getting this thread back on track - that train looks like a cross between a 260 class SMU and a V/Locity.

In the vacuum of space yes, but the doppler effect occurs with light as well as sound.
An object approaching at speed looks blue as it (violet) has the longer wavelength, and reaches our eyes first.
As the object passes us and recedes into the distance, it appears red, again due to the shorter wavelength.

But as you say, back on track ...

[colours swapped around and corrected as per colinw's reply below] My point however stands.

[colinw]

An object approaching at speed looks red as it (red) has the longer wavelength, and reaches our eyes first.
As the object passes us and recedes into the distance, it appears blue, again due to the shorter wavelength.

Sorry, wrong way around.

Approaching object = compression of waves = higher frequency = blue shift.
Receding object = extension of waves = lower frequency = red shift.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueshift