French TGV derails on test... 5 killed.

More sad news from France...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34822666

Ed.

It looks like there were some irregularities in the test run. It has come out that there were some children on the train out for a joy ride. SNCF has said that this is against the policies of the railway.

http://news.yahoo.com/fatal-french-high-speed-test-train-had-children-112513900.html

There is speculation that the derailment was due to excessive speed on a curve. Some leaks from the investigations appear to say that the train was traveling at upto 350kph (217mph) when it derailed. Considering the speed at which it derailed if this proves to be correct after the black boxes are read and analyzed, it would be rpetty remarkable for only 11 of the 40 odd people aboard to have been killed.

The segment on which the derailment took place was not in service yet and possibly automatic train control systems were inoperative at the time of the accident. Again, something that we will have to wait for the investigations to establish. This segment was supposed to be put into service in April 2016, which may now be delayed. This segment when in full operation is supposed to have two parallel automatic train controls systems, the French standard TVM430 and the European standard ERTMS 2, as is the case with the LGV Est Phase 1 between Paris and Baudrecourt.

The train consist involved appears to be next generation TGV Duplex There does nit appear to be anything in common between what Alstom has bid for the Acela II RFP and these train sets. What has been offered to Amtrak would be similar but not identical to something like this.

Seems like they were having a party in the driving cab, rather than concentrating on the track...

Ed.

Like SEVEN people in the cab? Really? And while operating with no overspeed protection on? What the heck were they thinking? Or I guess they were not.

it's been a while, has a report been issued?