High-speed rail

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High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include 200 km/h (124 mph) for upgraded track and 250 km/h (155 mph) or faster for new track,[1] whilst in the United States, the U.S. Department of Transportation defines it as "reasonably expected to reach sustained speeds of more than 125 mph (201 km/h),[2] " although the Federal Railroad Administration uses a definition of above 110 mph (177 km/h).[3]

Actual maximum commercial speed is about 300 km/h (186 mph) for majority of national high speed railways (Japan, China, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, UK), and about 400 km/h (249 mph) for Maglev trains.
High speed trains travels at their maximum speed on specific tracks, generally using standard gauge (except Russia), with no at-grade crossings, and few curves.

The world record for conventional high-speed rail is held by the V150, a specially configured and heavily modified version of Alstom's TGV which clocked 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph) on a test run. The world speed record for Maglev is held by the Japanese experimental MLX01: 581 km/h (361 mph).[4]

While high-speed rail is usually designed for passenger travel, some high-speed systems also carry some kind of freight service. For instance, the French mail service La Poste owns a few special TGV trains for carrying postal freight.

For a list of High Speed Trains in the World, see List of high speed trains.

For rail speed records, see Land speed record for rail vehicles.

Contents

Definition of high-speed rail

See also: Passenger rail terminology

There are a number of different definitions for high-speed rail in use worldwide and there is no single standard.

However, there are certain parameters that are unique to high-speed rail. Indeed, conventional hauled trains are able to reach 200 km/h since 1967, with the launch of the french "Capitole" commercial train service, and they have never been considered as high speed trains.
The "High Speed Train" name was first used by the British Rail InterCity 125 for its high speed service train in 1975. It was followed by the French TGV (that means "Train Ă  Grande Vitesse", exact translation of High Speed Train) in 1981.

History

Railways were the first form of mass transportation on land and, until the development of the motorcar in the early 20th century, had an effective monopoly on land transport. Both streamlined steam locomotives and high-speed EMUs were used for high speed services.

Early research

The modern high-speed rail era started 6 October 1903. An electrical railcar from Siemens & Halske sped away at 203 km/h (126 mph) on the military railway track between Marienfeld and Zossen in Germany. It showed that high-speed rail was possible, and that the future was electrical. For scheduled trains, however, such a speed still was more than 60 years away.

In 1945 a Spanish inventor, Alejandoro Goicechen, invented a streamline diesel powered high speed train that while slightly slower than previous high-speed passenger trains, could move on regular rails already in existences and do curves at a very high speed of 80 mph vs 30 mph for most passenger trains of that era. He achieved this by designing both the locomotive and passenger cars designed with a unique axle system where there was only one axle set of wheels per car, connected by a Y-bar coupler, and where the center of gravity was only half as high as usual.[5]

Breakthrough : The Shinkansen

The true HSR breakthrough started in Japan. In this densely populated country, especially the 45-million-people area between Tokyo and Osaka, the traffic during the 1950s congested to reach maximum capacity. Both the roads and the narrow-gauge railways were jammed.[6] Japan in the 1950s was a crowded resource-limited nation that for security reasons did not want to import petroleum, and desperately needed a way to transport its millions of people in and between cities. So in 1957, the engineers at local private Odakyu Electric Railway in Greater Tokyo area had launched its Romancecar 3000 SE. This Romancecar set a world record for narrow gauge trains at 145 km/h (90 mph), giving the Odakyu engineers confidence they could safely and reliably build even faster trains at standard gauge.[6] Some of those engineers under government supervision started planning of the first intercity dedicated high-speed line. After initial feasibility tests, the plan was fast tracked and construction started in 20 April 1959,[7] and test runs in 1963 hit top speeds at 256 km/h (159 mph). And in October 1964, just in time for the Olympics, they opened the first modern high speed rail, the Shinkansen, Tōkaidō Shinkansen, between the two cities.[8]

The first Shinkansen trains, the 0 Series Shinkansen, built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries[8] – in English often called ‘’Bullet’’ Trains, after the original Japanese name Dangan Ressha(弾丸列車) – outclassed the earlier fast trains in commercial service. They ran the 515 km (320 mi) distance with a top speed at 210 km/h (130 mph) and an average speed at 162.8 km/h (101.2 mph) with stops at Nagoya and Kyoto. But the speed was only a part of the Shinkansen revolution. The earlier high-speed or proto-high-speed trains and railcars were few and far between (ten Red Devils, 15 Brill Bullets, a few Zephyrs with different forenames, two Elelectroliners, one Morning Hiawatha, one Fliegender Hamburger, etc., each with 150 seats at best). While these services were initially limited, Shinkansen offered HSR for the masses. The first Bullet trains had 12 cars; later versions have up to 16,[9] and there are double-deck trains too, to increase the capacity.[10][11]

After three years, more than 100 million passengers had used the trains, and the first billion was passed in 1976.[12] Later, the Shinkansen system has grown to a 2,387.7 km (1,484 mi) network with 422.6 km (263 mi) currently under construction and a further 770 km (478 mi) awaiting construction (see Shinkansen#List of Shinkansen lines). The Shinkansen has an operating speed of up to 300 km/h and starting early 2013 the Tōhoku Shinkansen will further increase the speed to 320 km/h (200 mph).[13][14] The Tōkaidō Shinkansen still is the world's busiest high-speed rail line. Up to ten trains per hour with 16 cars each (1,300 seats capacity) run in each direction with a minimum of 3 minutes between trains.[15] Though largely a long-distance transport system, the Shinkansen also serves commuters who travel to work in metropolitan areas from outlying cities.[16] During the Shinkansen's 47-year, 7 billion-passenger history, there have been no passenger fatalities due to derailments or collisions.[17]

In May 2011, the Japanese government approved the construction of the first 286 km of the Chūō Shinkansen maglev line, which will have an operating speed of 505 km/h (314 mph) and will link Tokyo and Nagoya by 2027. The long term plan is to have it link with Osaka by 2045. The maglev line is expected to complete the journey from Tokyo to Nagoya in 40 minutes, down from the current 100 minutes. Eventually it is planned to complete the Tokyo to Osaka journey in a little over 60 minutes, down from the current 155 minutes.[18]

The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which affected Sendai, a city northeast of Tokyo, made all Shinkansen trains automatically stop. No Shinkansen passengers suffered injuries, and the Tokaido Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka resumed operation several hours after the disasters, while the Tohoku Shinkansen remained out of service for several days.[19] On 12 March 2011, the northern 130 km of the Kyushu Shinkansen, opened although opening ceremonies were canceled due the earthquake and tsunami (see Kyushu Shinkansen).

Revival in Europe

Japan's Shinkansen success contributed to a revival for the idea high-speed rail in Europe – together with rising oil prices, a growing environmental interest, and rising traffic congestion on the roads.

In Europe, high-speed rail started during the International Transport Fair in Munich in June 1965, when DB Class 103 hauled a total of 347 demonstration trains at 200 km/h (124 mph) between Munich and Augsburg. The first regular service at this speed was the TEE "Le Capitole" between Paris and Toulouse with specially adapted SNCF Class BB 9200 locomotives (May 1967).

Great Britain introduced Europe's first regular above-200 km/h (124 mph)-service, albeit with a small margin, and without building new lines. In the years 1976–82 they made 95 diesel-electric train sets of the type InterCity 125 – called so because of their maximum speed at 125 mph (201 km/h), compared to 100 mph (161 km/h) for their forerunners. Their acceleration was better, too. Thus journey times were reduced, e.g. by an hour on the East Coast Main Line, and the passenger numbers soared. The IC 125 was planned to be followed by a tilting train, APT, to maximize the speed on twisted lines from the Victorian times – but the tilting mechanism brought on nausea in some of the passengers, and the APT project was shelved. This prolonged the IC 125’s lifetime, and even today they serve the nonelectrified mainlines.

In the Continental Europe, several countries started to build new high-speed lines during the 1970s – Italy's Direttissima between Rome and Florence, Western Germany’s Hannover–WĂźrzburg and Stuttgart–Mannheim lines, and France’s Paris–Lyon TGV line (LGV Sud-Est). The latter was the world’s fastest when it was completed in 1983 (the Paris–Dijon partition was opened in 1981), with a maximum speed at 260 km/h (162 mph) and average at 214 km/h (133 mph). Fares were affordable and the line became very popular; the air routes between these cities were practically eliminated when the train trips shrunk from about 3½ to two hours. France went on building an extensive high-speed network. In combination with the Belgian and British lines, the Paris-Lille-Calais line allowed the opening of the first HSR international services: Paris-London (1994), London-Brussels (1994), both via the Channel Tunnel,[20] and Brussels-Paris (1995).[21] Germany followed up with its own high-speed network, and after Germany was re-united in 1990, the Hamburg–Berlin line again became a mainline.

Spain’s first high speed line opened in 1992 between Madrid and Seville. In 2005, the Spanish Government announced an ambitious plan, (PEIT 2005–2020)[22] envisioning that by 2020, 90 percent of the population will live within 50 km (31 mi) of a station served by AVE. Spain began building the largest HSR network in Europe: five new lines have been opened (Madrid-Zaragoza-Lleida-Tarragona-Barcelona, CĂłrdoba- Malaga, Madrid-Toledo, Madrid-Segovia-Valladolid, Madrid-Cuenca-Valencia) and another 2,219 km (1,379 mi) are currently under construction.[23] As of December 2010, the Spanish AVE system is the longest HSR network in Europe and the second in the world, after China.[24]

Rationale

In both Japan and France the initial impetus for the introduction of high speed rail was the need for additional capacity to meet increasing demand for passenger rail travel. By the mid-1950s, the Tōkaidō Main Line in Japan was operating at full capacity, and construction of the first segment of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka started in 1959. The Tōkaidō Shinkansen opened on 1 October 1964, in time for the Tokyo Olympics. The situation for the first line in Japan was different from the subsequent lines. The route was already so densely populated and rail oriented that highway development would be extremely costly and one single line between Tokyo and Osaka could bring service to over half the nation's population. In 1959 that was nearly 45 million people; today it is well over 65 million. The Tōkaidō Shinkansen line is the most heavily traveled high speed line in the world, carrying 138 million people in 2009,[25] and the entire Shinkansen network, carrying 322 million, still transports more passengers than all other high speed rail lines in the world combined.

In France the main line between Paris and Lyon was projected to run out of capacity by 1970. In both cases the choice to build a completely separate passenger-only line allowed for the much straighter higher speed lines. The dramatically reduced travel times on both lines, bringing cities within three hours of one another, caused explosions in ridership.[26] It was the commercial success of both lines that inspired those countries and their economies to expand or start high speed rail networks.

In post-World War II United States, improvements in automobiles and aircraft made those means practical for a greater portion of the population than previously. In Europe and Japan, emphasis was given to rebuilding the railways after the war. In the United States, emphasis was given to airports and an extensive national interstate highway system. U.S. passenger trains were unable to compete with the postwar growth in airline and highway travel. The lower population density in North America allowed easier construction of a national highway network, but mass highway construction would not have been as easy in the high population densities of the European nations and Japan.[27] However, despite modest gains in the first decade of the 21st century, Amtrak ridership per capita remains far below that of most European nations.

In China, the plans for the largest high-speed railway network in history were driven by a combination of capacity constraints on existing lines and a desire to shorten journey times across the nation, whilst promoting development along the route. The construction schedule was significantly accelerated due to additional funding in the 4 trillion CNY stimulus package of 2008 and a number of lines are due to be completed by 2013.

Travel by rail becomes more competitive in areas of higher population density or where gasoline is expensive, because conventional trains are more fuel efficient than cars when ridership is high, similar to other forms of mass transit. Very few high-speed trains consume diesel or other fossil fuels but the power stations that provide electric trains with power can consume fossil fuels. In Japan and France, with very extensive high speed rail networks, a large proportion of electricity comes from nuclear power.[28] Even using electricity generated from coal or oil, high speed trains are significantly more fuel efficient per passenger per kilometer traveled than the typical automobile because of economies of scale in generator technology.[29] For example, on the Eurostar, emissions from travelling by train from London to Paris are 90% lower than by flying.[30] Rail networks, like highways, require large fixed capital investments and thus require a blend of high density and government investment to be competitive against existing capital infrastructure for aircraft and automobiles. Urban density and mass transit have been key factors in the success of European and Japanese railway transport, especially in countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and France.

Technology

Much of the technology behind high-speed rail is an improved application of mature standard gauge rail technology using overhead electrification. By building a new rail infrastructure with 20th century engineering, including elimination of constrictions such as roadway at-grade (level) crossings, frequent stops, a succession of curves and reverse curves, and not sharing the right-of-way with freight or slower passenger trains, higher speeds (250–320 km/h, 155–199 mph) are maintained. Total cost of ownership of HSR systems is generally lower than the total costs of competing alternatives (new highway or air capacity). Japanese systems are often more expensive than their counterparts but more comprehensive because they have their own dedicated elevated guideway, no traffic crossings, and disaster monitoring systems. Despite this the largest of the Japanese system's cost is related to the boring of tunnels through mountains, as was in Taiwan. Recent advances in wheeled trains in the last few decades have pushed the speed limits past 400 km/h (250 mph), among the advances being tilting trainsets, aerodynamic designs (to reduce drag, lift, and noise), air brakes, regenerative braking, stronger engines, dynamic weight shifting, etc. Some of the advances were to fix problems, like the Eschede disaster. European high-speed routes typically combine segments on new track, where the train runs at full commercial speed, with some sections of older track on the extremities of the route, near cities.

In France, the cost of construction (which was €10 million/km (US$15.1 million/km) for LGV Est) is minimised by adopting steeper grades rather than building tunnels and viaducts. However, in mountainous Switzerland, tunnels are inevitable. Because the lines are dedicated to passengers, gradients of 3.5%, rather than the previous maximum of 1–1.5% for mixed traffic, are used. Possibly more expensive land is acquired in order to build straighter lines which minimize line construction as well as operating and maintenance costs. In other countries high-speed rail was built without those economies so that the railway can also support other traffic, such as freight. Experience has shown however, that trains of significantly different speeds cause massive decreases of line capacity. As a result, mixed-traffic lines are usually reserved for high-speed passenger trains during the daytime, while freight trains go at night. In some cases, night-time high-speed trains are even diverted to lower speed lines in favour of freight traffic.

Common standards

Common standards for conventional high-speed lines are:

Item Standard Exception
Track gauge standard gauge Russia and Finland
Coupling Europe: Scharfenberg coupler Type 10
Electrification - voltage and frequency 25 kV 50 Hz; Japan (partially), Taiwan, South Korea, United States 25 kV 60 Hz. Frequency is related to grid frequency, see mains electricity by country. 15 kV AC, 16.7 Hz: Austria (new lines will be 25 kV), Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway.
DC: old lines in Southern France and Italy.
Electrification Overhead lines
Platform height in Europe most common 550 mm, Germany also 760 mm, Netherlands 760 mm Spain >1000 mm
Loading gauge
Signalling ETCS, in Europe lines are gradually changed to allow for ETCS, in China new lines use ETCS

High-speed lines

Operational high-speed lines in Europe
Operational high-speed lines in East Asia
  310–320 km/h (193–199 mph)   270–300 km/h (168–186 mph)   250 km/h (155 mph)
  200–230 km/h (124–143 mph)   Under construction   Other railways

To run at their maximum speed, most high-speed trains use special, often dedicated, high speed lines.

A major aspect of high-speed lines is the absence of level crossing (for evident security reasons), and the use of continuous welded rail which reduces track vibrations and discrepancies between rail segments enough to allow trains to pass at speeds in excess of 200 km/h (124 mph). Depending on design speed, banking and the forces deemed acceptable to the passengers, curves radius is above 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi), and for lines capable for 350 km/h (217 mph) running, typically at 7 to 9 kilometres (4.3 to 5.6 mi). In addition, almost all are electrically driven via overhead lines, have in-cab signalling, and use advanced switches using very low entry and frog angles.

According to the country, high-speed lines may be strictly dedicated, or open to fast regional trains or even freight trains.

Magnetic levitation trains fall under the category of high-speed rail due to their association with track oriented vehicles; however their inability to operate on conventional 'rails' often leads to their classification in a separate category.

High-speed trains

High-speed railways in the World

Main article: High-speed rail by country
See also: Planned high-speed rail by country

Maximum speed

Main article: Land speed record for railed vehicles

The term "maximum speed" has many meanings here. It can reflect:

Speed record

The current speed record for a conventional commercial train is held by a modified TGV POS trainset, reaching 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph). This run was for proof of concept and engineering, not to test normal passenger service.

Speed record for experimental unconventional passenger train was set by the manned "magnetic-levitation" train JR-Maglev MLX01 at 581 km/h (361 mph) in 2003.

However, these speeds reached by TGV and Maglev are not necessarily suitable for passenger operations as there are concerns such as noise, costs, deceleration time in an emergency, wear and tear, etc.

The record for railed vehicles is 10,325 km/h (6,416 mph) by an unmanned rocket sled by the United States Air Force.

Maximum speed in service

From mid 2011, the fastest operating conventional trains are the French TGV POS and German ICE 3 with a commercial maximum speed of 320 km/h (199 mph) on the French LGV Est.

The unconventional Shanghai Maglev Train reaches 431 km/h (268 mph) during its daily service on the 30 km dedicated line, holding the speed record for commercial train services.

The highest commercial operating speed have been held from August 2008 to July 2011 by China Railway High-speed trains, reaching 350 km/h (217 mph) on some lines (Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway, Wuhan–Guangzhou High-Speed Railway).

The highest scheduled average speed between two scheduled stops was the China Railway High-speed service on Wuhan-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway,[32] from 26 December 2009, until 29 January 2010. Non-stop trains on this line covered the 922 km (573 mi) journey in 2 hours, 57 minutes, at an average speed of 312.5 km/h (194.2 mph) from Wuhan to Guangzhou North.

Due to high costs and safety concerns the top speeds in China have been reduced to 300 km/h (186 mph) from 1 July 2011.[33]

Records in trial runs

Year Country Train Speed
km/h | mph		 Comments
1963 Japan Shinkansen 256 159 First country to develop HSR technology
1967 France TGV 001 318 198 Second country to develop HSR technology. Current record for gas-turbine powered train.
1972 Japan Shinkansen 286 178
1974 France AĂŠrotrain 430.2 267 High speed monorail hovercraft train
1975 Soviet Union ER200 210 130 High speed EMU
1978 Japan HSST-01 307.8 191 Auxiliary rocket propulsion
1978 Japan HSST-02 110 68
1979 Japan Shinkansen 319 198
1979 Japan ML-500R (unmanned) 504 313 Magnetic levitation train
1979 Japan ML-500R (unmanned) 517 321 Magnetic levitation train
1981 France TGV 380 236
1985 West Germany InterCityExperimental 324 201 Third country to develop HSR technology
1987 Japan MLU001 (manned) 400.8 249 Magnetic levitation train
1988 West Germany InterCityExperimental 406 252
1988 Italy ETR 500-X 319 198 Fourth country to develop HSR technology
1988 West Germany TR-06 412.6 256
1989 West Germany TR-07 436 271
1990 France TGV 515.3 320
1992 Japan Shinkansen 350 217
1993 Japan Shinkansen 425 264
1993 Germany TR-07 450 280 Magnetic levitation train
1994 Japan MLU002N 431 268 Magnetic levitation train
1996 Japan Shinkansen 446 277
1997 Japan MLX01 550 342 Magnetic levitation train
1999 Japan MLX01 552 343 Magnetic levitation train
2002 Spain AVE S-102 (Talgo 350) 362 225 Fifth country to develop HSR technology
2002 China China Star 321 199 Sixth country to develop HSR technology
2003 China Siemens Transrapid 08 501 311
2003 Japan MLX01 581 361 Current world record holder for unconventional train
2004 South Korea HSR-350x 352.4 219 Seventh country to develop HSR technology
2006 Spain AVE S-103 (Siemens Velaro) 404 251 Unmodified commercial trainset
2007 France V150 574.8 357 Current world record holder on conventional rails
2007 Taiwan 700T series train 350 217
2008 China CRH3 394.3 245
2010 China CRH380AL 486.1 302 Claimed as world record holder for unmodified commercial trainset
2011 China CRH380BL 487.3 303 Modified commercial trainset

Target areas for high-speed trains

The early target areas, identified by France, Japan, Spain, and the U.S., were connections between pairs of large cities. In France, this was Paris–Lyon, in Japan, Tokyo–Osaka, in Spain, Madrid–Seville (then Barcelona), and in the U.S. the proposals are in high-density areas. The only rail service at present in the U.S. using high-speed trains is the Acela Express in the Northeast Corridor between Boston, New York and Washington, D.C.; it uses tilting trains to achieve speeds of up to 240 km/h (150 mph) on existing tracks. Chicago, with its central location and metropolitan population of approximately 10 million people, is envisioned as the hub of a national high-speed rail network in the U.S. The beginning Midwest phases study a Minneapolis-Milwaukee-Chicago-Detroit link; a Kansas City-St Louis-Chicago link; and a Chicago-Indianapolis-Cincinnati-Columbus, OH link.

In European countries, South Korea, and Japan, dense networks of city subways and railways provide connections with high speed rail lines. Some argue that cities lacking dense intra-city rail infrastructure, like some cities in the USA, would find low ridership for high speed rail. The argument is that it is incompatible with existing automobile infrastructure. (People will want to drive when traveling in city, so they might as well drive the entire trip). However, others contend that this does not square with the high use of rail transport currently in the Northeast Corridor, where many people living in cities outside the rail link, drive to the commuter train and then commute by train the rest of the way, similar to the way many people drive to an airport, park their cars and then fly to their final destination. Car rentals and taxis can also supplement local public transportation. Increased commercial development is also projected near the destination stations.

Since in Japan intra-city rail daily usage per capita is the highest, it follows naturally that ridership of 6 billion passengers[34] exceeds the French TGV of 1 billion (until 2003), the only other system to reach a billion cumulative passengers.[35] For comparison, the world's fleet of 22,685 aircraft carried 2.1 billion passengers in 2006, according to International Civil Aviation Organization.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority is currently planning lines from the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento to Los Angeles and Anaheim via the Central Valley, as well as a line from Los Angeles to San Diego via the Inland Empire. The Texas High Speed Rail and Transportation Corporation is lobbying for a high-speed rail and multimodal transportation corridor in Texas, dubbed the Texas T-Bone. The T-Bone would link Dallas and San Antonio via the South Central Corridor; from roughly the midpoint between these two cities, the Brazos Express corridor would provide a connection to Houston.[36][37] New York State Senator Caesar Trunzo announced a long-term plan to bring high-speed rail service between Buffalo and New York City, via Albany, to under three hours.[38]

Later high speed rail lines, such as the LGV Atlantique, the LGV Est, and most high speed lines in Germany, were designed as feeder routes branching into conventional rail lines, serving a larger number of medium-sized cities.

A side effect of the first high-speed rail lines in France was the opening up of previously isolated regions to fast economic development. Some newer high-speed lines have been planned primarily for this purpose, such as the Madrid–Sevilla line and the proposed Amsterdam–Groningen line. Cities relatively close to a major city may see an increase in population, but those farther away may actually lose population (except for tourist spots), having a ripple effect on local economies.

Five years after construction began on the line, the first Japanese high-speed rail line opened on the eve of the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, connecting the capital with Osaka. The first French high-speed rail line, or Ligne Ă  grande vitesse (LGV), was opened in 1981 by SNCF, the French rail agency, planning starting in 1966 and construction in 1976.

'Market segmentation has principally focused on the business travel market. The French original focus on business travelers is reflected by the early design of the TGV trains, including the bar car. Pleasure travel was to be a secondary market; now many of the French extensions connect with vacation beaches on the Atlantic and Mediterranean, as well as major amusement parks and also the very popular Alpine ski resorts in France or Switzerland. Friday evenings are the peak time for TGVs (train Ă  grande vitesse) (Metzler, 1992). The system has lowered prices on long distance travel to compete more effectively with air services, and as a result some cities within an hour of Paris by TGV have become commuter communities, thus increasing the market while restructuring land use.' (Levinson, D.)

On the Paris – Lyon service, the number of passengers grew to impressive numbers justifying the introduction of double-decks coaches on the TGV trainsets.

Other target areas include freight lines, such as the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia, which would allow 3 day Far East to Europe service for freight as opposed to months by ship (but still slower than air), and allow just in time deliveries. High speed north-south freight lines in Switzerland are under construction, avoiding slow mountainous truck traffic, and lowering labour costs. Most recently the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico has highlighted as one of the most probable areas for the development of high speed rail in Latin America with the Transpeninsular Fast Train for bidding in September 2011.[39]

Road rail parallel layout

Road Rail Parallel Layout uses land beside highways for railway lines. Examples include the HSR line from Paris to Lyon with 15% of its length along highways, and the line between Cologne and Frankfurt with 70% of its length along highways.[40]

Comparison with other modes of transport

High speed rail is often viewed as an isolated system and simply as advantageous or disadvantageous as compared to other transport systems, but all transport systems must work together to maximize benefits. A good HSR system has capacity for non-stop and local services and has good connectivity with other transport systems. HSR, like any transport system, is not inherently convenient, fast, clean, nor comfortable. All of this depends on design, implementation, maintenance, operation and funding. Operational smoothness is often more indicative of organizational discipline than technological prowess.

Due to current infrastructure designs in many nations, there are constraints on the growth of the highway and air travel systems. Some key factors promoting HSR are that airports and highways have no room to expand, and are often overloaded. High-speed rail has the potential for high capacity on its fixed corridors (double decked E4 Series Shinkansen can carry 1,634 seated passengers, double that of an Airbus A380 in all economy class, and even more if standing passengers are allowed), and has the potential to relieve congestion on the other systems. Well-established high speed rail systems in use today are more environmentally friendly than air or road travel. This is due to:

Automobiles

HSR is competitive with cars on shorter distances, 50–150 kilometres (30–90 mi), for example for commuting, if there is road congestion or expensive parking fees.

High-speed rail has the advantage over automobiles in that it can accommodate more passengers at speeds far faster than those allowed by car in most countries. The lower limit for HSR (200 km/h, 125 mph) is substantially faster than the highest road speed limit in most countries. Ignoring the few countries without a general speed limit, the speed limit is rarely higher than 130 km/h (80 mph). For journeys that connect city centre to city centre, HSR's advantage is increased due to the lower speed limits (and frequent traffic jams) within most urban areas. Generally, the longer the journey, the better the time advantage of rail over road if going to the same destination.

Moreover, railroad tracks permit a far higher throughput of passengers per hour than a road the same width. A high speed rail needs just a double track railway, one track for each direction. A typical capacity is 15 trains per hour and 800 passengers per train (as for the Eurostar sets), which implies a capacity of 12,000 passengers per hour in each direction. By way of contrast, the Highway Capacity Manual gives a maximum capacity for a single lane of highway of 2,250 passenger cars per hour (excluding trucks or RVs). Assuming an average vehicle occupancy of 1.57 people,[41] a standard twin track railway has a typical capacity 13% greater than a 6-lane highway (3 lanes each way), while requiring only 40% of the land (1.0/3.0 versus 2.5/7.5 hectares per kilometer of direct/indirect land consumption). This means that typical passenger rail carries 2.83 times as many passengers per hour per meter (width) as a road. Some passenger rail systems, such as the Tokaido Shinkansen line in Japan, have much higher ratios (with as many as 20,000 passengers per hour per direction). Congested roadways tend to be commuter – these carry fewer than 1.57 persons per vehicle (Washington State Department of Transportation, for instance, uses 1.2 persons per vehicle) during commute times. Congestion also causes the maximum throughput of a lane to decrease.

Aircraft

Optimal distance

While commercial high-speed trains have maximum speeds slower than jet aircraft, they have advantages over air travel for short distances. They connect city centre rail stations to each other, while air transport connects airports outside city centres. However unless air travel is severely congested, there is often not a financial basis for building an HSR system from scratch.

HSR is best suited for journeys of 2 to 3 hours (about 250–900 km or 160–560 mi), for which the train can beat air and car trip time. When traveling less than about 650 km (400 mi), the process of checking in and going through security screening at airports, as well as the journey to the airport, makes the total air journey time no faster than HSR. Authorities in Europe treat HSR for city pairs as competitive with passenger air at 4 to 4½ hours, allowing a 1 hour flight at least 40 minutes at each point for travel to and from the airport, check-in, security, boarding, disembarkation, and baggage retrieval.[43]

Part of HSR's edge may be travel cost. As an example, the 520 km (320 mi) flight from Nanjing to Wuhan cost 730 yuan, while the intercity bullet trains beginning service in 2009 have second-class tickets for 180 yuan.[44]

Part of HSR's edge is convenience. These conveniences include the lack of a requirement to check baggage, no repeated queuing for check-in, security and boarding, as well as high on-time reliability as compared to air. HSR has more amenities, such as cell phone support, booth tables, elaborate power outlets (AC mains outlet vs DC 12 V outlet), elaborate food service, no low-altitude electronics ban, self-service baggage storage areas (eliminating needing to checked baggage), and wireless Internet broadband.

There are routes where high-speed trains have beaten air transport, so that there are no longer air connections. Examples are Paris-Brussels and Cologne-Frankfurt in Europe, Nanjing-Wuhan and Chongqing-Chengdu in China,[44] Tokyo-Nagoya, Tokyo-Sendai and Tokyo-Niigata in Japan. If the train stops at a big airport these short distance airplanes lose an advantage for travelers who want to go to the airport for a long-distance journey. Airplane tickets can include a train segment for the journey, with guaranteed rebooking if the connection is missed, as with normal air travel.

China Southern Airlines, China's largest airline, expects the construction of China's high speed railway network to impact 25% of its route network in the coming years.[45]

Market shares

Statistics from Europe indicate that air traffic is more sensitive than road traffic (car and bus) to competition from HSR, at least on journeys of 400 km and more – perhaps because cars and buses are far more flexible than planes (on the shortest HSR journeys, like Augsburg–Munich, which is served by four ICE routes, air travel is no alternative). TGV Sud-Est reduced the travelling time Paris–Lyon from almost four to about two hours. The rail market share rose from 49 to 72 %. For air and road traffic, the market shares shrunk from 31 to 7 % and from 29 to 21 %, respectively. On the Madrid–Sevilla relation, the AVE connection rose the rail market share from 16 to 52 ; air traffic shrunk from 40 to 13 %; road traffic from 44 to 36 %, hence the rail market amounted to 80% of the combined rail and air traffic.[46] This figure increased to 89% in 2009, according to the Spanish rail operator RENFE[47]

According to Peter Jorritsma, the rail market share y, as compared to planes, can be computed approximately as a function of the travelling time in minutes x by the formula[48]

y = {1 \over 0.031 \times 1.016^x %2B 1}

According to this formula, a journey time of three hours yields 65 % market share. However, market shares are also influenced by ticket prices, so some air carriers have regained market shares by price slashing.[49]

In the US Northeast Corridor, the rail market share between New York and Washington is lower than the formula indicates, 47 %, even though the journey time by the Acela Express is only about 2h 45min.

Other considerations

Although air travel has higher speeds, more time is needed for taxiing, boarding (fewer doors), security check, luggage drop, and ticket check. Also rail stations are usually located nearer to urban centers than airports. These factors often offset the speed advantage of air travel for mid-distance trips.

Construction costs
Weather

Rail travel has less weather dependency than air travel. If the rail system is well-designed and well-operated, severe weather conditions such as heavy snow, heavy fog, and storms do not affect the journeys; whereas flights are generally canceled or delayed under these conditions. Nevertheless, snow and wind can cause some issues and can delay trains.

Comfort

Although comfort over air travel is often believed to be a trait of high speed rail because train seats are larger and it is easy for passengers to move around during the journey, the comfort advantage of rail is not inherent; it depends on the specific implementation. For example, high speed trains which are not subject to compulsory reservation may carry some standing passengers. Airplanes do not allow standing passengers, so excess passengers are denied boarding. Train passengers can have the choice between standing or waiting for a bookable connection.

Larger number of target areas

From the operator's point of view, a single train can call at multiple stations, often far more stops than aircraft, and each stop takes much less down time. One train stopping pattern can allow a multitude of possible journeys, increasing the potential market. This increase in potential market allows the operator to schedule more frequent departures than the aircraft, and hence create another good reason for preference.

Safety

From the point of view of required traffic control systems and infrastructure, high-speed rail has the added advantage of being much simpler to control due to its predictable course, even at very high passenger loads; this issue is becoming more relevant as air traffic reaches its safe limit in busy airspaces over London, New York, and other large centers. High-speed rail systems reduce (but do not eliminate[50][51]) the possibility of collisions with automobiles or people, while lower speed rail systems used by high speed trains may have level crossings.

Narrow gauge

A number of locations around the world operate comparatively high speed services on narrow-gauge tracks. Japan has services that run at up to 160 km/h on 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) tracks, and Queensland's Tilt Train also runs at 160 km/h on upgraded and realigned routes. The Queensland Rail specifications for new rail construction have minimum curve and ruling grade restrictions intended to permit future speeds of 160 km/h or greater. Tunisia is reputed to have the fastest metre gauge trains,[52] with some services operating between Tunis–Sfax at up to 130 km/h.[53]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c "General definitions of highspeed". International Union of Railways. http://www.uic.org/spip.php?article971. Retrieved 13 May 2009. 
  2. ^ a b "US Code Title 49 § 26105 – Definitions". US Code Title 49. 1 February 2010. http://uscode.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t49t50+641+8++. Retrieved 27 May 2011. "reasonably expected to reach sustained speeds of more than 125 miles per hour" 
  3. ^ a b "Vision for High-speed rail in America" (PDF). Federal Railroad Administration. p. 2. http://www.fra.dot.gov/downloads/rrdev/hsrstrategicplan.pdf. Retrieved 5 February 2010. 
  4. ^ "Maglev sets a speed record of 581 kph". The Japan Times Online (The Japan Times Ltd). 3 December 2003. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20031203a1.html. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 
  5. ^ "Low Slung Train Travels Fast" Popular Science, February 1945, p. 70
  6. ^ a b Hood, Christopher P. (2007). Shinkansen – From Bullet Train to Symbol of Modern Japan. Routledge, London. pp. 18–43. ISBN 9-78-0-415-32052-8. 
  7. ^ "Kanagawa Prefecture:県央・湘南の環境と共生する都市づくりＮＥＷＳ NO.11」新幹線豆知識クイズの解説". Pref.kanagawa.jp. http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/cnt/p19871.html. Retrieved 17 October 2011. 
  8. ^ a b Shinkansen Chronology, byun byun Shinkansen.
  9. ^ "Outline History and Overview of the Tokaido Shinkansen". Central Japan Railway Company. March 2010. http://english.jr-central.co.jp/about/outline.html. Retrieved 2 May 2011. 
  10. ^ "Tohoku Shinkansen". East Japan Railway Company. March 2011. http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/routemaps/tohokushinkansen.html. Retrieved 2 May 2011. 
  11. ^ "2010 FACT SHEETS". JR East. 30 July 2010. http://www.jreast.co.jp/investor/factsheet/pdf/factsheet.pdf. Retrieved 2 May 2011. 
  12. ^ Hood, Christopher P (2006). Shinkansen: From bullet train to symbol of modern Japan. p. 214. ISBN 041544098. 
  13. ^ "Japanese 'Hayabusa' bullet train makes 300-kph debut". China Post. Taiwan (ROC). 6 March 2011. http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/japan/2011/03/06/293558/Japanese-Hayabusa.htm. Retrieved 6 March 2011. 
  14. ^ JR East press release: "東北新幹線八戸～新青森間の開業時期について" (10 November 2008). Retrieved on 11 November 2008. (Japanese)
  15. ^ "Timetable: Central Japan Railway Company". JR Central. http://english.jr-central.co.jp/info/timetable/_pdf/eastbound.pdf. Retrieved 27 February 2011. 
  16. ^ "Fact Sheets 2010". JR Central. 28 July 2010. http://english.jr-central.co.jp/company/ir/factsheets/_pdf/factsheets.pdf. Retrieved 2 May 2011. 
  17. ^ "Safety". Central Japan Railway Company. http://english.jr-central.co.jp/about/safety.html. Retrieved 2011-04-30. 
  18. ^ http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/chuo-maglev-project-endorsed.html
  19. ^ Earthquake and Tsunami of 11 March 2011 http://www.japan-guide.com/news/0018.html
  20. ^ "Eurostar History". Eurostar.com. http://www.eurostar.com/UK/uk/leisure/about_eurostar/company_information/eurostar_history.jsp. Retrieved 17 October 2011. 
  21. ^ thalys.com. "Bienvenue chez Thalys: Pour vos voyages en Train". Thalystory.com. http://www.thalystory.com/en/story/periode.html. Retrieved 17 October 2011. 
  22. ^ http://www.fomento.es/MFOM/LANG_EN/_ESPECIALES/PEIT/default.htm
  23. ^ [1]
  24. ^ "El AVE ya 'vuela' hasta Valencia | Valencia". elmundo.es. http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2010/12/17/valencia/1292606431.html. Retrieved 17 October 2011. 
  25. ^ [2] Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
  26. ^ Development and Economic Evaluation of High Speed in France, Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 3 (pp.26–31).
  27. ^ Krauss, Clifford (10 May 2008). "Gas Prices Send Surge of Riders to Mass Transit". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/business/10transit.html?_r=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin. Retrieved 2008-08-11. 
  28. ^ The Times, Friday, 6 January 2006, p54. France will run trains free from fossil fuel, says Chirac.
  29. ^ Prashant Vaze. The Economical Environmentalist. Earthscan. p. 298. 
  30. ^ "Cut your CO2 emissions by taking the train, by up to 90%...". Seat61. http://www.seat61.com/CO2flights.htm. Retrieved 28 August 2010. 
  31. ^ Jamil Anderlini (5 April 2010). "China on track to be world’s biggest network". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/353fecc8-40e1-11df-94c2-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=9c33700c-4c86-11da-89df-0000779e2340.html. Retrieved 12 April 2010. 
  32. ^ "/ China – Chinese high-speed train sets new record". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bbdb6d5a-f304-11de-a888-00144feab49a.html?nclick_check=1. Retrieved 17 October 2011. 
  33. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named cdaily3; see Help:Cite errors/Cite error references no text
  34. ^ Shinkansen (Bullet Train), Japan Railways Group.
  35. ^ AMTRAK, Off Track, Triplepoint. Boston University.
  36. ^ "Baylor University || The Lariat Online || News". Baylor.edu. 5 October 2004. http://www.baylor.edu/lariat/news.php?action=story&story=20853. Retrieved 17 October 2011. 
  37. ^ "Track 2–Corridor Programs of the Federal Railroad Administration’s High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail (HSIPR) Program, Application Form" 2009; see ftp://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/stimulus/t_bone.pdf
  38. ^ "REPORT TO TASK FORCE WOULD IMPROVE NEW YORK'S RAIL SYSTEM," undated; see http://senatortrunzo.com/senate_reports_on.asp?id=517
  39. ^ "Mexico to build cross-peninsular high-speed railway line" june 16, 2011; see http://www.globalmasstransit.net/archive.php?id=6819
  40. ^ "Interstate Rail Proposal". J.H. Crawford. http://www.jhcrawford.com/energy/interstaterail.html. Retrieved 17 October 2011. 
  41. ^ "Fact #257: 3 March 2003 – Vehicle Occupancy by Type of Vehicle". US Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/facts/2003/fcvt_fotw257.html. 
  42. ^ "Due record in prova per il Frecciarossa" (in Italian). Repubblica. 2009-02-04. http://www.corriere.it/cronache/09_febbraio_04/treno_record_galleria_8806fdfa-f2ce-11dd-8878-00144f02aabc.shtml. Retrieved 2009-02-05. 
  43. ^ "European high-speed rail – An easy way to connect". Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. 2010. http://ec.europa.eu/transport/infrastructure/studies/doc/2010_high_speed_rail_en.pdf. Retrieved 18 April 2011. 
  44. ^ a b "High-speed rail cuts into airlines' success". China Daily. 2 April 2011. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/imqq/bizchina/2011-04/02/content_12267556.htm. Retrieved 17 October 2011. 
  45. ^ "China Southern Says Railways to Hurt 25% of Routes (Update1)". Bloomberg. 28 October 2009. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a3GHSPLBfBOM. Retrieved 17 October 2011. 
  46. ^ Peter Jorritsma: Substitution Opportunities of High Speed Train for Air Transport, http://www.aerlines.nl/issue_43/43_Jorritsma_AiRail_Substitution.pdf, p. 3
  47. ^ Spain’s High-Speed Rail Offers Guideposts for U.S., The New York Times, 29 May 2009.
  48. ^ Peter Jorritsma: Substitution Opportunities of High Speed Train for Air Transport, http://www.aerlines.nl/issue_43/43_Jorritsma_AiRail_Substitution.pdf, p. 4
  49. ^ Peter Jorritsma: Substitution Opportunities of High Speed Train for Air Transport, http://www.aerlines.nl/issue_43/43_Jorritsma_AiRail_Substitution.pdf, p. 2
  50. ^ "ICE train slashed open by garbage truck in Germany". Bild.de. http://www.bild.de/BILD/news/bild-english/world-news/2010/08/17/train-crash-horror-in-germany/ice-slashed-open-by-garbage-truck-15-injured.html. Retrieved 28 August 2010. 
  51. ^ "Fatal high-speed train kills 12 young pedestrians near beach in Barcelona". Bild.de. http://www.bild.de/BILD/news/bild-english/world-news/2010/06/24/fatal-spain-high-speed-crash/train-kills-12-young-people-near-barcelona.html. Retrieved 28 August 2010. 
  52. ^ "Border Links From Libya". Railwaysafrica.com. 21 September 2010. http://www.railwaysafrica.com/blog/2010/09/border-links-from-libya/. Retrieved 17 October 2011. 
  53. ^ "Nouvelles rames.. Sfax et Gaâfour dans une seconde ĂŠtape!". Sfaxonline.com. http://www.sfaxonline.com/voix-sfaxiens/310-nouvelles-rames-sfax-et-gaafour-dans-une-seconde-etape. Retrieved 17 October 2011. 

Further reading

External links

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