Oracle
In memoriam
RIP 2012
Writing is such sweet sorrow: like heck it is!
Posts: 3,234
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Post by Oracle on Jun 1, 2010 9:19:02 GMT
We were in Paris for a day trip yesterday and came across the Metro viaduct over the Seine, which is traversed by trains from the SNCF station whose name escapes me, in the roof, and then the trains seem to turn sharply and then dip down into a station Quai de... Not noticed that station before..obviously I have been to Bastille a few times but not noticed this one.
I had also forgotten how blinking high the Eiffel Tower is! Pity there is no Metrostation adjacent though there is an RER..Ligne A?
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Post by Dstock7080 on Jun 1, 2010 9:28:45 GMT
SNCF station would be Gare d'Austerlitz. Quai de la Rapee, Line 5. Bir-Hakeim (Line6) is the nearest Metro station to walk, Champ de Mars Tour Eiffel (Line C) RER. If i take new people to Paris i always use Trocadero, as you get fantastic views of the Tower from there, then walk down to it. tinyurl.com/389urya (Metro entrance/escalator on left by green traffic signal) |
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 1, 2010 11:55:08 GMT
Yup, it goes up and over the river before going to the Gare d'Aisterlitz - it was on my way to pick up my marathon equipment last month. I pretended to have just got on right at the front so I could peer through the driver's window just by accident (I'm sure no one was convinced  ) It's just like your very own Driver's Eye DVD  |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2010 19:20:37 GMT
I wish I'd seen this thread before my day trip to Paris on Wednesday! One thing I was curious about: does anyone know why Metro trains have actual tyres attached to the wheels? It seemed unnecessary to me!
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Post by phillw48 on Nov 26, 2010 19:47:33 GMT
I wish I'd seen this thread before my day trip to Paris on Wednesday! One thing I was curious about: does anyone know why Metro trains have actual tyres attached to the wheels? It seemed unnecessary to me! They have had rubber tyred rolling stock on some lines for years. It was developed by Michelin in the 1930's. It may have something to do with noise/vibration. |
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Post by andypurk on Nov 26, 2010 20:36:25 GMT
I wish I'd seen this thread before my day trip to Paris on Wednesday! One thing I was curious about: does anyone know why Metro trains have actual tyres attached to the wheels? It seemed unnecessary to me! They have had rubber tyred rolling stock on some lines for years. It was developed by Michelin in the 1930's. It may have something to do with noise/vibration. Brian Hardy's Paris Metro handbook(s) says that the pneu stock (the rubber tyred stock) was introduced to take advantage of the better acceleration and braking possible with rubber tyres (on flat concrete and metal strips). This allowing faster speeds between closely spaced stations. The test section was converted in the early 1950s (Porte des Lilas - Pre St. Gervais), now part of lines 11 and 7b. Currently, rubber tyred trains run on lines 1, 4, 6, 11 and 14. The 'normal' steel rails are retained as safety rails and the rubber tyres still have a steel wheel inside in case the rubber tyre deflates. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2010 21:50:00 GMT
Video 125 has a DVD driver's eye view of two lines of the Paris Metro - Line 5 is standard wheels and Line 6 is rubber-tyre.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2010 15:16:00 GMT
Thanks! It makes sense in terms of acceleration and braking, as we noticed the short distances between many stations. We weren't so keen on the lack of leg room between the seats (the A stock shames the Metro stock we went on) and wondered just how useful the passenger-operated door handle was, but we were impressed by the frequency of trains and the ease in understanding the system once you got used to line numbers and terminals.
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Post by barrybahamas on Nov 27, 2010 15:24:15 GMT
There are rubber tyres on Montreal's system too - no doubt the French influence in this capital of French Canada
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Post by norbitonflyer on Nov 27, 2010 17:07:06 GMT
I read a while ago that after Liones 1,4,and 11 no further conversions would be done as other technical advances have reduced the advantages. However, exceptions were made for Line 14 (presumably as it was new and therefore cheaper to install than a conversion would have been), and Line 6 because most of it is elevated and therefore noise was more of an issue.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2010 17:17:29 GMT
There are rubber tyres on Montreal's system too - no doubt the French influence in this capital of French Canada Yup. And in Chile the Santiago Metro uses rubber tyres also. |
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Post by tubeprune on Nov 27, 2010 21:41:03 GMT
The rubber-tyred train was a typical French engineering answer looking for a question. Think Eiffel Tower, Citroen, Concorde and Ariane. All of them were very advanced but just didn't make sense. The expense of equipping rubber tyred lines with the special track and the very high maintenance costs basically killed the idea.
Santiago is great but mainly because they keep the system clean and reliable rather then the rubber tyred trains. There is also fantastic skiing if you can drive the mountain roads to get to it! They have rubber tyres in Mexico City and various other cities.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2010 0:32:43 GMT
And in Clermont Ferrand (the home of Michelin), the trams have a guiding slot in the road and run on rubber tyres. See here. |
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Post by miztert on Nov 28, 2010 9:08:17 GMT
[...] We weren't so keen on the lack of leg room between the seats (the A stock shames the Metro stock we went on) and wondered just how useful the passenger-operated door handle was [...] The door handles are quite useful in terms of, er, opening the doors! |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2010 10:07:26 GMT
[...] We weren't so keen on the lack of leg room between the seats (the A stock shames the Metro stock we went on) and wondered just how useful the passenger-operated door handle was [...] The door handles are quite useful in terms of, er, opening the doors! Well, yes. But why not have all the doors open at each station, like they do in London? |
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Post by miztert on Nov 28, 2010 10:17:44 GMT
The door handles are quite useful in terms of, er, opening the doors! Well, yes. But why not have all the doors open at each station, like they do in London? Just a different design philosophy I suppose - 'why open the door if no-one wants to go through it?'. It's how National Rail trains work here after all. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2010 16:29:15 GMT
The door handles are quite useful in terms of, er, opening the doors! Well, yes. But why not have all the doors open at each station, like they do in London? Yes, that's what I was getting at: I'll be sure to be more specific in future!  |
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