Talk:HSL 3

High Speed Line ?
Is this an HSL in anything other than name ?

Trains leave Liege at ~160km/h, enter a tunnel (max in tunnel is 200km/h), then the line parallels a motorway for a short while (look on the map) at which speeds may (according to the article) exceed 200km/h, before the line shortly rejoins the classic route across the border at a more sedate 160km/h. Upgraded line it certainly is, but a high speed line generally signifies speeds above 200km/h along s significant part of the route (>50%), which is certainly not the case here.

Anyway - it's a vast improvement on what's there already, so well done to those building and financing it.:-)--Ordew 02:42, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

My apologies to HSL3, which seems to be only just an HSL. After reading the HSL4 article, that line most certainly is not a high speed line in anything other than name.--Ordew 02:46, 10 October 2006 (UTC)


 * According to List of high-speed railway lines, "The International Union of Railways defines high-speed rail as public transport by rail at speeds of at least 200 km/h (124 mph) for upgraded tracks and 250 km/h (155 mph) or faster for new tracks." According to the same article, under Belgium, the HSL3 is rated at 260 km/h so it is a high-speed line (since 260 is greater than or equal to 250). The other three (HSL1, HSL2, HSL4) are rated at 300 km/h so they are high-speed lines a fortiori. — Reminder: The HSL3 doesn't go all the way from Liège to Aachen but only from the Angleur junction (between Angleur and Chênée) to the Hammerbrücke junction (before the Hammerbrücke bridge). The rest of the line from Liège to the German border consists of the begin and end of the classical line 37 Liège – Verviers – Hergenrath-border (to Aachen). Similarly, the HSL4 starts just north of Antwerp Luchtbal station and ends into the Dutch HSL-Zuid at the border. Tonymec (talk) 07:49, 27 February 2021 (UTC)

Ramp Height
"The tunnel will reach a depth of 127 m in some areas; it will have an average ramp height of 1.7%, with a maximum of 2% at the mouth in Soumagne."

What is ramp height--the slope of the track? Usually, that's referred to as ruling grade, which is the maximum uphill grade in a given direction. 4.243.149.169 03:46, 13 January 2007 (UTC)