Analysis of the energy use of various high speed trains and comparison with other modes of transport

The aim of this paper is to identify the key areas of vehicle design which help to minimise the energy consumption of high speed rail travel. Simulations are carried out of different types of high speed rolling stock running on the proposed UK London-Birmingham HS2 route, more specifically: the Shinkansen E6, N700, Chinese high speed rail CRH 2, CRH2-300, CRH3, TGV Duplex and Transrapid maglev system. The energy consumption/journey time relationship of these vehicles is compared with that obtained for the HS2 reference train running along the same route. Analysis is undertaken to determine the contribution of various factors in determining the energy difference between each vehicle type and the HS2 reference train so that key features of vehicle design which help to drive down the energy consumption of high speed rail can be identified. The energy consumptions for different transportation modes are compared to further investigate the energy performance of high speed train.