Rail transport
Operations
Stations
Trains
Locomotives
Rolling stock
History
History by country
Terminology
By country
Disasters
Modelling
1 Types of trains 2 Motive power 3 Passenger trains 3.1 Long-distance trains 3.1.1 High-speed trains 3.2 Inter-city trains 3.3 Branch line trains 3.4 Commuter trains 3.5 Named trains 4 Freight trains 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading

Types of trains

There are various types of trains designed for particular purposes.

Further information: rail transport operations

A train can consist of a combination of one or more locomotives and attached railroad cars, or a self-propelled multiple unit (or occasionally a single powered coach, called a railcar). Trains can also be hauled by horses, pulled by a cable, or run downhill by gravity.

Special kinds of trains running on corresponding special 'railways' are atmospheric railways, monorails, high-speed railways, maglev, rubber-tired underground, funicular and cog railways.

A passenger train may consist of one or several locomotives, and one or more coaches. Alternatively, a train may consist entirely of passenger carrying coaches, some or all of which are powered as a "multiple unit". In many parts of the world, particularly Japan and Europe, high-speed rail is utilized extensively for passenger travel.

Freight trains comprise wagons or trucks rather than carriages, though some parcel and mail trains (especially Travelling Post Offices) are outwardly more like passenger trains.

In the United Kingdom, a train hauled by two locomotives is said to be "double-headed", and in Canada and the United States it is quite common for a long freight train to be headed by three, four, or even five locomotives. A train with a locomotive attached at each end is described as 'top and tailed', this practice typically being used when there are no reversing facilities available. Where the second locomotive is attached temporarily to assist a train up steep banks or grades (or down them by providing braking power) it is referred to as 'banking' in the UK, 'helper service' in North America.

Trains can also be mixed, hauling both passengers and freight, see e.g. Transportation in Mauritania. Such mixed trains became rare in many countries, but were commonplace on the first 19th century railroads.

Special trains are also used for Track Maintenance; in some places, this is called maintenance of way.

Motive power

The first trains were rope-hauled, gravity powered or pulled by horses, but from the early 19th century almost all were powered by steam locomotives. From the 1920s onwards they began to be replaced by less labour intensive and cleaner (but more complex and expensive) diesel locomotives and electric locomotives, while at about the same time self-propelled multiple unit vehicles of either power system became much more common in passenger service. Most countries had replaced steam locomotives for day-to-day use by the 1970s, usually with diesel locomotives. A few countries, most notably the People's Republic of China, where coal and labour are cheap, still use steam locomotives, but this is being gradually phased out. Historic steam trains still run in many other countries, for the leisure and enthusiast market.

Electric traction offers a lower cost per mile of train operation but at a very high initial cost, which can only be justified on high traffic lines. Since the cost per mile of construction is much higher, electric traction is less favored on long-distance lines with the exception of long-distance high speed lines. Electric trains receive their current via overhead lines or through a third rail electric system. and i think that girafes have really really big necks they are just like 100 meters long

Passenger trains

Passenger trains have passenger cars. Passenger trains travel between stations. The distance between stations may vary from under 1 km to over 1000 km, and their journey time may vary between minutes and days.

Long-distance trains

Long-distance trains travel between many cities and/or regions of a country, and sometimes cross several countries. They often have a dining car or restaurant car to allow passengers to have a meal during the course of their journey. Trains traveling overnight may also have sleeping cars. Very long distance trains such as those on the Trans-Siberian railway are usually not high-speed.

High-speed trains

History of rail transport

Famous trains

Rail transport in fiction

List of rail accidents

List of railway companies

Monorail

Rail transport modelling

Toy train

Unit train

Armoured train

References

1. ^ Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (1948). Rules: Operating Department, p 7. 
2. ^ Central Japan Railway (2006). Central Japan Railway Data Book 2006, p 16. 

Further reading

• Glancey, Jonathan (2005), The Train, Carlton Publishing Group, , 256 pp.

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