Since the creation of the railway, many hundreds of years have already passed. And since then, rail transport has overcome the long path of development from manual traction of huge trucks to super-fast modern express trains that move on the principle of magnetic levitation.
Which train is the fastest in the world?
According to the latest official information, the fastest train in the world is in Japan and its maximum speed is 581 km / h. In 2003, the super-high-speed train was launched in the test mode on the JR-Maglev test track in the vicinity of Yamanashi Prefecture. The train maglev (train on a magnetic pillow) MLX01-901 smoothly hovers above the railroad bed due to the strength of the electromagnetic field, without touching the surface of the rails, and the only braking force for it is aerodynamic resistance. This train has a rather long and pointed "nose", which is necessary to reduce air resistance, and its speed allows you to compete with air transport at a distance of up to 1000 km.
Now, working in test mode and connecting Tokyo and Nagoya, the MLX01-901 train has 16 cars, where up to 1000 passengers can comfortably accommodate. A full-fledged launch of the train is planned for 2027, and by about 2045 the magnetic road must connect Tokyo and Osaka-south and north of the country. However, despite all the manufacturability and numerous advantages, this type of train requires the construction of a separate railway branch, which causes serious financial difficulties. Because in order to build a complete message on a magnetic cushion between Tokyo and Osaka, which is about 500 km, about 100 billion dollars is needed.
It is worth noting that this is not the first train that operates with the help of magnetic levitation. The same train runs in China, but its speed, in comparison with the Japanese, is only 430 km / h.
The second contender for the fastest passenger train is the French rail train TGV POS V150. In 2007, this electric train on the highway LGV Est between Strasburg and Paris accelerated to 575 km / h and set a world record among the trains of this type. Thus, the French have proven that traditional rail technology, which is widely used around the world, can produce quite good results. To date, in France, trains of type TGV are used for transportation in 150 directions, including international lines.
The fastest high-speed train of the CIS
Today, in the vastness of the post-Soviet space, the fastest train in electric traction is in Russia. Especially for the Russian Corporation of Russian Railways in 2009, the German electrical engineering company Siemens designed the Sapsan train. The train was named after a bird of prey of the falcon family, which is able to reach speeds of up to 90 m / s.
The second fastest train on the list of the former USSR was launched in 2011 in Uzbekistan. The newest high-speed train Afrosiab, designed by the Spanish company PATENTES TALGO SL, can accelerate at a maximum speed of 250 km / h, which reduces the time spent on the road by the Tashkent-Samarkand route.