Test Circuit
The two standard gauge test circuits were built in 1963, and are located between the villages of Vrbová Lhota, Ratenice, Cerhenice, Velim, Pňov-Předhradí and the southern suburbs of Poděbrady. The village of Sokoleč lies completely inside the larger circuit.
- small circuit 3.951-kilometre long with a maximum allowed speed of 90 km/h.
- large circuit 13.276-kilometre long with a maximum allowed speed of 230 km/h for tilting trains and up to 210 km/h for conventional trains.
The circuits allows the testing of the characteristics of vehicles, noise levels, the ability to communicate using the European Train Control System (ETCS) and GSM-R radio, and simulation of failures and changes in power system.
Both circuits provide all railway electrification systems used in central Europe:
- 3000 V (DC)
- 1500 V (DC)
- 25 kV AC railway electrification (50 Hz)
- 15 kV AC railway electrification (16.7 Hz)
In addition 1.5-kilometre length can be equipped for third rail supply for metro operators.
Read more about this topic: Velim Railway Test Circuit
Famous quotes containing the words test and/or circuit:
“It is the test of a novel writer’s art that he conceal his snake-in-the-grass; but the reader may be sure that it is always there.”
—Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)
“We are all hostages, and we are all terrorists. This circuit has replaced that other one of masters and slaves, the dominating and the dominated, the exploiters and the exploited.... It is worse than the one it replaces, but at least it liberates us from liberal nostalgia and the ruses of history.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)