Tilting Trains
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A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular
rail tracks 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, ...
. As a train (or other vehicle) rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience
centrifugal force In Newtonian mechanics, the centrifugal force is an inertial force (also called a "fictitious" or "pseudo" force) that appears to act on all objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference. It is directed away from an axis which is paralle ...
. This can cause packages to slide about or seated passengers to feel squashed by the outboard armrest, and
standing passenger In urban public transport, provision is made for standing passengers, often called straphangers or standees, to rationalize operation and to provide extra capacity during rush hour. Occurrence On crowded rapid transit urban lines, while most tr ...
s to lose their balance. Tilting trains are designed to counteract this by tilting the carriages towards the inside of the curve, thus compensating for the g-force. The train may be constructed such that inertial forces cause the tilting (''passive tilt''), or it may have a computer-controlled powered mechanism (''active tilt''). The first passive tilting car design was built in the US in 1937, and an improved version was built in 1939. The beginning of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
ended development.
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 ...
introduced a version based on their articulated bogie design in 1950s, and this concept was used on a number of commercial services. Among these was the
UAC TurboTrain The UAC TurboTrain was an early high-speed rail, high-speed, gas turbine train manufactured by United Aircraft that operated in Canada between 1968 and 1982 and in the United States between 1968 and 1976. Amtrak disposed of the trains in 1980. It ...
, which was the first (albeit short-lived) tilting train to enter commercial service in 1968 in the US and Canada. Parallel experiments in Japan and Italy through the 591 Series and the Fiat Y 0160 developed into the highly successful 381 series which began services in 1973 and is in service today, and the
Pendolino Pendolino (from Italian ''pendolo'' "pendulum", and ''-ino,'' a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the UK, the US, ...
family currently being used in 11 countries since 1976. All of these had problems with short curves like those in switchyards, where they tended to sway about. Also, because of the way the carriages always swung outward, they placed more weight on the outside of the curve, which limited their improvement in cornering speed to about 20%. Starting in the late 1960s,
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 ...
began experiments with its Advanced Passenger Train (APT) which pioneered the active-tilt concept. This used hydraulic rams on the bottoms of the carriages to tilt them, rotating them around their centre point rather than swinging outward. This had the advantage of keeping the carriage centred over the bogies, which reduced load on the rails, and could be turned off when navigating switches. Due to lengthy delays, the APT did not begin test runs until 1981 and entered commercial service only briefly in 1985. By this time, the Canadian LRC design had become the first active tilting train to enter full commercial service, starting with
Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...
in 1981.
Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
developed their Pendolino design into the most successful type of tilting train, with over 500 trains active in Europe. The concept of active tilt as a whole has been independently developed by many companies. Active tilting systems are widely used today.


Design

Aeroplanes and bicycles tilt inwards when cornering, but automobiles and trains cannot do this on their own. Vehicles with high centres of gravity rounding sharp curves at high speeds may topple over. To make their turns easier, the outer edge of a roadway of a high-speed highway or outer rail of a railway may be canted (raised) upward around the curve. The combination of tilt and centrifugal force combines to produce an effective acceleration that is down through the floor, reducing or eliminating any sideways component. The particular angle of tilt ("superelevation") is determined by the intended vehicle speed — higher speeds require more banking. But with a growing desire in the 1960s and 1970s to build high-speed rail networks, a problem arose: the amount of tilt appropriate for high-speed trains would be over-tilted for lower-speed local passenger and freight trains sharing the lines. Japan's early
bullet train Bullet train may refer to: Rail * Shinkansen high-speed trains of Japan, nicknamed for their appearance and speed * Other high-speed trains of a similar appearance to Japanese trains * An ongoing project to build high-speed rail in India. Rail to ...
efforts of the 1960s avoided this problem by laying all-new lines as part of a re-gauging effort, and France's
TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...
followed the same pattern. Other operators did not have this luxury and were generally limited to much lower speeds. Spain's national railway Renfe took a domestic invention, the
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 ...
, and developed it into a reliable high-speed train for a low-traffic-density railway.
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 ...
invested heavily in tilting-train technology to overcome the limitations of a rail network located in space-constrained built-up areas. Italy's
Trenitalia Trenitalia is the primary train operator in Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself owned by the Italian government, the company was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulation of rail transp ...
and the
Japan National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...
have used tilting technology to speed express trains on conventional tracks through mountainous terrain. Tilting trains are meant to help reduce the effects of
centrifugal force In Newtonian mechanics, the centrifugal force is an inertial force (also called a "fictitious" or "pseudo" force) that appears to act on all objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference. It is directed away from an axis which is paralle ...
on the human body, but they can still cause
nausea Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. While not painful, it can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of the ...
, a problem that was widely seen on early "passive" tilting trains that exactly balanced the outward force. The effect could be felt under maximum speed and tilt, when the combination of tilting outside view and lack of corresponding sideways force can be disconcerting to passengers, like that of a " thrill ride". More limited and slower tilt could be achieved using active, or 'forced', tilting mechanisms. In trains adopting these mechanisms tilt is initiated by computers, which 'force' train bodies to tilt at specific angles based on track information. This information could be stored on board or detected using a sensor at the front of the train or using
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 ...
beacons. The slight delay in reacting to this information leads to a short period of sideways force while the cars react. It was found that when the cars tilt just at the beginning of the curves instead of while they are making the turns, there was no motion sickness. Researchers have found that if the tilting motion is reduced to compensate for 80% or less of lateral apparent force, then passengers feel more secure. Also, motion sickness on tilting trains can be essentially eliminated by adjusting the timing of when the cars tilt as they enter and leave the curves. A similar technology widely adopted across Asia and Oceania, known as controlled passive tilt, achieves a similar effect by using on-board computers to limit tilt, initiated using inertia (as in traditional passive tilt).
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 ...
beacons are used to inform computers of the precise location of these trains and limit natural tilt to angles specified by track data.


High-speed trains

A high-speed tilting train is a tilting train that operates at high speed, typically defined as by 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 ...
to include for upgraded track and or faster for new track. Tilting trains operating at or more on upgraded track include the Acela in the US, the
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 ...
in Sweden, the Pendolinos and Super Voyagers in the United Kingdom, and the
ICE TD The DBAG Class 605, commonly known as the ICE TD is a high-speed diesel multiple unit (DMU) train, formerly in service with Deutsche Bahn and DSB. History Development Following the successful inauguration of the Intercity-Express system ...
in Germany (the latter two being diesel powered). Some older high-speed lines were built for lower line speeds (≤ ); newer tilting trainsets can maintain higher speeds on them. For example, the Japanese
N700 Series Shinkansen The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train with tilting capability developed jointly by JR Central and JR West for use on the Tokaido and San'yō Shinkansen lines since 2007, and also operated by JR Kyushu on the Kyushu Shinkansen line. ...
may tilt up to one degree on the
Tōkaidō Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed rail line that is part of the nationwide Shinkansen network. Along with the Sanyo Shinkansen, it forms a continuous high-speed railway through the Taiheiyō Belt, also known as the Tokaido corridor. Opened in 1964, ...
, allowing the trains to maintain even on radius curves that previously had a maximum speed of . Many high-speed trainsets are designed to operate on purpose-built high-speed lines and then continue their journeys on legacy lines, upgraded or not. Where the legacy lines justify it, a tilting train may operate at higher speeds on the latter, even if below the normal threshold, whilst operating at or faster, usually with tilt disabled, on the high speed lines.


History


Pendulum car

The first experimental tilting train concept was the pendulum-suspension "chair" cars designed by the Pacific Railway Equipment Company. The first prototype, with an articulated bogie system, was built in 1937 and tested on the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...
that year. The company built another three pre-production models in 1939, using more conventional fore-and-aft bogies, and these saw some use with the '' San Diegan'', among others. Mounted on high springs, the car tilted inwards on curves to counterbalance the
cant deficiency The term "cant deficiency" is defined in the context of travel of a rail transport, rail vehicle at constant speed on a constant radius curve. Cant (road/rail), Cant itself is a British synonym for the superelevation of the curve, that is, the elev ...
with the induced centrifugal force. The opening of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
prevented any immediate orders, and the concept was not revived in the post-war era.


SNCF experiment

In 1956,
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
experimented with a self-propelled pendulum car, which also relied on centrifugal force. This experiment demonstrated the need for an active suspension system to tilt the coach bodies.


Talgo Pendular

The Spanish
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 ...
company had introduced the first widely successful shared-bogie system, which allowed cars to be connected end-to-end using a single bogie instead of each car having its own bogies at either end. This design saves weight and can reduce rail wear. In the early 1950s, Renfe experimented with passenger cars that combined the Talgo bogie with a new passive tilting system. This system used a large A-frame connected to the centre of the bogie that was as high as the cars. At the top of the A was a bearing system that the cars attached to, and a spring and damping system to smooth its motion. Because the cars were connected at this high point, they could swing to either side around the bearing axis, and this caused them to naturally pendulum outward on curves. The first test of a Talgo in the United States was the ''
John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States S ...
'' with
Fairbanks-Morse Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinders, radios, farm tractors, fee ...
P-12-42 tested by the
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...
in 1957–1958. Due to technical troubles and the precarious financial state of the New Haven railroad, the trainset was stored. The idea caught the interest of the
Chesapeake & Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond t ...
, who began development of what would become the
UAC TurboTrain The UAC TurboTrain was an early high-speed rail, high-speed, gas turbine train manufactured by United Aircraft that operated in Canada between 1968 and 1982 and in the United States between 1968 and 1976. Amtrak disposed of the trains in 1980. It ...
using the same system. The TurboTrain entered service in the US and Canada in 1968. The first successful European tilting train design was the
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 ...
in Spain, developed in the 1970s as a lightweight, fast train using passive tilt. The Spanish National Railway, Renfe, adopted the system widely, but was restricted to the Iberian peninsula initially. The first full commercial application of passive tilting trains appeared in early 1980s with the Talgo Pendular. Talgo is currently in its 21st generation of production. Talgo trains are in service in various parts of Europe, and built under licence in Latin America and Asia. In North America,
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 ...
uses Talgo trains in its '' Cascades'' service in the Northwest. The first Talgo tilting series were the "pendular" ones from 400 series onwards.


UAC TurboTrain

FILE:VIA TurboTrain 2 cropped.jpg, The
UAC TurboTrain The UAC TurboTrain was an early high-speed rail, high-speed, gas turbine train manufactured by United Aircraft that operated in Canada between 1968 and 1982 and in the United States between 1968 and 1976. Amtrak disposed of the trains in 1980. It ...
remained in service in Canada into the 1980s, in
Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...
livery The first tilting train to enter into regular service in North America was the
UAC TurboTrain The UAC TurboTrain was an early high-speed rail, high-speed, gas turbine train manufactured by United Aircraft that operated in Canada between 1968 and 1982 and in the United States between 1968 and 1976. Amtrak disposed of the trains in 1980. It ...
, used by
Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN ...
in 1968. It should be rightfully considered the first tilting train in service in the world. It provided daily service between
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and
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
at speeds of 160 km/h, until it was replaced by Bombardier LRC trains in 1982, reaching the maximum speed of 225 km/h during Canadian trials. United Aircraft Turbos were also used by Amtrak between Boston and New York. The UAC Turbos had a passive tilt mechanism based on a four-bar arrangement, and they inspired the second generation of
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 ...
trains.


Pendolino

In Italy, the studies for a tilting train started in the mid 1960s and the concept was patented in 1967 by two engineers of Fiat railway materials, Franco di Maio and Luigi Santanera. A number of prototypes were built and tested, including an ''automotrice'' (self-propelled) derived from
ALn 668 The ALn 668 (''Automotrice Leggera a nafta'', Light Diesel motor car) series is a family of diesel railcars built by Fiat Ferroviaria between the 1950s and the 1980s. The trains were built for the Italian public railway company Ferrovie dello S ...
, the ALn 668 1999 diesel car, provided with tilting seats to test the effects of active tilting technologies. The first working prototype using a tilting carbody was ETR Y 0160, an electrically powered car launched by
FIAT Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
in 1969. This was the first to be christened ''Pendolino''. This design led to the construction of an entire EMU in 1975, the
ETR 401 ETR may refer to: * East Turkestan Republic (disambiguation); first and second movements * Express Toll Route, in Canada; Ontario Highway 407 * Entergy Corporation; NYSE stock symbol * Edolo language; ISO language code * Etravirine, a drug used to s ...
, built in two units by FIAT. One was put into public service on 2 July 1976 on the Rome-
Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...
(later extended to
Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...
) line, operated by
Italian State Railways Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. ( "Italian Railways of the State"; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the abbreviation FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estat ...
. Between Roma and Ancona (km. 295), the train took 2 hours 50 minutes, while ordinary trains took 3 hours 30 minutes. The train had four cars and was mostly considered a travelling laboratory for the new technology. Initially the ETR 401 was conceived as the first of a series of four trains, but the government lost interest to the project because of financial problems, and the project was temporarily interrupted, as the service in 1983. The train was used in demonstration campaigns to foreign countries like Germany, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. A second unit was built for service to the wide-gauge Renfe Spanish lines in 1977, under the nickname of Platanito. The service didn't last of long, because problems with Spanish tracks made Platanito of little use. New interest by the Italian government in the project in the mid 1980s, and the introduction of new technologies, led to the revision of the project with the ETR 401 with electronic systems, that led to the introduction of the slightly more advanced
ETR 450 ETR 450 (''ElettroTrenoRapido 450'') was the first series Italian tilting train (also called Pendolino). History The Pendolino project was started in the 1970s by FIAT Ferroviaria. Development included a number of prototypes, the last of which ...
, the first Pendolino to enter regular service in the world. Characterized by an 8-car configuration, and a maximum tilt reduced to 8° from the 10° of the ETR 401, for safety and comfort reasons, ETR 450 could run the Rome-Milan line in under four hours, at speeds up to 250 km/h. Passenger numbers increased from 220,000 in 1988 to 2.2 million in 1993. In 1989, the old technologies and concepts of some parts of the ETR 450, and the introduction of new technologies in traction, led to the development of the next generation. The result was the
ETR 460 The ETR 460 is an electric multiple unit (EMU) tilting train produced by FIAT Ferroviaria (now Alstom Ferroviaria) since 1993. It is also known as the Pendolino after the family of trains from which it comes. The ETR 460 is a development of the ...
, styled by
Giorgetto Giugiaro Giorgetto Giugiaro (; born 7 August 1938) is an Italian automotive designer. He has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. He was born in Garessio, Cuneo, Piedmont. Giugiaro was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted ...
, a train that began service in 1996. Though plagued by technical problems, the ETR 460 introduced several innovations, such as more powerful AC asynchronous motors. The pistons actuating the tilting action were placed in the bogie instead of on the carbody sides: this permitted the reorganisation of the vestibules and passenger compartment areas, improving comfort. The bogie-to-body connection is extremely simple and easy to build, with maintenance advantages. ETR 460 keeps axle load to an extremely low level (14.5 ton/axle), to allow the train to negotiate curves up to 35% faster than conventional Intercity trains (locomotive plus coaches). The body, which exploits large
aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
extrusion Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile by pushing material through a die of the desired cross-section. Its two main advantages over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create very complex c ...
technology, has substantial modularity and allows for extremely low axle weight, whilst fully respecting the highest safety standards, and allows the best exploitation of the space with different loading gauges. ETR 460 was built in only 10 units. Improved versions include
ETR 470 ETR 470 (''ElettroTreno 470'') is a high-speed tilting electric multiple unit, which is now only operated by the Greek-Italian private company, Hellenic Train. Introduced in September 1996, nine units were built for the Italo-Swiss firm Cisa ...
for the Italo-Swiss Cisalpino company, the ETR 460 France, later called as ETR 463, used by FS to the route Milan Lione, and the
ETR 480 The ETR 480 is a tilting Electric Multiple Unit built by Fiat Ferroviaria (now Alstom Ferroviaria) since 1993, It is also known as Pendolino. It was developed from the first new-generation Pendolino, the ETR 460. The main difference between ETR ...
, used by
Trenitalia Trenitalia is the primary train operator in Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself owned by the Italian government, the company was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulation of rail transp ...
under AC-powered Italian high speed lines. A total of 34 EMUs of the ETR 460/470/480 series were built for FS. The development of the Pendolino technology continued in the Italian factories of Alstom and the next generation, the
New Pendolino The New Pendolino is a class of high-speed tilting trains built by Alstom Ferroviaria ( Fiat Ferroviaria) for Trenitalia and Cisalpino. It is derived from a model developed for the Chinese operator Changchun Railway Company, and subsequently dev ...
, was delivered to Trenitalia and Cisalpino as the ETR 600 and the
ETR 610 ETR may refer to: * East Turkestan Republic (disambiguation); first and second movements * Express Toll Route, in Canada; Ontario Highway 407 * Entergy Corporation; NYSE stock symbol * Edolo language; ISO language code * Etravirine, a drug used to s ...
from 2006. Italian Pendolinos and their derivatives still represent the most popular solution for active tilting in passenger trains. The technology still in use today is almost the same developed by Fiat Ferroviaria in the 1960s-70s. The British version of the Pendolino, the
British Rail Class 390 The British Rail Class 390 ''Pendolino'' is a type of electric high-speed passenger train operated by Avanti West Coast in the United Kingdom, leased from Angel Trains. They are electric multiple units using Fiat Ferroviaria's tilting train P ...
, is a electric tilting train operated by
Avanti West Coast Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise. During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...
. It runs on the
West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
(
London Euston Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city rail ...
to Glasgow Central,
Liverpool Lime Street Liverpool Lime Street is a terminus railway station and the main station serving the city centre of Liverpool. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. A branch of the West Coast ...
and
Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...
). Class 390s commenced operation in 2001 with only one being in a major derailment. Due to signalling constraints, Class 390s are limited to in regular service.


Japanese designs

Tilting trains have long been a mainstay of express services on Japan's conventional-speed,
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 ...
network. The interurban
Odakyu Electric Railway , commonly known as Odakyū, is a major railway company based in Tokyo, Japan, best known for its '' Romancecar'' series of limited express trains from Tokyo to Odawara, Enoshima, Tama New Town, and Hakone. The Odakyu Electric Railway Compa ...
began Japan's first experiments in tilting technology in the 1960s by fitting pneumatic bogies to their electric railcars, while the
Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...
pioneered their form of passive-tilt technology on their experimental 591 series EMU with commercial express services on mountain lines in mind. The first commercial tilting EMU in Asia entered service in 1973 as the 381 series EMUs on '' Shinano'' limited express services operating on the hilly
Chūō Main Line The , commonly called the Chūō Line, is one of the major trunk railway lines in Japan. It connects Tokyo and Nagoya, although it is the slowest direct railway connection between the two cities; the coastal Tōkaidō Main Line is slightly faste ...
between Nagoya and Nagano, and is still in operation on the " Yakumo" service on the
Hakubi Line The is a railway line operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) in the mountainous area of the Chūgoku region of Japan. It begins at the south end of Okayama Prefecture at Kurashiki Station in Kurashiki, passing through Niimi Station o ...
despite its shortcomings in ride quality and increased track wear due to its tilt mechanism that allowed up to 5° of tilt. During the final years of the
Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...
, experimentation on mechanically-regulated passive tilt - a combination known as 'controlled passive tilt' (制御付き自然振子式), where tilt is initiated passively but controlled (and slowed) by computers through mechanical active suspension - culminated post-privatisation with the 2000 series DMU, built for
JR Shikoku The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has it ...
and introduced on the ''Shiokaze'' and ''Nanpū'' limited express services in 1990. With problems of ride nausea and track wear alleviated, the benefits of tilting trains on the country's mountainous Cape gauge (1,067mm) railway system soon became apparent and since then these 'semi-active' tilting trains have seen widespread use on limited-express trains throughout the archipelago. Particularly well-known diesel and electric examples of this generation of tilting trains include
JR Hokkaido The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a sm ...
's
KiHa 281 series The was a tilting diesel multiple unit (DMU) train type operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) on ''Super Hokuto'' limited express services in Hokkaido, Japan, from 1994 until 2022. They were the first tilting trains to be operated ...
,
JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...
's
E351 series The was a Tilting train, tilting electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) on Chuo Main Line ''Azusa (train), Super Azusa'' limited express services in Japan from 1993 to 2018. First introduced in ...
,
JR Central is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical ...
's 383 series,
JR Shikoku The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has it ...
's 8000 series, and
JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait ...
's 885 series. This generation of designs has seen some popularity overseas - the 8000 series serves as the basis of 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, Qu ...
built for
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 ...
's Cape Gauge network. The 885 series, built as part of the
Hitachi A-train The Hitachi A-train is a family of rail rolling stock built and designed by Hitachi Rail using a common base and construction techniques. The stock is designed to facilitate a number of product life-cycle improvements including ease of manufacture ...
family, serves as the basis of the Taiwanese TEMU1000 series tilting EMU for
Taroko Express The ''Taroko Express'' () is an express train service of the Taiwan Railways Administration, and is part of ''Tze-Chiang'' Limited Express. The name of the service comes from the long Taroko Gorge, which is one of Taiwan's most popular touri ...
services, and some non-tilting variants including the
British Rail Class 395 The British Rail Class 395 ''Javelin'' is a dual-voltage electric multiple-unit (EMU) passenger train built by Hitachi Rail as part of the Hitachi A-train ''AT300'' family for high-speed commuter services on High Speed 1 and elsewhere on the ...
and
British Rail Class 801 The British Rail Class 801 ''Azuma'' is a type of electric multiple unit (EMU) built by Hitachi Rail for London North Eastern Railway. The units have been built since 2017 at Hitachi Newton Aycliffe, Hitachi's Newton Aycliffe Manufacturing Faci ...
. Later developments in pneumatic active suspension - based on the
DB Class 403 (1973) The DB Class 403 was a series of three electric multiple units commissioned by the Deutsche Bundesbahn in the 1970s, an early predecessor of the Intercity-Express as a high-speed rail, high-speed train. The units were mainly used for Intercity (De ...
built decades earlier - created a generation of trains with more limited tilt (around 2°) but are more economical to build and easier to maintain. The experimental 300X Series built in 1995 developed into the
N700 series The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train with tilting capability developed jointly by JR Central and JR West for use on the Tokaido and San'yō Shinkansen lines since 2007, and also operated by JR Kyushu on the Kyushu Shinkansen line. N ...
, the first revenue-earning tilting Shinkansen unit in 2007. Applications to
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 ...
lines - which would not have benefitted greatly with mechanical tilting mechanisms due to their already shallow curves that allow high speeds - allowed for greater ride comfort, less track wear and slightly higher speeds leading to increased frequency. The simplicity of this technology made it possible for smaller private operators to introduce tilting trains, such as the Odakyu 50000 series VSE, a luxurious sightseeing express train with active suspension introduced not to increase speeds but to enhance ride comfort; and even cheap enough to be applied to commuter stock, such as
JR Hokkaido The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a sm ...
's
KiHa 201 series The is a tilting diesel multiple unit (DMU) train type operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) on Sapporo area suburban services in Hokkaido, Japan since 1997. The KiHa 201 trains are designed to work in multiple with 731 series e ...
, which improved speeds and frequencies on
Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...
's partly non-electrified suburban railway system. This is also one of the only applications of tilting technology on 'metro-style' commuter trains to date.


German designs

Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained ...
started tests with tilting trains in Germany with its class 634 in 1967 when some class 624 DMUs were equipped with passive tilting systems. As the passengers experienced motion sickness, the tilting technology was disabled and later removed. The tests continued with the prototypes of the following class 614 units, but due to the again unsatisfying results the serial types were delivered without tilting system. Another early train with tilting technology was
Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained ...
's class 403 (today this number is used by
ICE 3 ICE 3, or Intercity-Express 3, is a family of high-speed electric multiple unit trains operated by Deutsche Bahn. It includes classes 403, 406, 407 and 408, which are known as ICE 3, ICE 3M, New ICE 3 and ICE 3neo respectively. Three multisystem ...
) high speed EMU. Following its
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 until 1979, it was also used for airport transfers between
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
and
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
(see also:
AiRail Service AiRail Service is offered by Deutsche Bahn AG in cooperation with Lufthansa, American Airlines and Emirates. It is one example of several a dedicated air-rail alliances currently operating worldwide. AiRail Service is currently offered between ...
). Class 403 was able to tilt 4°, but the fixed pantographs limited this to 2°. Shortly after the train had gone into service the tilting technology was disabled as many passengers experienced motion sickness because the pivotal point was too low. The next attempt was made with DMUs and the proven Italian hydraulic active tilting system. Between 1988 and 1990 DB commissioned 20 class 610 units for fast regional traffic. This time the results were quite satisfying and allowed a significant reduction of running times. Class 610 was followed by class 611 which basically was built for the same purpose (fast regional traffic with up to on twisting non-electrified lines). Class 611's tilting system was electric, with a maximum 8° tilt, based on military technology from the Leopard tank. After entering service in 1996 this 50-unit class experienced problems both with the newly developed tilting system as well as chassis and axles, and was judged unsuccessful. The tilting system was out of service until 2006, when hardened axles and system updates solved the problems. In consideration of these problems DB ordered a full re-engineering, resulting in the development of class 612. Starting in 1998, a total of 192 units were commissioned by DB. The tilting system was reliable. In 2004 cracks were detected in a number of wheel sets, and again wheels and axles had to be replaced. Today class 612 is back to tilting operation and forms the backbone of DB's fast regional service on non-electrified lines. Additional units were sold to
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
, where they are used for InterCity services. In 1999 DB was able to use tilting technology for its
InterCityExpress The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to resume in 2022), France, Belgium, Switzerla ...
services, when with class 411 and 415 an electric high-speed tilting train was commissioned. While classes 401 to 403 (without tilting technology) were to cover the newly built or modernized high speed lines at up to (ICE 3 class 403), classes 411 and 415 with maximum speed of were designed for older twisting main lines. A total of 60 class 411 and 11 class 415 (shorter version) have been built so far. Both classes worked reliably until late 2008 when cracks were found on an axle during a routine check. The tilting mechanism has been switched off since 23. October 2008 and the maintenance intervals were drastically reduced which led to major service disruptions. Much of the technical layout is derived from the
ICE 3 ICE 3, or Intercity-Express 3, is a family of high-speed electric multiple unit trains operated by Deutsche Bahn. It includes classes 403, 406, 407 and 408, which are known as ICE 3, ICE 3M, New ICE 3 and ICE 3neo respectively. Three multisystem ...
. Austria's
ÖBB The Austrian Federal Railways (german: Österreichische Bundesbahnen, formally (lit. "Austrian Federal Railways Holding Stock Company") and formerly the or ''BBÖ''), now commonly known as ÖBB, is the national railway company ...
has purchased three units in 2007, operating them jointly with DB for services from Germany to Austria. Even though DB assigned the name ''ICE-T'' to class 411/415, the ''T'' originally did not stand for ''tilting'' but for ''Triebwagen'' (self-propelled car), as DB's marketing department at first deemed the top speed too low for assignment of the InterCityExpress brand and therefore planned to refer to this class as ''IC-T'' (InterCity-Triebwagen). Rather luckless was class 411/415's adaptation for diesel services. In 2001 a total of 20 units were commissioned for use on the
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
line, but these class 605 (ICE-TD) units experienced trouble from the start. After breaking an axle in 2002, all remaining 19 units (one fell off a working platform) were taken out of service. Even though one year later the trains were admitted to service again, DB judged their operation to be overly expensive. In 2006 those trains were used for amplifier trains and since 2008 they run on the
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
route.


Light, Rapid, Comfortable

In 1966, a consortium of Canadian industrial firms began considering a conventionally-powered competitor to the TurboTrain, eventually emerging as the LRC (Light, Rapid, Comfortable) in the early 1970s. This design also used an active-tilt system, but one of very different form than the ATP. The carriages rode on two C-shaped channels mounted across the top of the bogies. Tilt was accomplished by rams that pushed the bottom of the carriage side to side along these channels. Amtrak experimented with the LRC in 1980, but retired it seven years later. In Canada, it entered service in 1981, beating the ATP into service and becoming the first operational active-tilt system. The LRC carriages remain in use today, although the tilt mechanisms are being removed to reduce weight and maintenance costs. Bombardier has since used updated versions of the LRC carriages for
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 ...
's Acela, the third generation of tilting ICE, the new generation of fast British trains ( Super Voyager) and the experimental
JetTrain The JetTrain was an experimental high-speed passenger train concept created by Bombardier Transportation in an attempt to make European-style high-speed service more financially appealing to passenger railways throughout North America. It was d ...
.


Advanced Passenger Train

The Advanced Passenger Train (APT) was initially an experimental project by
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 ...
, with the train entering service in 1984. Although eventually abandoned, the train was the pioneer of active tilt to negotiate tight curves at higher speeds than previous passive tilting trains. For various reasons, political and technical, after running in service for a year, the train was withdrawn. In the 1970s and 1980s, British Rail wanted an advanced fast train to negotiate the UK's twisting and winding
Victorian-era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardi ...
rail system. Conventional trains were limited in speed due to the curvature of the network. Engineers at the research division, opened in 1964, had done fundamental work on vehicle dynamics, with the APT to a degree an extension of this. The existing Chief Mechanical and Electrical Engineers department was overlooked by the new project, creating resentment with its engineers. The work included experimentation with aluminium bodies, turbines, suspension and bogies, and active tilt. The APT-E (E for experimental) was powered by gas turbines; the APT-P (P for prototype) was electric. With no tilting, the train was developed to break the British rail speed record. Tilting trains using passive tilt were not new, but it was uncommon and not widely implemented. The engineers decided that active tilt was the key to negotiating curves at much higher speeds. The train had hydro-dynamic brakes and lightweight articulated bodies, with two power cars in the centre of the train. When the prototypes were built, worked and proven, the engineering development team was disbanded and the trains handed over to British Rail's in-house engineering department to build. The developing engineers moved on to different fields while British Rail engineered the train into a production model. The BR engineers, who had little to no involvement in the development of the train, changed some of the prime and proven engineering aspects. For example, they changed the active tilt mechanism to pneumatic, rather than the well-developed and proven hydraulics. The trains were introduced in 1981, but almost immediately taken out of service. During initial tests, some passengers complained of being nauseous due to the tilting motion. Subsequently, it was learned that this could be prevented by reducing the tilt slightly, so that there was still some sensation of cornering. The APT-P trains were quietly reintroduced to service in mid-1984 and ran regularly for a year, the teething problems having been corrected. The political and managerial will to continue the project by building the projected APT-S production vehicles in numbers, had evaporated under an in-house engineering management who felt slighted and by-passed in a project they did not develop. Despite being an eventual success, the project was scrapped by British Rail in 1985, more for political reasons than technical. Much of the technology developed for the power cars was subsequently used in the InterCity 225 Class 91 locomotives and
Mark 4 Mark 4 is the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It tells the parable of the Sower, with its explanation, and the parable of the Mustard Seed. Both of these parables are paralleled in Matthew ...
carriages which were designed to be retrofitted with tilting eqioment, which run on the
East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
route from London to
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
and
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
.


X 2000

In 1990 Swedish railways introduced a high speed service called
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 ...
. The train uses an active tilting system enabling higher speeds of () on standard track.


TGV Pendulaire

In 1998
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
bowed to political pressure (the tilt-train was a credible threat to the TGV dedicated high-speed line network) and put in service an experimental TGV pendulaire. Only the passenger trailers were tilting while the two heavy power cars kept non-tilting bogies. Following the test program, it was converted back to a TGV-PSE train.


InterCity Neigezug

Switzerland got its first tilting train ever in its territory (discounting the
Cisalpino Cisalpino AG () was a railway company, referred to as CIS in timetables, operating international trains between Switzerland and Italy connecting Basel, Schaffhausen, Zürich, Geneva, Milan, Venice, Trieste, Livorno, and Florence. The company ...
, which entered Switzerland in 1996) on May 28, 2000. The ICN (''InterCity Neigezug'', or InterCity Tilting Train) was made by Bombardier, including a tilting-system designed by SIG (today ALSTOM). It began service on the line from
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
via
Biel , french: Biennois(e) , neighboring_municipalities= Brügg, Ipsach, Leubringen/Magglingen (''Evilard/Macolin''), Nidau, Orpund, Orvin, Pieterlen, Port, Safnern, Tüscherz-Alfermée, Vauffelin , twintowns = Iserlohn (Germany) B ...
/
Bienne , french: Biennois(e) , neighboring_municipalities= Brügg, Ipsach, Leubringen/Magglingen (''Evilard/Macolin''), Nidau, Orpund, Orvin, Pieterlen, Port, Safnern, Tüscherz-Alfermée, Vauffelin , twintowns = Iserlohn (Germany) ...
and
Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
to
St Gallen St. Gallen or traditionally St Gall, in German language, German; it, San Gallo; rm, Son Gagl) is a Switzerland, Swiss List of cities in Switzerland, city and the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of St. Gallen, St ...
. It was a major carrier in the national exhibition
Expo.02 Expo.02 was the 6th Switzerland, Swiss national exposition, which was held from 15 May to 20 October 2002. The exposition took place around the lakes of Lake Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Lake Biel, Bienne/Biel and Lake Murten, Morat/Murten. It was divid ...
.


Bombardier Super Voyager

Foutry-four diesel-electric powered Class 221 ''Super Voyagers'' were ordered by
Virgin CrossCountry Virgin CrossCountry was a train operating company in the United Kingdom operating the InterCity CrossCountry passenger franchise from January 1997 until November 2007. Virgin CrossCountry operated some of the longest direct rail services in t ...
to operate in tilt mode on the
West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
and between
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and
Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...
. After the fleet was split between
Arriva CrossCountry CrossCountry (legal name XC Trains Limited) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the Cross Country franchise. The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) i ...
and
Virgin Trains West Coast Virgin Trains (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise fro ...
in 2007, the former disabled and later removed the tilting equipment from its 221s.


Technology

Many of the problems with motion sickness are related to the fact that traditional servo systems respond inappropriately to the changes in trajectory forces, and even small errors, whilst not being consciously perceivable, cause nausea due to their unfamiliar nature. The original
Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
ETR 401 used individual gyroscopes in each carriage so there was a lag, even though nausea had not been a major problem with this train. The
APT Apt. is an abbreviation for apartment. Apt may also refer to: Places * Apt Cathedral, a former cathedral, and national monument of France, in the town of Apt in Provence * Apt, Vaucluse, a commune of the Vaucluse département of France * A ...
was supposed to overcome this problem by using gyroscopes at the ends of the train and a leader/follower control system which defined a "tilting curve" for the whole train. It would appear that the technology of the era was unable to properly implement this technique. Modern tilting trains profit from state-of-the-art signal processing which senses the line ahead and is able to predict optimal control signals for the individual carriages. Complaints about nausea have largely become a thing of the past. Some tilting trains run on
narrow gauge railway 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 structur ...
s. In Japan there are many narrow gauge lines in mountainous regions, and tilting trains have been designed to run there. In Australia, the service between
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
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 ...
by the
QR Tilt Train The Tilt Train is the name for two similar high-speed tilting train services, one electric and the other diesel, operated by Queensland Rail. They run on the North Coast line from Brisbane to Bundaberg and Rockhampton (electric) and Cairns ...
claims to be the fastest narrow-gauge train in the world, running at . 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, Qu ...
also holds the record for the fastest narrow-gauge train by maximum test speed, reaching 210 km/h. With tilting EMU's, consideration is required on keeping the pantographs within the railway gauge. When mounted on top of a tilting car, the pantograph usually sways in the opposite direction in order to counter for the degree of tilting. This is done mechanically on for instance the British Class 390 Alstom Pendolino. On the German class 411 and 415, the pantographs are however mounted on a separate non-tilting frame within the cars.


Tilting trains around the world

Trains with tilting by inertial forces (passive tilt): *
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 ...
XXI (Spain) *
UAC TurboTrain The UAC TurboTrain was an early high-speed rail, high-speed, gas turbine train manufactured by United Aircraft that operated in Canada between 1968 and 1982 and in the United States between 1968 and 1976. Amtrak disposed of the trains in 1980. It ...
(United States, Canada) *
JNR The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pre ...
381 series (Japan), introduced in 1973 by the former Japan National Railways. Currently used by
JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...
for '' Yakumo'' limited express services. Trains with tilting initiated by inertial forces but regulated by computer: *
JR Shikoku The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has it ...
2000 series (Japan, 1989), the first tilting DMU in the world. Currently used on numerous limited expresses in
Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...
, including '' Ashizuri'', ''
Ishizuchi The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR Shikoku, which runs from to , and . The ''Ishizuchi'' service was introduced on 10 April 1988. Route The main stations served by this service are as follows. - - - - Rollin ...
'', ''
Nanpū The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku), which runs from to . Trains are formed of 3-car or 2+3 car sets of 2700 series DMUs, and sometimes are coupled with '' Shimanto'' services betwee ...
'', '' Shimanto'', '' Shiokaze'', ''
Uwakai The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR Shikoku which runs from to . The ''Uwakai'' service was introduced on 21 November 1990. Route The main stations served by this service are as follows. - - Rolling stock * 2000 ...
'', and '' Uzushio''. The upgraded N2000 Series was introduced in 1995. *
JR Hokkaido The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a sm ...
KiHa 281 series The was a tilting diesel multiple unit (DMU) train type operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) on ''Super Hokuto'' limited express services in Hokkaido, Japan, from 1994 until 2022. They were the first tilting trains to be operated ...
(Japan, 1992), branded ''Heat 281'' or ''Furico 281''. Used on the ''
Super Hokuto The is a limited express train services between and in Hokkaido operated by Hokkaido Railway Company The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviati ...
'' limited express service. *
JR Shikoku 8000 series The is a tilting limited express electric multiple unit (EMU) train operated by Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku) in Shikoku, Japan, since 1992. Operations * ''Ishizuchi The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR Shi ...
(Japan, 1992). Used on limited express services on the
Yosan Line The is the principal railway line on the island of Shikoku in Japan, connecting the major cities of Shikoku, and via the Honshi-Bisan Line, with Honshu. It is operated by the Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku), and is aligned approximately p ...
, namely ''Ishizuchi'' and ''Shiokaze''. *
JR East The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...
E351 series The was a Tilting train, tilting electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) on Chuo Main Line ''Azusa (train), Super Azusa'' limited express services in Japan from 1993 to 2018. First introduced in ...
(Japan, 1993), formerly used on the ''
Super Azusa The ''Azusa'' ( ja, あずさ) is a limited express service operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East), which mainly run between and via the Chūō Main Line and Shinonoi Line. The name ''Azusa'' is taken from the Azusa River in Mat ...
'' limited express. * Chizu Express
HOT7000 series The is a diesel multiple unit (DMU) tilting train type operated by the third-sector operating company Chizu Express and West Japan Railway Company (JR West) on ''Super Hakuto'' limited express services between , , and in Japan since December 19 ...
(Japan, 1994), used on the ''
Super Hakuto Super may refer to: Computing * SUPER (computer program), or Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer, a video converter / player * Super (computer science), a keyword in object-oriented programming languages * Super key (keyboard butt ...
'' limited express. *
JR Central is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu (Nagoya) region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as JR Tōkai ( ja, JR東海, links=no). ''Tōkai'' is a reference to the geographical ...
383 series (Japan, 1994), used on the '' Wide View Shinano'' limited express. *
JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait ...
883 series (Japan, 1994), used on the ''
Nichirin The and are limited express train services in Japan operated by JR Kyushu which run from Miyazaki Airport station to Oita and the Sea Gaia service continues to Beppu and Hakata. The ''Dream Nichirin'' overnight train service from Hakata and M ...
'', ''
Huis ten Bosch Huis ten Bosch ( nl, Paleis Huis ten Bosch, ; English: "House in the Woods") is a royal palace in The Hague, Netherlands. It is one of three official residences of the Dutch monarch; the two others being the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague and ...
'' and ''
Kamome is a limited express train operated by JR Kyushu in Japan. It operates between Hakata and Nagasaki on the Kagoshima Main Line and the Nagasaki Main Line. ''Kamome'' means seagull in Japanese. As of 23 September 2022, the name was inherited by ...
'' limited expresses. *JR Hokkaido
KiHa 283 series The is a tilting diesel multiple unit (DMU) train type operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) on limited express services in Hokkaido, Japan, since 1997. They were based on the KiHa 281 series trains introduced in 1994. Operation ...
(Japan, 1995), branded ''Furico 283'' and used on the ''
Super Hokuto The is a limited express train services between and in Hokkaido operated by Hokkaido Railway Company The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviati ...
'', ''
Super Ōzora Super may refer to: Computing * SUPER (computer program), or Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer, a video converter / player * Super (computer science), a keyword in object-oriented programming languages * Super key (keyboard butto ...
'', and ''
Super Tokachi The is a limited express train service between and via the Hakodate and Nemuro Main Lines in Hokkaido, Japan, operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido). As of November 2013, there are five trains per day running in both directions, wi ...
'' limited expresses. *JR West 283 series (Japan, 1996), used on the ''
Kuroshio The , also known as the Black or or the is a north-flowing, warm ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean basin. It was named for the deep blue appearance of its waters. Similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, the K ...
'' limited express. *JR Kyushu 885 series (Japan, 1999), used on the ''
Kamome is a limited express train operated by JR Kyushu in Japan. It operates between Hakata and Nagasaki on the Kagoshima Main Line and the Nagasaki Main Line. ''Kamome'' means seagull in Japanese. As of 23 September 2022, the name was inherited by ...
'' and '' Sonic'' limited expresses. *JR West
KiHa 187 series The KiHa 187 series (キハ187系, ''Kiha-187-kei'') is a diesel multiple unit (DMU) train type operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR-West) on '' Super Oki'', ''Super Matsukaze'' and '' Super Inaba'' limited express services. Operations ...
(Japan, 2001), used on the ''
Super Inaba The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West) which runs between and . Stops Trains stop at the following stations: - - - - - - Rolling stock ''Super Inaba'' Kiha 187-500 series D ...
'', ''
Super Matsukaze The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the ...
'', and '' Super Oki'' limited expresses. * TRA TEMU1000 series (Taiwan, 2007) use for
Taroko Express The ''Taroko Express'' () is an express train service of the Taiwan Railways Administration, and is part of ''Tze-Chiang'' Limited Express. The name of the service comes from the long Taroko Gorge, which is one of Taiwan's most popular touri ...
, based on JR Kyūshū 885 Series. *
Tilt Train The Tilt Train is the name for two similar high-speed tilting train services, one electric and the other diesel, operated by Queensland Rail. They run on the North Coast line from Brisbane to Bundaberg and Rockhampton (electric) and Cairns (d ...
by QR,
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 ...
and
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 ...
tilting
Traveltrain 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 ...
s (Australia), operating between
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
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 ...
. Electric Tilt Train is based on the
JR Shikoku 8000 series The is a tilting limited express electric multiple unit (EMU) train operated by Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku) in Shikoku, Japan, since 1992. Operations * ''Ishizuchi The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR Shi ...
. Trains with active tilt controlled with sensory information given by
accelerometer An accelerometer is a tool that measures proper acceleration. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change of velocity) of a body in its own instantaneous rest frame; this is different from coordinate acceleration, which is accele ...
s: * LRC designed by MLW before being bought by Bombardier (Canada) Trains with tilting controlled by a computer: * Acela (United States), a Bombardier-built high-speed tilting train operating 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
Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
* Advanced Passenger Train (United Kingdom), a
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 ...
project for high-speed inter-city tilting trains that saw limited service in the 1980s, from London Euston to Glasgow. *
British Rail Class 390 The British Rail Class 390 ''Pendolino'' is a type of electric high-speed passenger train operated by Avanti West Coast in the United Kingdom, leased from Angel Trains. They are electric multiple units using Fiat Ferroviaria's tilting train P ...
"Pendolino" (United Kingdom), a high-speed train run by Avanti West Coast from London Euston to Liverpool/ Manchester / Glasgow / Birmingham and Wolverhampton. *
Alfa Pendular Alfa Pendular is the name of the flagship Pendolino high-speed tilting train of Portuguese state railway company CP. It connects the cities of Guimarães, Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Santarém, Lisbon, Albufeira and Faro, among others at spe ...
(Portugal) *
ElettroTreno ETR (Italian: ''Elettro Treno Rapido'', "Rapid Electric Train") is a series of Italian high-speed trains. Tilting EMU trains * ETR 401 * ETR 450 *ETR 460 *ETR 470 * ETR 480 * ETR 600/610 (New Pendolino) These models are often referred as Pendoli ...
(Italy) * ICE-T, also called ICT (Germany), a tilting version of the
ICE Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...
* ICN (Switzerland), a new generation of tilting trains operated by Swiss Rail, a Bombardier-built high-speed tilting train operating between Zurich and Geneva. *
JetTrain The JetTrain was an experimental high-speed passenger train concept created by Bombardier Transportation in an attempt to make European-style high-speed service more financially appealing to passenger railways throughout North America. It was d ...
(North America), Bombardier's experimental non-electric high-speed train *
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 ...
(Norway) *
SŽ series 310 SŽ series 310 is a high-speed tilting EMU used on the InterCitySlovenija premium train service in Slovenia, operated by Slovenske železnice since September 24, 2000. It is based on the Italian ETR 460 commonly known as Pendolino. The train i ...
( InterCitySlovenija), a high-speed tilting train operating between
Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...
,
Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...
and
Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...
* RegioSwinger (Germany and Croatia), a diesel regional tilting train. In Croatia (
Croatian Railways Croatian Railways ( hr, Hrvatske željeznice; abbreviated as HŽ) is the national railway company of Croatia. Croatia is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Croatia is 78. The Croatian rail network carri ...
) the train operates the premium brand services InterCity Nagibni (ICN) on the routes
Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
, Zagreb–
Varaždin ) , image_photo = , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shield = Grb_Grad ...
, Zagreb–
Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...
, and Zagreb–
Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...
*
Pendolino Pendolino (from Italian ''pendolo'' "pendulum", and ''-ino,'' a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the UK, the US, ...
(Italy, Finland, United Kingdom, and Czech Republic), built by
Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...
(formerly
Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
); see also the
British Rail Class 390 The British Rail Class 390 ''Pendolino'' is a type of electric high-speed passenger train operated by Avanti West Coast in the United Kingdom, leased from Angel Trains. They are electric multiple units using Fiat Ferroviaria's tilting train P ...
and Finnish
VR Class Sm3 The Sm3 ''Pendolino'' (originally branded as Pendolino S220, and usually referred to simply as the Pendolino) is a class of high-speed body-tilting trains operated by VR Group. It is a member of the Pendolino train family; its design is base ...
. * Super Voyager, a Bombardier-built high-speed tilting train operating between London and Holyhead / Wrexham / Chester and Birmingham to Edinburgh or Glasgow. * X2 (Sweden), with tilting mechanism of
ABB ABB Ltd. is a Swedish- Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to crea ...
. It was also used in China under the name ''Xīnshísù''. *JR Hokkaido
KiHa 201 series The is a tilting diesel multiple unit (DMU) train type operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) on Sapporo area suburban services in Hokkaido, Japan since 1997. The KiHa 201 trains are designed to work in multiple with 731 series e ...
(Japan, 1996), used for metro-style commuter locals and rapids around
Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...
. *JR Hokkaido
KiHa 261 series The is a tilting train, tilting diesel multiple unit (DMU) train type operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) on limited express services in Hokkaido, Japan, since 2000. Design The running gear was based on the KiHa 201 series trai ...
(Japan, 1999), branded ''Tilt 261''. Used on the ''
Super Sōya Super may refer to: Computing * SUPER (computer program), or Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer, a video converter / player * Super (computer science), a keyword in object-oriented programming languages * Super key (keyboard butt ...
'' limited express service. * Meitetsu 1600 series (Japan, 1999), branded ''Panorama Super''. Mainly used for
Meitetsu Nishio Line The is a railway line operated by the private railway operator Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu) in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, connecting Shin Anjō and Kira Yoshida. It originally included a branch from Nishio-guchi to Okazaki-shin on the Tokaido Main ...
limited express trains. *
Meitetsu 2000 series The is a tilting electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by Nagoya Railroad (Meitetsu) on limited express services in Japan since January 2005. Operations The 2000 series operates as an access train serving Central Japan Internationa ...
(Japan, 2004), branded ''μ-Sky''. Used on limited expresses linking
Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
and
Chūbu Centrair International Airport is an international airport on an artificial island in Ise Bay, Tokoname City in Aichi Prefecture, south of Nagoya in central Japan. Centrair is classified as a first class airport and is the main international gateway for the Chubu ("ce ...
. * Odakyu 50000 series VSE (Japan, 2005), used for ''
Romancecar The is Odakyu Electric Railway's name for its limited express luxury tourist services south-west of Tokyo, to mountain resorts such as Hakone and Gotemba (Mount Fuji), and beaches such as Odawara and Enoshima. When the service started in 19 ...
'' limited express services. *
N700 Series Shinkansen The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train with tilting capability developed jointly by JR Central and JR West for use on the Tokaido and San'yō Shinkansen lines since 2007, and also operated by JR Kyushu on the Kyushu Shinkansen line. ...
(except N700-7000/8000 series) (Japan, 2007), introduced by JR Central and JR West and used on the Tōkaidō and
Sanyō Shinkansen , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the ''Fortune'' Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded b ...
services. *
E5 Series Shinkansen The and the related are Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train types built by Hitachi Rail and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The E5 series is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East); it was introduced on Tohoku Shinkansen services on 5 Ma ...
(Japan, 2011), introduced by JR East, used on
Tōhoku Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture in a route length of , making it Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main is ...
and
Hokkaido Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line that links up with the Tōhoku Shinkansen in northern Aomori Prefecture in Honshu and continues on into the interior of Hokkaido through the undersea Seikan Tunnel. Construction started in May ...
services. Pooled with nearly identical H5 series units. *
E6 Series Shinkansen The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) on '' Komachi'' " mini-shinkansen" services on the Tōhoku Shinkansen and Akita Shinkansen from Tokyo to since 16 March 2013. A pre-series s ...
(Japan, 2013), introduced by JR East, used on
Tōhoku Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture in a route length of , making it Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main is ...
and Akita Shinkansen services. *TRA TEMU2000 series (Taiwan, 2013) use for
Puyuma Express The ''Puyuma Express'' () is a type of railway service on Taiwan Railways (TRA) notable for using tilting trains. It began commercial service on 6 February 2013 during the Spring Festival. ''Puyuma Express'' was commissioned by the TRA in ord ...
. *
H5 Series Shinkansen The and the related are Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train types built by Hitachi Rail and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The E5 series is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East); it was introduced on Tohoku Shinkansen services on 5 M ...
(Japan, 2014), introduced by JR Hokkaido, used on
Tōhoku Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture in a route length of , making it Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main is ...
and
Hokkaido Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line that links up with the Tōhoku Shinkansen in northern Aomori Prefecture in Honshu and continues on into the interior of Hokkaido through the undersea Seikan Tunnel. Construction started in May ...
services. Pooled with nearly identical E5 series units. * 8600 series (Japan, 2014), introduced by JR Shikoku, used on '' Shiokaze'' and ''
Ishizuchi The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR Shikoku, which runs from to , and . The ''Ishizuchi'' service was introduced on 10 April 1988. Route The main stations served by this service are as follows. - - - - Rollin ...
'' limited expresses. *
E353 series The is a DC tilting electric multiple unit (EMU) train operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan on limited express services on the Chuo Main Line since December 2017. A pre-series train, consisting of one nine-car set ...
(Japan, 2015), introduced by JR East, used on ''
Azusa Azusa may refer to: Relating to California From a Native American language, likely Tongva language, Tongva ''Asuksagna:'' *Azusa, California, a city in the United States *Azusa Pacific University, a Christian-based institution in Azusa, California ...
'' and '' Kaiji'' limited expresses. * 2600 series (Japan, 2017), introduced by JR Shikoku, used on '' Uzushio'' and '' Shimanto'' expresses.


See also

* FM P-12-42


References

{{reflist


External links


Photos of Japanese trains — some tilting

Amtrak accelerates at last

Ride Comfort and Motion Sickness in Tilting Trains
* Articles containing video clips