Higher-speed rail (HrSR), also known as high-performance rail, higher-performance rail, semi-high-speed rail or almost-high-speed rail, is the
jargon
Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular Context (language use), communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The conte ...
used to describe
inter-city passenger rail services that have top speeds of more than conventional rail but are not high enough to be called
high-speed rail
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
services.
[ The term is also used by planners to identify the incremental rail improvements to increase train speeds and reduce travel time as alternatives to larger efforts to create or expand the high-speed rail networks. Some countries use the term medium-speed rail, or semi-high speed rail instead.
Though the definition of higher-speed rail varies from country to country, most countries refer to rail services operating at speeds up to .]
The concept is usually viewed as stemming from efforts to upgrade a legacy railway line to high speed railway standards (speeds in excess of ), but usually falling short on the intended speeds. The faster speeds are achieved through various means including new rolling stock such as tilting trains, upgrades to tracks including shallower curves, electrification, in-cab signalling, and less frequent halts/stops.
Definitions by country
As with the definitions of high-speed rail, the definition varies by country. The term has been used by government agencies, government officials, transportation planners, academia, the rail industry, and the media, but sometimes with overlaps in the speed definitions. Some countries with an established definition of higher-speed rail include:
* In Canada, according to the Surface Transportation Policy, Department of Transport
The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...
, the speed range for higher-speed rail is between .
* In India, according to the Ministry of Railways
A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructur ...
, the speed range for India's higher-speed rail will be between .
* In the United Kingdom, the term higher-speed rail is used for upgraded tracks with train speeds up to
* In the United States, the term "higher-speed rail", as opposed to "high-speed rail
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
", is used by regional planners in many U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
s to describe inter-city passenger rail services with top speeds of between and . This is the equivalent of the definition of "Emerging High-Speed Rail" as defined by the Federal Railroad Administration
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail saf ...
. However, the Congressional Research Service
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a c ...
defines "Higher Speed Rail" as rail services with speeds up to and defines rail services on dedicated tracks with speeds over as "Very High Speed Rail". State-level departments of transportation and council of governments
Councils of governments (CoGs—also known as regional councils, regional commissions, regional planning commissions, and planning districts) are regional governing and/or coordinating bodies that exist throughout the United States. CoGs are norma ...
may use different definitions. Below is the list of known definitions of higher-speed rail which use some of the 5 speed levels, , , , and :
* In Thailand, higher-speed rail is called medium-speed rail. They have top speeds of up to .[
]
Speed limits
In Canada, the assumption about grade crossing is that operating higher-speed rail services between would require "improved levels of protection in acceptable areas".
In the United States, railroad tracks are largely used for freight with at-grade crossings. Passenger trains in many corridors run on shared tracks with freight trains
Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers.
A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons ( International Union of Railways) haule ...
. Most trains are limited to top speeds of unless they are equipped with an automatic cab signal, automatic train stop
Automatic train stop or ATS is a system on a train that automatically stops a train if certain situations occur (unresponsive train operator, earthquake, disconnected rail, train running over a stop signal, etc.) to prevent accidents. In some scena ...
, automatic train control
Automatic train control (ATC) is a general class of train protection systems for railways that involves a speed control mechanism in response to external inputs. For example, a system could effect an emergency brake application if the driver do ...
or positive train control
Positive train control (PTC) is a family of automatic train protection systems deployed in the United States. Most of the United States' national rail network mileage has a form of PTC. These systems are generally designed to check that trains a ...
system approved by the Federal Railroad Administration
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce rail saf ...
(FRA). In developing higher-speed rail services, one of those safety systems must be used.
Additionally, the FRA establishes classification of track quality which regulates the speed limits of trains with Class 5, Class 6, Class 7 and Class 8 for top speeds of , , and , respectively. The FRA also regulates passenger train design and safety standards to ensure trains that operate at speeds of up to comply with its ''Tier I'' standard and trains that operate at speeds up to comply with its ''Tier II'' standard.
Another limitation is the safety of grade crossings
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also ...
(also known as level crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...
s, flat level crossings, non-grade-separated
In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tran ...
crossings) which limits how fast trains can go. FRA regulations set speed limits for tracks with grade crossings as follows: Level crossings are generally the most dangerous part of the railway network with a large number of fatal incidents occurring at a grade crossing.
* For or less: Grade crossings are permitted. States and railroads cooperate to determine the needed warning devices, including passive crossbucks, flashing lights, two quadrant gates (close only 'entering' lanes of road), long gate arms, median barriers, and various combinations. Lights and/or gates are activated by circuits wired to the track (track circuits
A track circuit is an electrical device used to prove the absence of a train on rail tracks to signallers and control relevant signals. An alternative to track circuits are axle counters.
Principles and operation
The basic principle behind t ...
).
* For : The FRA permits crossings only if an "impenetrable barrier" blocks highway traffic when a train approaches.
* Above : No crossings will be permitted.
In Europe, the limit is often over grade crossings. In Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
there is a special rule permitting if there are barriers and automatic detection of road vehicles standing on the track. In Russia is permitted over grade crossings. The United Kingdom has railway lines of 200 km/h (125 mph) which still use grade crossings.
With the above limitations, many regional transportation planners focus on rail improvements to have the top speeds up to when proposing a new higher-speed rail service.
Similar categories
In countries where there had been rail improvement projects in the later part of the 20th century and into the 2000s, there are inter-city rail services with comparable speed ranges of higher-speed rail, but they are not specifically called "higher-speed rail". Below are some examples of such services that are still in operation.
* Europe: The InterCity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
services in many European countries have top speeds of mostly up to , but it can go up to . Intercity trains that cross international borders are usually designated as Eurocity
EuroCity, abbreviated as EC, is a cross-border train category within the European inter-city rail network. In contrast to trains allocated to the lower-level "IC" (InterCity) category, EC trains are international services that meet 20 criteri ...
and reach similar speeds where tracks allow it. High-Speed Trains also may use upgraded and electrified
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...
lines that are not purpose-built during part of their journey at up to .
* Japan: The Mini-shinkansen lines in Japan are the conventional lines that have been converted from narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
to standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
to allow Shinkansen
The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...
trains to pass through with top speeds of . However, the International Union of Railways
The International Union of Railways (UIC, french: Union internationale des wikt:chemin de fer, chemins de fer) is an international rail transport industry body.
History
The railways of Europe originated as many separate concerns, and there wer ...
recognizes the Mini-shinkansen lines as high-speed rail. Two Mini-shinkansen lines have been constructed: the Yamagata Shinkansen
The is a Mini-shinkansen route in Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It provides service between Tokyo and Shinjō in Yamagata Prefecture over the tracks of the Tohoku Shinkansen and the Ōu Main Line.
The term Yamaga ...
and Akita Shinkansen. Both of these lines branch off from the high-speed Tohoku Shinkansen line with top speeds of 320 km/h (200 mph).
* Spain: Many inter-city rail services operated by Renfe Operadora, the state-owned
State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...
company, are not classified as high-speed rail. Those services are ''Alaris
Alaris was the brand name of the regional rail network run by the Spanish national rail company Renfe Operadora that connected the major cities of Madrid and Valencia, and Barcelona and the main cities of the Valencian community, between 1999 a ...
'', '' Altaria'', ''Arco
ARCO ( ) is a brand of gasoline stations currently owned by Marathon Petroleum after BP sold its rights. BP commercializes the brand in Northern California, Oregon and Washington, while Marathon has rights for the rest of the United States an ...
'' and ''Talgo
Talgo (officially Patentes Talgo, SAU) is a Spanish manufacturer of intercity, standard, and high-speed passenger trains.
Corporate history
TALGO, an abbreviation of Tren Articulado Ligero Goicoechea Oriol (English: ''Lightweight articulated tra ...
'' (from Talgo III to Talgo VII) with top speeds of
* In Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
, there is sometimes talked about ''høy hastighet'', which may be compared to higher-speed rail as used here – and ''høyhastighet'', high-speed rail. Most of the rail network is old, with sharp curves, and speeds at only . The lines around Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
are upgraded or renewed, or are planned to be so. Some of the sections, like Follobanen
The Follo Line ( no, Follobanen) is a high-speed railway between Oslo and Ski, Norway. The line runs parallel to the Østfold Line, and is dimensioned for . Most of the line, , runs in a twin-tube tunnel named the Blix Tunnel, which is the long ...
(Oslo–Ski, 22 km), are built or planned for – though others to ''høy hastighet'', i.e. or . By the same token, the Norwegian FLIRT
Flirting or coquetry is a social and sexual behavior involving spoken or written communication, as well as body language. It is either to suggest interest in a deeper relationship with the other person or, if done playfully, for amusement.
It ...
trains and the El 18
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American p ...
locomotives have a top speed of 200 km/h. Gardermobanen
The Gardermoen Line ( no, Gardermobanen) is a high-speed railway line between Oslo and Eidsvoll, Norway, running past Lillestrøm and Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. The line is long and replaced the older Hoved Line as the main line north-east of Os ...
is called a high-speed line, and the GMB Class 71
GMB Class 71 is an electric multiple unit used by Flytoget for the Airport Express Trains on the Gardermoen Line of Norway. Sixteen three-car train sets were built by Adtranz Strømmen between 1997 and 1998. The units are capable of , connectin ...
and NSB Class 73
NSB Class 73 ( no, NSB-type 73) is a class of 22 electric multiple units built by Adtranz for the Norwegian State Railways. The four-car trains were modifications of Class 71, which was again based on the Swedish X2. The A-series consists of ...
are often called high-speed trains – with top speed. However, the limits are blurry. Sometimes, e.g. the FLIRTs are called high-speed trains.
* Sweden: SJ (Swedish Railways) operates inter-city rail services using X 2000
X 2000, also called SJ X2 or simply as X2, is an electric tilting train operated by SJ in Sweden. It was constructed by Kalmar Verkstad in Kalmar, Sweden (prior to the company being bought by Adtranz in 1996) and launched in 1990 as a ...
trains in major routes across the country with top speeds of . The operator brands it as high-speed rail services; however, the International Union of Railways only recognizes the line from Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
to Malmö
Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...
and Göteborg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a p ...
as the only high-speed rail line in Sweden which is still in the planning stage.[
* In ]Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
regional trains along the Munich-Nuremberg high speed line which was built for run at without being specially designated. Those trains use locomotives that are used for Intercity trains elsewhere and the higher speed (in comparison to other regional trains) was chosen mainly to increase capacity.
*The United Kingdom has service which run at 125 mph or 200 km/h, such as the ECML
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a Railway electrification system, electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham, England, Durham and Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. The line is a k ...
, WCML, GWML and MML
* South Korea: MOLIT designates railway lines as three categories: high-speed railway lines ('), semi-high-speed railway lines ('), or conventional railway lines ('). High-speed railway lines are limited to dedicated lines with maximum speed over , while semi-high-speed rail can be mixed-use lines with maximum speed ranged in –. For conventional railway lines, due to the limitation of signal systems and designed maximum speed of trains, most lines are limited by maximum speed under . However, Gyeongchun line
The Gyeongchun Line is a regional rail line between Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic Peop ...
has been upgraded as a higher-speed railway line, with dedicated ITX-Cheongchun
Intercity Train eXpress-Cheongchun abbreviated as ITX-Cheongchun () is a class of train operated by Korail, the national railroad of South Korea, it was introduced on February 28, 2012. ''ITX-Cheongchun'' is the successor of the Gyeongchun Line ...
EMU trains designed as maximum speed of .
Commuter rail services
Some commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...
services that cover shorter distances may achieve similar speeds but they are not typically called as higher-speed rail.[ Some examples are:
* Numerous regional ICRs in China such as Dongguan–Huizhou intercity railway and Changsha–Zhuzhou–Xiangtan intercity railway operate up to .
* ]Coaster
Coaster (stylized as COASTER) is a commuter rail service in the central and northern coastal regions of San Diego County, California, United States operated by the North County Transit District (NCTD). The commuter rail line features eight s ...
links Oceanside, California
Oceanside is a city on the South Coast (California), South Coast of California, located in San Diego County, California, San Diego County. The city had a population of 167,086 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is a popular ...
and San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
on ''Pacific Surfliner
The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is a passenger train service serving the communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo.
The service carried 2,924,117 passengers during fiscal year 2016, a 3.4% increase from F ...
'' trackage with top speeds of
* MARC Marc or MARC may refer to:
People
* Marc (given name), people with the first name
* Marc (surname), people with the family name
Acronyms
* MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging,
* MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...
Penn Line
The Penn Line is a MARC commuter rail service running from Union Station in Washington, D.C., to Perryville, Maryland, along the far southern leg of the Northeast Corridor. However, the great majority of trains terminate at Baltimore's Penn ...
covers on Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...
trackage and has been upgraded to
* Metrolink Orange County Line
The Orange County Line is a commuter rail line run by Metrolink from Los Angeles through Orange County to Oceanside in San Diego County, connecting with the Coaster commuter rail service to San Diego. The Orange County Line carries passengers ...
and Inland Empire–Orange County Line
The Inland Empire–Orange County (IEOC) Line is a commuter rail line run by Metrolink in Southern California. It runs from San Bernardino through Orange County to Oceanside in northern San Diego County. It is the only Metrolink line not to ser ...
, also on ''Pacific Surfliner'' trackage, operate at top speeds of on segments south of Santa Ana and in Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by Oc ...
.
* Caltrain
Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a California commuter rail line serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose at Tamien station with weekday rush hour service running as far ...
electrification project is underway between San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
to Tamien Station
Tamien station is an intermodal passenger transportation station in the Tamien neighborhood of central San Jose, California, served by the VTA light rail and the Caltrain commuter rail line, along with bus connections. The station has two elevat ...
as part of upgrades for blended service with CHSR. The Caltrain trains will be capable of reaching speeds of up to .
Rail improvement strategies
There are many types of train that can support higher-speed rail operation. Usually, the rail infrastructure needs to be upgraded prior to such operation. However, the requirements to the infrastructure (signalling systems, curve radii, etc.) greatly increase with higher speeds, so an upgrade to a higher-speed standard is often simpler and less expensive than building new high-speed lines. But an upgrade to existing track currently in use, with busy traffic in some segments, introduces challenges associated with the construction work that could potentially disrupt the train services. The followings are some strategies used by regional transportation planners and rail track owners for their rail improvement projects in order to start the higher-speed rail services.
Signal upgrades
In Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, Australia, the increased top speeds from in the Regional Fast Rail project
The Regional Fast Rail project (or RFR project) was a rail transport project undertaken by the State Government of Victoria, Australia, between 2000 and 2006 aimed at improving rail services on the Victorian regional railway network (operated by ...
required a change to the signalling system to account for increased braking distance. Prior to the project, the system comprised a mixture of equipment from pre-WWI
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
mechanical signalling to the remote control systems of the 1980s. In some cases, operators needed to telephone the local operators to manually control the signal boxes. With the new speeds, the signalling needed to be computerized. The project employed the Solid State Interlocking
Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount of kinetic energy. A solid is characterized by structural ...
with the newly laid fiber-optic
An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...
communication between the components to use three computer systems to control the signals. When the output of one computer differs from the other two, the system will fail that computer and continue the signal operations as long as the outputs from the other two computers are consistent. The project deployed the Train Protection & Warning System The Train Protection & Warning System (TPWS) is a train protection system used throughout the British passenger main-line railway network, and in Victoria, Australia.
The British Rail Safety and Standards Board's definition is:
The purpose of TPW ...
which allows the system to automatically applies the brakes at a sufficient distance to stop the train if the driver does not control the speeds adequately. The project also incorporated Train Control and Monitoring System to allow real-time monitoring of the position of trains.
In the United States, the first step to increase top speeds from is to install a new signal system that incorporates FRA-approved positive train control (PTC) system that is compatible with higher-speed rail operation. They are both transponder
In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend word, blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''.
In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a T ...
-based and GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...
-based PTC systems currently in use in the United States. By a mandate, a significant portion of the railroads in the United States will be covered by PTC by the end of 2015.
Track improvements
To support trains that run regularly at higher speeds, the rails need to be reliable. Most freight tracks have wooden ties which cause rails to become slightly misaligned over time due to wood rot, splitting and spike
Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Books
* ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave
* ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick
* ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...
-pull (where the spike is gradually loosened from the tie). The concrete ties used to replace them are intended to make the track more stable, particularly with changes in temperature. Rail joints are also an issue, since most conventional rail lines use bolts and fishplates to join two sections of the rail together. This causes the joint to become slightly misaligned over time due to loosening bolts. To make for a smoother ride at higher speeds, the lengths of rail may be welded together to form continuous welded rail
A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, ...
(CWR). However, the continuous welded rails are vulnerable to stress due to changes in temperature.
In Australia, the track condition before the Regional Fast Rail project could only support trains up to speeds of . The tracks are with mixture of wooden and concrete ties. The rail weight varies but with majority being . The track upgrade in the project included changing to use concrete ties and to use new standard of rail weight at in order to support the new top speeds of .
There may be restriction in maximum operating speeds due to track geometry
Track geometry is concerned with the properties and relations of points, lines, curves, and surfaces in the three-dimensional positioning of railroad track. The term is also applied to measurements used in design, construction and maintenance of t ...
of existing line, especially on curves. Straightening the route, where possible, will reduce the travel time by increasing the allowable speeds and by reducing the length of track. When straight routes are not possible, reducing the number of curves and lowering the degree of curvature
Degree of curve or degree of curvature is a measure of curvature of a circular arc used in civil engineering for its easy use in layout surveying.
Definition
The degree of curvature is defined as the central angle to the ends of an agreed length ...
would result in higher achievable speeds on those curves. An example is the elimination of three consecutive reverse curves in favor of one larger curve. Raising superelevation may be considered for sharp curves which significantly limit speed. The higher speeds on those modified curves, together with the higher superelevation, will require track modification to have transition spirals to and from those curves to be longer.
Old turnouts may need replacement to allow trains to run through the turnouts at higher speeds. In the United States, some old turnouts have speed limit of . Even with newer turnouts (rated #20), the diverging speed limit is still at which would significantly slow down the higher-speed train passing through those sections. High-speed turnouts (rated #32.7) are capable of handling maximum diverging speeds of .
In order to minimize the downtime to upgrade tracks, a track renewal train
A track renewal train (also known as a track renewal system or new track construction machine) is a work train that consists of many units of machinery and materials required for track renewal (rail and sleeper replacement) projects.
Rail prepa ...
(TRT) can automate much of the process, replacing rails, ties, and ballast at the rate of 2 miles per day. In the United States, a TRT is used by Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
on the track shared with future higher-speed rail service in Illinois area.
For electrified track, the old catenary
In physics and geometry, a catenary (, ) is the curve that an idealized hanging chain or cable assumes under its own weight when supported only at its ends in a uniform gravitational field.
The catenary curve has a U-like shape, superficia ...
may need to be replaced. The fixed-tension catenary which is acceptable for low speeds may not be suitable for regular higher-speed rail services, where a constant tension is automatically maintained when temperature changes cause the length of the wire to expand or contract.
Crossing improvements
With trains running at higher speeds throughout the route, safety at all at-grade crossings needs to be considered.
In Australia, the levels of upgrade of the crossing in the rail improvements project were based on the risk analysis. The improvements included flashing light protection, automatic full barriers
A four-quadrant gate or full-barrier equipment is a type of boom barrier gate protecting a grade crossing. It has a gate mechanism on both sides of the tracks for both directions of automotive traffic. The exit gates blocking the road leading awa ...
protection, and pedestrian gates crossings. The project also introduced the use of rubber panels at the crossings.[
In the United States, the FRA limits train speeds to without an "impenetrable barrier" at each crossing. Even with that top speed, the grade crossings must have adequate means to prevent collisions. Another option is ]grade separation
In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tran ...
, but it could be cost-prohibitive and the planners may opt for at-grade crossing improvements instead.[
The safety improvements at crossings can be done using combination of techniques. This includes passive devices such as upgraded signage and pavement markings. Another low-cost passive device is median separators which are installed along the center line of roadways, extending approximately 70 to 100 feet from the crossing, to discourage drivers from running around the crossing gates. More active devices include the ]four-quadrant gate
A four-quadrant gate or full-barrier equipment is a type of boom barrier gate protecting a grade crossing. It has a gate mechanism on both sides of the tracks for both directions of automotive traffic. The exit gates blocking the road leading aw ...
, which blocks both sides of each traffic lane. Longer gate arms can cover 3/4 of the roadway. Video cameras can also be installed to catch the violators. A signal monitoring system can also be installed to alert the crews when the crossing equipment has malfunctioned.
In Norway, grade crossing speed are not permitted to exceed .
Rerouting and passing sidings
In areas where there is frequent interference between freight and passenger trains due to congestion which causes the passenger trains to slow down, more extensive improvements may be needed. Certain segments of the line in congested areas may need to be rerouted. New track may need to be laid to avoid many curves which slow down the trains. In stretches of heavy freight train traffic, adding passing sidings along the segment should be considered. Sometimes certain stations may need to be bypassed.
Electrification
Another consideration is electrification
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...
. Electrifying a railway line entails a major upgrade to the rail infrastructure and equipment. On the infrastructure side, it requires catenary lines to be built above the tracks. New transmission lines are needed to carry power from the power plants. Substations are required for each of the lengths to reduce severe voltage losses. There is also a need to consider the required amount of power supply and new power plants may be required. For locomotives, new electric locomotives are needed or existing diesel-electric locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conv ...
s can be retrofitted into all-electric locomotives, but it is a complicated task. These factors cause electrification to have high initial investment costs. The advantages of all-electric locomotives are that they provide quieter, cleaner and more reliable operations than the diesel-electric counterpart. The fuel consumption, locomotive maintenance costs and track wear of all all-electric locomotives are also lower. Furthermore, electric traction makes the operator more independent of oil price fluctuations and imports, as electricity can be generated from domestic resources or renewable energy. This was a major consideration in the electrification of the German Democratic Republic network, as lignite (and therefore electricity) was cheap and plentiful domestically whereas oil had to be imported at world market prices.
An alternative to catenary lines is to use a third rail
A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...
system which has a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track. However the operating speeds of this type of systems cannot be greater than due to its limitation of the power supply gaps at turnouts and grade crossings. Therefore, the third rail system is not generally used for higher-speed rail.
One example in the United States that does involve electrification is the Keystone Improvement Project to provide higher-speed rail service along the Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
-Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
segment of the Keystone Corridor
The Keystone Corridor is a 349-mile (562 km) railroad corridor between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that consists of two rail lines: Amtrak and SEPTA's Philadelphia-to-Harrisburg main line, which hosts SEPTA's Paoli/Thorndale ...
in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. The plan includes additional track, a new signal system and electrification. If completed as planned, this would allow Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
to utilize electric power continuously on service from Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
to Pittsburgh. The first segment ("Main Line") has already been using electric locomotives
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas t ...
with a top speed of .
In operation
Australia
In 1999, the concept of Regional Fast Rail project
The Regional Fast Rail project (or RFR project) was a rail transport project undertaken by the State Government of Victoria, Australia, between 2000 and 2006 aimed at improving rail services on the Victorian regional railway network (operated by ...
was initiated by the State Government
A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...
of Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
with a goal to provide express higher-speed rail services between 4 main regional centres of Victoria (Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
, Ballarat
Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...
, Bendigo
Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital.
As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...
and the Latrobe Valley
The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical district and urban area of the Gippsland region in the state of Victoria, Australia. The traditional owners are the Brayakaulung of the Gunai nation. The district lies east of Melbourne and nestle ...
) and Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. The initiative included a key component to upgrade rail infrastructure to have top speeds up to . The development phase of initiative was between 2000 and 2002. Finally, the services on four lines began between 2005 and 2006 with top speeds of 160 km/h using VLocity trains. Additionally, the services provided by Queensland Rail's Tilt Train, the Transwa Prospector
''The Prospector'' is a rural passenger train service in Western Australia operated by Transwa between East Perth railway station, East Perth and Kalgoorlie railway station, Kalgoorlie. On this service, two trains depart almost at the same tim ...
and NSW Trainlink's XPT are considered higher-speed rail and all of those trains have a top service speed of 160 km/h (99–100 mph).
The New South Wales XPT (short for Express Passenger Train) is the main long-distance passenger train operated by NSW TrainLink on regional railway services in New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, Australia from Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
to Dubbo
Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021.
The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...
, Grafton, and Casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
as well as interstate destinations, Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
and Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. The XPT is based on the British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
designed High Speed Train
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
and entered service in April 1982. It came to fruition in January 1978 when the Public Transport Commission
The Public Transport Commission (PTC) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales responsible for the provision of rail, bus and ferry services in New South Wales, Australia from October 1972 until June 1980.
Upon dissolution, responsib ...
invited tenders for 25 high-speed railcar
A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...
s similar to the Prospector railcars delivered by Comeng to the Western Australian Government Railways
Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...
in 1971. Comeng's proposal for a train based on the InterCity 125 was announced as the successful bidder in October 1976.
The Tilt Train is the name for two similar tilting train
A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular rail tracks. As a train (or other vehicle) rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide abo ...
services, one electric
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
and the other diesel
Diesel may refer to:
* Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression
* Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines
* Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
, operated by Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...
on the North Coast line from Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
to Rockhampton
Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...
and Cairns
Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...
. In May 1999 the Electric Tilt Train
The Electric Tilt Train is the name for two identical high-speed tilting trains operated by Queensland Rail on the North Coast line from Brisbane to Bundaberg and Rockhampton which entered service in November 1998.
History
In March 1993, Quee ...
set an Australian train speed record of north of Bundaberg
Bundaberg is a city in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia, and is the tenth largest city in the state. Bundaberg's regional area has a population of 70,921, and is a major centre of the Wide Bay–Burnett geographical region. The Bun ...
, a record that still stands.
The Transwa WDA/WDB/WDC class
The Transwa WDA/WDB/WDC and WEA/WEB classes are two classes of railcars built by United Goninan, Broadmeadow for Transwa in 2004-2005 to replace the WAGR WCA/WCE class railcars on the ''AvonLink, MerredinLink'' and '' Prospector'' services in ...
are a class of railcars built by United Goninan, Broadmeadow
Broadmeadow is the geographic center of Newcastle city. Its main commercial hub is located at the "Nineways".[Transwa
Transwa is Western Australia's regional public transport provider, linking 240 destinations, from Kalbarri in the north to Augusta in the south west to Esperance in the south east.
The Transwa system provides transport to the major regional ...]
in 2004–05 to replace the WAGR WCA/WCE class
The WAGR WCA class railcars and WCE class trailers were built by Comeng, Granville for the Western Australian Government Railways in 1971 to operate the new '' Prospector'' service between East Perth and Kalgoorlie. At the time of their constru ...
railcars on the ''AvonLink
The ''AvonLink'' is a rural passenger train service in Western Australia operated by Transwa between Midland and Northam.
History
The consideration of revitalising passenger services in 1993 saw the ''Avonlink Ministerial Committee'' formed ...
'' and ''Prospector
Prospector may refer to:
Space exploration
* Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962
* '' Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft
Trains
* Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ...
'' services in Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. They are capable of high-speed operation.
China
In China, higher-speed railways are railways that are not officially categorized as high-speed rail but allow CRH EMUs run on it with speeds up to 200 km/h. Typically these lines are classified as Grade I conventional railways and are used by both passenger and freight services.
Note that the majority of high-speed lines are also called "passenger-only"( zh, 客运专线) lines. Inside mainland China this word invokes a sense of higher-speed rail but the wording usage is inconsistent.
Train identifiers
Identifiers starting with G indicates at least part of the train's route operates at a maximum 300 km/h or above (this is a characteristic of the line rather than the precise maximum speed of this exact train) and not running at deliberately reduced speed on any section. Other sections of the route may have lower speeds as low as 160 km/h.
Identifiers starting with C indicates short-distance travel using CRH trains, the maximum speed is irrelevant (ranging from 160 km/h Ürümqi-Korla service to 350 km/h Beijing-Tianjin (via intercity) service).
Identifiers starting with D indicates CRH services with maximum speed 265 km/h or less, including overnight sleepers on 310 km/h Beijing-Guangzhou line (running them 310 km/h overnight not only causes noises but also disturbs sleeping patterns of passengers. This is an example of deliberately reduced speeds).
Identifiers starting with S indicates metropolitan services using CRH rolling stock and have a different fare system to the national one. Their maximum speed is 160 km/h.
Note: The start and end station in the following lists accounts only CRH services.
* denotes some section of this line doesn't have 160 km/h CRH services.
Conventional lines running CRH services
Newly built lines operating less than 200 km/h speed
Designated 200 km/h, operating 160 km/h lines with currently no C/D/G class services
Slow speeds on lines normally running high-speed
This section lists the deliberately reduced scenarios mentioned in "train identifiers" section above.
Greece
Since 1997, ongoing construction to upgrade and built higher-speed lines capable of speeds of up to is conducted. The P.A.Th.E. Plan (Patras
)
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 =
, demographics1_info2 =
, timezone1 = EET
, utc_offset1 = +2
, ...
-Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
-Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
-Evzonoi
Evzonoi ( el, Εύζωνοι, , before 1927: Ματσίκοβο - ''Matsikovo'', , mk, Мачуково, bg, Мачуково, ''Machukovo'') is a town in Kilkis regional unit in Central Macedonia, Greece. The main border crossing between Greec ...
), as it is called aims at reduced journey times between Greece's main cities (Athens, Thessaloniki and Patra) as well as an improved rail connection between Greece and North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
. Currently, only the modernized lines of Domokos
Domokos ( el, Δομοκός), the ancient Thaumacus or Thaumace (Θαυμακός, Θαυμάκη), is a town and a municipality in Phthiotis, Greece. The town Domokos is the seat of the municipality of Domokos and of the former Domokos Province. ...
–Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
, Athens Airport
Athens International Airport ''Eleftherios Venizelos'' ( el, Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Αθηνών «Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος», ''Diethnís Aeroliménas Athinón "Elefthérios Venizélos"''), commonly initialised as ...
–Kiato
Kiato ( el, Κιάτο) is a town in the northern part of Corinthia in the Peloponnese, Greece. It is the seat of the municipality of Sikyona. Kiato is situated on the Gulf of Corinth, near the mouth of the river Asopos. It has much tourist activit ...
, and Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
– Strymonas are in operation at maximum speeds of .
India
The Gatimaan Express
The 12049 / 12050 Gatimaan Express is India's first semi-high speed train that runs between Delhi and Jhansi. It takes 265 minutes (around 4.5 hours) to cover the journey from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Virangana Lakshmibai Junction railway st ...
was India's first semi-high speed train. In October 2014, the railways
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
applied for safety certificate from Commission of Railway Safety
The Commission of Railway Safety is a government commission of India. Subordinate to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the commission is the rail safety authority in India, as directed by The Railways Act, 1989.
The agency investigates seriou ...
to start the service. In June 2015, the train was officially announced. The train was launched on 5 April 2016 and completed its maiden journey between Nizamuddin and Agra Cantt within 100 minutes. But due to low occupancy, Indian Railways first extended this train from Agra to Gwalior
Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...
on 19 February 2018 and then to Jhansi
Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative hea ...
on 1 April 2018.
The Tejas Express
The Tejas Express is a semi-high speed fully air-conditioned train introduced by Indian Railways. It features modern onboard facilities with doors which are operated automatically. Tejas means "sharp", "lustre", or "brilliance" in many India ...
was Introduced by Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...
in 2017. It features modern onboard facilities with doors which are operated automatically. Tejas means "sharp", "lustre" and "brilliance" in many Indian languages. The inaugural run of Tejas Express was on 24 May 2017 from Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus to Karmali
Carambolim is a village in North Goa district, Goa, India.
Geography
It is located at an elevation of 5 m above MSL.http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/33/Carambolim.html Map and weather of Karmali
Location
The railway station at Carambolim ( ...
, Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
. It covered 552 km in 8 hours and 30 minutes. On 1 March 2019, second Tejas Express of the country was flagged off between Chennai Egmore
Chennai Egmore, formerly known as Madras Egmore, also known as Chennai Elumbur (station code: MS), is a railway station in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Situated in the neighborhood of Egmore, it is one of the four intercity railway terminals in t ...
and Madurai Junction
Madurai Junction railway station (station code: MDU) is a railway station in South India and the primary railway station serving the city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu. The station is the headquarters of the Madurai railway division of the Southern ...
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
. It covered 497 km in 6 hours and 30 minutes. Lucknow – New Delhi Tejas Express
Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division. ...
, which was inaugurated on 4 October 2019, is India's first train operated by private operators, IRCTC
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is an Indian public sector undertaking that provides ticketing, catering, and tourism services for the Indian Railways. It was initially wholly owned by the Government of India and operated ...
, a subsidiary of Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...
. The Ahmedabad – Mumbai Tejas express, also operated by IRCTC was inaugurated on the 17 January 2020. From 1 September 2021, the train LHB Rajdhani Rakes are replaced with LHB Tejas Sleeper Rakes. This increased the speed of the train to 130 km/h. The train can travel at a top speed of 160 km/h making it a Semi-High Speed Train.
In 2019, Vande Bharat Express
The Vande Bharat Express, previously known as Train 18, is a semi-high-speed, electric multiple unit train operated by Indian Railways. It was designed and manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai. The first train was manufactured in ...
, also known as Train 18, was inaugurated. This is an Indian higher-speed rail intercity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...
. It was designed and built by Integral Coach Factory
Integral Coach Factory (ICF) is a manufacturer of ICF coach, rail coaches located in Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established in 1955 and is owned and operated by the Indian Railways. It is located in Perambur, in the suburbs of ...
(ICF) at Perambur
Perambur is a neighbourhood located in the northern region of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Etymology
In Tamil, ''pirambu (பிரம்பு)'' means bamboo and ''ur (ஊர்)'' means city or place. Before British rule, this place was wid ...
, Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
under the Indian government's Make in India
Make in India is an initiative by the Government of India to create and encourage companies to develop, manufacture and assemble products made in India and incentivize dedicated investments into manufacturing. The policy approach was to creat ...
initiative over a span of 18 months. The unit cost
The unit cost is the price incurred by a company to produce, store and sell one unit of a particular product. Unit costs include all fixed costs and all variable costs
Variable costs are costs that change as the quantity of the good or service ...
of the first rake was given as , though the unit cost is expected to go down with subsequent production. At the original price, it is estimated to be 40% cheaper than a similar train imported from Europe. The train was launched on 15 February 2019, from Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
to Varanasi
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic t ...
. The service was named 'Vande Bharat Express' on 27 January 2019. On 5 October 2019, a second Vande Bharat Express
The Vande Bharat Express, previously known as Train 18, is a semi-high-speed, electric multiple unit train operated by Indian Railways. It was designed and manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai. The first train was manufactured in ...
was opened from Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
to Katra On 30 September 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
inaugurated a 3rd Vande Bharat Express rake connecting Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
and Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...
passing through Surat
Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...
. This rake was an upgraded second generation version. an other second generation rake was inaugurated from Delhi to Una
Una and UNA may refer to:
Places
* 160 Una, the asteroid "Una", an asteroid named after the Faerie Queene character
* Una River (disambiguation), numerous rivers
* Una, Himachal Pradesh, a town in India
** Una, Himachal Pradesh Assembly constit ...
passing through Chandigarh
Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...
.
In 2021, Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...
started to upgrade Rajdhani Coaches to Tejas coaches. This replaced its traditional LHB Rajdhani coaches On 15 February 2021,The Agartala Rajdhani Express was upgraded with Tejas livery Sleeper Coaches. On 19 July 2021, the Mumbai Rajdhani Express
12951/12952 Mumbai Central - New Delhi - Mumbai Central Tejas Rajdhani is a semi-high-speed Fully AC Train belonging to Indian Railways that runs between (MMCT) and (NDLS) in India. It is the fastest Rajdhani service in all of India, with a ...
was upgraded to Tejas class smart coaches. LHB Rajdhani coaches. On 1 September 2021 the Rajendra Nagar Patna Rajdhani Express
The 12309 / 12310 Rajendra Nagar-New Delhi Tejas Rajdhani Express is a Semi-High Speed Fully AC Train that connects Patna with and Delhi. It is fastest train on the Patna–Delhi section and fifth fastest Rajdhani of Indian railways. It is the ...
was upgraded to Tejas rakes. This increased the speed of the train to 130 km/h. The train can travel at a top speed of 160 km/h.
Inaugural run and entry into service
The train flagged off for an inaugural run by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, on 15 February 2019, with its commercial run started from 17 February 2019 onwards.
It will be running on the Delhi-Varanasi route, via Kanpur
Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help·info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations o ...
and Prayagraj
Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...
, connecting the holy city of Varanasi
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic t ...
to the Capital city, reducing travel time along the route by 15 percent. The train's regenerative brakes are also expected to allow a 30% savings in electricity costs as compared to its predecessor. At an operating speed of , it will outpace the Shatabdi Express
Shatabdi Express trains are a series of fast passenger trains operated by Indian Railways to connect important metro cities. Shatabdi Express are day-trains and mostly return to their origin station the same day. The trains were first introdu ...
by . Although the trainset has been tested for speeds up to 180 km/h, it is capable of running at speed of 200 km/h. Every other car on the train is motorised. The 8-hour journey from New Delhi to Varanasi station has the Chair Car CC Class fare of ₹1,755.00 and covers the total distance of about 762 kilometers.
Laos
Passenger trains on the 2021 opened Boten–Vientiane railway travel at speeds of up to 160 km/h, however the railway has been described as 'high-speed' as well. Some sections of the railway were planned to allow speeds of up to 200 km/h, however this was downgraded to 160 km/h in the final design.
United States
This is the list of the current higher-speed rail services from the East Coast
East Coast may refer to:
Entertainment
* East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop
* East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017
* East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004
* East Coast FM, a ra ...
to the West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
:
Earlier attempts
Canada
There have been several different attempts at higher speed rail in the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor
The Quebec City–Windsor Corridor (french: link=no, Corridor Québec-Windsor) is the most densely populated and heavily industrialized region of Canada. As its name suggests, the region extends between Quebec City in the northeast and Windsor, ...
, and several high speed rail attempts as well.[
]
Ireland
In 2010, there was a report commissioned by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport
The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) is a professional body representing the transport and logistics industries worldwide. It is a membership-based organisation with over 30,000 members in over 30 countries. This i ...
as a mid-term review of Transport 21
Transport 21 was an Irish infrastructure plan, announced in November 2005. Its aims were to greatly expand Ireland's transport network. A cost estimate of €34 billion was attached to the plan at the time.
The plan included continuing inves ...
, an Irish infrastructure plan announced in 2005. The report recommended, among other things, a development of national rail to provide higher-speed rail services. However, there have been no progress toward the recommendation.
United States
There have been long-range visions to establish high/higher-speed rail networks in different regions of the United States but without adequate funding. During the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed in response to the Gr ...
, there was a surge of interest to apply for grants from the federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
to start those projects. However, many proposals have been put on hold or cancelled after failing to secure funding or support from the public or key local politicians.
Amtrak Cascades
Amtrak Cascades, a intercity rail service, stretches from Eugene, Oregon, through the State of Washington
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
to Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, British Columbia, in Canada. As of 2010, the long-term goal of this corridor was to have the top speeds of the segment of Eugene, Oregon, to Blaine, Washington, with top speeds in the range, and eventually on a dedicated track. However, as of 2012, the Washington State Department of Transportation
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. Establi ...
plans for its stretch to have top speeds of only , and the plan in Oregon is to limit the speeds to as well, with safety and other freight service concerns voiced by the track owner, Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
. This essentially halts the plan to provide a higher-speed rail service on this corridor in the near future.
Minnesota
The ''Northern Lights Express
The ''Northern Lights Express'' (''NLX'') is a planned higher-speed rail service that would run between Minneapolis and Duluth primarily in the U.S. state of Minnesota. A portion of the proposed line would run through neighboring Wisconsin to ser ...
'' project, in the planning stages and proposed to begin construction in 2017, would upgrade the BNSF trackage between Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
and Duluth
, settlement_type = City
, nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City
, motto =
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...
to support service up to .
Other higher-speed rail proposals are periodically considered, but would need to pass through neighboring states, which have thus far not agreed to cooperate. Minnesota transportation planners proposed a higher-speed rail service called the ''River Route'', with top speeds of , between Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Minnesota, and Chicago, Illinois, via Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which follows the ''Empire Builder
The ''Empire Builder'' is an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that operates daily between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great Northe ...
'' route. There is no current progress with ''the River Route'' project due to the cancellation of the funding in Wisconsin.
Another alternative that has been discussed is to have a new route that heads south to Iowa to join the rail link from Iowa to Chicago. There was a report in 2011 that Iowa would halt its involvement in high/higher-speed rail projects. However, the Iowa Department of Transportation
The Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) is the government organization in the U.S. state of Iowa responsible for the organization, construction, and maintenance of the primary highway system. Located in Ames, Iowa, DOT is also responsi ...
and Illinois Department of Transportation
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is a state agency in charge of state-maintained public roadways of the U.S. state of Illinois. In addition, IDOT provides funding for rail, public transit and airport projects and administers fuel ...
continue to pursue the study of rail link between Chicago and Omaha
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...
, Nebraska, through Iowa with top speeds of . Therefore, the status of the proposal to link Minneapolis–Saint Paul with Chicago via Iowa is unknown.
New York
In 1998, New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
State initiated a $185 million program in partnership with Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
to increase the speeds of the ''Empire Service
The ''Empire Service'' is an Inter-city rail service operated by Amtrak within the state of New York in the United States. The brand name originated with the New York Central Railroad in 1967. Trains on the line provide frequent daily service ...
'' to by reconstructing all seven gas-turbine Turboliner
The Turboliners were a family of gas turbine trainsets built for Amtrak in the 1970s. They were among the first new equipment purchased by Amtrak to update its fleet with faster, more modern trains. The first batch, known as RTG, were built by ...
trainsets, originally built in 1976–1977, to the new RTL-III specification. The reconstructed trains, coupled with track improvements, would cut the travel time between New York City and Albany by 20 minutes. However, the project ran into many problems including issues with the trains and the unsuccessful implementation of required track improvements. New York ended the rehabilitation program in 2005 after spending $70.3 million. Fallout over the program led to litigation between New York and Amtrak; Amtrak would eventually pay New York $20 million and commit to funding $10 million in track improvements. New York auctioned off its surplus Turboliners in 2012 for $420,000.
Ohio
The Ohio Hub, a rail improvement project proposed by the Ohio Department of Transportation
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT; ) is the administrative department of the Ohio state government responsible for developing and maintaining all state and U.S. roadways outside of municipalities and all Interstates except the Ohio T ...
, is aimed at revitalizing passenger rail service in the Ohio region. The proposal was to increase the top speeds to in the network connecting Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio
Columbus may also refer to:
Places ...
, and Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, commonly referred as the 3-C corridor. The project is currently in an unknown state after the U.S. government rescinded the federal funding from Ohio and redirected it to other states.
Wisconsin
In October 2009, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin responsible for planning, building and maintaining the state's highways. It is also responsible for planning transportation in the state ...
adopted the ''Connections 2030'' plan which is the long-range plan for state transportation needs. The plan includes ''Wisconsin Rail Plan 2030'', the twenty-year plan to improve the state railroad system by 2030. In the rail plan, there is a multi-phase project to upgrade the rail service from Chicago, Illinois, to Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
and Madison Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
Place names
* Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
, Wisconsin, with top speeds of . The latter phases of the project will expand the same service to Minneapolis–Saint Paul
Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is commonly known as the Twin Cities ...
in Minnesota and another route to Green Bay, Wisconsin. There was a reaction against the project in 2010, and the $810 million grant the state originally received for the project from the federal government was rescinded. As of 2012, the rail plan is postponed indefinitely.
Current efforts
Baltic states
The three Baltic states
The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
have been working with the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
as part of the Trans-European Transport Networks
The Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) is a planned network of roads, railways, airports and water infrastructure in the European Union. The TEN-T network is part of a wider system of Trans-European Networks (TENs), including a telecommunic ...
(TEN-T) initiative on a study to build a higher-speed rail line in the ''Rail Baltica
Rail Baltica (also known as Rail Baltic in Estonia) is a high-speed railway under construction between Warsaw, Poland and Tallinn, Estonia, with further connections to Finland via Baltic Sea cruiseferries or the proposed Helsinki–Tallinn Tunne ...
'' corridor to connect Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, in Poland, and Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
, in Estonia.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh Government has taken initiatives to develop high-speed rail (HSR) in between its two major cities – Dhaka, the National Capital City and Chattogram (former Chittagong), the second largest and the principal Port City of the country. Bangladesh Railway (BR), the Government-owned and-managed transportation agency of the country, signed a contract of BDT 102 crore on 31 May 2018 with a Consortium of China Railway Design Corporation (CRDC), a Chinese Company and Mazumder Enterprise (ME), a Bangladeshi Pvt. Ltd. Company for feasibility study and detailed design for construction of proposed Dhaka-Chattogram via Cumilla/Laksam HSR line.
With 320.79 km length, Dhaka-Chattogram is the main business corridor and life line of BR, and at present, the railway route is a circuitous way through Tongi-Bhairab Bazar-Brahmanbaria-Cumilla-Chattogram. The proposed shorter route, which would be Dhaka-Cumilla/Laksham-Chattogram, will cut short the length by about 91 km, making the total length around 230 km. The expected speed of the proposed HSR would be above 250 km/h (yet to determine) and it would take less than one hour to reach Chattogram from Dhaka, which currently takes more than five hours. Under the 18-month contract, the Consortium's responsibilities will include identifying alternative alignments, assessing the viability of the project, preparing detailed engineering design, and cost estimation.
Canada
For a rail route to connect Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...
to Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
in the United States, a higher-speed rail plan was proposed as an alternative after a study on the Windsor to Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...
route in Canada was to consider only high-speed rail with top speeds of or more. Politicians in Windsor area proposed in 2012 that having higher-speed rail connection between Windsor and Detroit must be part of the consideration.
Another feasibility study is ongoing as part of the Northern New England Intercity Rail Initiative to connect between Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
trains at top speeds of .[
]
Greece
A project to modernize railway network in Greece is ongoing. A new alignment between Tithorea
Tithorea ( el, Τιθορέα), is an ancient place with more than 4,000 years of human history. A part of the municipality of Amfikleia-Elateia, in Phthiotis, Greece, it had a population of 630 in 2011, and is situated 156 km from Athens.
...
and Domokos
Domokos ( el, Δομοκός), the ancient Thaumacus or Thaumace (Θαυμακός, Θαυμάκη), is a town and a municipality in Phthiotis, Greece. The town Domokos is the seat of the municipality of Domokos and of the former Domokos Province. ...
is designed to avoid the mountainous part. The new line will have speeds of .[
]
India
In October 2013, the Minister of Railways
A Ministry of Railways is a Cabinet department that exists or has existed in many Commonwealth states as well as others. It generally occurs in countries where railroad transportation is a particularly important part of the national infrastructur ...
announced at the two-day international technical conference on ''High Speed Rail Travel; Low Cost Solution'' that the focus of India's rail improvement is to implement a lower cost solution to meet the immediate needs by providing higher-speed rail services as an incremental step before the dedicated track high-speed rail can be achieved. India's higher-speed rail will be in the range of . On 3 July 2014, a trail run with the new top speeds of was successfully completed on a journey of between Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
and Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...
. The new service, operational since 5 April 2016, cut the travel time from 126 minutes (compared to standard trains) with a top speed of to 99 minutes.
In 2019 the government approved 3 rapid regional railways including Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System
The Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (Delhi–Meerut RRTS) is an long, semi-high speed rail corridor currently under construction which will connect Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut. The line is the first of the three rapid rail corrid ...
with speeds up to 160 km/h.
in June 2020 the government of Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
approved the Thiruvananthapuram–Kasargode Semi High Speed Rail Corridor or Silver line, a Semi-High speed rail line connecting the state.
in July 2021, The Government announced plans of making 10 new Vande Bharat Express Lines connecting Over 40 cities. This is planned to be done by 2022.
Malaysia
The KTM ETS
The KTM ETS (commercially known as ETS, short for 'Electric Train Service') is an inter-city rail passenger service operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) using electric multiple-unit (EMU) trains. The KTM ETS is the second electric train service ...
is an inter-city rail
Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains.
There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...
service operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu
Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) (Jawi: كريتاڤي تانه ملايو برحد) or Malayan Railways Limited is the main rail operator in Peninsular Malaysia. The railway system dates back to the British colonial era, when it was firs ...
Berhad utilizing electric multiple units. The KTM ETS is the second electric train service to be operated by the Malaysian railway company, after the KTM Komuter
KTM Komuter is a commuter rail system in Malaysia operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM). It was introduced in 1995 to provide local rail services in Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding Klang Valley suburban areas. Services were later expanded to ...
service.
Commencing in August 2010, the ETS is the fastest metre gauge
Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre.
The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...
train service in Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
and operates along the electrified and double-tracked stretch of the West Coast Line between and on the Malaysia-Thai border by the Malaysian national railway operator, Keretapi Tanah Melayu
Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) (Jawi: كريتاڤي تانه ملايو برحد) or Malayan Railways Limited is the main rail operator in Peninsular Malaysia. The railway system dates back to the British colonial era, when it was firs ...
.
The rail service is operated by KTM Intercity Division. It was previously operated by ETS Sendirian Berhad, a fully owned subsidiary of Keretapi Tanah Melayu
Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) (Jawi: كريتاڤي تانه ملايو برحد) or Malayan Railways Limited is the main rail operator in Peninsular Malaysia. The railway system dates back to the British colonial era, when it was firs ...
Berhad. The operation speed for this train is 140 km/h.
New Zealand
Advocacy group Greater Auckland proposed the Regional Rapid Rail initiative in 2017, including tilt trains with a maximum speed of 160 km/h. This network would link Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
with Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
, Tauranga
Tauranga () is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty region and the fifth most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of , or roughly 3% of the national population. It was settled by Māori late in the 13th century, colonised by ...
and Rotorua
Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...
. In December 2018, the Government of New Zealand
, background_color = #012169
, image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg
, image_size=250px
, date_established =
, country = New Zealand
, leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
, appointed = Governor-General
, main_organ =
, ...
committed funding to reintroducing a five-year trial rail service between Papakura
Papakura is a southern suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, approximately 32 kilometres south of the Auckland CBD. It is under the authority of the Auckland Council.
Papakura is a M ...
in southern Auckland to Hamilton, starting in 2020.
Panama
China claimed to invest capitals into 160 km/h rail corridor, total length would be 491 km.
Philippines
The state-owned Philippine National Railways
The Philippine National Railways (PNR) ( fil, Pambansang Daang-Bakal ng Pilipinas and es, Ferrocarril Nacional de Filipinas) is a state-owned railway company in the Philippines which operates one commuter rail service between Metro Manila an ...
plans to rebuild its historic South Main Line from Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
to the Bicol Region
Bicol, known formally as the Bicol Region or colloquially as Bicolandia ( bcl, Rehiyon kan Bikol; Rinconada Bikol: ''Rehiyon ka Bikol''; Waray Sorsogon, Masbateño: ''Rehiyon san Bikol''; tl, Rehiyon ng Bikol), is an administrative region of ...
in the southeastern tip of Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
. The agency will build of track, with the main line itself leading to Matnog, Sorsogon
Matnog, officially the Municipality of Matnog ( Waray Sorsogon: ''Bungto san Matnog''; war, Bungto han Matnog, tl, Bayan ng Matnog), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Sorsogon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a po ...
and a spur line leading to Batangas City
Batangas City, officially the City of Batangas ( fil, Lungsod ng Batangas), is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 351,437 people.
Batangas City i ...
. It will be a standard-gauge railway
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
served by Chinese-built diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...
s with a maximum speed of and an average speed of including stops. The project will start construction in mid-2020 and is set to open partially by 2022.
In January 2022, PNR general manager Junn Magno defined the agency's future high-speed rail
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
projects to be electrified railways with a maximum speed of at least . The high power costs and resulting expensive ticket prices resulted in the operation of high-speed rail in the country to be marked as infeasible. The agency then resorted to semi-high speed express train
An express train is a type of passenger train that makes a small number of stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, allowing faster service than Local train, local trains that stop at most or all of the s ...
s for its new standard-gauge lines.
Thailand
The Government of Thailand
The Government of Thailand, or formally the Royal Thai Government ( Abrv: RTG; th, รัฐบาลไทย, , ), is the unitary government of the Kingdom of Thailand. The country emerged as a modern nation state after the foundation of ...
considers a plan to build out its high-speed rail corridors. As an alternative to the high-speed trains, the government also considers medium-speed trains with top speeds of .
United States
This is a partial list of ongoing higher-speed rail projects from the East Coast
East Coast may refer to:
Entertainment
* East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop
* East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017
* East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004
* East Coast FM, a ra ...
to the West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
.
Proposed routes
In addition to ongoing projects, there are proposed routes that have not reached the feasibility study stage yet. In Pennsylvania, a rail advocacy group started fund raising efforts in 2014 to obtain $25,000 for a preliminary study and additional $100,000 for feasibility study of the route from Erie
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
to Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. The proposal is for express train services to directly link the two cities. An alternative is to have intermediate stops in Ohio cities including Ashtabula
Ashtabula ( ) is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States, and the center of the Ashtabula micropolitan area. It is located at the mouth of the Ashtabula River on Lake Erie, northeast of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city ha ...
, Warren
A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...
, and Youngstown
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which ...
before heading back to New Castle, Pennsylvania
New Castle is a city in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is northwest of Pittsburgh, and near the Pennsylvania–Ohio border, just southeast of Youngstown, Ohio. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, ...
.
In Ohio, a rail advocacy group works with local political leaders in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois to consider a higher-speed rail line from Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
to Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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. This is in response to another advocacy group in Indiana that gained funding for the Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
– Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
– Chicago route that is already in feasibility study stage. The group persuaded the Hamilton County government in Ohio to advocate for the study. The county commission
A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...
ers unanimously voted in September 2014 to pursue a feasibility study. As a possible route that goes through the states of Kentucky and Indiana, the county expects that Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) is a council of governments in the Cincinnati metropolitan area. It also serves as the region's official metropolitan planning organization A metropolitan planning organization (MPO) ...
will help fund a feasibility study.
In Michigan, a feasibility study sponsored by an environmental group is in progress for a new rail line between Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
and Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
. The proposal is to have trains running at speeds between . The state transportation department is interested in the study but is not ready to move beyond this study.
In Texas, the East Texas Corridor Council proposed a higher-speed rail route between Longview and Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
. The trains will operate at speeds of and .
Vietnam
In 2018, Vietnam planned to build a higher-speed rail line in the northern part of the country to link between Haiphong
Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta.
Haiphong wa ...
, Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
, and Lào Cai
Lào Cai () is a city in the Northwest region of Vietnam. It is the capital of Lào Cai Province. The city borders Bảo Thắng District, Bát Xát District, Sa Pa and the city of Hekou Yao Autonomous County, in Yunnan province of southwes ...
which is then connected to China. The line will run parallel to the existing regular speed railway. The top speeds for the new services will be up to .
See also
* High-speed rail in the United States
Plans for high-speed rail in the United States date back to the High-Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965. Various state and federal proposals have followed. Despite being one of the world's first countries to get high-speed trains (the Me ...
References
{{Higher-speed rail