Bullet Train - Japan

Japan’s high speed bullet trains, also known as Shinkansen trains, offer visitors an exciting experience with speeds reaching up to 320km/hr. The main lines with bullet trains include Tokaido, Sanyo, Tohoku, Joetsu, Nagano and Kyushu. Popular bullet train journeys travel between tokyo and Osaka with people viewing the landscape of japan as they travel to these cities via bullet train.

 You must have a pass to travel on these trains which can take you around inner cities of Japan.The network presently links most major cities on the islands of Honshu and Kyushu, with construction of a link to the northern island of Hokkaido underway.

Nozomi is the fastest and most expensive type of Shinkansen but pass holders cannot travel on these due to all reserved seating. 


Sources: Railjpn, Wiki -Alex

Types of MAGLEV Technology

Throughout the history of magnetic levitation trains there are two main types of technology that are used. These technologies include Electromagnetic suspension (EMS) and Electrodynamic suspension. There is also another technology that has been theorised and proven mathematically but not built yet is magnetodynamic suspension.


Electromagnetic suspension uses the attractive force of electromagnets and steel rails which is the track that guides the train. The attractive upward force from the electromagnets wrapping around the track is what lifts the train.
Electrodynamic suspension uses conductive tracks that get an induced current from the train, this induced current produces an opposing magnetic field that repulses the train. This form of maglev trains is the levitation type.

The Electromagnetic suspension Transrapid train in Shanghai, China
https://www.flickr.com/photos/criminalintent/7391133386/in/photolist-cg8usf-4dQB7t-fQzPfT-fQzPjK-fQzPg8-fQzPgi-8aHKxt-JLw9F-8aHM9T-2H8Sa-8aHQnM-4DxPb-4DxNw-4DxPG-4DxNM-JLw7V-2rC72Y-6D3No5-35nEC-35nDk-5kDjR-7Lsuj9-nZfmN-nZfmQ-nZfmS/ 

- Ryan

Electrification Of Sydney's Trains

John Bradfield devised a plan to electrify Sydney's commuter Railway System. In 1926, the first section electrified was from Central to Oatley on the Illawarra line. the St James Branch line also received the same special treatment when it opened in the same year. Originally, the cables only powered the trains with 1500 volt currents. While this was inferior to and more expensive than modern single phase alternating current equipment, in the 1920s it was sufficient for the operation of electric multi-carriage trains. By the late 1980's, most of the network's equipment had been updated to accommodate for the new "Tangora" type Train, which relied on 2500 volt alternating currents.

Floor Layout of a Tangora Train

~ Cameron

MAGLEV Train in Japan Breaks Its Own Wolrd Record

Japan has just broken it's own world record for the highest speed for a seven-car maglev train. It broke the 2003 record of 581km/h by reaching 603km/h. The train they used uses Electrodynamic suspension technology where the train levitates 10 centimeters above the track.

Yasukazu Endo, stated that:

"The faster the train runs, the more stable it becomes - I think the quality of the train ride has improved"

 The Japanese train company JR Central plans to have a train service between Tokyo and the central city in Nagoya with speeds reaching up to 500klm/h. They plan to cut the current travel time in half over the 286km trip to just 40 minutes. Although the costs for this project are estimated to be at around $100 billion.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVg1U8zWIH0

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-21/japanese-maglev-train-sets-new-world-speed-record-in-test-run/6410638

- Ryan

Train Origins

An invention that changed the world was 200 years old in 2004. Origins of rail transport include systems with man or horse power, and tracks or guides made of stone or wood, the history of rail transport dates back as far as the ancient Greeks.

Wagonways were relatively common in Europe (typically in mining) from about 1500 through 1800. Mechanised rail transport systems first appeared in England in the 1820s. These systems, which made use of the steam locomotive, were critical to the Industrial Revolution and to the development of export economies across the world. They have remained the primary form of land transport ever since for most of the world.The man who first put steam engines on rails was Richard Trevithick (1771-1833).

They say that Trevithick's invention was 20 years ahead of his time but Trevithick’s engines were seen as little more than a novelty. On February 21, 1804, Trevithick’s pioneering engine hauled 10 tons of iron and 70 men nearly ten miles from Penydarren, at a speed of five miles-per-hour, winning the railway’s owner a 500 guinea bet into the bargain. In Jan 2004 the new £2 coin had both his name and his invention on it.

Sources: wiki, ukhistory

-Alex

History of Trains In Sydney Bradfield Era

In 1912, the NSW Public Works Department appointed John Bradfield as Chief Engineer for Metropolitan Railway construction. In 1915 he designed a plan to electrify the all Railway Lines and to Build the City Circle Loop as we know today. This didn't take off until after World War 1, once the government had some money to build these large scale capital work projects. The Tunnels were built from central to Museum & St James first, opening in 1926, with the western portal from Central to Wynyard via Town Hall completed by 1932. The Western portal then continued and connected Wynyard with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the same year. Bradfield's original plans to connect the 2 lines and create a city circle Loop wasnt completed until 1956, as the government had run low on cash during the great depression and the outbreak of Word War 2, meaning Bradfield died before seeing his work completed.

~ Cameron

John Bradfield's Original Railway Plans

The Beginnings of the MAGLEV Trains

Magnetic levitation trains are considered to be the future of "rail" transportation since no conventional trains have become much faster in the past one hundred years. These trains often called "bullet" or MAGLEV trains have recently become popular in some countries, but before I cover the current developments I will go back over the beginnings.

The first developments of a magnetic levitating train had begun by the inventor Alfred Zehden whom filed a patent for his invention of an 'Electric traction apparatus' on June 21, 1902. His only real contribution was to create a high-speed transportation using an electric motor.

It was a couple years later that on the 25th of August 1959 that Richard Polgreen Geoffrey filed the first patent for a means of transport through magnets. His work is what sparked true developments in this area.

The main ideas for this technology was to increase the speeds of trains by reducing the friction between the conventional wheels and the tracks, this theoretically makes the train more efficient as less energy is lost to friction.

- Ryan

Proposed railways in Sydney

Bradfield railway scheme, 1920s

The main proponent of electrifying the city and suburban railway was Dr John Bradfield, an important name in the history of Sydney's transport. From before World War I, Bradfield submitted various plans for improving Sydney's railway network. He identified some of Sydney's major transport problems: the need to extend the railway into the city; the need to connect Sydney with North Sydney by either bridging or tunnelling under the harbour, and the 'need' for an eastern suburbs railway. These issues were to be taken up time and again.  

The Christie Report, 2002

The Christie Report advised the extension of the southern rail line to growth areas west of Glenfield, to construct a heavy-rail line linking Chatswood with Parramatta in the one direction and the Hills district linking to Richmond in the other. It also advocated the building of integrated "metro" services linking the CBD with Parramatta, with two further metro lines linking Castle Hill in the north-west with Hoxton Park in the south-west, and Cronulla in the south with Dee Why and the northern beaches.

North West Rail Link (NWRL), Currently in progress

The North West Rail Link, also known as the NWRL, is an $8.3 billion high priority rapid transit rail infrastructure project for the NSW Government that is targeted to open in 2019. The NWRL will initially operate between Cudgegong Road and Chatswood consisting of eight new stations between Cudgegong Road and Epping. There will be approximately 15.5kms of tunnels from Epping to Bella Vista, a 4kms elevated section between Bella Vista and Rouse Hill and conversion of the existing Epping to Chatswood Rail Link (ECRL) to suit the rapid transit system.


- Tim

***ALL IMAGES SOURCES FROM <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposed_railways_in_Sydney> ***

History of Trains In Sydney Pre 1900

The first railway in Sydney was opened in 1855 between Sydney and Granville, when NSW had a population of less than 350 000. At the time Granville was a major Agricultural center in Sydney, because of this it was serviced by Commuter and Freight Services. In 1884 the network extended from Strathfield to Hornsby. Progress continued on a swing and by 1894 the network as we see today was starting to take shape. The North Shore line was built from North Sydney to Hornsby and the main Western Line was extended from Granville to Richmond and the Blue Mountains in the west and the Illawarra Line was built down to Waterfall and Nowra

Sydney's Railway Network 1900

~ Cameron