BYLINE: Co-built by Skoda
Sir - You have twice mentioned (RG 11.97 p745 and RBR 98 p33) the new Class 471 double-deck EMU for Czech Railways, but unfortunately on both occasions the information was incomplete. MSV Studenka is not the only manufacturer involved in building these trains. There are two builders, namely Skoda and MSV Studenka.
Milan Sramek
Designer of Traction Equipment,Skoda Transportation Systems, Plzen
BYLINE: Shinkansen length
Sir - On re-reading your excellent world survey of train speeds in RG 10.97 I noticed that the length given for our shinkansen route from Shin-Osaka to Hakata should be 553·7 km, rather than 515·4 (which is the length of the line from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka). This would raise the average speed of Nozomi 503/508 to 242·5 km/h rather than the 225·7 shown in your Table I.
Koichi Kudo
Assistant Manager, Technical Development Promotion Department
West Japan Railway Company
