This rather grandly named train is, in fact, a small diesel multiple unit service usually operated by 2- or 3-car Siemens Desiros (these are unrelated to the Desiro trains Siemens manufactures for use in England; I think they just liked the name):
Truth be told, the HarzElbeExpress is just a glorified tram (if you like, it's a modern version of the nineteenth century US interurban system), as one glance at the decaying state of the track bed will tell you:
The amounts of personal space and levels of comfort in these super-trams are vastly in excess of anything you will find on even the most prestigious of the latest generation of Britain's long-haul expresses. How damning is that?
It appears that around ten people have lost their lives which, obviously, is immensely sad. Although about the same number of people will be killed in Britain every single day in road accidents, a fact we treat as being of utter banality.
1 comment:
You doubtless know the French double-decker single carriage fast diesel trains, quite smart and certainly fast! Presumably it's the ability to tilt and potentially collide with an oncoming train which forces the Pendolino and Super Voyagers to be so cramped within, albeit that's no excuse for those beastly airline seats, horrid little windows and failure to line up seats with windows. How comfortable the sadly missed WS&M carriages were by comparison. I'd love to see Branson forced to travel 'cattle class' from Euston to Glasgow after a big football match or some equally vile proletarian get-together celebrated or regretted with the usual grotesque intake of alcohol
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