Rail transport

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For the video game, see Sid Meier's Railroads!.

French 1912 drawing of typical elements of railways

Railway tracks running through a railway station in North East England, UK

A railway yard in Portland, Oregon.

Rail transport is the transport of passengers and goods by means of wheeled vehicles specially designed to run along railways or railroads.

A typical railway/railroad track consists of two parallel steel (or in older networks, iron) rails, generally anchored perpendicular to beams, termed sleepers or ties, of timber, concrete, or steel to maintain a consistent distance apart, or gauge. The rails and perpendicular beams are usually then placed on a foundation made of concrete or compressed earth and gravel in a bed of ballast to prevent the track from buckling (bending out of its original configuration) as the ground settles over time beneath and under the weight of the vehicles passing above. The vehicles travelling on the rails are arranged in a train; a series of individual powered or unpowered vehicles linked together, displaying markers. These vehicles (referred to, in general, as cars, carriages or wagons) move with much less friction than do vehicles riding on rubber tires on a paved road, and the locomotive that pulls the train tends to use energy far more efficiently as a result.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] General

This article or section deals primarily with the United States and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

A railway ticket issued in the United Kingdom.

Rail transport is an energy-efficient and capital-intensive means of mechanized land transport. Rails provide very smooth and hard surfaces on which the wheels of the train may roll with a minimum of friction. As an example, a typical wagon can hold up to 125 tons of freight on two four-wheel bogies/trucks. Fully loaded, the contact between each wheel and the rail is the area of about one U.S. ten-cent piece. This can save energy compared with other forms of transportation, such as road transport which depends on rubber tires on pavement. Trains also have a small frontal area in relation to the load they are carrying, which cuts down on air resistance and thus energy usage. In all, under the right circumstances, a train needs 50-70% less energy to transport a given tonnage of freight (or given number of passengers), than does road transport. Furthermore, the rails and sleepers/ties distribute the weight of the train evenly, allowing significantly greater loads per axle / wheel than in road transport, leading to less wear and tear on the permanent way.

An intercity passenger train (left) and freight train (right) in Great Britain

Rail transport makes highly efficient use of space: a double-track rail line can carry more passengers or freight in a given amount of time than a four-lane road.^{[citation needed]}

As a result, rail transport is a major form of public transport in many countries. In Asia, for example, many millions use trains as regular transport in India, China, South Korea and Japan. It is also widespread in European countries.

As compared to most developed European and Asian nations, intercity rail transport in the United States is relatively scarce outside the Northeast Corridor. Major U.S. cities with heavily-used, local rail-based passenger transport systems are New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Philadelphia. Other U.S. cities with significant light rail or commuter rail operations include Atlanta, Dallas,Los Angeles, San Diego, and Portland, Oregon [1]. Amtrak, an agency of the federal government, is the sole nationwide passenger rail operator. In Canada, the government-owned VIA Rail system provides intercity service at prices that are usually higher than bus service but lower than air travel. Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver operate rapid transit and/or light rail services that receive millions of riders a year, and Ottawa has considered expanding its light rail pilot project.

The four largest U.S. railways (Union Pacific, BNSF, CSX and Norfolk Southern) all reported profits of over $1 billion in 2005 [2]. Canada's major rail operators, CN and CP, have been rather profitable since the 1960s, when they abandoned most lightly-used routes and concentrated solely on freight between major points. Investments in advanced switching technology helped lower cost of operations dramatically. In more recent years both railways have expanded, buying up formerly U.S.-based companies like the Soo Line Railroad. The East Japan Railway Company has taken an innovative and creative marketing stance and have achieved profitability as a result.

[edit] Operations

Main article: Rail transport operations

Two British Rail Class 143 DMUs at Cardiff Queen Street station in the United Kingdom, both trains are operated by Arriva Trains Wales and serve the suburbs of Cardiff.

A railway can be broken down into two major components. Basically these are the items which "move", the rolling stock, that is the locomotives, passenger carrying vehicles (coaches), freight carrying vehicles (goods wagons/freight cars) and those which are "fixed", usually referred to as its infrastructure. This category includes the permanent way (tracks) and buildings (stations, freight facilities, viaducts and tunnels).

[edit] Right of way

Railway tracks are laid upon land owned or leased by the railway. Owing to the requirements for large radius turns and modest grades, rails will often be laid in circuitous routes. Public carrier railways are typically granted limited rights of eminent domain (UK:compulsory purchase). In many cases in the 19th century railways were given additional incentives in the form of grants of public land. Route length and grade requirements can be reduced by the use of alternating earthern cut and fill, bridges, and tunnels, all of which can greatly increase the capital expenditures required to develop a right of way, while significantly reducing operating costs and allowing higher speeds on longer radius curves. In densely urbanized areas such as Manhattan, railways are sometimes laid out in tunnels to minimize the effects on existing properties (see condemnation).

[edit] Roadbed

Railways are always built to stand above surrounding terrain to prevent track flooding, erosion of the bed and decay of the sleepers/ties. In hilly and mountainous terrain, to avoid large slopes, the railway is at some places elevated, on an embankment, or bridge or viaduct, and at some places in a cutting (ditch or trench) or tunnel. The same are also used for non-level crossings. In the case of many crossings, such as in a city, a longer stretch may be elevated or underground.

Any poor quality soil such as peat or mud is excavated to firm soil and the excavation filled in with appropriate material, usually stone rubble from cuts or alluvial gravels.
Minor watercourses are led through pipes (culverts) before the grade is raised
A bed of stone chips (ballast) is laid over firm soil in order to ensure drainage around the ties and to distribute local pressure over a wider area. Unlike rounded river rock and gravel, crushed stone will interlock to form a stable base. This crushed stone is firmly tamped to prevent further settling and to lock the stones.

[edit] Trackage

Main article: Rail tracks

Bolted rail connection and tie-down

Trackage, consisting of sleepers/ties and rails, may be prefabricated or assembled in place. Rails may be composed of segments welded or bolted, and may be of a length comparable to that of a railcar or two or may be many hundreds of feet long.

The surface of the ballast is sloped around curves to reduce side forces. This reduces the forces tending to displace the track, reduces the tendency to overturn at high speed, and makes for a more comfortable ride for standing cattle and standing or seated passengers in trains. This will be optimal at only one particular speed, however.

[edit] Ties (sleepers)

The base of the trackage consists of treated wood or concrete "ties", also known as "sleepers". These ensure the proper distance between the rails (known as "gauge") and anchor the rail structure to the roadbed.

[edit] Plates

Plates that receive the rails are fitted atop the ties.

[edit] Spikes

After placement of the rail atop the plate, spikes are driven through holes into the plate, entering the tie, where they are held by friction. The top of the spike has a head that clamps the rail. Alternatively, through lag bolts may be used to retain clamps, preferred since these do not tend to loosen with age.

[edit] Additional ballast

The spaces between and surrounding the ties are filled with additional ballast to stabilize the rail assembly against movement.

[edit] Inspection

Rails, connectors, spikes, ties, and ballast must all be inspected periodically to ensure safety and to determine necessary maintenance.

[edit] Points (Turnouts)

Points, otherwise known as turnouts, are how trains cross to another track, for things such as sidings or crossovers. Laid similar to normal track, a point typically consists of a frog, multiple check rails and two switch rails. As the train approaches a set of points, the switch rails determine which path the train will follow.

[edit] Maintenance

Spikes in wooden ties can loosen over time. Split and rotten ties may be individually replaced. Should the rails settle owing to soil subsidence they may be lifted by specialized machinery and additional ballast tamped down to form a new elevation. Periodically, ballast must be removed and replaced with clean ballast to ensure drainage if wooden ties are used. Culverts and other passages for water must be kept clear lest an impoundment be created by the roadbed. Where roadbeds are placed along rivers, additional protection is usually placed to prevent erosion during times of high water. Bridges are another important item requiring inspection and maintenance.

See also: Track maintenance and Maintenance of way

[edit] Signalling

Semaphore type signal

Main article: Railway signalling

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Signalling consists of determining the location of railcars or trains on the route and of operating electromechanical signals to notify the train operator of appropriate actions. Signalling is highly coordinated with scheduling to avoid collisions. Prior to the availability of modern radio communications, signalling, and messages passed to trains were the principle means of communication. Additional signalling for safety is done by setting flares and by attaching explosive "torpedoes" to a rail.

[edit] Safety and railway disasters

Train wreck, 1907, in Canaan, New Hampshire

Trains can travel at very high speed; however, they are heavy, are unable to deviate from the track and require a great distance to stop. Although rail transport is considered one of the safest forms of travel, there are many possibilities for accidents to take place. These can vary from the minor derailment (jumping the track), a head-on collision with another train coming the opposite way and collision with an automobile at a level crossing/grade crossing. Level crossing collisions are relatively common in the United States where there are several thousand each year killing about 500 people - although the comparable figures in the United Kingdom are 30 and 12 (collisions and casualties, respectively). For information regarding major accidents, see List of rail accidents.

The most important safety measures are railway signalling and gates at level/grade crossings. Train whistles warn others of the presence of a train, while trackside signals maintain the distances between trains. In the United Kingdom, vandalism or negligence is thought responsible for about half of rail accidents.^{[citation needed]}

Railway lines are zoned or divided into blocks guarded by combinations of block signals, operating rules, and automatic-control devices so that one train, at most, may be in a block at any time. Such traffic control is done in a similar way to air traffic control.

Compared with road travel, railways remain relatively safe. Annual death rates on roads are over 40,000 in the United States and about 3,000 in the United Kingdom, compared with 1,000 rail-related fatalities in the United States and under 20 in the UK. (Sources: U.S. Department of Transportation and U.K. Health & Safety Executive). (These figures do not account for differences in passenger-miles travelled by mode; see e.g. Transportation safety in the United States.)

[edit] History

Main articles: History of rail transport and Heritage railway

See also Timeline of railway history

The Diolkos was a 6 km long wagonway that transported boats across the Corinth isthmus in Greece in the 6th century BC. Trucks pushed by slaves ran in grooves in a limestone track. The Diolkos ran for over 1300 years, until 900 AD.

The first horse-drawn wagonways appeared in Greece, Malta, and parts of the Roman Empire at least 2000 years ago, using cut-stone track.

They began reappearing in Europe from around 1550, usually operating with wooden track. The first railways in Great Britain (also known as wagonways) were built in the early 17th century, mainly for transporting coal from the mine to the water side where it could be loaded on to a boat. Early examples of this can be found in Broseley in Shropshire. These had wooden rails and flanged wheels, as on a modern railway. However, the rails were liable to wear out and have to be replaced. In 1768, the Coalbrookdale Company laid cast iron plates on such wooden rails to provide a more durable bearing surface.

In the late 18th century iron rails began to appear: British civil engineer William Jessop designed edge rails (which have the flange on the rail, used with plain wheels) for use on a scheme from Loughborough, Leicestershire in 1789 and in 1790 was one of the partners who established an iron-works at Butterley, Derbyshire to produce rails (and other goods). In 1802, Jessop opened the Surrey Iron Railway in south London, arguably the world's first public railway (albeit horse-drawn).

The first steam locomotive to operate on rails was built by Richard Trevithick, and was tried out in 1804 at Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. This was not a success, partly because the engine was so heavy that the rails broke under it. In 1806 a horse-drawn railway was built between Swansea and Mumbles. In 1807, this railway started carrying fare-paying passengers—the first in the world to do so.

Density of the railway net in Europe 1896

In 1811, John Blenkinsop designed the first successful and practical railway locomotive[3]. He patented (No 3431), a system of moving coals by a rack railway worked by a steam locomotive, and a line was built connecting the Middleton Colliery to Leeds. The locomotive was built by Matthew Murray of Fenton, Murray and Wood. The Middleton Railway was the first railway to successfully use steam locomotives on a commercial basis. It was also the first railway in Great Britain to be built under the terms laid out in an Act of Parliament.

Blücher, an early railway locomotive built in 1814 by George Stephenson.

Blenkinsop's engine had double-acting cylinders and, unlike the Trevithick pattern, no flywheel. The cylinders drove a geared wheel which engaged under the engine with the rack. This design was quickly superseded following the discovery of railway traction properties by George Stephenson during construction of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.

The Stockton and Darlington Railway opened in northern England in 1825 to be followed five years later by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, considered to be the world's first "Inter City" line, which proved the viability of rail transport, with Stephenson's famous Rocket steam locomotive. Railways soon spread throughout the United Kingdom and through the world, and became the dominant means of land transport for nearly a century, until the invention of aircraft and automobiles, which prompted a gradual decline in railways.

The rail gauge (the distance between the two rails of the track) used for the Stockton and Darlington railway became known as "standard gauge" and is used by about sixty per cent of the world's railways.

Two SD70 diesel locomotives of the Union Pacific refuelling at Dunsmuir, California.

The first railroad in the United States may have been a gravity railroad in Lewiston, New York in 1764. The 1810 Leiper Railroad in Pennsylvania was intended as the first permanent railroad, and the 1826 Granite Railway in Massachusetts was the first commercial railroad to evolve through continuous operations into a common carrier. The Baltimore and Ohio, opened in 1830, was the first to evolve into a major system. In 1867, the first elevated railroad was built in New York. In 1869, the symbolically important transcontinental railroad was completed in the United States with the driving of a golden spike at Promontory, Utah. The development of the railroad in the United States helped reduce transportation time and cost, which allowed migration towards the west. Railroads increased the accessibility of goods to consumers, thus allowing individuals and capital to flow westward.

Further information: Oldest railroads in North America

The use of overhead wires conducting electricity, invented by Granville T. Woods in 1888, amongst several other improvements, led to the development of electrified railways, the first of which in the United States was operated at Coney Island from 1892.

A historic postcard showing electric trolley-powered streetcars in Richmond, Virginia, where Frank J. Sprague successfully demonstrated his new system on the hills in 1888. The intersection shown is at 8th & Broad Streets.

Richmond, Virginia had the first successful electrically-powered trolley system in the United States. Designed by electric power pioneer Frank J. Sprague, the trolley system opened its first line in January, 1888. Richmond's hills, long a transportation obstacle, were considered an ideal proving ground. The new technology soon replaced horse-powered streetcars.

Diesel and electric trains and locomotives replaced steam in many countries in the decades after World War II.

In the USSR the phenomenon of children's railways was developed since the 1930s (the world's first one was opened on July 24, 1935). Fully operated by children, they were extracurricular educational institutions, where teenagers learnt railway professions. A lot of them are functioning in post-Soviet states and Eastern European countries.

Many countries since the 1960s have adopted high-speed railways.

On 24 August 2005, the Qingzang railway became the highest railway line in the world, when track was laid through the Tanggula Mountain Pass at 5072 meters above sea level in the Tanggula Mountains, Tibet. [4]

[edit] Terminology

Rail tracks

Main article: Rail terminology

In the United Kingdom and most other Commonwealth of Nations countries, the term railway is used in preference to the United States term, railroad. In Canadian speech, railway and railroad are interchangeable, although in law railway is the usual term. Railroad was used in the United Kingdom concurrently with railway until the 1850s when railway became the established term. Several American companies have railway in their names instead of railroad, the BNSF Railway being the pre-eminent modern example.

Further information: Usage of the terms railroad and railway

In the United Kingdom, the term railway often refers to the whole organization of tracks, trains, stations, signalling, timetables and the operating companies that collectively make up a coordinated railway system, while permanent way or p/way refers to the tracks alone; however this terminology is generally not commonplace outside of the railway industry or those who take a keen interest in it.

See also: Rail transport in the United Kingdom

Subways, metros, elevated lines, trolley lines, and undergrounds are all specialized railways.

Further information: International railroad terminology

[edit] Rail transport by country

Main article: Rail transport by country

Of 236 countries and dependencies, 143 have rail transport (including several with very little), of which about 90 have passenger services.

[edit] Gallery

Preparations for an electrified railway	Concrete ties (sleepers)	Rails joined by thermite welding	Expansion joint
Complex switchpoint	Guiderails in case of derailment	Steel trestle	Spectacular bridge in mountainous country

[edit] See also

This article is part
of the Transport series

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Rail transport
Operations
Stations
Trains
Locomotives
Rolling stock
History
Terminology
By country
Disasters
Modelling
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[edit] Further reading

End of the single track, unelectrified line at Bad Radkersburg, Styria, Austria, near the Slovenian border.

John H. Armstrong. Railroad: What It Is, What It Does 4th Edition (1998)
Rainer Fremdling, "Railways and German Economic Growth: A Leading Sector Analysis with a Comparison to the United States and Great Britain," The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 37, No. 3. (Sep., 1977), pp. 583-604.
Leland H. Jenks, "Railroads as an Economic Force in American Development," The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 4, No. 1 (May, 1944), 1-20.
O . S. Nock, ed. Encyclopedia of Railways (London, 1977), worldwide coverage, heavily illustrated
Patrick O’Brien. Railways and the Economic Development of Western Europe, 1830-1914 (1983)
Jack Simmons and Gordon Biddle, (editors). The Oxford Companion to British Railway History: From 1603 to the 1990s (2nd ed 1999)
Skelton, Oscar D. (1916). The Railway Builders. Glasgow, Brook, & Company, Toronto.
John Stover, American Railroads (2nd ed 1997)
James W. Ely Jr "Railroads & American Law" (2001) University Press of Kansas

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