Shinkansen high-speed train. Bullet trains in Japan

Broad gauge supporters managed to bring their projects to life on the railway laid by the Japanese in the early 30s. in colonized Southern Manchuria. In 1934, the legendary Asia Express was launched between the cities of Dalian and Changchun (700 km), an indicative symbol of the Japanese imperialist power of that time. Capable of reaching speeds of over 130 km/h, it was far superior to China's railway system at the time, and was even much faster than the fastest express train in Japan itself. And on a global scale, Asia-Express had impressive characteristics. For example, the world's first air-conditioned carriages were equipped there. The dining car was equipped with refrigerators, and there was also a special carriage - an observation deck with windows along the entire perimeter, furnished with leather chairs and bookshelves.

This example probably became the final argument in favor of broad gauge and gave rise to the first high-speed rail projects in Japan. In 1940, the Japanese government approved a project of incredible scale. Even then, the project envisaged the creation of a train capable of reaching speeds of up to 200 km/h, but the Japanese government did not intend to limit itself to laying lines only on Japanese territory. It was planned to build an underwater tunnel to the Korean Peninsula and extend the tracks all the way to Beijing. Construction had already partially begun, but the outbreak of the war and the subsequent deterioration of Japan's military and political positions put an end to imperial ambitions. In 1943, the project was curtailed; the same year was the last for Asia-Express. However, some sections of the Shinkansen lines in operation today were built in the pre-war years.
They started talking about the construction of the Shinkansen again 10 years after the war. Rapid economic growth has created great demand for freight and passenger transportation throughout the country. However, the idea to revive the project turned out to be completely unpopular and was sharply criticized. At that time, there was a strong opinion that road and air transport would soon supplant railway transport, as happened, for example, in the USA and some European countries. The project was again in jeopardy.

In 1958, between Tokyo and Osaka, on a still narrow gauge, the direct ancestor of the Shinkansen, the Kodama business express, was launched. With a maximum speed of 110 km/h, it covered the distance between cities in 6.5 hours, making one-day business trips possible. In Japan, where business culture is based on face-to-face meetings, this was a very convenient solution. However, he did not serve very long. The incredible popularity of the Kodama left no one in any doubt about the need for high-speed lines, and less than a year later the government finally approved the Shinkansen construction project.

An agreement has been signed in Russia on the creation of a high-speed train – Hyperloop. Its speed will be 1200 km/h - this is unimaginably higher than the existing speeds of ground transport.

Last month, at an economic forum in St. Petersburg, where many foreign companies and investors participate, the Moscow leadership and the Hyperloop company signed an agreement to operate a Hyperloop train in the capital.

The Hyperloop train is not an ordinary train, it moves inside a pipeline in which there will be almost a vacuum (0.001 atmospheric pressure), instead of cars it has special capsules. It is believed that since the train will move in a vacuum, the resistance will be insignificant, so the speed can reach up to 1200 km/h.

Acceleration and braking of the train will be carried out by an electromagnetic field. The train will have increased aerodynamic performance to overcome the sound barrier.

Hyperloop is a breakthrough

Of course, if such a train is actually created, it will change a lot. Travel and transportation will be significantly reduced.

In addition, such a train will be cheaper than magnetic levitation trains. Due to their enormous cost, the development of magnetic trains was stopped. Although the technology itself is also very interesting.

The Hyperloop differs from a magnetic levitation train in that it floats above the rail not due to a magnetic field, but due to air (i.e. it is pneumatic).

An additional advantage of Hyperloop is its autonomous operation. Neither bad weather nor natural disasters are a hindrance to him.

What do we have for today?

Hyperloop is being developed by 2 companies. To date, only initial acceleration tests of the motors have been carried out. The results are good: 160 km/h, while accelerating to 100 km/h in less than 1 second. There have been no tests on tunnels and air cushions yet. Engineers from one of the development companies are already beginning to doubt the use of an air cushion.

But according to its ambitions, the founding company stated that it was going to create a “New Silk Road” from China to Europe in 1 day. In the meantime, the contract instructs the Hyperloop company to make travel easier and reduce time for Muscovites. The start of the project is scheduled for December 2016.

Magnetic levitation trains are environmentally friendly, silent and fast transport. They cannot fly off the rails and, in the event of a problem, are able to stop safely. But why has such transport not become widespread, and people still use ordinary electric trains and trains?

Magnetic levitation trains: why the “transport of the future” has not caught on

Veronica Elkina

In the 1980s, magnetic levitation (maglev) trains were believed to be the transport of the future that would destroy domestic air travel. These trains can carry passengers at speeds of 800 km/h and cause virtually no harm to the environment.

Maglevs are able to travel in any weather and cannot leave their only rail - the further the train deviates from the tracks, the more magnetic levitation pushes it back. All maglevs move at the same frequency, so there will be no problems with the signals. Imagine the effect such trains would have on the economy and transport if the distance between distant major cities was covered in half an hour.

But why can't you still drive to work at supersonic speeds in the morning? The concept of maglevs has been around for over a century, with numerous patents using the technology dating back to the early 1900s. However, only three working magnetic levitation train systems have survived to this day, all of them only in Asia.

Japanese Maglev. Photo: Yuriko Nakao/Reuters

Before this, the first working Maglev appeared in the UK: between 1984 and 1995, an AirLink shuttle operated from Birmingham Airport. The maglev was a popular and cheap transport, but its maintenance was very expensive, since some spare parts were one-off and hard to find.

In the late 1980s, Germany also turned to the idea, with its driverless M-Bahn train running between three stations in West Berlin. However, they decided to postpone the technology of levitating trains for later, and the line was closed. Its manufacturer, TransRapid, tested maglevs until an accident occurred at the La Tène training site in 2006, killing 23 people.

This incident could have put an end to the German maglevs if TransRapid had not previously signed a contract for the construction of a maglev for Shanghai Airport in 2001. Now this maglev is the fastest electric train in the world, traveling at a speed of 431 km/h. With its help, the distance from the airport to the business district of Shanghai can be covered in just eight minutes. On ordinary transport this would take a whole hour. China has another medium-speed maglev (its speed is about 159 km/h), which operates in the capital of Hunan province, Changsha. The Chinese love this technology so much that by 2020 they plan to launch several more maglevs in 12 cities.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was the first to ride a TransRapid maglev to Shanghai Airport. Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/EPA

In Asia, work is currently underway on other magnetic levitation train projects. One of the most famous is the EcoBee self-driving shuttle, which has been operating from South Korea's Incheon Airport since 2012. Its shortest line has seven stations, between which the maglev rushes at a speed of 109 km/h. And trips on it are absolutely free.

The first magnetic levitation train carried a group of passengers as part of the 1979 IVA International Transport Exhibition in Germany. But few people know that in the same year another maglev, the Soviet model TP-01, drove its first meters along the test track. It is especially surprising that Soviet maglevs have survived to this day - they have been collecting dust on the outskirts of history for more than 30 years.

Experiments with transport operating on the principle of magnetic levitation began even before the war. Over the years and in different countries, working prototypes of levitating trains have appeared. In 1979, the Germans introduced a system that transported more than 50,000 passengers in three months of operation, and in 1984, the first ever permanent line for magnetic levitation trains appeared at Birmingham International Airport (UK). The initial length of the route was 600 m, and the levitation height did not exceed 15 mm. The system operated quite successfully for 11 years, but then technical failures became more frequent due to aging equipment. And since the system was unique, almost any spare part had to be made to order, and it was decided to close the line, which was bringing continuous losses.

1986, TP-05 at the training ground in Ramenskoye. The 800-meter section did not allow us to accelerate to cruising speeds, but the initial “races” did not require this. The car, built in an extremely short time, managed almost without any “childhood diseases”, and this was a good result.

In addition to the British, serial magnetic trains were quite successfully launched in Germany - the company Transrapid operated a similar system 31.5 km long in the Emsland region between the cities of Derpen and Laten. The story of the Emsland Maglev, however, ended tragically: in 2006, due to the fault of technicians, a serious accident occurred in which 23 people died, and the line was mothballed.

There are two magnetic levitation systems in use in Japan today. The first (for urban transport) uses an electromagnetic suspension system for speeds up to 100 km/h. The second, better known, SCMaglev, is designed for speeds over 400 km/h and is based on superconducting magnets. As part of this program, several lines were built and a world speed record for a railway vehicle was set, 581 km/h. Just two years ago, a new generation of Japanese maglev trains was introduced - the L0 Series Shinkansen. In addition, a system similar to the German “Transrapid” operates in China, in Shanghai; it also uses superconducting magnets.

The TP-05 salon had two rows of seats and a central aisle. The car is wide and at the same time surprisingly low - the 184 cm tall editor practically touched the ceiling with his head. It was impossible to stand in the driver's cab.

And in 1975, the development of the first Soviet maglev began. Today it has been practically forgotten, but it is a very important page in the technical history of our country.

Train of the future

It stands before us - large, futuristic in design, looking more like a spaceship from a science fiction movie than a vehicle. Streamlined aluminum body, sliding door, stylized inscription “TP-05” on the side. An experimental maglev car has been standing at a testing ground near Ramenskoye for 25 years, the cellophane is covered with a thick layer of dust, underneath is an amazing machine that miraculously was not cut into metal according to the good Russian tradition. But no, it was preserved, and TP-04, its predecessor, intended for testing individual components, was preserved.

The experimental car in the workshop is already in a new livery. It was repainted several times, and for the filming of a fantastic short film, a large Fire-ball inscription was made on the side.

The development of maglev goes back to 1975, when the Soyuztransprogress production association appeared under the USSR Ministry of Oil and Gas Construction. A few years later, the state program “High-speed environmentally friendly transport” was launched, within the framework of which work began on a magnetic levitation train. The financing was very good; a special workshop and training ground of the VNIIPItransprogress Institute with a 120-meter section of road in Ramenskoye near Moscow was built for the project. And in 1979, the first magnetic levitation car TP-01 successfully passed the test distance under its own power - however, still on a temporary 36-meter section of the Gazstroymashina plant, elements of which were later “moved” to Ramenskoye. Please note - at the same time as the Germans and before many other developers! In principle, the USSR had a chance to become one of the first countries to develop magnetic transport - the work was carried out by real enthusiasts of their craft, led by Academician Yuri Sokolov.

Magnetic modules (gray) on a rail (orange). The rectangular bars in the center of the photo are gap sensors that monitor surface unevenness. The electronics were removed from TP-05, but the magnetic equipment remained, and, in principle, the car can be started again.

The Popular Mechanics expedition was led by none other than Andrey Aleksandrovich Galenko, General Director of the OJSC Engineering and Scientific Center TEMP. “TEMP” is the same organization, ex-VNIIPItransprogress, a branch of the Soyuztransprogress that has sunk into oblivion, and Andrei Aleksandrovich worked on the system from the very beginning, and hardly anyone could talk about it better than him. TP-05 stands under cellophane, and the first thing the photographer says is: no, no, we can’t photograph this, nothing is visible right away. But then we pull off the cellophane - and for the first time in many years, the Soviet maglev appears before us, not engineers or test site employees, in all its glory.

Why do you need Maglev?

The development of transport systems operating on the principle of magnetic levitation can be divided into three directions. The first is cars with a design speed of up to 100 km/h; in this case, the most optimal scheme is with levitation electromagnets. The second is suburban transport with speeds of 100-400 km/h; here it is most advisable to use a full-fledged electromagnetic suspension with lateral stabilization systems. And finally, the most “fashionable” trend, so to speak, is long-distance trains capable of accelerating to 500 km/h and above. In this case, the suspension should be electrodynamic, using superconducting magnets.

TP-01 belonged to the first direction and was tested at the test site until mid-1980. Its weight was 12 tons, length - 9 m, and it could accommodate 20 people; The suspension gap was minimal - only 10 mm. TP-01 was followed by new gradations of testing machines - TP-02 and TP-03, the track was extended to 850 m, then the laboratory car TP-04 appeared, designed to study the operation of a linear traction electric drive. The future of Soviet maglevs seemed cloudless, especially since in the world, besides Ramensky, there were only two such training grounds - in Germany and Japan.

Previously, the TP-05 was symmetrical and could move both forward and backward; control panels and windshields were on both sides. Today, the control panel is preserved only on the workshop side - the second one was dismantled as unnecessary.

The operating principle of a levitating train is relatively simple. The composition does not touch the rail, being in a state of hovering - the mutual attraction or repulsion of magnets works. Simply put, the cars hang above the track plane thanks to the vertically directed forces of magnetic levitation, and are kept from lateral rolls by similar forces directed horizontally. In the absence of friction on the rail, the only “obstacle” to movement is aerodynamic resistance - theoretically, even a child can move a multi-ton carriage. The train is driven by a linear asynchronous motor, similar to the one that works, for example, on the Moscow monorail (by the way, this motor was developed by JSC Scientific Center "TEMP"). Such an engine has two parts: the primary (inductor) is installed under the car, the secondary (reactive tire) is installed on the tracks. The electromagnetic field created by the inductor interacts with the tire, moving the train forward.

The advantages of maglev primarily include the absence of resistance other than aerodynamic. In addition, equipment wear is minimal due to the small number of moving elements of the system compared to classic trains. The disadvantages are the complexity and high cost of the routes. For example, one of the problems is safety: the maglev needs to be “lifted” onto an overpass, and if there is an overpass, then it is necessary to consider the possibility of evacuating passengers in case of an emergency. However, the TP-05 car was planned for operation at speeds of up to 100 km/h and had a relatively inexpensive and technologically advanced track structure.

1980s An engineer from VNIIPI-transprogress works on a computer. The equipment of the workshop at that time was the most modern - the financing of the “High-Speed ​​Environmentally Friendly Transport” program was carried out without serious failures even during perestroika times.

Everything from scratch

When developing the TP series, the engineers essentially did everything from scratch. We chose the parameters for the interaction between the magnets of the car and the track, then took up the electromagnetic suspension - we worked on optimizing magnetic fluxes, motion dynamics, etc. The main achievement of the developers can be called the so-called magnetic skis they created, capable of compensating for uneven tracks and ensuring comfortable dynamics of the car with passengers. Adaptation to unevenness was realized using small-sized electromagnets connected by hinges into something similar to chains. The circuit was complex, but much more reliable and efficient than with rigidly fixed magnets. The system was monitored thanks to gap sensors, which monitored track irregularities and gave commands to the power converter, which reduced or increased the current in a particular electromagnet, and therefore the lifting force.

TP-01, the first Soviet maglev, 1979. Here the car is not yet standing in Ramenskoye, but on a short, 36-meter section of track, built at the training ground of the Gazstroymashina plant. In the same year, the Germans demonstrated the first such carriage - Soviet engineers kept pace with the times.

It was this scheme that was tested on TP-05, the only “second direction” car built within the program, with an electromagnetic suspension. Work on the car was carried out very quickly - its aluminum body, for example, was completed in literally three months. The first tests of TP-05 took place in 1986. It weighed 18 tons, accommodated 18 people, the rest of the car was occupied by testing equipment. It was assumed that the first road using such cars in practice would be built in Armenia (from Yerevan to Abovyan, 16 km). The speed was to be increased to 180 km/h, the capacity to 64 people per car. But the second half of the 1980s made its own adjustments to the rosy future of the Soviet maglev. By that time, the first permanent magnetic levitation system had already been launched in Britain; we could have caught up with the British if not for the political vicissitudes. Another reason for the project's curtailment was the earthquake in Armenia, which led to a sharp reduction in funding.

Project B250 - high-speed maglev "Moscow - Sheremetyevo". Aerodynamics were developed at the Yakovlev Design Bureau, and full-size mock-ups of the segment with seats and cockpit were made. The design speed - 250 km/h - was reflected in the project index. Unfortunately, in 1993, the ambitious idea crashed due to lack of funding.

Ancestor of Aeroexpress

All work on the TP series was discontinued in the late 1980s, and since 1990, the TP-05, which by that time had managed to star in the science fiction short film “Robots are No Mess,” was put in permanent storage under cellophane in the same workshop where it was built. We became the first journalists in a quarter of a century to see this car “live.” Almost everything inside has been preserved - from the control panel to the upholstery of the seats. The restoration of TP-05 is not as difficult as it could be - it was under a roof, in good conditions and deserves a place in the transport museum.

In the early 1990s, the TEMP Research Center continued the topic of maglev, now commissioned by the Moscow government. This was the idea of ​​Aeroexpress, a high-speed magnetic levitation train to deliver residents of the capital directly to Sheremetyevo Airport. The project was named B250. An experimental segment of the train was shown at an exhibition in Milan, after which foreign investors and engineers appeared in the project; Soviet specialists traveled to Germany to study foreign developments. But in 1993, due to the financial crisis, the project was curtailed. 64-seater carriages for Sheremetyevo remained only on paper. However, some elements of the system were created in full-scale samples - suspension units and chassis, devices for the on-board power supply system, and even testing of individual units began.

The most interesting thing is that there are developments for maglevs in Russia. JSC Research Center "TEMP" is working, implementing various projects for the peaceful and defense industries, there is a test site, and there is experience working with similar systems. Several years ago, thanks to the initiative of JSC Russian Railways, conversations about maglev again moved to the design development stage - however, the continuation of work has already been entrusted to other organizations. Time will tell what this will lead to.

For assistance in preparing the material, the editors express gratitude to the General Director of the Research and Development Center “Electromagnetic Passenger Transport” A.A. Galenko.

It is also a magnetic levitation train, also known as maglev from the English magnetic levitation ("magnetic levitation") - this is a magnetic levitation train, driven and controlled by the force of an electromagnetic field. Such a train, unlike traditional trains, does not touch the rail surface during movement. Since there is a gap between the train and the running surface, friction is eliminated and the only braking force is aerodynamic drag. Maglev refers to monorail transport.

Monorail:

Hotchkiss (Arthur Hotchkiss) 1890s;
images from Wikipedia

images from Wikipedia

High-speed ground transport (HSLT) is rail transport that operates trains at speeds in excess of 200 km/h (120 mph). Although at the beginning of the 20th century, trains traveling at speeds above 150-160 km/h were called high-speed.
Today, VSNT trains travel along specially designated railway tracks - a high-speed line (HSL), or on a magnetic levitation, along which the maglev shown above moves.

The first regular service of high-speed trains began in 1964 in Japan. In 1981, BCHT trains began running in France, and soon most of Western Europe, including the UK, was united into a single high-speed rail network. Modern high-speed trains in operation reach speeds of about 350-400 km/h, and in tests they can even accelerate to 560-580 km/h, such as the JR-Maglev MLX01, which set a speed record of 581 km/h during testing in 2003. h.
In Russia, regular operation of high-speed trains, on common tracks with regular trains, began in 2009. And only by 2017 is the completion of the construction of Russia's first specialized high-speed railway line Moscow - St. Petersburg.

Sapsan Siemens Velaro RUS; maximum service speed - 230 km/h,
upgrade to 350 km/h possible; photo from Wikipedia

In addition to passengers, high-speed trains also transport cargo, for example: the French service La Poste has a fleet of special TGV electric trains for transporting mail and parcels.

The speed of “magnetic” trains, that is, maglev trains, is comparable to the speed of an airplane and allows them to compete with air transport on short- and medium-haul routes (up to 1000 km). Although the idea of ​​such transport itself is not new, economic and technical limitations have not allowed it to fully develop.

At the moment, there are 3 main technologies for magnetic suspension of trains:

1. On superconducting magnets (electrodynamic suspension, EDS);
2. On electromagnets (electromagnetic suspension, EMS);
3. On permanent magnets; this is a new and potentially most cost-effective system.

The composition levitates due to the repulsion of identical magnetic poles and, conversely, the attraction of opposite poles. The movement is carried out by a linear motor located either on the train, on the track, or both. A major design challenge is the heavy weight of sufficiently powerful magnets, since a strong magnetic field is required to maintain the massive composition in the air.

Advantages of Maglev:

• theoretically the highest speed that can be achieved on public (non-sports) ground transport;
• great prospects for achieving speeds many times higher than those used in jet aviation;
• low noise.

Disadvantages of Maglev:

• high cost of creating and maintaining a track - the cost of building one kilometer of maglev track is comparable to digging a kilometer of metro tunnel using a closed method;
• the electromagnetic field created may be harmful to train crews and surrounding residents. Even traction transformers used on AC-electrified railways are harmful to drivers. But in this case, the field strength is an order of magnitude greater. It is also possible that Maglev lines will not be available to people using pacemakers;
• Standard gauge tracks, rebuilt for high-speed traffic, remain accessible to regular passenger and commuter trains. The high-speed Maglev route is not suitable for anything else; additional tracks will be required for low-speed service.

The most active developments of maglev are carried out by Germany and Japan.

*Help: What is Shinkansen?
Shinkansen is the name of the high-speed railway network in Japan, designed to transport passengers between major cities in the country. Owned by Japan Railways. The first line opened between Osaka and Tokyo in 1964, the Tokaido Shinkansen. This line is the busiest high-speed rail line in the world. It carries about 375,000 passengers daily.

"Bullet Train" is one of the names for Shinkansen trains. Trains can have up to 16 cars. Each carriage reaches a length of 25 meters, with the exception of the head carriages, which are usually slightly longer. The total length of the train is about 400 meters. The stations for such trains are also very long and specially adapted for these trains.

Shinkansen trains series 200~E5; photo from Wikipedia

In Japan, maglevs are often called "riniaka" (Japanese: リニアカー), derived from the English "linear car" due to the linear motor used on board.

JR-Maglev uses electrodynamic suspension with superconducting magnets (EDS), installed both on the train and on the track. Unlike the German Transrapid system, JR-Maglev does not use a monorail design: trains run in a channel between magnets. This design allows for higher speeds, ensures greater passenger safety in the event of evacuation, and ease of operation.

Unlike electromagnetic suspension (EMS), trains using EDS technology require additional wheels when traveling at low speeds (up to 150 km/h). When a certain speed is reached, the wheels are separated from the ground and the train “flies” at a distance of several centimeters from the surface. In the event of an accident, the wheels also allow the train to stop more smoothly.

For braking in normal mode, electrodynamic brakes are used. For emergencies, the train is equipped with retractable aerodynamic and disc brakes on the bogies.

Ride in maglev with a top speed of 501 km/h. The description states that the video was made in 2005:

On the line in Yamanashi, several trains with different shapes of the nose cone are being tested: from a regular pointed cone to an almost flat one, 14 meters long, designed to get rid of the loud bang that accompanies a train entering a tunnel at high speed. The maglev train can be completely computer controlled. The driver monitors the operation of the computer and receives an image of the track through a video camera (the driver's cabin does not have forward viewing windows).

The JR-Maglev technology is more expensive than a similar development by Transrapid, implemented in China (line to Shanghai airport), since it requires large expenses for equipping the route with superconducting magnets and laying tunnels in the mountains using an explosive method. The total cost of the project could be US$82.5 billion. If the line were laid along the Tokaido coastal highway, it would require less cost, but would require the construction of a large number of short-length tunnels. Despite the fact that the magnetic levitation train itself is silent, each entry into the tunnel at high speed will cause a bang comparable in volume to an explosion, so laying the line in densely populated areas is impossible.