[13] Railroad modernization

Like their younger competitors, the railroads have become specialized carriers that concentrate on the types of transportation for which they are best suited. Railroads are particularly efficient at moving large volumes of bulk commodities* such as coal or ore over long distances and transporting marine containers and piggyback highway trailers**. Railroads are also efficient at carrying commuter passengers between suburbs and city centers and providing comfortable, fast intercity passenger services.

New technologies – in design, materials, and methods – have helped railroads become still more efficient. After World War II, for example, strong concrete crossties replaced wooden ties on many railroads, especially in Europe. Rail welded*** into long sections became the standard for most busy main lines. By the 1960s high-speed passenger trains were introduced.

Japan's so-called “bullet train” was in the forefront of the new technology. It began operating on Oct. 1, 1964, to mark Asia's first Olympic Games, which were held in Tokyo. The first section of the fabled Shinkansen (New Trunk Line, known as the New Tokaido Line) was a 320-mile (515-kilometer) stretch between Tokyo and Osaka. A 100-mile (160-kilometer) extension from Osaka to Okayama was completed in 1972, and the final segment – a 244-mile (393-kilometer) run to the Hakata station in Fukuoka, northern Kyushu – opened in 1975. Other lines, completed in 1982, radiate north of Tokyo to Niigata and Morioka. The Shinkansen was privatized in 1987.

France's TGV became the supertrain of the 1970s and 1980s. It set a new world speed record of 320 miles an hour in 1990. The newer ten-car TGV trains are powered by front and rear electric locomotives. Computerized controls provide on-board signalization and fail-safe braking****.

Some of the other countries where superspeed trains are running or planned are Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Australia, Canada, and the United States. High speed train called Metroliners make daily three-hour trips between New York City and Washington, D.C.; although the trains are capable of faster runs up to 160 miles (260 kilometers) per hour, drawbacks on the existing line hold speeds to a maximum of 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour.

Several American railroads operate trains of RoadRailers, vehicles that have both rail and highway wheels. On the railroad they run coupled***** together in trains pulled by locomotives, then are separated and moved by highway tractors to their final destinations.

Among the more advanced systems proposed is the magnetic levitation******, or maglev, train. Instead of wheels or steel rails, the system uses coils in the surface of the track, or guide way, to create a magnetic field that lifts the vehicles and propels them forward. By the late 1980s only short test systems had been built in Germany and Japan. Successful experimental runs were first made in the early 1990s using locomotives powered by environmentally friendly natural gas.

Notes: *bulk commodities – бестарные грузы, грузы насыпью

**piggyback highway trailers – автополуприцепы или прицепы

***to weld – сваривать

****fail-safe braking – гарантированно надёжное торможение

*****to couple – сцеплять

******magnetic levitation – магнитная левитация (поднятие)