The X2000

Top Commercial Speed	In Theory: 210km/h - 131mph In Practice: 200km/h - 125mph
Speed Record:	275km/h - 172mph
Best Average Speed:	168 km/h - 105mph

In Sweden the overriding problem with fast trains is the curvature of its railways, often with radius less than 600m. Clearly new high speed lines could have been built although that would have been very costly.

Above: You can clearly see the X2000 tilting

Adtranz (makers of the German ICE) developed this train, with tilting capabilities so it could negotiate corners at speed without causing discomfort to the passengers.

It set a speed record of 238km/h when on test runs in 1993. Although it is capable of 210km/h (131mph) in service it is limited to 200km/h (125mph) because of Swedish railway regulations.

More recently on the 21st of July, at 15:30, it averaged 275,7 km/h over one kilometre on the new track between Hamra and Breås on the West Coast railway Göteborg-Malmö. The test train went from Varberg to Falkenberg in 11 minutes (normally 16 minutes). The record train was composed of two powered units (usually one) and three passenger units (usually four to six). The new stretch of track has a smallest curve radius of 2,5 km.

It averages a speed of 168km/h or 105mph between Hässleholm and Alvesta, making Sweden 7^th in the world for fast train services.

In the early days the X2000 had some problems. When the train ran over small bumps in the track it could inadvertantly activate the tilting mechanism causing the train to tilt when it was not supposed to. This lead to some passengers feeling sea-sick. The track had to be re-laid (re-aligned) without any bumps to get over this

The X2000 while not particularly fast has attracted quite a lot of attention because of its highly successful tilting mechanism. It has been a contender for export in many cases, it was considered in Finland for a high speed train, and also Amtrak showed interest in the train and the new Flyer trains will incorporate technology used in the X2000.

By using a tilting train it has meant it can run on existing lines. This is very important because building dedicated high speed lines is a very expensive task.

The X2000

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