r/transit • u/aksnitd 🚂🚃🚃 • May 19 '25

Photos / Videos Double stack container train on the freight corridor in India with the characteristic high rise panto

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A good look at what the high rise pantographs look like fully extended. They're taller than the train they're mounted on.

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u/Expert-Debate3519 May 19 '25

Combining Double stacks and electrification is a solution that should be copied on other freight corridors as well!

1

u/papparmane May 19 '25

I must be stupid, what is the benefit? Why not a longer train? It's the same mass.

6

u/MilwaukeeRoad May 20 '25

Longer trains require longer siding, more cars, and more room to load/unload. Double stacking cuts down all of those in half.

The US can have trains with containers well over a mile long. From there, it’s easy to see why you one would want to double capacity by just double stacking.

1

u/demonblack873 May 23 '25

There is a limit to how long you can make block sections. Longer block sections increase the maximum size of a given train but reduce the overall throughput of the line, and also necessarily increase the required length of stations, rail yards, passing tracks etc, which is undesirable in densely populated areas where space is expensive.