Rail transport is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road transport. It is used for about 8% of passenger and freight transport globally, thanks to its energy efficiency and potentially high speed.
A train is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives, though some are self-propelled, such as multiple units or railcars. Passengers and cargo are carried in railroad cars, also known as wagons or carriages. Trains are designed to a certain gauge, or distance between rails. Most trains operate on steel tracks with steel wheels, the low friction of which makes them more efficient than other forms of transport.
This is a timeline of transportation technology and technological developments in the culture of transportation.
The history of rail transport began before the beginning of the common era. It can be divided into several discrete periods defined by the principal means of track material and motive power used.
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The company operates 19,420 route miles (31,250 km) in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia, and has rights in Canada over the Albany to Montreal route of the Canadian Pacific Kansas City. Norfolk Southern Railway is the leading subsidiary of the Norfolk Southern Corporation.
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas turbines, are classed as diesel–electric or gas turbine–electric and not as electric locomotives, because the electric generator/motor combination serves only as a power transmission system.
Multiple-unit train control, sometimes abbreviated to multiple-unit or MU, is a method of simultaneously controlling all the traction equipment in a train from a single location—whether it is a multiple unit comprising a number of self-powered passenger cars or a set of locomotives—with only a control signal transmitted to each unit. This contrasts with arrangements where electric motors in different units are connected directly to the power supply switched by a single control mechanism, thus requiring the full traction power to be transmitted through the train.
The Polish State Railways is a Polish state-owned holding company comprising the rail transport holdings of the country's formerly dominant namesake railway operator. The company was reformed in 2001 when the former Polish State Railways state-owned enterprise was divided into several units based on the need for separation between infrastructure management and transport operations. Polish State Railways is the dominant company in PKP Group collective that resulted from the split, and maintains in 100% share control, being fully responsible for the assets of all of the other PKP Group component companies.
The Order of the Red Banner of Labour was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports, health, social and other spheres of labour activities. It is the labour counterpart of the military Order of the Red Banner. A few institutions and factories, being the pride of Soviet Union, also received the order. The Order of the Red Banner of Labour was the third-highest civil award in the Soviet Union, after the Order of Lenin and the Order of the October Revolution.
Dieselisation is the process of equipping vehicles with a diesel engine or diesel engines.
George Woodman Hilton was a United States historian and economist, who specialized in social history, transportation economics, regulation by commission, the history of economic thought and labor history.
Ferrocarriles de Cuba (FCC) or Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Cuba, provides passenger and freight services for Cuba.
The Soviet Union was heavily dependent on rail transport, not least during the Russian Civil War and World War II, but also for industrialization according to the five-year plans.
Russia was and is the largest country in the world. Its geography of north–south rivers and east–west commerce, plus, importantly, the mostly flat terrain, made it very suited to develop railroads as the basic mode of transportation.
Ural Locomotives is a railway engineering company. It was initially formed as a joint venture between Sinara Transport Machines and Siemens in 2010. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Siemens exited Russia in May 2022, with Sinara Group taking full control a month later.
The Korean State Railway, commonly called the State Rail, is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea and has its headquarters at P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun-song.
The Honorary Title "Honoured Pilot of the USSR" was a state civilian award of the Soviet Union established on September 30, 1965 by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR № 3993-VI to recognise excellence in civilian aviation. It was abolished on August 22, 1988 by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet № 9441-XI.
The Honorary Title "Honoured Navigator of the USSR" was a civilian state award of the Soviet Union established on September 30, 1965 by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR № 3993-VI to recognise excellence in civilian aviation. It was abolished on August 22, 1988 by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet № 9441-XI.
While the former Soviet Union got a late start with rail electrification in 1926 it eventually became the world leader in electrification in terms of the volume of traffic under the wires. During its last 30 years the Soviet Union hauled about as much rail freight as all the other countries in the world combined and in the end, over 60% of this was by electric locomotives. Electrification was cost effective due to the very high density of traffic and was at times projected to yield at least a 10% return on electrification investment. By 1990, the electrification was about half 3 kV DC and half 25 kV AC 50 Hz and 70% of rail passenger-km was by electric railways.
Aliyev Mamed Ali Oglu, was a recipient of the Order of the Badge of Honour, an Honorary Railwayman Badge of the USSR, and a Veteran of Labour.
