Trains are in a hurry, but not at all to the dustbin of history - on the contrary, every year they become more convenient, quieter and faster. Discovery Channel viewers will be able to learn about how modern public transport is maintained in the Mega Pit Stops project, which airs on Saturdays at 11:00 (one of the project episodes is dedicated to the Russian Sapsan - you can watch it on May 18 ), and Popular Mechanics will tell about the history of the world's highest-speed trains.

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High-speed and high-speed

The concept of "high-speed train" does not have a generally accepted definition: they usually talk about railway transport, whose average speed is higher than that of traditional trains: for example, in Russia, trains that reach speeds of 140 km / h and above are recognized as high-speed trains, and in India and In Canada, this threshold is 160 km/h. But with the definition of "high-speed train" everything is much simpler: as a rule, this is the name of all railway vehicles that can overcome the mark of 200 km / h.

By the way, this threshold was taken at the beginning of the 20th century by an experimental electric car from Siemens & Halske in October 1903, and just three weeks later, an electric car from AEG already showed a speed of 210.2 km / h. The first high-speed highway (or HSR for short) appeared only in 1964 - it was the Japanese Tokaido Shinkansen line with a length of 515.4 km. The route quickly gained popularity and the cost of building the line paid off in just seven years. The success of Japan contributed to the development of high-speed lines in many countries, and it continues to this day, and modern high-speed trains are direct evidence of this.

Japan: Shinkansen trains

Although the name "shinkansen" is translated from Japanese as "new highway", in colloquial speech these trains are more often referred to as "bullet trains", largely due to their impressive speed - the design speed of many models exceeds 300 km / h - and partly because appearance zero series, which has become a symbol of the shinkansen.

Series 0 electric trains of the Shinkansen network were the first vehicles to be operated on the Tokaido Shinkansen line in 1964. The line was electrified with 25 kV single-phase alternating current at 60 Hz, and the wheelsets of all cars were powered by 185 kW traction motors, which ensured a maximum speed of 210 km / h (in 1986 this was increased to 220 km / h). This line was built with a gauge of 1435 mm, wider than on the rest of the network (1067 mm). As such, it cannot be used for freight traffic and other trains other than shinkansen. The very first representatives of the series included 12, less often 16 cars, after a while they were joined by four- and six-car versions.

In 1982, the next series of electric trains of the Shinkansen network, numbered 200, entered into operation (it is curious that the 100 series was launched only three years later - the fact is that the Shinkansen plying to the east of the capital were given odd hundreds numbers, and to the west - even ): within its framework, modernized trains were later released with speeds from 240 to 275 km / h. In general, over the years, about 20 different series of these trains have been developed, each of which is distinguished original design, the number of wagons, as well as structural and technical features. For example, in the compositions of the 300 series, electric motors direct current for the first time traction electric motors of three-phase alternating current came to replace the trains of the 400 series have a narrower body, this is due to the fact that the high-speed line on which they ran was converted from a conventional railway line, in the 500 series the maximum service speed of 300 km was reached for the first time / h, in the N700 series, for the first time among passenger shinkansen, an acceleration of 0.722 m / s² was achieved, and the trains of the E1 and E4 series have two floors each.

Shinkansen do not stop in development: in May this year, the country introduced a new high-speed train Alfa-X, which is capable of accelerating to 360 km/h (this is a record for passenger Shinkansen). Its most eye-catching feature is the 22-meter nose, designed to reduce air resistance, which increases especially when such a train enters tunnel sections at high speed. In addition, among technical features series - air brakes and special magnetic plates in the braking system.

Japan: maglev L0

In addition to high-speed passenger trains in Japan, since the seventies of the last century, they have been engaged in the experimental development of compositions based on the principle of magnetic levitation (abbreviated as "maglev"). The essence of this technology is that trains move and are controlled by the forces of an electromagnetic field, without touching the surface of the rail during movement - this eliminates friction, thereby increasing the speed of movement.

Since 1972, about 10 different series of maglevs have been created in Japan, and one of the samples of the L0 series, presented to the public in 2012, accelerated to 603 km / h during tests in 2015, setting an absolute speed record for rail transport (and ground passenger transport in general). In 2020, the country is going to release an improved L0 series, which will receive power from the guiding path through electromagnetic induction.

It should be noted that while Japanese maglevs are involved exclusively in experimental launches, five years ago they began to build the Chuo-shinkansen maglev line in the country, which will run from Tokyo to Nagoya - the opening of the branch is scheduled for the mid-twenties, and they are going to complete it by 2045 to Osaka.

China: Shanghai Maglev

Today, China has taken first place in the world in terms of the length of high-speed railways: by the end of last year, their length reached 29 thousand km - this is about two-thirds of the total length of all high-speed railways in the world put into commercial operation - and in 2025, local the government plans to raise this figure to 38,000 km. One of the key implemented projects in the field of high-speed rail transport is the Shanghai maglev: the world's fastest maglev train in commercial operation (speeds up to 431 km / h) and the 30 km long maglev line of the same name connecting the Shanghai metro station Longyang Lu and Pudong International Airport. To overcome this distance, the train takes only 7 minutes 20 seconds (depending on the model of the train, the time may increase by 50 seconds).

This ambitious and by all measures cutting-edge project, which cost China more than $1 billion, was put into commercial operation in 2002, but even today it is still not profitable (annual losses are about $93 million). From the very beginning, the Shanghai maglev was planned not as a viable market solution for the needs of travelers, but as a test project, on the basis of which it was supposed to develop China's railway infrastructure in the future (it appeared even before the massive creation of the HSR network in the country), but later this idea was abandoned for several reasons. “Firstly, the construction of such a line is extremely expensive. Secondly, from a technical point of view, it is very difficult to build it in real terrain conditions - this requires great technical research and a high engineering level in the country as a whole. Thirdly, maglev is incredibly difficult and expensive to maintain in operation, especially in conditions where the line has a long length: if the tracks sag for some reason, in the case of conventional and even high-speed railways, they can be relatively easily straightened, in the case of with maglev, when a line is supported by a million pylons, it becomes very difficult,” explains Pavel Zyuzin, senior researcher at the Center for Research on Transport Problems in Megacities and the Institute of Transport Economics and Transport Policy at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. - If, for example, Japan can afford it - there are about 100 million inhabitants concentrated along a narrow strip of settlement between Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, forming a corridor with extremely high demand - then this option does not suit China. At the same time, one of the subway lines there recently started working on maglev technology - in this niche in China, magnetic levitation is quite justified and promising.” In general, despite many constraining factors, the expert considers maglev technologies to be the next stage in the development of high-speed railways, while "ordinary" high-speed rail transport, in his opinion, is by and large reached the limits of its possible development.

France: TGV series trains

In response to the success of Japanese Shinkansen in the second half of the 20th century, France began building its high-speed TGV trains (Train à Grande Vitesse is French for "high-speed train"). At first, the developers were going to supply the planned trains with gas turbine engines, then with gas ones (this is exactly what the first prototype TGV 001, which appeared in 1972, had, by the way, he managed to set a world speed record among trains without electric traction at 318 km / h). However, due to the increased fuel consumption, in the end, this idea was also abandoned, and it was decided to build electric trains powered by a contact network. The Zébulon all-electric prototype was completed in 1974, and shortly thereafter, the production of production TGV models and the construction of the LGV lines intended for them, which stands for Ligne à Grande Vitesse, and translates as "high-speed line", began.

The first generation Sud-Est TGVs began operating on LGV Line 1 in 1980, with an initial design speed of 270 km/h, although some of these trains were later raised to 300 km/h. TGV Sud-Est was followed by trains of other series: postal TGV La Poste, TGV Atlantique, TGV Réseau, TGV Duplex and Euroduplex, as well as international trains TGV TMST, TGV Thalys PBKA and TGV POS. The last of these series is famous for the world speed record for rail trains of 574.8 km / h, which was set by the TGV POS No. 4402 electric train in 2007 - however, for this it was somewhat modernized: more powerful traction increased power output from 9.3 MW to 19.6 MW, equipped with larger diameter wheelsets and closed the gaps between the cars for better streamlining.

The design process for the next generation of TGVs, dubbed the Avelia Horizon, began in 2016. Innovations include a larger capacity to carry up to 740 passengers, improved on-board services and communications, and a 20% reduction in energy consumption through the introduction of regenerative braking, which, according to the national rail carrier SNCF, makes these trains "the most environmentally friendly TGV in history” (in favor of the latter is the fact that future trains after decommissioning can be recycled by 97%). Last year, SNCF announced an order for hundreds of these trains, with deliveries expected to begin in 2023.

Spain: Talgo 350

“Spain is the first country in Europe that has built not a separate route, but a whole network of high-speed lines, which, in the presence of two central air hubs - Barcelona and Madrid, made movement around the country incredibly fast and, among other things, had a positive impact on the development tourism,” says Pavel Zyuzin. Today, Spain ranks second in the world in terms of the length of the high-speed railway (2,850 km) - it is logical that high-tech trains run along them.

Talgo

The AVE series 102 (or Talgo 350), co-produced by Talgo and Bombardier, running between Madrid and Barcelona are perhaps the most famous Spanish trains abroad. Talgo 350 gained wide fame along with the nickname "Duck" largely due to the original and rather funny design: the nose of the train is elongated and really looks like a duck - this is done in order to reduce aerodynamic drag.

Prototype development began in 1994. Initially, its creators set themselves the goal of reaching a design speed of 350 km / h (not without reason this figure appears in the title), but in the end this figure was 330 km / h, which is due to the limitations of eight 1000 kW engines. But even this speed is enough to cover the distance of 621 km between Madrid and Barcelona in about 2 hours and 30 minutes if the train goes non-stop. In Spain, AVE 102 series trains began operating in 2007, and in 2011 Saudi Arabia signed a contract with Talgo to supply these trains to service the Haramain High-Speed ​​Rail Line between Mecca and Medina, which was being planned at the time (the line itself opened in October last year). Taking into account the climatic and geographical features of the region, as well as the wishes of customers, Talgo increased the number of seats due to the potential high demand from pilgrims, increased the performance of the air conditioning system and took additional measures to protect trains from sand and dust.

Russia: "Sapsan"

Among the most famous high-speed trains in the world is the international type series, known in Russia as the Sapsan, running between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Among his distinctive features- the width of the train, which is 30 cm higher than the standard European one (this is due to the fact that Russia has a wider railway track), and in 2014, a dual modification of a 20-car train was officially recognized as the longest high-speed train in the world. In addition, the Sapsan was created using technologies adapted to the Russian climate: even if the temperature drops below -40 ° C, it can continue to move smoothly, while in warmer countries even a little snow can paralyze railway traffic.

From the very beginning, the Sapsan was conceived as a replacement for the high-speed trains ER200, which connected St. Petersburg and Moscow and had become significantly outdated by the 2000s. In 2006 Russian Railways entered into a contract with Siemens for the supply of eight high-speed trains based on the Velaro train, and in 2009 the trains entered service. The version for Russia got its name in honor of the fastest bird in the world, the peregrine falcon, which can reach speeds of more than 322 km/h in a swift dive flight. Technically, the Sapsan also has the potential to overcome this milestone if there is an appropriate separate infrastructure - for now, its design speed is 250 km / h.

The fastest trains in Russia and the USSR

Russia is not a country with the fastest railways, and we are still very far from Japanese and French super trains, but this was not always the case, and in our country there have always been attempts to create our own high-speed trains, and a sufficient number of locomotives and trains have been created, whose high-speed characteristics are far from being so bad, and even in their class they are not inferior to foreign counterparts. Our rating contains only trains of Russian or Soviet production, created at domestic factories. You can say that without Sapsan and Allegro this is not a rating, but it’s a shame for us in a country like Russia to look at our neighbors with an open mouth and buy from them, and not create our own, so the rating will be exclusively from domestic trains.

I will not pretend to be 100% reliable, but will build my rating based on the available data, because there are a lot of myths about the acceleration of a particular locomotive, but as usual there is not enough documentary evidence. And so let's start our top ten fastest Russian and Soviet trains.

TEP70

TEP70 is in tenth place in our rating. This locomotive is the main diesel workhorse in passenger traffic at Russian Railways. The basic design of the locomotive is so successful that it can be accelerated to very high speeds, but the design maximum speed is 160 km/h. There is no doubt that the locomotive is capable of developing high speed, and there were even rumors that it was accelerated to 220 km / h during tests, however, the speed of the long mode is only 50 km / h, which does not allow us to put it higher in our rating. The diesel locomotive has been in operation since 1973, and its improved modification TEP70BS is currently being produced. It is produced at the Kolomna plant, and by now 300 of these cars and another 25 TEP70U are driving around Russia.

In fact, there are plenty of locomotives with a design speed of 160 km / h in Russia, but this is the only diesel engine with such indicators, and also so massive in production, which is why it deserves its place.

"Martin"

It’s over, calling the Lastochka a purely Russian train will not turn your tongue, but it is he who is next on our list of the fastest Russian trains. The main contribution to the creation was made by the same Siemens. The one that brought Peregrine Falcons to Russia. In fact, these trains are Siemens Desiro localized for our conditions. These locomotives are assembled at the Ural Locomotives plant located in the city of Verkhnyaya Pyshma. The maximum design speed of the swallow is 160 km / h, but in fact the real speed is somewhat lower, however, such trains are just perfect for Russian roads, because often we simply have nowhere to accelerate faster. The main purpose is suburban transportation or intercity transportation for short distances up to 200 km. At the moment, 46 ES2G formulations have already been released.

EP2K

EP2K is perhaps the most long-awaited locomotive of Modernity. In the USSR, this niche was successfully occupied by Czechoslovak emergencies various models, and Soviet factories did not really strive to compete with them, and thus we long time there were practically no high-speed passenger locomotives own production on electric traction. At the turn of the century, the first similar models began to appear in our country, but they were all either slower, such as EP1, or vice versa, faster, but something completely different was required, namely the replacement of Czech emergency situations. This task was successfully completed at the Kolomna plant and in 2008 EP2K went into production. The maximum operating speed is 160 km/h, but the locomotive can easily go faster, and the speed of the long run is 90 km/h. At the moment, more than 300 EP2K locomotives have already been produced, and in the future they should completely replace ChS 7.

"Oriole"

In 2014, the Tver Carriage Works presented its newest train, which was named EG2Tv Ivolga. The design speed of the train is 160 km/h, but Russian Railways made it clear that this is not quite what was expected from the plant. For such speeds, the "Swallow" is already being produced, and the Oriole needs to be "dispersed". Rumor has it that during the tests, a train of three motor cars was accelerated to 250 km / h on a straight section, but this has not been documented anywhere, and the full train does not yet give out such a speed. At the moment, it is on the basis of Ivolga that a passenger train is being created that can accelerate to 250 km / h, and time will tell whether Tverskoy Vagonostroitelny will be able to complete this task, but for now two trains have been built, which from 2017 will be run in the Kiev direction of the Moscow Railway.

Steam locomotive type 2-3-2

The beginning of the 20th century was marked by a real boom in speed records in the most various industries. Planes, cars, locomotives - all this moved faster and faster, and new records were set almost every year, and every developed country sought to enter the elite, having high-speed transport. The Soviet Union did not lag behind in this direction, especially considering our distances. In 1936, the first project of the steam locomotive 2-3-2k of the Kolomna Plant appeared, which developed a power of 3070 hp, which allowed it to accelerate to 150 km / h. By refinement, the maximum speed increased to 170 km / h. The locomotive successfully passed the run-in and showed excellent results, however, the outbreak of war did not allow serial production of the model. At the same time, the Voroshilovgrad Plant also worked on finalizing the steam locomotive, and created a slightly faster model under the number 2-3-2B, which had a design speed of 180 km / h. He set his last record in 1957 when he topped out at 175 km/h.

EP20

Ep200

The experimental locomotive EP200, built at the Kolomensky Zavod in 1996, opens the top three fastest domestic trains. EP200 appeared at an extremely unfortunate time, when it seemed to be very necessary, but there was no money to create it, run it in and refine it. The design speed of the locomotive was 250 km / h, and in operation the speed was limited to 200 kilometers. There is no exact data on the maximum speed in the tests.

For all its high-speed advantages, it was not destined to go on permanent flights. At first, the EP200 did not shine with reliability, especially at high speeds. And after the shortcomings were eliminated, it was never accepted, and in 2009 it was finally written off with the wording “Russian Railways does not need electric locomotives of this type”, which looks not only strange, but simply like direct sabotage in favor of the German Sapsan, since it was it is his competitor, especially since on the basis of EP200 already full speed ahead EP250 and EP300 were being developed, the operating speed of which was supposed to be 250 and 300 km / h, respectively. After all the misadventures with the locomotive at the Kolomna plant, they focused on the production and improvement of TEP70 and EP2k. Perhaps in the near future we will still see high-speed locomotives and trains that will leave the gates of the Kolomna Plant, but this will not be EP200.

Falcon 250

The fate of this train was no less sad than EP200. Technical requirements to the development of a new train for high-speed transportation were ready in 1993. The leading enterprise-developer was TsKB MT "RUBIN". The Sokol 250 went to its first tests in 1998, during which everything that was possible was checked, and the train itself reached a maximum speed of 236 km / h, while its design speed was 250 km / h. During the tests, quite a few different, but eliminated shortcomings were found, and in fact the train was 90% ready. However, for unknown reasons, the project was canceled and the Falcon was sent to the museum. In fact, along with this locomotive, all the developments in the creation of such high-speed trains were ditched, and if we now try to do the same, we will have to start again from scratch.

TEP 80

Ahead of time - this is exactly what they said about the fastest Russian locomotive. It's funny to say, but the fastest locomotive in Russia is not an electric locomotive, but a diesel locomotive TEP-80. When it was created, TEP 70 was taken as the basis, which was not so fast, but had excellent potential for development. TEP 80 was equipped with a one and a half times more powerful engine with a capacity of 6000 hp, and it was this engine that allowed the locomotive to accelerate during tests to a record speed of 271 km/h for Russia. By the way, this record has not been broken by more than one diesel locomotive in the world so far.

It was made at the Kolomensky Zavod in 1988-89, but the mess in the country of the Soviets did not favor such breakthrough developments. The tests were carried out by the plant, and with the collapse of the union, the diesel locomotive became completely useless. The speed record was set in 1993 and captured on camera. Why this project has not yet been restored remains a mystery, but it has gone into oblivion just like the Sokol, and EP200 and is gathering dust in the museum, without going on regular flights, although our railways still need such locomotives, but here you have to build, if necessary, from scratch.

Since the early 19th century, trains have always been regarded as a fine example of human engineering and ingenuity. Their invention pushed people to develop even more innovative technologies and spread the industrial revolution around the world. the globe. Currently, trains have become one of the most quick ways movement on the ground and they continue to improve every day.

1.Eurostar e320

Moving at a speed of 320 km / h, the e320 Eurostar connects the cities of London, Paris and Brussels, and also passes under the English Channel. Although these trains are produced German company Siemans Velaro, Eurostar is actually an international joint project between France, the United Kingdom and Belgium.

2.KTX Sancheon

Released in 2009, the South Korean train was the culmination of over a decade of research and was the second commercial high-speed train developed in Korea. Initially, he could reach a maximum speed of 350 km / h, later, after a major accident, his speed was limited to 300 km / h due to safety reasons.

3 Talgo 350

Originally built to connect the Spanish cities of Madrid and Barcelona, ​​the Talgo 350 can reach a top speed of 365 km/h. The locals nicknamed it "Pato" (duck) because of the specific shape of the front of the train.

4.Zefiro 380

Produced by the Canadian aerospace and transportation firm Bombardier, the Zefiro 380 train can reach an operating speed of 380 km/h. In the near future, the first batch of trains will be put on the rails in the Chinese city of Qingdao.

5. Shinkansen Bullet Trains

Japan's E5 and E6 series Shinkansen bullet trains can reach speeds approaching 400 km/h. These trains are also well known for their ability to maintain high speeds without compromising passenger comfort and safety.

6. Frecciarossa 1000

The train, named "Red Arrow", is the fastest in Italy. It can reach speeds of up to 400 km/h and is one of the most environmentally friendly high-speed trains in the world as it has minimal CO2 emissions and is built from almost 100% recyclable materials.

7. Velaro E

Designed by Siemens Velaro and owned by the Spanish railway company RENFE, the train can reach a top speed of 404 km/h. It holds the national record for the fastest train speed in Spain.

8.ICEV

Originally known as the Intercity Experimental, the ICE V train was a government-funded research project that is exploring the feasibility of high-speed rail service in Germany. In 1988 he set a new speed record for rail vehicles - 407 km/h.

9 Aerotrain I80

Built by French engineer Jean Bertin, the Aerotrain I80 was a jet-powered hovercraft that set the world speed record for ground hovercraft (430 km/h) in 1974. The train was never used commercially due to lack of funding and the death of Jean Bertinant in 1977. However, it laid the foundation for the maglev trains that followed in the following years.

10.CRH380A

This high-speed train entered service in late 2010 and is the only Chinese mass-produced locomotive that was not based on foreign designs or technology. Its top speed is 486 km/h, however, after a major collision in 2011, its operating speed was limited to 300 km/h.

11. Shanghai Maglev Train

The world's first commercial maglev train, the Shanghai Maglev Train went on the rails in 2004 and was the first train designed by the German company Transrapid. The SMT can reach speeds of up to 500 km/h and connects the outskirts of Shanghai with Pudong International Airport.

12. Transrapid 09

The latest and most advanced Maglev train, developed by German manufacturers Transrapid, is designed to travel at a cruising speed of around 500 km/h. It can also accelerate and decelerate much faster than other high-speed trains.

13.TGV POS

In 2007, a modified TGV POS set a world speed record for a conventional vehicle, having developed a speed of 575 km / h. The train was modified to use only two power cars as well as larger wheels. Therefore, the actual speed of the train that runs between France and Switzerland is limited to a maximum speed of 320 km/h.

14. JR-Maglev MLX01

Achieving a shocking speed of 585 km/h on the 40 km test track in Yamanashi, Japan's experimental maglev train MLX01 set a new speed record for maglev trains in 2003. He held this record for twelve years until another Japanese Maglev broke the record in 2015 with a top speed of 603 km/h.

15. SCMaglev L0 Series

With a peak speed of 603 km/h, this japanese train maglev is the world record holder. Soon, such trains are planned to be launched on the route between Tokyo and Osaka.

Maximum speed (Vmax) - the speed of the train, which is allowed on the section according to the state technical means(tracks, artificial structures, locomotives, wagons, etc.).

Estimated speed

Estimated speed (Vp) - the highest speed on the section with which a train of maximum mass established for a given type of locomotive and a design lift of unlimited length can follow.

Travel speed

Running speed (Vx) - the average speed of movement when the train passes through the section without stopping. Determined by the formula:

where ZNL is the total train-kilometres on the section, ZNt is the total train-hours in motion on the section without taking into account the duration of train stops and the time spent on acceleration and deceleration during these stops. The running speed depends on the profile and the current state of the track, the power of the locomotive, the gross mass of the train, the resistance of the train, etc.

Technical speed

Technical speed (Vt) - the average speed of movement when the train passes through the section without stopping, but taking into account the actual time lost for acceleration and deceleration due to train stops:

where ZNtpr is the total train-hours spent on acceleration and deceleration when trains stop on the section. The technical speed depends on the running speed and the actual number of train stops.

Precinct speed

Sectional speed (Vuch) - the average speed of the train in the section. The section speed is determined by dividing the total train-kilometers on the section by the total train-hours of trains on the section:

where ZNtst - total train-hours of parking on the section, including parking of trains at separate points and downtime on hauls due to non-reception of trains. The sectional speed depends on the throughput capacity of the section, the size of the movement of freight and passenger trains, the technical condition of the track, blocking and rolling stock, the train schedule and dispatcher control.

Route speed

Route speed (VM) is the average speed of the route from the formation station to the disbandment station. Route speed shows the average speed of the route, not only taking into account the time spent on the sections, but also taking into account the idle time of the routes at passing technical stations:

where ZNLm are the train-kilometers of the routes, ZNtm are the train-hours spent by the routes on the route from the formation station to the disbandment station.

Delivery speed

Cargo delivery speed (VT) - the average speed of cargo movement from the moment it is received by the road to the moment it is delivered to the recipient.
Running, technical and sectional speeds can be determined not only for individual sections, but also for road departments and the entire railway network. e. To do this, it is enough to sum the local train-kilometres and train-hours, respectively, for the road departments and the entire network. The ratio of the respective train-kilometres to train-hours will determine the above speeds for these units and the entire network.

Now, once again, he was actively talking about the HSR - the high-speed (railway) highway Moscow-Kazan. Apparently, active development of the project has begun. Well, no one has seen the project yet (only rough sketches), I think there will be specifics soon, but for now, another question is of interest - what are the speeds there in general and how are things going with train speeds in general. Well, that is, let's say there is a Sapsan - a fairly nimble electric train (the essence is an electric train), but it is not classified as high-speed. And there is the "Nevsky Express" - an ordinary train with passenger cars, driven by a locomotive that travels a little slower than Sapsan from Moscow to St. Petersburg ...
In short, for me personally, the speed of the train was somehow unknown, despite the fact that, as a rule, the trains move clearly on schedule (minor deviations, of course, but for the most part everything is on time, and even if somewhere lagged behind, then they can catch up). In short, I wanted to figure out how things are going with the real speed of trains there (and what prospects are there in general).

Perhaps we should start with the fact that two numbers are usually indicated in the characteristics of locomotives / (electric) trains: the design speed and the speed of the continuous mode (less often, the speed of the hourly mode). The first is, roughly speaking, the speed that is the maximum permissible without compromising operation (in theory, it is probably possible to accelerate faster, but the impact on engines, rails, etc. is already greater - in short, they try not to raise it higher so as not to violate operating conditions). The second one is a little more difficult. Roughly speaking, the speed of the continuous mode is the indicator at which the electric motors can operate most efficiently for a long time (the minimum speed at which you can drive for a long time at the maximum traction position). In short, both numbers are essentially technical, indirectly related to reality.

If we talk about the locomotive / trains from a practical point of view: to get from point A to point B, then it would be more correct to talk about commercial speed (it is also called route or average daily). Generally speaking, it is different for each train, for example, two trains with different commercial speeds can have the same traction locomotives, the same cars and go along the same track (by the way, stops along the road affect this speed). For example, we travel from Saratov to Moscow by train No. 009, and we cover the distance of 865 kilometers in 14 hours and 35 minutes (we get an average speed of about 59 km / h). If we leave a little later, by train No. 017, then we will cover the same route in 15 hours 26 minutes, and the speed will already be 56 km / h. At the same time, the cars are the same, the traction locomotives are the same (4 different locomotives from Saratov to Moscow).

Actually, according to the speed of movement, all trains can be divided into the following groups:
- passenger (route speed less than 50 km/h)
- fast passenger (route speed not less than 50 km/h)
- high-speed passenger (route speed not lower than 100 km/h at permissible speeds in the range of 141-200 km/h;)

That is, that the 9th and 17th trains are, by all indications, fast, although they do not move much faster than passenger ones, and the locomotives leading these trains allow you to move at speeds close to high-speed ones. Technically, as I understand it, nothing prevents us from abandoning slow passenger cars and switching to ambulances (and actively developing into high-speed ones). Now the locomotive fleet is being actively updated, and the cars and rails (with other infrastructure) are no longer the same before. The problem, as I understand it, is in dispatching / train schedules drawn up-drawn up back in Soviet times (in the early 80s) under the then technical capabilities. That is, for good it is necessary to change schedules globally, but the work is serious, so for now they are limited to some separate priority routes (where, by the way, high-speed trains appear), but for the most part they do not touch it yet:

Accordingly, most of the passenger trains plowing the expanses of Russia at the moment are either just "trains" or slightly more nimble "fast trains". Even ambulances cannot say that it is very fast, but it is much more budgetary than by plane and more comfortable than by bus / car (here, of course, one can argue, but in general, the quality of passenger cars is now improving). By the way, the concept of route speed is applied mainly to long-distance trains. There is big class suburban trains with frequent stops, short intervals between stations and where motor-car rolling stock (MVPS) is usually used - more often electric trains, less often railcars). Well, these can also be reached, if desired, from one large city to another (albeit with less comfort) and much more slowly - according to this classification system, they are more likely to be referred to as "trains" (although some sections may fall under the class of "ambulances"), with that a standard electric train can accelerate up to 120-140 km/h without risk.

Nevertheless, if we start talking about "high-speed trains" (that which drives on average more than 100 km / h), then the first thing that comes to mind is electric trains - MVPS (and not only here - in other countries the situation is the same). So it turns out that at the moment (high) speed trains are trying to compete not with conventional long-distance trains, but with aviation. Usually distances are taken here within 1000 km (at least I have heard such a figure more than once). Accordingly, at high speeds over relatively short distances, all these compartments are no longer needed for long trips - you just need comfortable seats (and in such situations, you can seat more people in one car). But the main presence a large number motorized axles allows you to have a higher power density(the ratio of engine power to the mass of the rolling stock), which allows you to get high accelerations and high speeds. That is why the development of high-speed railway transport is primarily along the path of the MVPS (the essence is "electric trains"):

In the USSR, the topic of high-speed railway transport was not only not given due attention, but somehow the tasks were different and more serious. The first Soviet MVPS - ER200 was developed at the Riga Carriage Building Plant in 1973, then it was tested for a long, long time, but its commercial operation (on the Moscow-Leningrad section) began only in 1984, when it was already obsolete. Perhaps this is all that they could put into practice in the USSR; RVR was somehow completely blown away after the collapse of the USSR ...
In Russia, already in the 90s, they began to try to cut their modern high-speed train project, which resulted in the ES-250 (Sokol) - in practice, an even less successful model (compared to the ER200) ​​- things did not go further than trial trips / tests.
In general, then it became clear that the issue of high-speed (and in the future - high-speed) railways could not be solved on our own - the backlog is too significant, you can probably catch up, but how many years it will take - wouldn't it be easier to start trying to use Western experience to reduce backlog.

The first such project in 2009 was "".
This is a German Siemens Velaro high-speed train adapted for Russian conditions(gauge, weather conditions, etc.) All 16 trains in operation today were built in Germany - in fact, Russia simply bought the trains. The project caused a lot of controversy and discussion, but as for me it was a very positive experience: the constant and intensive commercial operation of high-speed trains began (Siemens Velaro is essentially a high-speed series, but due to a number of reasons, which are discussed below, for now it is all-high-speed train and Saspan's design speed of 250 km/h is not yet in use).
Nevertheless, the 4 hours that it takes to travel from Moscow to St. Petersburg on the Sapsan is in fact faster than the same journey by plane. Yes, the plane flies faster, but due to the peculiarities of the infrastructure (you need to get from the city center to the airport, check in for a flight, wait for the flight, taxi-take-off-landing, back to the city), a train going from center to center here gives a significant gain in time and convenience . In a word, despite the active criticism, the project "took off".

Almost simultaneously with Sapsan, a similar Russian-Finnish project was launched -. There are already Italian trains Alstom Pendolino and the route St. Petersburg - Helsinki. In general, it is not as popular as the Sapsan, but again, it has occupied its niche and enjoys some success. Allegro again falls into the class of high-speed trains (407 km in 3 hours 27 minutes).

Since we are talking about high-speed ones, it would not be superfluous to mention - again, a German development for Russian roads (Siemens Desiro), but if the Sapsan were just buying, then here the trains were bought with the possibility of local production - now a batch for the Moscow Central Ring is being made at the factory Ural Locomotives with a high percentage of localization.
In general, Lastochki are used not only for suburban traffic, but also on long-distance intercity routes. The same Moscow-Saint-Petersburg train crossed in a little more than five hours, and on other routes it fits into the concept of a "high-speed train".

Well, of course, high-speed trains are not necessarily MVPS. So let's say the famous "Nevsky Express" (and before it "Aurora") is an ordinary train (locomotive + non-motorized cars, albeit very comfortable), which, however, due to a fast electric locomotive (there used to be ChS200, now EP20) spends 650 kilometers a little more than four hours - a little less than a high-speed Sapsan.

So - for the transition from high-speed to high-speed trains, the trains themselves are not enough. Railway- this is generally a very complex infrastructure (rails and substrates / embankments for them, contact networks, signaling systems, etc.)
As it turned out during the operation of the Sapsan, although it can reach a speed of 250 km / h in some sections, but even taking into account all the improvements and upgrades of the road, it cannot go all the way at that speed (and even faster). Features of the contact network, turning radii, etc. Therefore, at the moment we have what we have Sapsan, especially Allegro, with all its excellent speed characteristics, is forced to go much slower than its capabilities (Allegro is generally forced to slow down to 30-40 km / h somewhere on winding roads). And one more trouble - since the highway along which the trains move is common (all passenger and freight trains go along the same tracks), then when priority is given to high-speed trains, the rest of the trains are forced to stand idle. I'm constantly going to St. Petersburg by train No. 047 (Astrakhan - St. Petersburg) and it stands near St. Petersburg for more than an hour "missing" the Sapsan.

AT general project high-speed highway Moscow - Kazan (through the cities of Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod and Cheboksary) primarily involves the construction of a separate highway of a new type - these have not yet been done in Russia (it is already clear that Chinese experience will be used - the Chinese are now generally leaders in the world in construction VSM). Of course, under this line there will be special trains with the ability to reach speeds of 300-400 km / h, while unknown - I assume that since Germany has also joined the project, it is highly likely that this will be another incarnation of Siemens Velaro. However, now one of the requirements is already known for sure - the production of trains for high-speed lines from start to finish in Russia, the design with the participation of Russian engineers and a high percentage of localization - yes, this is not yet a completely own project, but this is a gradual catch-up, and then it will be seen how will develop...
(the map that caught my eye is no longer relevant, the dates have been shifted, but the approximate direction of development can be estimated):

Well, at the same time a few words about freight trains and their speed. Of course, there are no MPVS here anymore - traction locomotives and a bunch of cars (80-120 cars in a train - this is such a norm). Indicating the characteristics of locomotives, all the same characteristics are found - design speed, speed of a long mode (for the most massive VL80 railway on the Privolzhskaya railway, these figures are 110 km / h and 56 km / h, respectively). Since passenger trains have priority when moving along railways, freight trains spend a lot of time at half-stations and sortings - waiting for their turn to move on.

It is problematic to find real numbers, but a couple of years ago (I don’t think that the situation has changed significantly now) the following quote caught my eye:
The average route speed of ordinary freight trains in Russia now exceeds 630 kilometers per day, container trains - about 900 kilometers, and these figures are growing at a rate of 3 percent per month. On the Trans-Siberian, the speed of freight trains exceeds 1,120 kilometers per day, and this figure is growing at a rate of 7 percent per year.

At the same time, in terms of freight traffic, Russia ranks second in the world after China and is twice ahead of the United States, where, by the way, there are practically no passenger rail transportation. In such rather difficult conditions, the sectional speed of freight trains in Russia is 9 percent higher than in the United States and 10 percent than in China.

As we can see, even on the most revealing sections, freight trains do not even approach the speeds of fast passenger trains yet (although they are already approaching). Meanwhile, such indicators are very good even by world standards. So do not be surprised by the vast majority of old freight locomotives - they are still coping with their task (and now, apparently, a consistent replacement with new ones is beginning). The transition to high-speed freight lines in the coming decades clearly does not threaten us!