Trains, a popular mode of transport among the young and old, have been around since the past 200 years of modern civilisation. Today, they have come a long way; currently trains transport around 40 percent of the world’s cargo. Trains are very eco-friendly, but are expensive to produce and maintain.
From the first time a steam train rolled over the railways of industrial England in the early 1800s, to modern days where bullet trains carry thousands of passengers with faster speeds than a Formula 1 car, and freight trains carry a substantial percentage of the world’s goods, trains have enabled us to develop civilisation with unexpected speed and precision.
First steam locomotive
Richard Trevithick, a British engineer is credited with building the first fully-functioning railway steam locomotive, in 1804. However, the first commercially successful steam locomotive was Matthew Murray’s Salamanca built for the Middleton Railway in Leeds, England in 1812. Diesel engines and electric locomotives slowly replaced these outdated steam engines, starting in the 1920s.
The Eastern and Oriental Express
The Eastern and Oriental Express is a luxury train that carries passengers between Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. Regarded as an Asian icon of luxury, the train dates back to 1972, and offers passengers unrivalled views of Southeast Asia throughout its three-day journey.
The Eastern and Oriental Express operates nine routes. In 2010, it began new all-inclusive tour programs of six nights. For example, Epic Thailand starts and ends in Bangkok, and visits a number of villages, temples, and Chiang Mai before returning to Bangkok.
The Fairy Queen
The Fairy Queen, also known as the East Indian Railway No. 22, is a steam locomotive built in 1855. It is, according to the Guinness World Records, the world’s oldest steam locomotive in regular service.
The Indian government bestowed heritage status on the Fairy Queen in 1972, making it a national treasure. The locomotive was restored to full working order in 1997, in preparation for its first mainline journey in 88 years and its return to commercial service on July 18 . The Fairy Queen was rebuilt, once again, in 2012, due to the lack of some essential parts believed to have been stolen.
The Ghan
The Ghan is the longest passenger train in service, a weekly sleeper running between Adelaide and Darwin in Australia. The length of the train varies, but a typical service comprises two locomotives and 30 carriages, giving a total length of 774 m (2,359 ft).
There have been longer passenger trains assembled for one-off events or specific charters, but the Ghan is the longest train that operates a regular service. Journeys on the Ghan take three days, and pass through the heart of the Australian outback. It has its own museum, the Old Ghan Heritage Railway and Museum, in Alice Springs, Australia.
The Orient Express 1883
The Orient Express was a luxury train for passengers travelling from Paris to Istanbul. The train passed six nations and ten rail roads. The express was well-known for its sleeping cars, fine meals and its royal travellers, including nobles, bureaucrats, diplomats and persons of similar status. The train stopped travelling to Istanbul in 1977 and in December 2009, the Orient express discontinued its service.
The TGV Network
The TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse or ‘train of high speeds’), is a category of high-speed trains. They are used in France. They are also used for some international travel between France, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. The trains normally travel at speeds between 270 km/h and 320 km/h. They are the fastest normal trains in the world, their average travel speed is 279.4 km/h.
France’s intercity high-speed railway service is one of the fastest in the world. The TGV network in France carries about 110 million passengers a year. A TGV test train set the world record for the fastest wheeled train in 2007, reaching 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph). TGVs have much international popularity, many countries modelling their own high-speed railway systems on the French one.
Maglev (Magnetic Levitation)
Maglev is a relatively new technology in train transportation; such trains use two sets of magnets: one set to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to move the elevated train ahead, taking advantage of the lack of friction. These trains float over guideways, and are set to replace old steel wheel-and-track trains. Maglev trains do not create rail friction, meaning these can hit speeds exceeding those of bullet trains. The fastest ever speed recorded by a Maglev train is 374 mph or 602 km/h (Japan’s L0 Series).
How Maglev trains work
Yet, very high speed is just one major benefit of Maglev trains. Because the trains rarely (if ever) touch the track, there’s far less noise and vibration than typical, earth-shaking trains.
Less vibration and friction results in fewer mechanical breakdowns, meaning that Maglev trains are less likely to encounter weather related delays. Shanghai’s operational Maglev trains have a cruising speed of 431 km/h (268 mph). It is also the fastest commercial electric train in the world.
Dinara Hettiarachchi
Grade 8
Ananda College
Colombo 10
