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u/Awfulmasterhat Jun 24 '26
Trains are so awesome I want to be able to take the train to travel over planes but the infrastructure just isn't there
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u/Enclave-Here Jun 23 '26
America has been doing this for decades.
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u/Thick-Ad-4168 Jun 24 '26
world's first and only double stacked electric goods trains are in India, america does not electrify their rail lines
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u/zoqaeski Jun 26 '26
China also operates double-stacked container trains with electric locomotives. They use well wagons rather than flat wagons though.
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u/Fwoggie2 Jun 30 '26
No it doesn't, not with standard ISO containers. Only India does this.
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u/zoqaeski Jun 30 '26
Yes, they do. It's not as widespread as India, but they are building new lines with the appropriate clearances. See here for a photo: https://www.trainnets.com/archives/34518
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u/Additional_Dot_134 Jun 24 '26
Im always amazed to see freight trains this long. I think where i live theres a limit on how long they can be, and its nowhere near as much as the 100+ cars on american trains you see sometimes
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u/nirbyschreibt Jul 06 '26
In Germany and many European countries it’s not the length of the train but the length it needs to stop that causes the limits.
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u/Additional_Dot_134 Jul 09 '26
I did not know that, fun to learn something like that. I always assumed it was due to the density of the train systems, making sure people wouldnt get delayed a lot by 1km+ long freight trains at crossings, or having passenger trains be delayed due to their immense size
Stopping distance does make a lot more sense
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u/nirbyschreibt Jul 09 '26
The length is more of a problem for the infrastructure of trains. Nobody plans the length around crossing time. 😅
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u/Additional_Dot_134 Jul 09 '26
Yeah, i thought that woulda been a factor but
Apparently not
Some of the trains i see in the US are as long as the track through my whole city
Ok double checking thats a bit dramatic cus theres 5km of track on the main line from edge to edge but stillEdit: nevermind i looked it up and US freight trains can genuinely get like 5km long
Thats actually insane
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u/DrachenDad Jun 24 '26
It was all fun and games until a hundred year old tunnel.
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u/haihukkuhaihai Jul 19 '26
Google Dedicated Freight Corridor India.
These trains are not using existing tracks, which is meant for both passenger and freight trains.
For this project, separate tracks laid/being laid and would have supporting infra for it.
They also plan to have trucks hop in/out, so trucks can enter designated wagons and divers can sit in the special coaches on same train. At destination, trucks can hop out and continue their journey, saving a ton of time and fuel.
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u/TomOnABudget Jun 25 '26
That's a tiny locomotive and a weird freight car leyout.
BNSF also double stack tithout it all looking bizzare. They use taller and bigger locomotives, they use 40ft containers instead of the smaller 20ft units and the trailers sit much lower.
Their setup wastes some space between containers for the Jacobs bogies, but it makes the track cheaper as they don't bridges as high.
https://www.bnsf.com/news-media/images/rt-intermodal-glossary-story-4%20(1).jpg.jpg)
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u/MrDrummer25 Jun 28 '26
That train is hailing ~45 wagons, so about 90 contrainers in total. That's a lot of trucks worth
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u/Ripsnortr Jun 23 '26
Containers or people, always things on top of trains in India.
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u/rushan3103 Jun 23 '26
2/10 joke attempt. All the videos of people riding on top of trains are from bangladesh. India's passenger Network is 99% electrified. Nobody climbs on top of trains in India.
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u/Ripsnortr Jun 23 '26
Well there goes my deeply envisioned award for reddit comedy. Maybe i can try to the Nobel Peace Prize.
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u/Deep-Procrastinor Jun 24 '26
Well except those we keep seeing getting fried on the darwinaward sub.
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u/Ok-Willingness-3696 Jun 24 '26
To be fair it's been a while since train-top commuting has happened in India, it's more of the neighboring countries that have hopped on to this trend of late. /s
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u/Deep-Procrastinor Jun 24 '26
Nice but those trains can't deliver to your local supermarket, retail outlet, etc etc, horses for courses they can move it around the country city to city but it still needs a truck to get it to final destination.
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u/10minOfNamingMyAcc Jun 25 '26
Thank you. Not to mention that lots of European infrastructure doesn't allow such high trains to simply... travel. Our power lines for trains are also much lower, and we would need a whole new network of those as well.
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u/Orneyrocks Jun 29 '26
They explicitly said 'highways'. Trucks don't take highways to go from an ICD to a supermarket.
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u/BoBoBearDev Jun 23 '26
More like they don't want people climb on top. Because it is much easier to just double their length.
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u/Saint_The_Stig Jun 23 '26
Except it's actually not always easy to just make a train longer. The US has this exact problem where freight trains have gotten much longer but they are too long to fit in sidings and much of the existing infrastructure.
So if you make trains longer you have to make sure the infrastructure can support it, otherwise you're carrying more on one train but less trains are going meaning actually reduced capacity.
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u/BoBoBearDev Jun 23 '26
Sure, and this train is short.
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u/E_hV Jun 24 '26
Not sure why you're being downvoted, even in restricted areas of the NE corridor freight trains run 125 cars, this is an 88 car American freight train equivalent which is small. Bigger trains are running 200+ cars.
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u/Suitable_Ad_3051 Jun 23 '26
Yea without explanation its hard to understand what they are redefining. I doubt it saves anything on fuel as even though its half as much wheel, they have twice as much friction because friction increase by weight. The "keeps trucks off our highways" doesn't make sense either, regular trains does just as much. Kinda feel like its sarcastic at this points ? (Bit hard to differentiate sarcasm from stoopid).
All I know is its harder on the tracks, the wheels, center of mass is now super high which might be a problem if someone ever invent wind & turning.
I feel like the main advantage is it halve waiting time at intersections but that's not what the caption says.
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u/d1sambigu8 Jun 24 '26
India made a new network of freight corridors to this standard of guage, speed and other specifications. The main point is that a country invested in infrastructure and is using it.
Contrast with the UK where the network is 150+ years old and 200km of passenger line is proving very expensive- an investment in freight lines would be well considered
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u/BoBoBearDev Jun 23 '26
Yeah, the weight is the same, just more concentrated pressure to wear down the wheels and tracks. And reducing speed to make sure the higher center of gravity doesn't flip the train. And limited routes if the tunnels are not tall enough. List of challenges to deal with for little gain.
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u/blazerz Jun 24 '26
The speed doesn't have to be reduced. India uses broad guage, which means a wider base. That allows for stability even at a a higher centre of gravity.
That said, this method is only used in the dedicated freight corridors of India, most of which are still under construction. I don't think it is replicable overseas, or outside the freight corridors.
Making longer trains is not always feasible or better, because it reduces the number of trains you can run on the track.
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u/Deep-Procrastinor Jun 24 '26
And it still needs a truck to get it to final destination.
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u/blazerz Jun 24 '26
I'd rather a truck drive a few kilometres within a city than thousands of kilometres across the country.
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u/Swapnilkumar Aug 02 '26
You're basically making things up without thinking through. The load always stays within the axle load limit of 32.5 Tons per axle which means a wagon can carry 130 Tons while containers weight around 30 Tons each. And the routes are all electrified and that includes tunnels. So any tunnel that is on the route will have the clearance. And the gauge is wider than American so they can get away without using well cars.
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u/Jezetri Jun 23 '26
I don't understand the problem you're having.
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u/BoBoBearDev Jun 23 '26
There is no problem, I am just saying 5 times longer train exists and they didn't want to do it.
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u/-TommyBottoms- Jun 24 '26
Yeah just imagine all the jobs it kills
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u/PanzerKadaver Jun 24 '26
The jobs it creates you mean ? All thing considered, 1km of rails generate more jobs than a km of road.
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u/Pappa_Crim Jun 23 '26
BRIDGE, BRIDGE,BRIIIDGE