112-645: Wicker Arches form a 660-yard (600 m) long railway viaduct across the Don Valley in the City of Sheffield , England . They take their name from the thoroughfare Wicker , which passes through the main arch of the viaduct and was, until the completion of the Sheffield Parkway , the main route eastwards from the city to the M1 . It is a Grade II* listed structure. The viaduct was built in 1848 to extend
224-408: A crank on a driving axle. Steam locomotives have been phased out in most parts of the world for economical and safety reasons, although many are preserved in working order by heritage railways . Electric locomotives draw power from a stationary source via an overhead wire or third rail . Some also or instead use a battery . In locomotives that are powered by high-voltage alternating current ,
336-586: A dining car . Some lines also provide over-night services with sleeping cars . Some long-haul trains have been given a specific name . Regional trains are medium distance trains that connect cities with outlying, surrounding areas, or provide a regional service, making more stops and having lower speeds. Commuter trains serve suburbs of urban areas, providing a daily commuting service. Airport rail links provide quick access from city centres to airports . High-speed rail are special inter-city trains that operate at much higher speeds than conventional railways,
448-681: A fourth rail system in 1890 on the City and South London Railway , now part of the London Underground Northern line . This was the first major railway to use electric traction . The world's first deep-level electric railway, it runs from the City of London , under the River Thames , to Stockwell in south London. The first practical AC electric locomotive was designed by Charles Brown , then working for Oerlikon , Zürich. In 1891, Brown had demonstrated long-distance power transmission, using three-phase AC , between
560-542: A funicular railway at the Hohensalzburg Fortress in Austria. The line originally used wooden rails and a hemp haulage rope and was operated by human or animal power, through a treadwheel . The line is still operational, although in updated form and is possibly the oldest operational railway. Wagonways (or tramways ) using wooden rails, hauled by horses, started appearing in the 1550s to facilitate
672-492: A hydro-electric plant at Lauffen am Neckar and Frankfurt am Main West, a distance of 280 km (170 mi). Using experience he had gained while working for Jean Heilmann on steam–electric locomotive designs, Brown observed that three-phase motors had a higher power-to-weight ratio than DC motors and, because of the absence of a commutator , were simpler to manufacture and maintain. However, they were much larger than
784-431: A steam engine that provides adhesion. Coal , petroleum , or wood is burned in a firebox , boiling water in the boiler to create pressurized steam. The steam travels through the smokebox before leaving via the chimney or smoke stack. In the process, it powers a piston that transmits power directly through a connecting rod (US: main rod) and a crankpin (US: wristpin) on the driving wheel (US main driver) or to
896-708: A third rail electric system , which is then used to power traction motors that drive the wheels. Electric traction offers a lower cost per mile of train operation but at a higher initial cost, which can only be justified on high traffic lines. Even though the cost per mile of construction is much higher, electric traction is cheaper to operate thanks to lower maintenance and purchase costs for locomotives and equipment. Compared to diesel locomotives, electric locomotives produce no direct emissions and accelerate much faster, making them better suited to passenger service, especially underground. Various other types of train propulsion have been tried, some more successful than others. In
1008-612: A train driver controls the train's operation. They may also be installed on unpowered train cars known as cab or control cars , to allow for a train to operate with the locomotive at the rear. To prevent collisions or other accidents, trains are often scheduled, and almost always are under the control of train dispatchers . Historically, trains operated based on timetables ; most trains (including nearly all passenger trains), continue to operate based on fixed schedules, though freight trains may instead run on an as-needed basis, or when enough freight cars are available to justify running
1120-469: A transformer in the locomotive converts the high-voltage low-current power to low-voltage high current used in the traction motors that power the wheels. Modern locomotives may use three-phase AC induction motors or direct current motors. Under certain conditions, electric locomotives are the most powerful traction. They are also the cheapest to run and provide less noise and no local air pollution. However, they require high capital investments both for
1232-479: A certain gauge , or distance between rails. Most trains operate on steel tracks with steel wheels, the low friction of which makes them more efficient than other forms of transport. Trains have their roots in wagonways , which used railway tracks and were powered by horses or pulled by cables . Following the invention of the steam locomotive in the United Kingdom in 1802, trains rapidly spread around
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#17327805139611344-550: A diesel locomotive from the company in 1909. The world's first diesel-powered locomotive was operated in the summer of 1912 on the Winterthur–Romanshorn railway in Switzerland, but was not a commercial success. The locomotive weight was 95 tonnes and the power was 883 kW with a maximum speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). Small numbers of prototype diesel locomotives were produced in a number of countries through
1456-478: A double track plateway, erroneously sometimes cited as world's first public railway, in south London. William Jessop had earlier used a form of all-iron edge rail and flanged wheels successfully for an extension to the Charnwood Forest Canal at Nanpantan , Loughborough, Leicestershire in 1789. In 1790, Jessop and his partner Outram began to manufacture edge rails. Jessop became a partner in
1568-463: A driver directly present. Around the world, various track gauges are in use for trains. In most cases, trains can only operate on tracks that are of the same gauge; where different gauge trains meet, it is known as a break of gauge . Standard gauge , defined as 1,435 mm (4 ft 8.5 in) between the rails, is the most common gauge worldwide, though both broad-gauge and narrow-gauge trains are also in use. Trains also need to fit within
1680-516: A few holdouts in Europe and South America. China was the last country to fully dieselize, due to its abundant coal reserves; steam locomotives were used to haul mainline trains as late as 2005 in Inner Mongolia . Trains began to face strong competition from automobiles and freight trucks in the 1930s, which greatly intensified following World War II. After the war, air transport also became
1792-564: A fixed schedule and have priority over freight trains . Passenger trains can be divided into short and long distance services. Long distance passenger trains travel over hundreds or even thousands of miles between cities. The longest passenger train service in the world is Russia's Trans-Siberian Railway between Moscow and Vladivostok , a distance of 9,289 kilometers (5,772 mi). In general, long distance trains may take days to complete their journeys, and stop at dozens of stations along their routes. For many rural communities, they are
1904-437: A large turning radius in its design. While high-speed rail is most often designed for passenger travel, some high-speed systems also offer freight service. Since 1980, rail transport has changed dramatically, but a number of heritage railways continue to operate as part of living history to preserve and maintain old railway lines for services of tourist trains. A train is a connected series of rail vehicles that move along
2016-498: A larger locomotive named Galvani , exhibited at the Royal Scottish Society of Arts Exhibition in 1841. The seven-ton vehicle had two direct-drive reluctance motors , with fixed electromagnets acting on iron bars attached to a wooden cylinder on each axle, and simple commutators . It hauled a load of six tons at four miles per hour (6 kilometers per hour) for a distance of one and a half miles (2.4 kilometres). It
2128-491: A locomotive) is referred to as a rake . A collection of rail vehicles may also be called a consist. A set of vehicles that are coupled together (such as the Pioneer Zephyr ) is called a trainset. The term rolling stock is used to describe any kind of railway vehicle. Trains are an evolution of wheeled wagons running on stone wagonways , the earliest of which were built by Babylon circa 2,200 BCE. Starting in
2240-423: A locomotive. This involves one or more powered vehicles being located at the front of the train, providing sufficient tractive force to haul the weight of the full train. This arrangement remains dominant for freight trains and is often used for passenger trains. A push–pull train has the end passenger car equipped with a driver's cab so that the engine driver can remotely control the locomotive. This allows one of
2352-598: A means of fighting traffic congestion on highways in urban areas. Bogies, also known in North America as trucks, support the wheels and axles of trains. Trucks range from just one axle to as many as four or more. Two-axle trucks are in the widest use worldwide, as they are better able to handle curves and support heavy loads than single axle trucks. Train vehicles are linked to one another by various systems of coupling. In much of Europe, India, and South America, trains primarily use buffers and chain couplers . In
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#17327805139612464-615: A mile of stopping distance. As such, emphasis is on educating motorists to yield to trains at crossings and avoid trespassing. The first trains were rope-hauled, gravity powered or pulled by horses. Steam locomotives work by burning coal, wood or oil fuel in a boiler to heat water into steam, which powers the locomotive's pistons which are in turn connected to the wheels. In the mid 20th century, most steam locomotives were replaced by diesel or electric locomotives, which were cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable. Steam locomotives are still used in heritage railways operated in many countries for
2576-477: A number of trains per hour (tph). Passenger trains can usually be into two types of operation, intercity railway and intracity transit. Whereas intercity railway involve higher speeds, longer routes, and lower frequency (usually scheduled), intracity transit involves lower speeds, shorter routes, and higher frequency (especially during peak hours). Intercity trains are long-haul trains that operate with few stops between cities. Trains typically have amenities such as
2688-676: A piece of circular rail track in Bloomsbury , London, the Catch Me Who Can , but never got beyond the experimental stage with railway locomotives, not least because his engines were too heavy for the cast-iron plateway track then in use. The first commercially successful steam locomotive was Matthew Murray 's rack locomotive Salamanca built for the Middleton Railway in Leeds in 1812. This twin-cylinder locomotive
2800-465: A pivotal role in the development and widespread adoption of the steam locomotive. His designs considerably improved on the work of the earlier pioneers. He built the locomotive Blücher , also a successful flanged -wheel adhesion locomotive. In 1825 he built the locomotive Locomotion for the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the northeast of England, which became the first public steam railway in
2912-439: A revival in recent decades due to road congestion and rising fuel prices, as well as governments investing in rail as a means of reducing CO 2 emissions . Smooth, durable road surfaces have been made for wheeled vehicles since prehistoric times. In some cases, they were narrow and in pairs to support only the wheels. That is, they were wagonways or tracks. Some had grooves or flanges or other mechanical means to keep
3024-400: A significant competitor for passenger trains. Large amounts of traffic shifted to these new forms of transportation, resulting in a widespread decline in train service, both freight and passenger. A new development in the 1960s was high-speed rail , which runs on dedicated rights of way and travels at speeds of 240 kilometers per hour (150 mph) or greater. The first high-speed rail service
3136-739: A single lever to control both engine and generator in a coordinated fashion, and was the prototype for all diesel–electric locomotive control systems. In 1914, world's first functional diesel–electric railcars were produced for the Königlich-Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen ( Royal Saxon State Railways ) by Waggonfabrik Rastatt with electric equipment from Brown, Boveri & Cie and diesel engines from Swiss Sulzer AG . They were classified as DET 1 and DET 2 ( de.wiki ). The first regular used diesel–electric locomotives were switcher (shunter) locomotives . General Electric produced several small switching locomotives in
3248-874: A single rail, while funiculars and rack railways are uniquely designed to traverse steep slopes. Experimental trains such as high speed maglevs , which use magnetic levitation to float above a guideway, are under development in the 2020s and offer higher speeds than even the fastest conventional trains. Trains which use alternative fuels such as natural gas and hydrogen are another 21st-century development. Trains can be sorted into types based on whether they haul passengers or freight (though mixed trains which haul both exist), by their weight ( heavy rail for regular trains, light rail for lighter transit systems), by their speed, by their distance (short haul, long distance , transcontinental ), and by what form of track they use. Conventional trains operate on two rails, but several other types of track systems are also in use around
3360-475: A single steel span in connection to the building of the final phase of Sheffield's Inner Ring Road . The central arch was hit by an unexploded bomb during the Second World War but did not collapse and was repaired. The repair can still be seen today when going under the central arch away from the city centre. It is on the left-hand side of the arch. The Sheffield University Rag Magazine Twikker
3472-407: A standard. Following SNCF's successful trials, 50 Hz, now also called industrial frequency was adopted as standard for main-lines across the world. Earliest recorded examples of an internal combustion engine for railway use included a prototype designed by William Dent Priestman . Sir William Thomson examined it in 1888 and described it as a "Priestman oil engine mounted upon a truck which
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3584-632: A terminus about one-half mile (800 m) away. A funicular railway was also made at Broseley in Shropshire some time before 1604. This carried coal for James Clifford from his mines down to the River Severn to be loaded onto barges and carried to riverside towns. The Wollaton Wagonway , completed in 1604 by Huntingdon Beaumont , has sometimes erroneously been cited as the earliest British railway. It ran from Strelley to Wollaton near Nottingham . The Middleton Railway in Leeds , which
3696-595: A train. Simple repairs may be done while a train is parked on the tracks, but more extensive repairs will be done at a motive power depot . Similar facilities exist for repairing damaged or defective train cars. Maintenance of way trains are used to build and repair railroad tracks and other equipment. Train drivers , also known as engineers, are responsible for operating trains. Conductors are in charge of trains and their cargo, and help passengers on passenger trains. Brakeman , also known as trainmen, were historically responsible for manually applying brakes, though
3808-432: A variety of systems, which may include characteristics of trams, heavier passenger trains, and rapid transit systems. There are a number of specialized trains which differ from the traditional definition of a train as a set of vehicles which travels on two rails. Monorails were developed to meet medium-demand traffic in urban transit, and consist of a train running on a single rail, typically elevated. Monorails represent
3920-408: A wheel. This was a large stationary engine , powering cotton mills and a variety of machinery; the state of boiler technology necessitated the use of low-pressure steam acting upon a vacuum in the cylinder, which required a separate condenser and an air pump . Nevertheless, as the construction of boilers improved, Watt investigated the use of high-pressure steam acting directly upon a piston, raising
4032-563: A wide variety of cargo, flatcars (also known as flat wagons ) which have flat tops to hold cargo, hopper cars which carry bulk commodities, and tank cars which carry liquids and gases. Examples of more specialized types of train cars include bottle cars which hold molten steel, Schnabel cars which handle very heavy loads, and refrigerator cars which carry perishable goods. Early train cars were small and light, much like early locomotives, but over time they have become larger as locomotives have become more powerful. A passenger train
4144-410: Is a single, self-powered car, and may be electrically propelled or powered by a diesel engine . Multiple units have a driver's cab at each end of the unit, and were developed following the ability to build electric motors and other engines small enough to fit under the coach. There are only a few freight multiple units, most of which are high-speed post trains. Steam locomotives are locomotives with
4256-399: Is dominant. Electro-diesel locomotives are built to run as diesel–electric on unelectrified sections and as electric locomotives on electrified sections. Alternative methods of motive power include magnetic levitation , horse-drawn, cable , gravity, pneumatics and gas turbine . A passenger train stops at stations where passengers may embark and disembark. The oversight of the train is
4368-739: Is named after The Wicker, and its 1991 cover featured the Wicker Arches. Railway Rail transport (also known as train transport ) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks , which usually consist of two parallel steel rails . Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport , next to road transport . It is used for about 8% of passenger and freight transport globally, thanks to its energy efficiency and potentially high speed . Rolling stock on rails generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, allowing rail cars to be coupled into longer trains . Power
4480-428: Is used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self propelled passenger trains are known as multiple units or railcars . Passenger trains travel between stations or depots , where passengers may board and disembark. In most cases, passenger trains operate on
4592-408: Is usually provided by diesel or electrical locomotives . While railway transport is capital-intensive and less flexible than road transport, it can carry heavy loads of passengers and cargo with greater energy efficiency and safety. Precursors of railways driven by human or animal power have existed since antiquity, but modern rail transport began with the invention of the steam locomotive in
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4704-556: Is worked on a temporary line of rails to show the adaptation of a petroleum engine for locomotive purposes." In 1894, a 20 hp (15 kW) two axle machine built by Priestman Brothers was used on the Hull Docks . In 1906, Rudolf Diesel , Adolf Klose and the steam and diesel engine manufacturer Gebrüder Sulzer founded Diesel-Sulzer-Klose GmbH to manufacture diesel-powered locomotives. Sulzer had been manufacturing diesel engines since 1898. The Prussian State Railways ordered
4816-463: The Iron Curtain ) and advances in technology to convert their trains to diesel or electric power. France, Russia, Switzerland, and Japan were leaders in adopting widespread electrified railroads, while other nations focused primarily on dieselization . By 1980, the majority of the world's steam locomotives had been retired, though they continued to be used in parts of Africa and Asia, along with
4928-584: The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway from its previous terminus at Bridgehouses . The requirements were laid down by Sir John Fowler (engineer and designer of the Forth Bridge ), but because of its prominent position in the city, he employed a firm of architects, Weightman, Hadfield and Goldie , to manage the detailed design. The design was then constructed by Miller, Blackie and Shortridge, and consisted of 41 arches. The arch which crosses
5040-452: The Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. British engineer George Stephenson ran a steam locomotive named Locomotion No. 1 on this 40-kilometer (25-mile) long line, hauling over 400 passengers at up to 13 kilometers per hour (8 mph). The success of this locomotive, and Stephenson's Rocket in 1829, convinced many of the value in steam locomotives, and within a decade the stock market bubble known as " Railway Mania " started across
5152-692: The United Kingdom at the beginning of the 19th century. The first passenger railway, the Stockton and Darlington Railway , opened in 1825. The quick spread of railways throughout Europe and North America, following the 1830 opening of the first intercity connection in England, was a key component of the Industrial Revolution . The adoption of rail transport lowered shipping costs compared to water transport, leading to "national markets" in which prices varied less from city to city. In
5264-615: The United Kingdom , South Korea , Scandinavia, Belgium and the Netherlands. The construction of many of these lines has resulted in the dramatic decline of short-haul flights and automotive traffic between connected cities, such as the London–Paris–Brussels corridor, Madrid–Barcelona, Milan–Rome–Naples, as well as many other major lines. High-speed trains normally operate on standard gauge tracks of continuously welded rail on grade-separated right-of-way that incorporates
5376-640: The loading gauge profile to avoid fouling bridges and lineside infrastructure with this being a potential limiting factor on loads such as intermodal container types that may be carried. Train accidents sometimes occur, including derailments (when a train leaves the tracks) and train wrecks (collisions between trains). Accidents were more common in the early days of trains, when railway signal systems, centralized traffic control , and failsafe systems to prevent collisions were primitive or did not yet exist. To prevent accidents, systems such as automatic train stop are used; these are failsafe systems that apply
5488-414: The overhead lines and the supporting infrastructure, as well as the generating station that is needed to produce electricity. Accordingly, electric traction is used on urban systems, lines with high traffic and for high-speed rail. Diesel locomotives use a diesel engine as the prime mover . The energy transmission may be either diesel–electric , diesel-mechanical or diesel–hydraulic but diesel–electric
5600-458: The puddling process in 1784. In 1783 Cort also patented the rolling process , which was 15 times faster at consolidating and shaping iron than hammering. These processes greatly lowered the cost of producing iron and rails. The next important development in iron production was hot blast developed by James Beaumont Neilson (patented 1828), which considerably reduced the amount of coke (fuel) or charcoal needed to produce pig iron. Wrought iron
5712-418: The rotary phase converter , enabling electric locomotives to use three-phase motors whilst supplied via a single overhead wire, carrying the simple industrial frequency (50 Hz) single phase AC of the high-voltage national networks. An important contribution to the wider adoption of AC traction came from SNCF of France after World War II. The company conducted trials at AC 50 Hz, and established it as
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#17327805139615824-665: The viaduct to reach the Stocksbridge Steel works. The arches were restored in 1990 and are a Grade II* listed building . They were added to the Buildings at Risk Register in 2007. In 2002, the Cobweb Bridge was suspended underneath the viaduct to allow the construction of the Five Weirs Walk . In spring 2006, the two westernmost arches and the bridge over Brunswick Road were removed and replaced by
5936-405: The 1500s, wagonways were introduced to haul material from mines; from the 1790s, stronger iron rails were introduced. Following early developments in the second half of the 1700s, in 1804 a steam locomotive built by British inventor Richard Trevithick powered the first ever steam train. Outside of coal mines, where fuel was readily available, steam locomotives remained untried until the opening of
6048-487: The 1880s, railway electrification began with tramways and rapid transit systems. Starting in the 1940s, steam locomotives were replaced by diesel locomotives . The first high-speed railway system was introduced in Japan in 1964, and high-speed rail lines now connect many cities in Europe , East Asia , and the eastern United States . Following some decline due to competition from cars and airplanes, rail transport has had
6160-521: The 1930s (the famous " 44-tonner " switcher was introduced in 1940) Westinghouse Electric and Baldwin collaborated to build switching locomotives starting in 1929. In 1929, the Canadian National Railways became the first North American railway to use diesels in mainline service with two units, 9000 and 9001, from Westinghouse. Although steam and diesel services reaching speeds up to 200 km/h (120 mph) were started before
6272-508: The 1960s in Europe, they were not very successful. The first electrified high-speed rail Tōkaidō Shinkansen was introduced in 1964 between Tokyo and Osaka in Japan. Since then high-speed rail transport, functioning at speeds up to and above 300 km/h (190 mph), has been built in Japan, Spain, France , Germany, Italy, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan (Republic of China),
6384-502: The 1970s as an alternative to congested highways and a means to promote development , as has light rail in the 21st century. Freight trains remain important for the transport of bulk commodities such as coal and grain, as well as being a means of reducing road traffic congestion by freight trucks. While conventional trains operate on relatively flat tracks with two rails, a number of specialized trains exist which are significantly different in their mode of operation. Monorails operate on
6496-464: The 40 km Burgdorf–Thun line , Switzerland. Italian railways were the first in the world to introduce electric traction for the entire length of a main line rather than a short section. The 106 km Valtellina line was opened on 4 September 1902, designed by Kandó and a team from the Ganz works. The electrical system was three-phase at 3 kV 15 Hz. In 1918, Kandó invented and developed
6608-530: The Butterley Company in 1790. The first public edgeway (thus also first public railway) built was Lake Lock Rail Road in 1796. Although the primary purpose of the line was to carry coal, it also carried passengers. These two systems of constructing iron railways, the "L" plate-rail and the smooth edge-rail, continued to exist side by side until well into the early 19th century. The flanged wheel and edge-rail eventually proved its superiority and became
6720-514: The DC motors of the time and could not be mounted in underfloor bogies : they could only be carried within locomotive bodies. In 1894, Hungarian engineer Kálmán Kandó developed a new type 3-phase asynchronous electric drive motors and generators for electric locomotives. Kandó's early 1894 designs were first applied in a short three-phase AC tramway in Évian-les-Bains (France), which was constructed between 1896 and 1898. In 1896, Oerlikon installed
6832-482: The United Kingdom. News of the success of steam locomotives quickly reached the United States, where the first steam railroad opened in 1829. American railroad pioneers soon started manufacturing their own locomotives, designed to handle the sharper curves and rougher track typical of the country's railroads. The other nations of Europe also took note of British railroad developments, and most countries on
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#17327805139616944-790: The United States, the Gatimaan Express in India, and the KTM ETS in Malaysia. A number of types of trains are used to provide rapid transit to urban areas. These are distinct from traditional passenger trains in that they operate more frequently, typically do not share tracks with freight trains, and cover relatively short distances. Many different kinds of systems are in use globally. Rapid transit trains that operate in tunnels below ground are known as subways, undergrounds, or metros. Elevated railways operate on viaducts or bridges above
7056-690: The Wicker provides 30 feet (9.1 m) of headroom and spans 72 feet (22 m). On either side are smaller arches around 12 feet (3.7 m) high, with heraldic decoration in the stonework above them. Many of the arches are now concealed by buildings. The structure is officially named the Sheffield Victoria Viaduct, and has in the past been called the Wicker Viaduct. Later a part of the Great Central Railway ,
7168-578: The benefits of trains for transport led to a revival in their use and importance. Freight trains are significantly more efficient than trucks, while also emitting far fewer greenhouse gas emissions per ton-mile; passenger trains are also far more energy efficient than other modes of transport. According to the International Energy Agency , "On average, rail requires 12 times less energy and emits 7–11 times less GHGs per passenger-km travelled than private vehicles and airplanes, making it
7280-518: The brakes on a train if it passes a red signal and enters an occupied block , or if any of the train's equipment malfunctions. More advanced safety systems, such as positive train control , can also automatically regulate train speed, preventing derailments from entering curves or switches too fast. Modern trains have a very good safety record overall, comparable with air travel. In the United States between 2000 and 2009, train travel averaged 0.43 deaths per billion passenger miles traveled. While this
7392-694: The cars and apply the brakes when the train went downhill. Hand brakes are still used to park cars and locomotives, but the predominant braking system for trains globally is air brakes, invented in 1869 by George Westinghouse . Air brakes are applied at once to the entire train using air hoses. For safety and communication, trains are equipped with bells , horns , and lights . Steam locomotives typically use steam whistles rather than horns. Other types of lights may be installed on locomotives and cars, such as classification lights , Mars Lights , and ditch lights . Locomotives are in most cases equipped with cabs, also known as driving compartments, where
7504-473: The closure of many rapid transit and tram systems during this time as well. Since the 1970s, governments, environmentalists , and train advocates have promoted increased use of trains due to their greater fuel efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to other modes of land transport. High-speed rail , first built in the 1960s, has proven competitive with cars and planes over short to medium distances. Commuter rail has grown in importance since
7616-465: The continent constructed and opened their first railroads in the 1830s and 1840s, following the first run of a steam train in France in late 1829. In the 1850s, trains continued to expand across Europe, with many influenced by or purchases of American locomotive designs. Other European countries pursued their own distinct designs. Around the world, steam locomotives grew larger and more powerful throughout
7728-430: The duty of a guard/train manager/conductor . Passenger trains are part of public transport and often make up the stem of the service, with buses feeding to stations. Passenger trains provide long-distance intercity travel, daily commuter trips, or local urban transit services, operating with a diversity of vehicles, operating speeds, right-of-way requirements, and service frequency. Service frequencies are often expressed as
7840-402: The end of the 19th century, because they were cleaner compared to steam-driven trams which caused smoke in city streets. In 1784 James Watt , a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, patented a design for a steam locomotive . Watt had improved the steam engine of Thomas Newcomen , hitherto used to pump water out of mines, and developed a reciprocating engine in 1769 capable of powering
7952-471: The end of the 19th century, improving the quality of steel and further reducing costs. Thus steel completely replaced the use of iron in rails, becoming standard for all railways. The first passenger horsecar or tram , Swansea and Mumbles Railway , was opened between Swansea and Mumbles in Wales in 1807. Horses remained the preferable mode for tram transport even after the arrival of steam engines until
8064-527: The engine by one power stroke. The transmission system employed a large flywheel to even out the action of the piston rod. On 21 February 1804, the world's first steam-powered railway journey took place when Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales . Trevithick later demonstrated a locomotive operating upon
8176-475: The era of great expansion of railways that began in the late 1860s. Steel rails lasted several times longer than iron. Steel rails made heavier locomotives possible, allowing for longer trains and improving the productivity of railroads. The Bessemer process introduced nitrogen into the steel, which caused the steel to become brittle with age. The open hearth furnace began to replace the Bessemer process near
8288-522: The first commercial example of the system on the Lugano Tramway . Each 30-tonne locomotive had two 110 kW (150 hp) motors run by three-phase 750 V 40 Hz fed from double overhead lines. Three-phase motors run at a constant speed and provide regenerative braking , and are well suited to steeply graded routes, and the first main-line three-phase locomotives were supplied by Brown (by then in partnership with Walter Boveri ) in 1899 on
8400-465: The first decade of the 1900s. Experimentation with diesel and gas power continued, culminating in the German " Flying Hamburger " in 1933, and the influential American EMD FT in 1939. These successful diesel locomotives showed that diesel power was superior to steam, due to lower costs, ease of maintenance, and better reliability. Meanwhile, Italy developed an extensive network of electric trains during
8512-487: The first decades of the 20th century, driven by that country's lack of significant coal reserves. World War II brought great destruction to existing railroads across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Following the war's conclusion in 1945, nations which had suffered extensive damage to their railroad networks took the opportunity provided by Marshall Plan funds (or economic assistance from the USSR and Comecon , for nations behind
8624-731: The first train powered by electricity in 1879, and went on to pioneer electric trams . Another German inventor, Rudolf Diesel , constructed the first diesel engine in the 1890s, though the potential of his invention to power trains was not realized until decades later. Between 1897 and 1903, tests of experimental electric locomotives on the Royal Prussian Military Railway in Germany demonstrated they were viable, setting speed records in excess of 160 kilometers per hour (100 mph). Early gas powered " doodlebug " self-propelled railcars entered service on railroads in
8736-410: The ground, often on top of city streets. "Metro" may also refer to rapid transit that operates at ground level. In many systems, two or even all three of these types may exist on different portions of a network. Trams, also known in North America as streetcars, typically operate on or parallel to streets in cities, with frequent stops and a high frequency of service. Light rail is a catchall term for
8848-668: The highest possible radius. All these features are dramatically different from freight operations, thus justifying exclusive high-speed rail lines if it is economically feasible. Train A train (from Old French trahiner , from Latin trahere , "to pull, to draw" ) is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight . Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often known simply as "engines"), though some are self-propelled, such as multiple units or railcars . Passengers and cargo are carried in railroad cars , also known as wagons or carriages. Trains are designed to
8960-480: The leisure and enthusiast market. Diesel locomotives are powered with a diesel engine, which generates electricity to drive traction motors. This is known as a diesel–electric transmission , and is used on most larger diesels. Diesel power replaced steam for a variety of reasons: diesel locomotives were less complex, far more reliable, cheaper, cleaner, easier to maintain, and more fuel efficient. Electric trains receive their current via overhead lines or through
9072-1230: The limit being regarded at 200 to 350 kilometres per hour (120 to 220 mph). High-speed trains are used mostly for long-haul service and most systems are in Western Europe and East Asia. Magnetic levitation trains such as the Shanghai maglev train use under-riding magnets which attract themselves upward towards the underside of a guideway and this line has achieved somewhat higher peak speeds in day-to-day operation than conventional high-speed railways, although only over short distances. Due to their heightened speeds, route alignments for high-speed rail tend to have broader curves than conventional railways, but may have steeper grades that are more easily climbed by trains with large kinetic energy. High kinetic energy translates to higher horsepower-to-ton ratios (e.g. 20 horsepower per short ton or 16 kilowatts per tonne); this allows trains to accelerate and maintain higher speeds and negotiate steep grades as momentum builds up and recovered in downgrades (reducing cut and fill and tunnelling requirements). Since lateral forces act on curves, curvatures are designed with
9184-429: The locomotive-hauled train's drawbacks to be removed, since the locomotive need not be moved to the front of the train each time the train changes direction. A railroad car is a vehicle used for the haulage of either passengers or freight. A multiple unit has powered wheels throughout the whole train. These are used for rapid transit and tram systems, as well as many both short- and long-haul passenger trains. A railcar
9296-569: The main portion of the B&;O to the new line to New York through a series of tunnels around the edges of Baltimore's downtown. Electricity quickly became the power supply of choice for subways, abetted by the Sprague's invention of multiple-unit train control in 1897. By the early 1900s most street railways were electrified. The London Underground , the world's oldest underground railway, opened in 1863, and it began operating electric services using
9408-715: The mid 1900s, gas turbine locomotives were developed and successfully used, though most were retired due to high fuel costs and poor reliability. In the 21st century, alternative fuels for locomotives are under development, due to increasing costs for diesel and a desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from trains. Examples include hydrail (trains powered by hydrogen fuel cells) and the use of compressed or liquefied natural gas . Train cars, also known as wagons, are unpowered rail vehicles which are typically pulled by locomotives. Many different types exist, specialized to handle various types of cargo. Some common types include boxcars (also known as covered goods wagons ) that carry
9520-433: The mid-1920s. The Soviet Union operated three experimental units of different designs since late 1925, though only one of them (the E el-2 ) proved technically viable. A significant breakthrough occurred in 1914, when Hermann Lemp , a General Electric electrical engineer, developed and patented a reliable direct current electrical control system (subsequent improvements were also patented by Lemp). Lemp's design used
9632-502: The most efficient mode of motorised passenger transport. Aside from shipping, freight rail is the most energy-efficient and least carbon-intensive way to transport goods." As such, rail transport is considered an important part of achieving sustainable energy . Intermodal freight trains, carrying double-stack shipping containers , have since the 1970s generated significant business for railroads and gained market share from trucks. Increased use of commuter rail has also been promoted as
9744-412: The noise they made on the tracks. There are many references to their use in central Europe in the 16th century. Such a transport system was later used by German miners at Caldbeck , Cumbria , England, perhaps from the 1560s. A wagonway was built at Prescot , near Liverpool , sometime around 1600, possibly as early as 1594. Owned by Philip Layton, the line carried coal from a pit near Prescot Hall to
9856-533: The only form of public transportation available. Short distance or regional passenger trains have travel times measured in hours or even minutes, as opposed to days. They run more frequently than long distance trains, and are often used by commuters. Short distance passenger trains specifically designed for commuters are known as commuter rail . High speed trains are designed to be much faster than conventional trains, and typically run on their own separate tracks than other, slower trains. The first high speed train
9968-461: The possibility of a smaller engine that might be used to power a vehicle. Following his patent, Watt's employee William Murdoch produced a working model of a self-propelled steam carriage in that year. The first full-scale working railway steam locomotive was built in the United Kingdom in 1804 by Richard Trevithick , a British engineer born in Cornwall . This used high-pressure steam to drive
10080-724: The rest of the century as technology advanced. Trains first entered service in South America, Africa, and Asia through construction by imperial powers , which starting in the 1840s built railroads to solidify control of their colonies and transport cargo for export. In Japan, which was never colonized, railroads first arrived in the early 1870s. By 1900, railroads were operating on every continent besides uninhabited Antarctica. Even as steam locomotive technology continued to improve, inventors in Germany started work on alternative methods for powering trains. Werner von Siemens built
10192-547: The rest of the world, Janney couplers are the most popular, with a few local variations persisting (such as Wilson couplers in the former Soviet Union). On multiple units all over the world, Scharfenberg couplers are common. Because trains are heavy, powerful brakes are needed to slow or stop trains, and because steel wheels on steel rails have relatively low friction, brakes must be distributed among as many wheels as possible. Early trains could only be stopped by manually applied hand brakes, requiring workers to ride on top of
10304-441: The standard for railways. Cast iron used in rails proved unsatisfactory because it was brittle and broke under heavy loads. The wrought iron invented by John Birkinshaw in 1820 replaced cast iron. Wrought iron, usually simply referred to as "iron", was a ductile material that could undergo considerable deformation before breaking, making it more suitable for iron rails. But iron was expensive to produce until Henry Cort patented
10416-763: The term is used today to refer to crew members who perform tasks such as operating switches, coupling and uncoupling train cars, and setting handbrakes on equipment. Steam locomotives require a fireman who is responsible for fueling and regulating the locomotive's fire and boiler. On passenger trains, other crew members assist passengers, such as chefs to prepare food, and service attendants to provide food and drinks to passengers. Other passenger train specific duties include passenger car attendants, who assist passengers with boarding and alighting from trains, answer questions, and keep train cars clean, and sleeping car attendants, who perform similar duties in sleeping cars . Some trains can operate with automatic train operation without
10528-475: The time, was Liverpool and Manchester Railway , built in 1830. Steam power continued to be the dominant power system in railways around the world for more than a century. The first known electric locomotive was built in 1837 by chemist Robert Davidson of Aberdeen in Scotland, and it was powered by galvanic cells (batteries). Thus it was also the earliest battery-electric locomotive. Davidson later built
10640-543: The track. Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate locomotive or from individual motors in self-propelled multiple units. Most trains carry a revenue load, although non-revenue cars exist for the railway's own use, such as for maintenance-of-way purposes. The engine driver (engineer in North America) controls the locomotive or other power cars, although people movers and some rapid transits are under automatic control. Traditionally, trains are pulled using
10752-416: The transport of ore tubs to and from mines and soon became popular in Europe. Such an operation was illustrated in Germany in 1556 by Georgius Agricola in his work De re metallica . This line used "Hund" carts with unflanged wheels running on wooden planks and a vertical pin on the truck fitting into the gap between the planks to keep it going the right way. The miners called the wagons Hunde ("dogs") from
10864-754: The viaduct supported Sheffield Victoria Station . Main line rail passenger services crossing the Wicker Arches ceased in January 1970 with the closure of Sheffield Victoria and its service to Manchester, but the viaduct still carried the local services to Huddersfield via Penistone until they too were diverted, via Barnsley, in the 1980s. The only other passenger services to cross the bridge thereafter were football excursion trains to Wadsley Bridge for matches played at Sheffield Wednesday 's Hillsborough ground. This traffic ceased in 1996. The Victoria station buildings and platforms were demolished in 1989; however, freight services continue to use the, now single, line across
10976-629: The wheels on track. For example, evidence indicates that a 6 to 8.5 km long Diolkos paved trackway transported boats across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece from around 600 BC. The Diolkos was in use for over 650 years, until at least the 1st century AD. Paved trackways were also later built in Roman Egypt . In 1515, Cardinal Matthäus Lang wrote a description of the Reisszug ,
11088-559: The world in 1825, although it used both horse power and steam power on different runs. In 1829, he built the locomotive Rocket , which entered in and won the Rainhill Trials . This success led to Stephenson establishing his company as the pre-eminent builder of steam locomotives for railways in Great Britain and Ireland, the United States, and much of Europe. The first public railway which used only steam locomotives, all
11200-636: The world, allowing freight and passengers to move over land faster and cheaper than ever possible before. Rapid transit and trams were first built in the late 1800s to transport large numbers of people in and around cities. Beginning in the 1920s, and accelerating following World War II , diesel and electric locomotives replaced steam as the means of motive power. Following the development of cars , trucks , and extensive networks of highways which offered greater mobility, as well as faster airplanes , trains declined in importance and market share, and many rail lines were abandoned. The spread of buses led to
11312-540: The world, such as monorail . The railway terminology that is used to describe a train varies between countries. The International Union of Railways seeks to provide standardised terminology across languages. The Association of American Railroads provides terminology for North America. The British Rail Safety and Standards Board defines a train as a "light locomotive, self-propelled rail vehicle or road-rail vehicle in rail mode." A collection of passenger or freight carriages connected together (not necessarily with
11424-512: Was a soft material that contained slag or dross . The softness and dross tended to make iron rails distort and delaminate and they lasted less than 10 years. Sometimes they lasted as little as one year under high traffic. All these developments in the production of iron eventually led to the replacement of composite wood/iron rails with superior all-iron rails. The introduction of the Bessemer process , enabling steel to be made inexpensively, led to
11536-602: Was accomplished by the distribution of weight between a number of wheels. Puffing Billy is now on display in the Science Museum in London, and is the oldest locomotive in existence. In 1814, George Stephenson , inspired by the early locomotives of Trevithick, Murray and Hedley, persuaded the manager of the Killingworth colliery where he worked to allow him to build a steam-powered machine. Stephenson played
11648-514: Was built by Siemens. The tram ran on 180 volts DC, which was supplied by running rails. In 1891 the track was equipped with an overhead wire and the line was extended to Berlin-Lichterfelde West station . The Volk's Electric Railway opened in 1883 in Brighton , England. The railway is still operational, thus making it the oldest operational electric railway in the world. Also in 1883, Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram opened near Vienna in Austria. It
11760-706: Was built in 1758, later became the world's oldest operational railway (other than funiculars), albeit now in an upgraded form. In 1764, the first railway in the Americas was built in Lewiston, New York . In the late 1760s, the Coalbrookdale Company began to fix plates of cast iron to the upper surface of the wooden rails. This allowed a variation of gauge to be used. At first only balloon loops could be used for turning, but later, movable points were taken into use that allowed for switching. A system
11872-874: Was higher than that of air travel at 0.07 deaths per billion passenger miles, it was also far below the 7.28 deaths per billion passenger miles of car travel. In the 21st century, several derailments of oil trains caused fatalities, most notably the Canadian Lac-Mégantic rail disaster in 2013 which killed 47 people and leveled much of the town of Lac-Mégantic . The vast majority of train-related fatalities, over 90 percent, are due to trespassing on railroad tracks, or collisions with road vehicles at level crossings . Organizations such as Operation Lifesaver have been formed to improve safety awareness at railroad crossings, and governments have also launched ad campaigns. Trains cannot stop quickly when at speed; even an emergency brake application may still require more than
11984-548: Was introduced in which unflanged wheels ran on L-shaped metal plates, which came to be known as plateways . John Curr , a Sheffield colliery manager, invented this flanged rail in 1787, though the exact date of this is disputed. The plate rail was taken up by Benjamin Outram for wagonways serving his canals, manufacturing them at his Butterley ironworks . In 1803, William Jessop opened the Surrey Iron Railway ,
12096-489: Was light enough to not break the edge-rails track and solved the problem of adhesion by a cog-wheel using teeth cast on the side of one of the rails. Thus it was also the first rack railway . This was followed in 1813 by the locomotive Puffing Billy built by Christopher Blackett and William Hedley for the Wylam Colliery Railway, the first successful locomotive running by adhesion only. This
12208-762: Was tested on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in September of the following year, but the limited power from batteries prevented its general use. It was destroyed by railway workers, who saw it as a threat to their job security. By the middle of the nineteenth century most european countries had military uses for railways. Werner von Siemens demonstrated an electric railway in 1879 in Berlin. The world's first electric tram line, Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway , opened in Lichterfelde near Berlin , Germany, in 1881. It
12320-502: Was the Japanese Shinkansen , which entered service in 1964. In the following decades, high speed rail networks were developed across much of Europe and Eastern Asia, providing fast and reliable service competitive with automobiles and airplanes. The first high-speed train in the Americas was Amtrak 's Acela in the United States, which entered service in 2000. Towards the end of the 20th century, increased awareness of
12432-552: Was the Japanese Shinkansen , which opened in 1964. In the 21st century, services such as the French TGV and German Intercity Express are competitive with airplanes in travel time over short to medium distances. A subset of high speed trains are higher speed trains , which bridge the gap between conventional and high speed trains, and travel at speeds between the two. Examples include the Northeast Regional in
12544-636: Was the first tram line in the world in regular service powered from an overhead line. Five years later, in the U.S. electric trolleys were pioneered in 1888 on the Richmond Union Passenger Railway , using equipment designed by Frank J. Sprague . The first use of electrification on a main line was on a four-mile section of the Baltimore Belt Line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1895 connecting
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