This Train Made Passengers Sick: The APT Tilting Train Story

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In the 1960’s, Britain's railways were in decline. The country’s railways were slow and antiquated and facing fierce competition against growing automobile ownership and booming air travel. But elsewhere in the world, railways were beginning to make a comeback, and the key seemed to be much higher speeds. Japan’s new high speed Shinkansen Bullet Trains proved enormously successful with passengers, carrying over 100 million passengers in just the first three years of service. The French had also begun working on a revolutionary new high train, the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"). If British Rail was going to compete with automobiles and airliners, the solution seemed clear: much faster trains.

But elsewhere in the world high speed trains were developed along with new special dedicate high speed tracks. These new lines were constructed with long, straight sections of rail and gentle curves. For their Bullet Trains, the Japanese built an entirely new dedicated high-speed rail line (Tokaido Shinkansen). For their TGV, the French would need to build hundreds of kilometers of dedicated high speed track (LGV for Ligne à Grande Vitesse).

But the British would take a different approach. Instead of spending billions on new high-speed rail infrastructure, they would engineer a new kind of high speed train that could run on Britain’s existing rail network. The challenge was that many of Britain’s railways were built a hundred years earlier, and they were full of sharp twists and turns. The solution, was to engineer a train that would lean into bends like a motorcycle, maintaining passenger comfort even while running a high speeds around sharp curves. With active tilting technology, the Advanced Passenger Train (APT), would be able to bend nearly twice as fast as any British train. During testing in 1979, the APT hit 261 km/h, setting a new British speed record.

But the APT’s development was plagued by setbacks and delays. The train never lived up to its potential. From day one, the APT was plagued by technical problems; everything from frozen breaks to failed tilting mechanisms. Nearly a third of passengers to become motion sick from the tilting mechanism. After a disastrous debut, British Rail faced an uphill battle to overcome technical challenges and win back public confidence in their innovative train. It was a battle they would never win.

#APT #BritishRail #Trains

Select footage courtesy the AP Archive

Special thanks to Nick Arehart for helping clean up our audio:

Thanks for watching!

[danchang]

‘Smooth, quiet, and all together a delightful experience’
*everything shaking violently in the background*

[rawnanle]

Skillshare is practically funding half of YouTube at this ppint

[RCTCrashes]

APT-P: "Who are you?"
InterCity 125 HST: "I'm you, but slower and more comfortable!"
APT-P: "And who are you?"
Class 390 Pendolino: "I'm you, but Italian."

[ciandelany]

The journalist: "Smooth quiet and all together, delightful expirience"
His cup:

[YukariAkiyama]

How the hell does he keep a straight face saying “smooth, quiet” while the plates are having seizures in front of him lol

[Draliseth]

"Smooth, quiet, and all together delightful experience."

I love British humour.

[Twmpa]

The APT was a fantastic piece of engineering. The motion sickness came from the tilting mechanism being too precisely tuned whereby the passengers could see they were travelling around a bend but could not feel it. This was solved by detuning the tilt and reintroducing a small amount of lateral G force. Unfortunately, politics forced it into service prematurely and it showed. With a little more time and patience for the development, this could have been a very different story.

[erojerisiz]

Black hole: *is devouring Earth in the background*
Presenter: Smooth, quiet, and all together a delightful experience

[whyisbluetaken]

1. Buy from England
2. Sell back to England
3. Profit

[screaminlordbyron]

I like how the tv presenter has both hands on the table trying to brace himself from the shaking that happens when he lifts up one hand!

[poundlandspeedwagonrequiem]

Despite being an interim train, the Intercity 125 HST still stands as the fastest diesel train on the planet and still in service to today.

[RangerHouston]

*"It's smooth, it's quiet" he says as the sounds of clattering silverware fill the air and the cabin vibrates violently.*

[jfyllipy]

"It's smooth, it's quiet"
Even his voice is shaking

[kaydenthat]

"Smooth, quiet, and all together a delightful exerience"
While the whole train is shaking and very loud

[TheGibusDemo]

“It’s smooth, it’s quiet”
The Dishes slowly turning into maracas:

[martinxy]

"Its smooth and quiet"
Dude I can bearly hear you with all the noise and the girl behind you is shaking violently

[michalsimanek]

Fun fact: The Pendolinos are running here in the Czech republic and they are quite succesful, some might say famous. Every kid wanted to ride one at least once in their life (incl. me). I never knew that they originated in the UK so thanks for the video

[silberpfeil]

5:20 Just want to mention the Fact that i love that the Wiper is synced up with the Music

[Lowse]

the APT was great but what came out in the end was legendary, the HST is one of the most recognised trains in the uk and even other countries were jealous of its performance. cappable of 144mph it was perfect. although the fastest you will go is 125mph it was revolutionary for old railways. and an impressive 45 years of service. only retiring recently but some still in service and are amazing

[redhen]

**terminators killing and taking over in the background**
No one:
Advert guy being held at gunpoint: smooth, quiet, and all together a delightful experience