Rail transport

Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a <a href="/facts/Means_of_transport/FATJmIdV">means of transport</a> using wheeled vehicles running in <a href="/facts/Railway_track/erncmXfX">tracks</a>, which usually consist of two parallel <a href="/facts/Steel/aN6qWo4H">steel</a> <a href="/facts/Railway_track/erncmXfX">rails</a>. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of <a href="/facts/Land_transport/RzT2Y9YU">land transport</a>, next to <a href="/facts/Road_transport/z2IPvusI">road transport</a>. It is used for about 8% of passenger and freight transport globally, thanks to its <a href="/facts/Energy_efficiency_in_transport/XDpnWg7y">energy efficiency</a> and potentially <a href="/facts/High-speed_rail/I1obpP6M">high speed</a>.<a href="/facts/Rolling_stock/xe66VHGf">Rolling stock</a> on rails generally encounters lower <a href="/facts/Friction/d0108Rpu">frictional resistance</a> than rubber-tyred road vehicles, allowing rail cars to be coupled into longer <a href="/facts/Train/0mkFQDg9">trains</a>. Power is usually provided by <a href="/facts/Diesel_locomotive/RvJF30q2">diesel</a> or <a href="/facts/Electric_locomotive/580UInEr">electric</a> <a href="/facts/Locomotive/C9YV7wrQ">locomotives</a>. While railway transport is <a href="/facts/Capital_intensity/9frXcmEq">capital-intensive</a> and less flexible than road transport, it can carry heavy loads of passengers and cargo with greater energy efficiency and safety.
Precursors of railways driven by human or animal power have existed since antiquity, but modern rail transport began with the invention of the <a href="/facts/Steam_locomotive/cXEQwhFk">steam locomotive</a> in the <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom/kuPAILt2">United Kingdom</a> at the beginning of the 19th century. The first passenger railway, the <a href="/facts/Stockton_and_Darlington_Railway/xd8HgeKA">Stockton and Darlington Railway</a>, opened in 1825. The quick spread of railways throughout <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">Europe</a> and North America, following the <a href="/facts/Opening_of_the_Liverpool_and_Manchester_Railway/mbNtR8Qv">1830 opening of the first intercity connection</a> in England, was a key component of the <a href="/facts/Industrial_Revolution/B6E3Fasm">Industrial Revolution</a>. The adoption of rail transport lowered <a href="/facts/Shipping/0wYezNsU">shipping</a> costs compared to water transport, leading to "national markets" in which prices varied less from city to city.
Railroads not only increased the speed of transport, they also dramatically lowered its cost. For example, the first transcontinental railroad in the United States resulted in passengers and freight being able to cross the country in a matter of days instead of months and at one tenth the cost of stagecoach or wagon transport. With economical transportation in the West (which had been referred to as the <a href="/facts/Great_American_Desert/HzMlLERp">Great American Desert</a>) now farming, ranching and mining could be done at a profit. As a result, railroads transformed the country, particularly the West (which had few navigable rivers).
In the 1880s, <a href="/facts/Railway_electrification/WksMTQ4u">railway electrification</a> began with tramways and rapid transit systems. Starting in the 1940s, steam locomotives were replaced by <a href="/facts/Diesel_locomotive/RvJF30q2">diesel locomotives</a>. The first <a href="/facts/High-speed_rail/I1obpP6M">high-speed railway system</a> was introduced in <a href="/facts/Japan/U5mz0SRT">Japan</a> in 1964, and high-speed rail lines now connect many cities <a href="/facts/High-speed_rail_in_Europe/e0du7CGm">in Europe</a>, <a href="/facts/High-speed_rail/I1obpP6M">East Asia</a>, and <a href="/facts/High-speed_rail_in_the_United_States/PjTmXqzd">the eastern United States</a>. Following some decline due to competition from cars and airplanes, rail transport has had a revival in recent decades due to <a href="/facts/Road_congestion/CTl1sfGX">road congestion</a> and rising fuel prices, as well as governments <a href="/facts/Rail_subsidies/KaNEvEJ1">investing in rail</a> as a means of reducing <a href="/facts/CO2_emissions/Cu9nXPHE">CO2 emissions</a>.

Rail transport open-in-new

Rail transport