From: mdb@csc.liv.ac.uk (Martin Beer)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Rail Switch for Channel Ruled Out
Date: 4 Nov 92 10:53:12 GMT
Organization: Computer Science, Liverpool University
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]

Stephen A Thomas (sathomas@athena.mit.edu) wrote:
> Randy Lambertus  rl@uk.cray.com  recently posted an article:
> RAIL SWITCH FOR CHANNEL RULED OUT
>      by Richard Tompkins Transport Correspondent
>          copyright "Financial Times" Wednesday October 28, 1992
> 
> which included the statements:
> 
> >  "British Rail and the government have firmly ruled out the possibility 
> >that Britain's railways could be converted to take bigger Continental 
> >freight trains after the opening of the Channel tunnel.
> >  This means most Continental freight traffic will continue to enter 
> >Britain by road after the tunnel's opening, much of it transferring from 
> >rail on the French side of the Channel.
> ...
> >  Although the width between the rails in Britain is the same as on most 
> >European railways, Continental freight wagons are mostly too wide and too 
> >high to run BR's tracks without crashing into platforms, bridges and 
> >trains coming in the opposite direction.
> ...
> 
> Maybe I'm missing something real basic, but why don't they just use wagons
> conforming to Britian's standard for cross channel traffic - it seems that
> smaller equipment running on continental European tracks wouldn't be a problem.
> 
> STEVE THOMAS
> 
> MIT Aero/Astro

This is a rather old story.  The problem is that the UK loading gauge is
smaller than the UIC standards used on the Continent,  the difference
does not prohibit most traffic.  Indeed, there is a certain amount of freight
movement already using train ferries.  There are some problems with
connecting brakes etc., but these are easily overcome with adaptors.

The new containers (3m square?) are just too big to fit on normat
comtainer flats without getting too close to overhead power lines and
hitting the arch springs of the occasional bridge, so BR is investing
in small wheeled container flats that avoid this problem by carrying the 
containers a little lower, so that they remain in gauge.

The problem comes with the continental proposals to run what are effectively
motorrail trains for lorries (with or without the tractor units attached).
There is no way that BR can accept these, as they make full use of the UIC
limits.  The problem is really that all British stock is widest at the waist
(about 4'6" from rail level) and tapers towards the cantrail (where the roof
and sides join around 10' from rail level), whereas continental stock has
always had flat sides, and therefore does not have the width restriction.
Unfortunately for BR, lorries just do not fit the hole.  Any attempt
to do anything about it would be so expensive, and disrupt all
other traffic to such an extent that there is absolutely no possibility
of any change in the forseeable future.  The only way that something could be
done would be to build the Channel Tunnel Rail Link to UIC standards,
and ship the lorries up to Stratford (or preferably, Cricklewood) in
North London, where they can pick up the Motorway network without
clogging up Kent and the southern half of the M25.  Unfortunately
BR and the Government see the rail link as primarily a passenger affair,
and it will open too late, i.e. when transportation habits have already
been established.

Martin

--
Dr. Martin Beer,
Department of Computer Science,		Telephone 051-794-3672
University of Liverpool,		Fax: 051-794-3715
Chadwick Tower, P.O. Box 147,           EMail mdb@uk.ac.liverpool.compsci
LIVERPOOL.  L69 3BX. United Kingdom.
Newsgroups: rec.railroad