Why do some of the Paris metro trains have rubber wheels?

@andrew, I’d ask a French engineer or mechanic. and what are you doing in paris wondering about train wheels when you have work to do and when are you coming back to get busy keeping fluther running top notch?

@evelyns_pet_zebra Are you not seeing the blog posts about the features we’re pushing daily?

Is there a correlation between these trains with the rubber wheels and the trains that aren’t running? Because in that case, I think you’ve solved the problem of the awful Paris metro system! You should tell someone about this.

This was first implemented in the ‘50s as a way of coping with increased usage.

The limitation to how many trains could be added to a given line was the stopping and acceleration distances for the trains: the longer it took to get the train up to speed and the longer it took to stop it, the fewer trains could be squeezed into the timetable.

Steel wheels on steel rails have terrible traction. Trying to accelerate or decelerate rapidly just causes the wheels to skid along the rails. The rubber tires have three times the traction of steel wheels. This means that far less time is spent speeding up and slowing down, and the train is at cruising speed more of the time. The end result is that more trains can make the run over a day, moving more people.

Plus, they are a hell of a lot quieter.

@andrew of course I’ve seen those, but the stickers weren’t mailed to Paris and I am curious as to what Your Holiness thinks of them. Besides who else on here is going to bold enough to mock-berate you?

Good work by you and the Benster at Fluther, as always, and enjoy your vacation. Much lurve to our Fluther overlords.