Quote:
Originally Posted by Resolution
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The width is given as 3.02Mtrs and the Height as 4.67mtrs....surely this would be within our gauge wouldn't it? I'd love to see these trains over here!...  Res. |
The Dutch trains are far too big for any of the GB loading-gauges. Even the "enhanced" gauges used on trunk container routes only allow for a maximum height of about 4.13 metres and a maximum width of about 2.7 metres. I think that the Dutch trains would even be too big for HS1.
Even if we were willing to alter the infrastructure to accomodate the higher coaches another thing to consider is the very low centre section of double-decker coaches. This could be a problem in stations built on sharp curves and would probably mean that any British double-decker coach design was much shorter than those in mainland Europe.