WOW!.....Take a look at this!
 

Wow!..........www.bahnforum.info Take a look at these double-decked babies and reflect that if it wasn't for: "Nimby Land" we could have trains like this as well!

Scroll down the page to see more......Res.

Oh! If you use "Google Chrome" browser and download "Google Translate" to it you can read it in English.

Good eh? Actually, Nimbys don't have anything to do with it. Britain's railways were built to a different loading gauge right from the start, Our bridges and tunnels are simply too low to accomodate double-deck trains, although the SR did have two 4-car d/d units, but their routes were obviously limited. I think the cost of rebuilding our entire network would be unbelievably prohibitive. A shame, but there you go. :(

I would have thought that our trains were claustrophobic enough.

The reason the SR ones didnt last if I remember rightly was the dwell times at stations because it took longer for people to board and alight.

That's very true, any advantage gained by (slightly) increased capacity was lost due to loading/unloading times. Route restrictions were just another factor in their failure. No doubt the dwell time is a thing that can be worked on, as many countries' railways have proved, but we're not physically equipped for double-deck trains here - at least, not on our existing network. :)

It would. But at least a start would be to define a new gauge, and make it a requirement that any future work must conform to it. The network is being improved little by little, and we're missing so many oppportunities now, to increase capacity for the future.

But then we don't do 'forward looking' in this country.

That's a statement few would contest. Britain does do 'five minute fixes'.....:mad:

The new lines in Britain today i.e. HS1 and the proposed HS2 are built to the continental gauge, whilst this much it is a start.

Actually, the Germans did quite a little re-engineering of bridges, track etc to raise the height some time ago in places. Not sure about the Austrian OBB though as the new train shown belongs to.
One thing to notice though is that all the req'd height doesn't seem to have been gained at the top! Look where the steps are for the double sliding doors...

Ground level! Added to which...the pantographs are mounted at a point on the roof which is lower, So I'd like to see just how much taller, if any, that they are?

The bodies of the Westbahn double-decker EMU's are a maximum of 4.595 metres above rail level. This compares to 4.050 metres for a modern standard European coach such as those used by OBB, SBB, DB etc.
Even though the Mainland European loading-gauge is more generous than ours it is still only the centre part of the coach that is double-deck because of the space required for the bogies. That is why the pantographs and some other electrical equipment can be lower than the main (centre) section of the coach as at that point there is only a single-deck.
HTH

I think the last unit was not withdrawn until about 1964 and two of the coaches survived into preservation: both DMBT's. Last locations I have are Hope Farm Sellindge and Northampton Ironstone Railway (Preserved Locomotives of BR, 12th Edition, 2007).

Best wishes,

John H-T.