Almost all passengers know that there are fast and accelerated trains, branded and passenger trains, but not many know how they differ. We propose to address this knowledge gap.
What types of trains are there?
First you need to understand the classification of trains. The classification criterion is route speed, that is, the time it takes to cover the distance from one point to another. Read more about what types of trains are depending on speed below.
High speed
High-speed trains are considered the fastest. They are capable of moving at speeds of 200–400 km/h. Their main feature is that they cannot move on regular rails. A special fabric is built for them that can withstand heavy loads. The high-speed highway appeared back in the 2000s and continues to actively develop. Now the fastest trains run from the capital to other cities, and also allow you to get from Russia to European cities.
For example, the most famous high-speed train is the Sapsan, which runs between the capital and St. Petersburg and allows you to cover the distance between these cities twice as fast. "Allegro" is an international high-speed train, as it runs from the Northern capital to Helsinki.
Currently, Russian Railways is constructing a high-speed line, the length of which is about 1,500 km. Trains will be able to travel along it at a speed of about 400 km/h. It will connect Moscow with the Volga region and Siberia. The train will run from the capital through Kazan to Yekaterinburg. In the future, it is planned to build a similar highway from Moscow to Sochi.
Express
The route speed of such trains is slightly lower - about 140 km/h, although on flat sections of the road they can accelerate to 200 km/h. IN ordinary life There is no division between high-speed and high-speed trains, since the movement of both categories requires a special track.
- “Swallow” is a train that moves at an average speed of 140-160 km/h. Such trains travel from the capital and St. Petersburg to Nizhny Novgorod, as well as in the Krasnodar region.
- "Strizh" - travels at speeds of up to 200 km/h along the route from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod and back.
Ambulances
The technical speed of fast trains is no different from passenger trains, but due to the fact that they make few stops (only at large stations and train stations), they cover the distance much faster. The route speed of such trains ranges from 50 to 90 km/h. The ticket price is a little more expensive. There are hundreds of trains traveling across the vastness of the state, in different directions.
For example, a train called “Sura” runs from Moscow to Penza, and “Lotos” will connect the capital with Astrakhan. The fast train “South Ural” also runs between Moscow and Chelyabinsk. There are other trains of the same type on other routes. Usually they do not have a special name, but are simply numbered. Fast trains depart from Moscow to almost all regions.
Accelerated
There is no such name officially. This category includes freight trains that move faster regular trains. They are used for transporting perishable goods. Not used for transporting passengers.
Branded
In terms of speed, branded trains are fast, as they travel at a speed of 50-90 km/h. But this is their only similarity. A special feature of branded trains is a high level of comfort and service. Passengers can count on a range of additional services that make the trip as comfortable as possible. The basic level of service is also set at high level. Conductors working on such trains must undergo special training.
All branded trains have their own name. For example, a train running from the capital to Perm is called “Kama”, and from Moscow to Tomsk – “Tomich”, from the capital to Kirov – “Vyatka”, and so on. When purchasing tickets, you should pay attention to whether the travel document is marked “fast”. In its absence, the train will move like a regular passenger train, but will have comfortable conditions and a range of services for the convenience of passengers.
Passenger
Such trains travel the route at speeds of up to 50 km/h, although technically they can travel no slower than trains classified as “fast”. The main difference is that they stop at every stop, which significantly slows down its movement along the route. Such trains are in great demand, despite the fact that they move slowly.
There are two reasons for this:
- The fare is quite low, especially compared to other categories.
- By passenger train you can get to a small station or a small town. Express trains simply do not stop at such stations.
Passenger trains are branded, that is, they have improved service, there are Additional services. An example of such a train is “White Nights” - a train that runs from Moscow to Vologda. If the ticket does not have the designation “fast”, it means that it is a passenger ticket by default.
The number of passenger trains is becoming less and less every year. They are being replaced by trains that can move faster.
Maximum speed (Vmax) – the speed of the train, which is allowed on the section according to the condition of the technical equipment (tracks, artificial structures, locomotives, cars, etc.).
Design speed
Design speed (Vр) – the highest speed on a section at which a train of maximum weight established for a given type of locomotive and a design lift of unlimited length can travel.
Travel speed
Running speed (Vx) – average speed when a train passes through a section without stopping. Determined by the formula:
where ZNL is the total train-kilometers on the section, ZNt is the total train-hours in motion on the section without taking into account the duration of train stops and the time spent during these stops on acceleration and braking. The running speed depends on the profile and current state of the track, the power of the locomotive, the gross weight of the train, the resistance to train movement, etc.
Technical speed
Technical speed (Vt) - the average speed of movement when a train passes through a section without stopping, but taking into account the actual time lost for acceleration and braking due to train stops:
where ZNtpr is the total train-hours spent on acceleration and deceleration when trains stop on the section. The technical speed depends on the running speed and the actual number of train stops.
Section speed
Section speed (Vuch) – the average speed of a train along a section. Section speed is determined by dividing the total train-kilometers on the section by the total train-hours of trains on the section:
where ZNtst is the total train-hours of parking on the section, including train parking at separate points and downtime on hauls due to the lack of trains. The section speed depends on the capacity of the section, the size of the movement of freight and passenger trains, the technical condition of the track, blocking and rolling stock, train schedules and dispatch control.
Route speed
Route speed (VM) – the average speed of the route from the formation station to the disbandment station. Route speed shows the average speed of a route not only taking into account the time spent on sections, but also taking into account the downtime of routes at passing technical stations:
where ZNLm is the train-kilometers of the routes, ZNtm is the train-hours spent by the routes traveling from the formation station to the disbandment station.
Cargo delivery speed
Cargo delivery speed (VT) is the average speed of cargo movement from the moment it is received by the road to the moment it is delivered to the recipient.
Running, technical and sectional speeds can be determined not only for individual sections, but also for road sections and the entire railway network. d. To do this, it is enough to sum up the sectional train-kilometers and train-hours, respectively, for the road sections and the entire network. The ratio of the corresponding train kilometers to train hours will determine the above speeds for these units and the entire network as a whole.
Hundreds of years have passed since the invention of the railway. Railway transport has overcome a long evolutionary path of development from hand-pulled massive trolleys to modern super-high-speed express trains operating on the principle of magnetic levitation, which have already become commonplace in many countries around the world. This selection will feature the fastest trains that can reach speeds of at least 300 km per hour.
11th place. HSL 1 (High-Speed Line 1) - speed 300 km/h
HSL 1 is a Belgian high-speed electric train of the TGV series (Train à Grande Vitesse - "high-speed train" in French), whose operating speed is 300 km/h, runs on a high-speed railway line connecting Brussels with the French railway line LGV Nord. It was put into operation in December 1997.
10th place. THSR 700T - speed 300 - 315 km/h
THSR 700T is a high speed train on the island of Taiwan, developed from Japanese Shinkansen trains. The train, which has a maximum operating speed of 300 km/h, connects northern Taipei and southern Kaohsiung. It consists of 12 comfortable carriages and can accommodate 989 passengers. The speed record for this train was set in 2005 and is 315 km/h.
9th place. InterCity Express (ICE) - speed 320 km/h
ICE - high-speed trains common in Germany and neighboring countries. On the Strasbourg-Paris line, InterCity Express reaches speeds of up to 320 km/h. Today, ICEs are the main long-distance train type offered by German Railways. These trains are also supplied to Russia, where they are used on the Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow - St. Petersburg high-speed railway lines.
8th place. Eurostar - speed 300 - 334.7 km/h
Eurostar or British Rail Class 373 is a British TVG series high-speed electric train operating between the UK, Belgium and France through the Channel Tunnel, which is the second longest railway tunnel in the world. The train's capacity is 900 passengers, its operating speed reaches 300 km/h, and the speed record for this train was set in 2003 and is equal to 334.7 km/h. The journey from London to Paris by Eurostar takes 2 hours 16 minutes.
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7th place. KTX Sancheon - speed 305 - 352 km/h
Sancheon, formerly known as KTX II, entered service in South Korea in 2009. It was built by Hyundai Rotem based on technology from French TGV trains and is owned by Korail, the national rail operator South Korea. Although it can reach speeds of up to 352 km/h (the record was set in 2004), for safety reasons it does not go faster than 305 km/h. The comfortable train with a capacity of 363 passengers operates on the route Yongsan - Gwangju - Mokpo and Seoul - Busan.
6th place. ETR-500 (Elettro Treno Rapido 500) - speed 300 - 362 km/h
For the ETR-500 electric train, released in Italy in 1993, the operating speed reaches 300 km/h, and the speed record was set in 2009 in the tunnel between Bologna and Florence and is 362 km/h. The train covers the distance from the center of Bologna to Milan in 56 minutes. The release of six ETR-1000 trains is planned for 2014, which will reach speeds from 360 to 400 km/h.
5th place. AVE Talgo-350 - speed 330 - 365 km/h
AVE (Alta Velocidad Española) - trademark operating company of the Spanish Railways Renfe-Operadora. The abbreviation is also a play on the word "bird" (ave) in Spanish. All AVE class trains are high-speed, but the AVE Talgo-350 electric train with a capacity of 318 passengers, accelerating up to 330 km/h on the routes Madrid - Valladolid and Madrid - Barcelona, is especially fast. In 2004, during testing, the train reached a speed of 365 km/h. Due to its duck-like appearance, the AVE Talgo-350 was nicknamed Pato (duck in Spanish).
4th place. CRH380A - speed 380 - 486.1 km/h
The Chinese train CRH380A is designed for a maximum operating speed of 380 km/h, while the speed record for such a train is 486.1 km/h. The production of these iron monsters is carried out by the largest railway manufacturer in China - CSR Qingdao Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company. The high-speed 8-car train with an “airplane-style” interior can accommodate 494 passengers. In September 2010, the CRH-380A was put into service for the first time on the Shanghai - Nanjing route. It later began operating daily flights on the Wuhan-Guangzhou and Shanghai-Hangzhou lines.
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3rd place. Shanghai Maglev Train - speed 431 - 501 km/h
The Shanghai Maglev is a Chinese high-speed maglev train operating in Shanghai since 2004. The maximum speed of the express train is 431 km/h, which allows you to cover the distance from the city center to the airport (30 km) in just 7-8 minutes. In a test run on November 12, 2003, this train reached a speed of 501 km/h. The developers of the train are not the Chinese, but the Germans. The prototype of the Shanghai Maglev Train was the Transrapid SMT model
2nd place. TGV POS - speed 320 - 574.8 km/h
These French TVG series trains operate between France and Switzerland and between France and Germany. Operating speed - 320 km/h. At the same time, the TGV POS model holds the speed record among rail trains - in 2007, this train was able to accelerate to 574.8 km per hour.
1 place. Shinkansen series trains - speed 320 - 581 km/h
Shinkansen (Shinkansen - "new highway" in Japanese) - a network of Japanese high-speed high speed trains, which are often called "bullets", and for good reason - the Shinkansen speed record for conventional railway lines is 443 km/h (the record was set in 1996), and on magnetic levitation it is 581 km/h, which is the absolute world record for trains (the record was set in 2003). The first high-speed train in Japan went into operation in 1964. Today, Shinkansen express trains, consisting of sixteen cars, cover the distance between Osaka and Tokyo in 2 hours and 25 minutes. The train has a peculiar elongated nose, thanks to which it received the nickname “platypus”. By the way, Shinkansen trains have the status of not only one of the most fast trains, but also the safest - in 40 years of operation there has not been a single major accident.
Trains are in a hurry, but not at all to the dustbin of history - on the contrary, every year they become more convenient, quieter and faster. Viewers of the Discovery Channel will be able to learn about how modern public transport is maintained in the “Mega Pit Stops” project, which airs on Saturdays at 11:00 (one of the episodes of the project is dedicated to the Russian “Sapsan” - you can watch it on May 18 ), and “Popular Mechanics” will tell about the history of the highest speed trains on the planet.
Editorial PM
Express and high speed
The concept of “high-speed train” does not have a generally accepted definition: it is usually said about railway transport, whose speed is on average higher than that of traditional trains: for example, in Russia, trains that reach speeds of 140 km/h and above are recognized as high-speed, and in India In Canada, this threshold is 160 km/h. But with the definition of “high-speed train” everything is much simpler: as a rule, this is the name given to all railway vehicles that can exceed the 200 km/h mark.
By the way, this threshold was taken at the beginning of the twentieth century by an experimental electric car from Siemens & Halske in October 1903, and just three weeks later the electric car from AEG already demonstrated a speed of 210.2 km/h. The first high-speed line (or HSR for short) appeared only in 1964 - it was the Japanese Tokaido Shinkansen line with a length of 515.4 km. The route quickly gained popularity and the costs of building the line were recouped in just seven years. The success of Japan contributed to the development of high-speed rail in many countries, and it continues to this day, and modern high-speed trains are direct confirmation of this.
Japan: Shinkansen trains
Although the name "Shinkansen" is translated from Japanese as "new highway", these trains are more often colloquially called "bullet trains": largely due to their impressive speed - many models have a design speed exceeding 300 km/h - and partly due to appearance of the zero series, which became a symbol of the Shinkansen.
The Shinkansen Series 0 electric trains were the first vehicles to enter service on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line in 1964. The line was electrified with single-phase alternating current 25 kV with a frequency of 60 Hz, and the wheel sets of all cars were powered by 185 kW traction motors, which provided a maximum speed of 210 km/h (in 1986 it was increased to 220 km/h). This line was built with a 1435 mm gauge, wider than the rest of the network (1067 mm). Thus, it cannot be used for freight transport or for trains other than shinkansen. The very first representatives of the series included 12, less often 16, cars; after a while they were joined by four- and six-car versions.
In 1982, the next series of electric trains on the Shinkansen network, numbered 200, entered service (curiously, the 100 series was launched only three years later - the fact is that shinkansen running east of the capital were given numbers of odd hundreds, and to the west - even numbers ): within its framework, modernized trains were later released with speeds from 240 to 275 km/h. In general, over all these years, about 20 different series of these trains have been developed, each of which is distinguished by its original design, number of cars, as well as design and technical features. For example, in the 300 series trains, DC electric motors were first replaced by three-phase AC traction motors; the 400 series trains have a narrower body, this is due to the fact that the high-speed line on which they ran was converted from a regular railway line, in the 500 series the maximum service speed of 300 km/h was achieved for the first time, the N700 series was the first to achieve acceleration of 0.722 m/s² among passenger shinkansen, and the E1 and E4 series trains each have two floors.
Shinkansen do not stop developing: in May of this year, the country introduced a new high-speed train Alfa-X, which can accelerate to 360 km/h (this is a record for passenger shinkansen). Its most striking feature is its 22-meter nose, designed to reduce air resistance, which especially increases when such a train enters tunnel sections at high speed. In addition, among the technical features of the series are air brakes and special magnetic plates in the braking system.
Japan: Maglev L0
In addition to high-speed passenger trains, Japan has been experimenting with the development of trains based on the principle of magnetic levitation (maglev for short) since the seventies of the last century. The essence of this technology is that trains move and are controlled by the forces of an electromagnetic field, without touching the surface of the rail during movement - this eliminates friction, thereby increasing the speed of movement.
Since 1972, about 10 different series of maglevs have been created in Japan, and one of the samples of the L0 series, presented to the public in 2012, during tests in 2015 accelerated to 603 km/h, setting an absolute speed record for railway transport (and land passenger transport). transport in general). In 2020, the country is going to release an improved L0 series, which will receive power from the guide path through electromagnetic induction.
It should be noted that so far Japanese maglevs are participating exclusively in experimental launches, but five years ago the country began to build the Chuo Shinkansen maglev line, which will run from Tokyo to Nagoya - the opening of the line is planned for the mid-twenties, and by 2045 they are going to complete it to Osaka.
China: Shanghai Maglev
Today, China ranks first in the world in terms of the length of high-speed railways: by the end of last year, their length reached 29 thousand km - this is approximately two-thirds of the total length of all high-speed railways in the world put into commercial operation - and in 2025 the local the government plans to increase this figure to 38 thousand km. One of the key completed projects in the field of high-speed rail transport is the Shanghai Maglev: the world's fastest magnetic levitation train in commercial operation (speeds up to 431 km/h) and the maglev line of the same name, 30 km long, connecting the Shanghai Longyang metro station Lou and international Airport Pudong. To cover this distance, the train takes only 7 minutes 20 seconds (depending on the train model, the time may increase by 50 seconds).
This ambitious and cutting-edge project, which cost China more than $1 billion, began commercial operation back in 2002, but even today it is still not profitable (annual losses amount to about $93 million). From the very beginning, the Shanghai Maglev was planned not as a viable market solution for the needs of travelers, but as a test project, on the basis of which it was planned to further develop China's railway infrastructure (it appeared before the massive creation of the HSR network in the country), but this idea was later abandoned for several reasons. “Firstly, the construction of such a line itself is extremely expensive. Secondly, from a technical point of view, it is very difficult to build it in real terrain conditions - this requires great technical research and a high engineering level in the country as a whole. Thirdly, maglev is incredibly difficult and expensive to maintain in operation, especially in conditions where the line is long: if the tracks sag for some reason, in the case of conventional and even high-speed railways they can be relatively easily straightened, but in the case of with maglev, when the line is supported by a million supports, it becomes very difficult,” explains Pavel Zyuzin, senior researcher at the Center for Research on Transport Problems of Megacities and the Institute of Transport Economics and Transport Policy at the Higher School of Economics. — If, for example, Japan can afford this - there are about 100 million residents concentrated along a narrow strip of settlement between Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, forming a corridor with extremely high demand - then this option is not suitable for China. At the same time, recently one of the metro lines there started operating using maglev technology - in this niche in China, magnetic levitation is completely justified and promising.” In general, despite many limiting factors, the expert considers maglev technologies to be the next stage in the development of high-speed rail, while “conventional” high-speed rail transport, in his opinion, has by and large reached the limits of its possible development.
France: TGV series trains
In response to the success of Japan's Shinkansen in the second half of the 20th century, France began building its high-speed trains, the TGV (French for Train à Grande Vitesse). At first, the developers were going to equip the designed trains with gas turbine engines, then with gas engines (this is exactly what the first prototype TGV 001, which appeared in 1972, had - by the way, it managed to set a world speed record among trains without electric traction at 318 km/h). However, due to increased fuel consumption, in the end this idea was also abandoned, and it was decided to build electric trains powered by a contact network. The all-electric Zébulon prototype was completed in 1974, and shortly thereafter the production of the TGV series models and the construction of the LGV lines dedicated to them began, which stands for Ligne à Grande Vitesse, and translates as “high-speed line”.
The first generation TGVs of the Sud-Est series began operating on the first LGV line in 1980 - their initial design speed was 270 km/h, although some of these trains later raised this figure to 300 km/h. The TGV Sud-Est was followed by other train series: TGV La Poste, TGV Atlantique, TGV Réseau, TGV Duplex and Euroduplex, as well as TGV TMST, TGV Thalys PBKA and TGV POS intended for international routes. The last of these series is famous for the world speed record for rail trains of 574.8 km/h, which the electric train TGV POS No. 4402 managed to set in 2007 - however, for this it was somewhat modernized: more powerful traction motors were installed in motor cars, thereby increasing increased the output power from 9.3 MW to 19.6 MW, equipped with wheelsets of larger diameter and closed the gaps between the cars for better streamlining.
The design process for the next generation of TGV, called Avelia Horizon, began in 2016. New features include greater capacity to carry up to 740 passengers, improved on-board services and communications, and a 20% reduction in energy consumption through the introduction of regenerative braking, which national rail carrier SNCF says makes the trains "the greenest TGVs yet" in history" (the latter is also supported by the fact that future trains, after decommissioning, can be 97% recycled). Last year, SNCF announced an order for hundreds of such trains, with deliveries due to begin in 2023.
Spain: Talgo 350
“Spain is the first country in Europe to build not a separate route, but an entire network of high-speed lines, which, given the presence of two central air hubs - Barcelona and Madrid - made travel around the country incredibly fast and, among other things, had a positive impact on the development tourism,” says Pavel Zyuzin. Today Spain ranks second in the world in terms of the length of the high-speed railway (2,850 km) - it is logical that high-tech trains run along them.
Talgo
The AVE series 102 (or Talgo 350) trains, jointly produced by Talgo and Bombardier, running between Madrid and Barcelona are perhaps the most famous Spanish trains abroad. The Talgo 350 gained wide fame along with the nickname “Duck” largely due to its original and rather funny design: the nose of the train is elongated and actually somewhat resembles a duck’s - this was done to reduce aerodynamic drag.
In 1994, development of a prototype began. Initially, its creators set themselves the goal of achieving a design speed of 350 km/h (it’s not for nothing that this figure appears in the title), but in the end this figure was 330 km/h, which is due to the limitations of eight 1000 kW engines. But this speed is enough to cover the 621 km distance between Madrid and Barcelona in about 2 hours 30 minutes, if the train goes non-stop. In Spain, AVE trains of the 102 series began running in 2007, and in 2011 Saudi Arabia contracted with Talgo to supply these trains to serve the then-projected Haramain high-speed railway between Mecca and Medina (the line itself opened in October last year). Taking into account climatic and geographical features region, as well as customer wishes, Talgo increased the number seats Due to the potentially high demand among pilgrims, it increased the performance of the air conditioning system and took additional measures to protect the trains from sand and dust.
Russia: Sapsan
Among the most famous high-speed trains in the world is the international type, known in Russia as the Sapsan, which runs between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Among its distinctive features is the width of the train, which is 30 cm greater than the standard European one (this is due to the fact that Russia has a wider railway track), and in 2014, a double modification of the train consisting of 20 cars was officially recognized as the longest high-speed train in the world. In addition, Sapsan was created using technologies adapted to the Russian climate: even if the temperature drops below -40°C, it can safely continue moving, whereas in warmer countries even light snow can paralyze railway traffic.
From the very beginning, Sapsan was conceived as a replacement for the high-speed trains ER200, which connected St. Petersburg and Moscow and which had become significantly outdated by the 2000s. In 2006, JSC Russian Railways entered into a contract with Siemens for the supply of eight high-speed trains based on the Velaro train, and already in 2009 the trains entered service. The version for Russia was named after the fastest bird in the world - the peregrine falcon, which can reach speeds of more than 322 km/h in a rapid diving flight. Technically, Sapsan also has the potential to overcome this milestone if there is appropriate separate infrastructure - for now its design speed is 250 km/h.
Japan
1. The Japanese were the first to tackle the problem of modernizing their railways. This happened at the end of the 50s of the last century. This was a necessary event in the run-up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Because Japanese roads were archaic. The gauge was only 1067 mm, the tracks were worn out, and the locomotive fleet was outdated.
In record time, 5.5 years, the Japanese built the broad-gauge 552-kilometer Shinkansen line connecting Tokyo and Osaka. Here, for the first time in the world, technologies for seamless laying of rails were used: they are soldered into kilometer-long strings and in this form are delivered on a platform to the laying site. The geometry of the joints of these lashes is such that temperature changes do not lead to the formation of gaps between them.
2. Naturally, there are no crossings on the line, for which more than a hundred bridges and tunnels had to be built. The Shinkansen used a fundamentally new type of train, which was nicknamed the “bullet train” by journalists. The bullet train does not have a locomotive: an engine is mounted on each wheel axle, which allows for a significant increase in power.
In 1964, trains ran between Tokyo and Osaka at a speed of 210 km/h. Now the Nozomi N-700 electric train flies 552 km in 2 hours 25 minutes, reaching speeds of up to 300 km/h. Currently, the Shinkansen, which connects everything big cities Japan is the most popular mode of transport. Over the 50 years of operation, the Shinkansen trains, running in the morning and evening hours at intervals of six minutes, have carried almost 7 billion passengers.
France
3. Europe responded to the Japanese railway breakthrough with a significant delay. This is partly due to the fact that European designers experimented with great enthusiasm in the 1950s and 60s with hovercraft and maglev, the name for magnetic levitation trains.
The decision to create a high-speed line similar to the Japanese one was made in France in the second half of the 1960s. It took the French National Society of Railways fifteen years to develop and launch the Paris-Lyon line, which was named TGV (train a` grande vitesse - high-speed train). Creating the route, although expensive, did not cause any particular problems for the engineers. It was more difficult to design the train itself. And then the global economic situation unexpectedly intervened in the plans of the designers. The fact is that at the first stage it was decided to use a gas turbine unit as the locomotive engine. In 1971, the TGV-001 turbo train was successfully tested, demonstrating excellent performance. It reached a speed of 318 km/h, which still remains a world record for trains without electric traction. However, the energy crisis that occurred in 1973 forced the SNCF management to abandon the use of sharply increased fuel in TGVs. There has been a reorientation towards the use of less expensive electricity produced at French nuclear power plants.
4. In the end, by 1980 the Paris-Lyon line was also ready. The electric locomotive and cars were produced by Alstom. On September 27, 1981 the line was put into operation. Distance between two French cities the train covered it in 2 hours, moving at a speed of 260 km/h. Now the speed on TGV lines covering Europe reaches 350 km/h. As for the average speed, it is 263.3 km/h. At the same time, rolling stock is constantly being modernized and new models are being created. On April 3, 2007, the new shortened TGV POS train reached a speed of 574.8 km/h on the new 106 km LGV EST line connecting Paris with Lorraine. This is an absolute record on a rail railway. At the same time, the braking distance was 32 km.
TGV POS type trains running in France, Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg are reminiscent of Russian electric trains. They have two head motor cars, between which there are eight intermediate trailers. Number of places - 377.
5. Special requirements are imposed on high-speed routes in addition to the seamless connection of rails. The turning radius is at least 4000 m. The center-to-center distances of adjacent tracks are at least 4.5 m, which reduces the aerodynamic effect when passing two oncoming trains, the relative speed of which can reach 700 km/h. The tunnels through which the track passes are specially designed to minimize aerodynamic impact when entering and exiting the tunnel. A special alarm system is used on the driver's dashboard and automatic braking is provided in case the driver does not react quickly enough. The paths are securely fenced to prevent collisions with animals. To prevent the pantograph from catching up with the wave running from it along the contact wire, the wire has greater tension than on conventional lines. On TGV lines there is a speed limit, not at the top, but at the bottom. This is required so that slow moving vehicles do not reduce throughput high-speed lines.
6. Oddly enough, there are no truly high-speed lines in the USA. Despite the fact that the trains traveling on the Washington-Baltimore-Philadelphia-New York-Boston route are manufactured by the French company Alstom. The maximum speed of trains in regular passenger traffic is 241 km/h. The route speed is lower: when traveling from end to end along the entire 735-kilometer route, it is 110 km/h. This is explained by the fact that high-speed French trains are forced to “drag” along the old track.
True, in 2013, construction began on a classic high-speed line between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It is scheduled to be operational in 2020, and TGV POS will be able to demonstrate everything they can do on it.
Germany
7. Intercity-Express - a network of high-speed trains, mainly distributed in Germany, developed by Deutsche Bahn. The current generation of Intercity-Express trains, ICE 3, were developed by a consortium of Siemens AG and Bombardier under the overall leadership of Siemens AG. The maximum speed of ICE trains on specially built sections of the railway network is 320 km/h. On standard sections of the network, ICE speed averages 160 km/h. The length of the sections where ICE can reach speeds of more than 230 km/h is 1200 km.
ICE is the main type of long-distance train service provided by German Railways (Deutsche Bahn). They provide both maximum speed and maximum travel comfort. ICE became the basis for the development by Siemens AG of its family of high-speed trains under the general Siemens Velaro brand. Velaro projects have been implemented, in particular, in Spain and China. These trains are also supplied to Russia for use on the Moscow - St. Petersburg and Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod high-speed lines.
Russia
8. The Moscow-St. Petersburg route, along which the Sapsan train travels, should be considered a conditionally high-speed route, since for the most part it is a slightly modernized legacy of the Soviet track system. In this connection, the train manufactured by the German company Siemens, capable of reaching speeds of up to 350 km/h, reaches 250 km/h in only one section. The average speed is 140 km/h.
By 2017, it is planned to make the route completely expressway. And then travel between the two capitals will be reduced from 4 hours to 2.
However, Russian Railways still set a record on this line. The contract amount for the purchase and operation of 8 trains exceeded 600 million euros. Purchasing the same number of fourth-generation fighters would be cheaper. Quite an expensive pleasure, allowing the “St. Petersburg” residents to visit their native land on the weekend.
China
China's expressways and high-speed roads include modernized conventional railway lines, new lines built specifically for high-speed trains, and the world's first commercial maglev train lines. As of December 2013, the total length of such roads in China was more than 14,400 km, including sections 7,268 km long, with a maximum train speed of 350 km/h.
China is currently experiencing a boom in high-speed rail construction. With government support and special incentives, the total length of the high-speed rail network is expected to reach 18,000 km by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan in 2015.
In technological terms, the organization of high-speed rail communication occurs through agreements on the transfer of technologies from proven foreign manufacturers such as Bombardier, Alstom, and Kawasaki. By adopting foreign technologies, China strives to make its own developments based on them. An example is the development of the record-breaking CRH-380A series trains for China's high-speed roads, about 500 km/h, manufactured in China and reaching speeds in excess of 350 km/h, which have been in operation since 2010. It is also reported that the new Beijing-Shanghai train will be developed by the Chinese company Shagun Rail Wheels and launched before 2012.
Eastern Maglev
10. Magnetic levitation (maglev) trains can conditionally be classified as railway transport, although they hover above the track at a distance of 1.5 centimeters. In this class of express trains, the speed record is 581 km/h. It was installed in 2003 by the maglev MLX01 of the Railway Technical Research Institute of Japan at the test site. It is still not known about the timing of the introduction of the Japanese maglev into commercial operation. However, the trains are already flying reliably and without accidents, and residents of surrounding towns and villages are already taking them for rides on holidays.
11. Since 2002, a Chinese 30-kilometer high-speed line has been operating, connecting Shanghai with Padong Airport. This road uses a monorail, over which, after acceleration, the train hovers at a distance of 1.5 cm. The speed of the Shanghai maglev, built by the German company Transrapid (a subsidiary of Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp), is 450 km/h.
In the foreseeable future, the Shanghai line will be extended to Hangzhou city, and its length will be 175 km.
