What Will the Trains of the Future Look Like?
Published: 20 November 2024
ERA in the press
The Executive Director of the Agency, Josef Doppelbauer, is quoted in this article published in the French weekly Le Point (paywall, article in French), which examines the future of rail transport. It explores European innovations like lighter regional trains and Japan's magnetic levitation technology, addressing the challenges and opportunities in developing next-generation rail systems.
Here are the main quotes from Josef Doppelbauer in this article:
On high-speed train costs and safety
"Between a train that runs at 200 km/h and one at 300 km/h, the costs and safety issues more than double."
On the limited production scale of high-speed trains in Europe
"We have too few series of high-speed trains. In Europe, for example, there are 800 trainsets of six or seven different categories, whereas in aviation, the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 for medium distances have each been produced in more than 10,000 units."
On challenges with signaling norms
"The multiplicity of signaling standards – the Eurostar requires ten different systems to travel through just five European countries – stifles the second-hand market."