When I was in Italy last summer (2005), I witnessed the arrival of an Intercity express train at Firenze (Florence to Americans) Santa Maria Novella, which is a stub terminal. When the locomotive uncoupled, I noticed that the car behind it looked to be a cab car. Why was it on there and why can Intercity trains not operate in a push-pull fashion?
35dtmrs92 wrote:When I was in Italy last summer (2005), I witnessed the arrival of an Intercity express train at Firenze (Florence to Americans) Santa Maria Novella, which is a stub terminal. When the locomotive uncoupled, I noticed that the car behind it looked to be a cab car. Why was it on there and why can Intercity trains not operate in a push-pull fashion?Push-pull was used in Britain for many years, pioneered on the Bournemouth-Weymouth line before it was electrified, and then common on the fastest Edinburgh-Glasgow line. In each case these were self-contained services - the trains did not move to other routes.
The East Coast Mainline still uses push-pull. Again, these trains do not move off this highish speed electrified mainline. The West Coast Mainline has used push-pull but I think all the trains that used it have been replaced by Pendolinos.
The case at Firenze may be more complex. The trains may be diagrammed to work on several different routes. You would have to observe the lines in Italy for longer to see whether cab cars are in use on other lines. I expect they are.
All over Europe locomotive hauled trains are being replaced by various types of multiple units.