There are many types of trains depending on where trains are running and what they carry. The most useful and usual type of trains is electric trains. Other than this type of trains, you can find diesel trains and steam locomotives.
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Electric train the series E653, JR-East
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Diesel train Kiha 281, JR-Hokkaido
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Steam locomotive D51, JR-East
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Photographs supplied courtesy of JR-East and JR-Hokkaido
Trains are for everyone to travel
We take trains to commute and go on a trip.
Tramways running on the roads stop at traffic lights. Distances between the stops are short. Therefore people take tramways just like taking buses. You can find more subways in the city centres with many residences. Subway stations are under the ground, so they can run through any area. In city centres, subway networks are more elaborate and more accessible. |
Low-floor tram, Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau
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Nanboku Line, Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd.
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Photographs supplied courtesy of Kumamoto City and Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd.
Travel by train
Taking trains is one of the best ways to travel because you can enjoy the moment until you get to your destination by seeing scenery from windows and having lunch box and some sweets.
Some trains bound for resorts have larger windows to appreciate beautiful landscapes. For a longer trip, you can take a night train departing during the night and arriving in the morning. People can travel while sleeping in the sleeping car. Such trains for a long trip have good restaurant cars. |
20000 series, Odakyu Electric Railway
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Window and seats of the 20000 series, Odakyu Electric Railway
Restaurant car of a night train “Hokutosei”, JR-East
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Photographs supplied courtesy of Odakyu Electric Railway and JR-East
In transit/railroad terms, a '''car''' means a single rail vehicle. A train means multiple rail cars connected together (2-car trains, 5-car trains).
Passenger trains vary in speed and distance. Some trains in the East Coast and abroad can operate faster than 125 mph connecting major cities. Some rail lines in the Bay Area function like a local bus with stops every few city blocks.
Below are the basic passenger train types. These categories, however, are shades of gray because a train system may have more than one function (Amtrak inter-city trains serving commuters). Also, train systems that have similar functions can have major differences in underlying technologies and legal requirements.
High speed trains
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| Source: Flickr |
High speed trains are generally defined as trains that can operate 125mph or faster. High speed trains generally connect large metropolitan areas (with very few stops in between) and are competitive with airlines in terms of overall travel time.
Although High Speed Rail trains in general are compatible with regular passenger and freight trains (and often share tracks at major stations in Europe and China), it requires dedicated tracks to operate at high speed.
High speed trains current operates in Europe (France, Germany, Britain, Spain, Italy, and more), Japan, China, South Korea, and Taiwan. In North America, Amtrak's Acela (Boston - Washington DC) meets the definition of of high speed rail, but uses heavier trainsets than its European and Asian counterparts.
The proposed high speed rail system in California would use trainsets similar to those in Europe and Asia.
Inter-city trains
Inter-city trains generally mean trains traveling long distances connecting metropolitan areas. Although the distances covered by some of these trains are comparable to airlines, inter-city trains generally operate at highway speed. Long distance inter-city trains may provide amenities not found on most other forms of transportation, including sleeper-cars and cafe/dining cars.
Amtrak is the operator of inter-city trains in the United States. Although Amtrak is much slower than airlines, inter-city trains serve small cities between metropolitan areas aren't served by airlines.
Historically, inter-city passenger trains are operated by railroad companies that also haul freight trains. After World War II, ridership on passenger trains steadily declined with competition from automobiles and airlines. At that time, many railroads wanted to abandon passenger train service to cut operating losses. In 1971, Amtrak was established by Congress to nationalize inter-city passenger rail business. Outside the Northeast Corridor (Boston and DC), Amtrak uses tracks owned by various freight railroads.
Commuter/regional trains
Commuter trains generally mean trains connecting suburban areas with the central city and primarily serves riders to and from work. Commuter trains typically run on weekdays, during rush hours, and only in the peak directions. A prime example would be Altamont Commuter Express, which run from Stockton to San Jose during weekday mornings, and from San Jose to Stockion during weekday afternoons. However, commuter rail systems like Caltrain and Metrolink can run trains all day in both directions.
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| Caltrain locomotives (Source) |
Many commuter trains in Europe, as well as some in the U.S. use electric multiple units instead of locomotives. In a multiple-unit train, every car (or every other car) in the train has motors which are capable of propelling the vehicle. Multiple unit trains are more reliable (with multiple engine/motors rather than one engine) and more efficient (by easily changing train length for peak and off-peak hours).
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| Proposed Caltrain EMU |
BayRail Alliance goal is to improve Caltrain service by converting its power source from diesel to electric, and use light weight European style rail cars. Caltrain is currently pursuing these goals under Project 2015.
In this 2002 TMS photo, the Blue Train (background) emerges from Westlake Center Station at the point where tracks squeeze together and where last night's accident occured. The Red Train (foreground), sits motionless here during driver training. A signal to warn drivers when Westlake is occupied is hidden by the train.
Trains of the future
Gauge changeable trains
People are waiting to see trains of the future. A gauge changeable train and a maglev train are one of them. The gauge changeable trains can run on different rail gauges (the distance between the two parallel rails). In Japan, there are four types of gauge and the trains can’t run on the different rail gauges. The gauge changeable trains are capable to change the distance of the wheels and run on any railway with different gauge.
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Gauge changeable train
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Image supplied courtesy of The Japan Railway Construction, Transport and The Technology Agency and The Railway Technical Research Institute
Mechanism of changing gauge
The gauge changeable trains use gauge changeable bogies and gauge changeable rails to run on different railway tracks.
They are developing the gauge changeable train that changes the distance of the wheels on both sides automatically after passing the guide rails so that it can run on the rails with different gauges. |
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Maglev trains (Superconducting train)
A Maglev train's official name is a superconducting magnetically levitated vehicle. It is suspended and runs at high speed by a strong magnetic force from superconducting magnet. The conventional trains run on the rails with wheels, whereas the Maglev trains float and run at super high speed of 500 km/h. It is expected that we can use the Maglev trains in the future.
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Maglev train test car (MLX01)
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Photograph supplied courtesy of The Railway Technical Research Institute
Mechanism of Maglev trains
Have you ever seen magnets’ south pole and north pole attracting or the same poles repelling each other in science class? Maglev trains float and advance using the repulsive force and the attractive force of the magnets.
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Mechanism of advancing
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Mechanism of levitation
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