How fast is the slowest train?
The
The Glacier Express is known as the slowest express train in the world.
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway has been dubbed as the slowest train in India. Travelling at 9 kilometres per hour speed, the 'toy' train covers a distance of 46 kilometres in five long hours! This is roughly slower by 16 times than the fastest train in India.
As of August 2022, the fastest train on Earth, based on its record speed, is the Japanese L0 Series Maglev with a record speed of 603 kilometers per hour.
Billed as Europe's slowest express, the narrow-gauge Glacier Express links St Moritz in the Engadin skiing area and Zermatt at the foot of the Matterhorn, taking 7½ hours to cover just over 290 km (180 miles) at an average speed of 24 mph.
1: Shanghai Maglev - 460 kph/286 mph (China)
The world's fastest public train is also unique – it's the only link in the world currently carrying passengers using magnetic levitation (Maglev) rather than conventional steel wheels on steel rails.
Basically the bullet train remains in a constant state of motion to save time and energy typically spent accelerating and decelerating.
Rather than resting on tracks, the train floats through a series of magnetized loops 65 feet in the air, Fast Company reports. Those loops propel the train forward, like a rail gun, at speeds upwards of 804 kilometers per hour (500 miles per hour), which is about the average cruising speed of a plane.
The train is operated by the French rail company SNCF for use on the LGV Est route, which runs between Paris, eastern France, and southern Germany. While in regular service, the train reaches a top speed of 200 mph.
Like road speed limits in the United States, speed limits for tracks and trains are measured in miles per hour (mph).
How fast has a train ever gone?
Fastest Train in the World – 357.2 MPH
The current world speed record for a commercial train on steel wheels is held by the French TGV at 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph), achieved on 3 April 2007 on the new LGV Est. The trainset, the track and the cantenary were modified to test new designs.
With a record test speed of 483km/h, the highest speed ever recorded by a conventional unmodified high-speed train, there are 85 trainsets currently in operation in China, split across the Shanghai Railway and Chengdu Railway. The Shanghai Maglev train is the fastest passenger train in operation in the world – for now.
(1) A streamlined body: To achieve speeds of 200 kilometers per hour (130 miles per hour) and more, the trains needed to be as aerodynamic (to cause as little wind resistance) as possible. That is why the front cars of the Shinkansen trains are tapered like the nose of an airplane.
Glaciers are massive bodies of slowly moving ice. Glaciers form on land, and they are made up of fallen snow that gets compressed into ice over many centuries. They move slowly downward from the pull of gravity.
A part of this ice sheet, the Jakobshavn Glacier, is located on the western coast of Greenland. According to GPS measurements, this glacier's flow has reached well over 100 feet per day. At this rate, more than 20 million tons of icebergs calve off from it each day as its leading edge reaches the Arctic Ocean.
The melt rate averaged 2 to 5.4 meters a year, according to the study, less than previous models had projected. Melting is being suppressed by a layer of colder, fresher water at the base of the glacier, between the ice shelf and the ocean, according to the research.
Most Shinkansen trains operate at speeds of about 500 kilometers per hour (200 to 275 miles per hour). As new technologies are developed and instituted, future trains may achieve even greater velocities.
It was on 30 November 1934 that Flying Scotsman achieved the first properly authenticated 100mph for a steam engine. This was while she was running between Leeds and London. The Flying Scotsman was saved for the nation this year and is now - like City of Truro - in the ownership of the National Railway Museum.
The nation's fastest train is Amtrak's Acela, which tops 150 mph. New Acela trains are expected to reach 160 mph when they debut next year — still below the 186 mph considered high-speed in systems across the world. Here are five U.S. projects that have boosted prospects for a high-speed rail system.
CSX #8888, an SD40-2, ran away under power without a crew after the engineer incorrectly set the locomotive's dynamic brake and was unable to get back into the locomotive after it began moving.
What stops faster a car or a train?
So the stopping time and distance will, at best, be three to four times greater than a car. In practice locking the wheels of a train causes damage to the wheels and rail that is very expensive to fix, so train brakes are designed to provide only about 75% of the maximum possible braking effort.
While full driverless autonomy is certainly technically possible, and is applied on various routes worldwide, it still accounts for only a tiny percentage of trains running today. New trains are still being designed and built with fully equipped driver cabins.
Safety is the reason. Just like the speed limits on roads, railroads have speed limits based on the track condition and terrain. The regulation in the USA is: Trains without an automatic cab signal , automatic train stop or automatic train control system may not exceed 79 mph (127 km/h).
| Name | Railway | Power |
|---|---|---|
| China Railways HXN3 | China Railway | 6,300 horsepower (4,698 kW) |
| China Railways HXN5 | China Railway | 6,250 horsepower (4,661 kW) |
| Class 461 | Železnice Srbije, Serbia | 7,638 horsepower (5,696 kW) |
| DB Class 101 | Deutsche Bahn | 8,583 horsepower (6,400 kW) continuous |
Discover more about the high-speed trains and the 9 rail lines they cover. Shinkansen bullet trains are the fastest and most convenient way of discovering Japan. The Japan Rail (JR) network is extensive and the trains reach a top speed of 320 km/h (199 mph).
