Articulated cars are
rail vehiclesA railroad car or railway carriage is a vehicle on a rail transport system that is used for the carrying of cargo or passengers. Cars can be coupled together into a train and hauled by one or more locomotives...
which are consist of a number of smaller, lighter cars which are semi-permanently attached to each other and which share common
trucksJacobs bogies are a type of rail vehicle bogie commonly found on articulated railcars and tramway vehicles.Instead of being underneath a piece of rolling stock, Jacobs bogies are placed between two carbody sections...
. They are much longer than single passenger cars, and on the
TGV RéseauThe SNCF TGV Réseau trains were built by Alstom between 1992 and 1996. These TGV trainsets are based on the earlier TGV Atlantique.The first Réseau sets entered service in 1993. Fifty dual-voltage trainsets were built in 1992-1994, numbered 501-550. A further 40 triple-voltage trainsets, numbered...
, for example, 8 cars are joined this way. Because of the difficulty and cost of separating each car from the next, they are nearly always operated as a single unit, often called a
trainset.
Articulated passenger cars are becoming increasingly common in Europe and the US.
Articulated cars are
rail vehiclesA railroad car or railway carriage is a vehicle on a rail transport system that is used for the carrying of cargo or passengers. Cars can be coupled together into a train and hauled by one or more locomotives...
which are consist of a number of smaller, lighter cars which are semi-permanently attached to each other and which share common
trucksJacobs bogies are a type of rail vehicle bogie commonly found on articulated railcars and tramway vehicles.Instead of being underneath a piece of rolling stock, Jacobs bogies are placed between two carbody sections...
. They are much longer than single passenger cars, and on the
TGV RéseauThe SNCF TGV Réseau trains were built by Alstom between 1992 and 1996. These TGV trainsets are based on the earlier TGV Atlantique.The first Réseau sets entered service in 1993. Fifty dual-voltage trainsets were built in 1992-1994, numbered 501-550. A further 40 triple-voltage trainsets, numbered...
, for example, 8 cars are joined this way. Because of the difficulty and cost of separating each car from the next, they are nearly always operated as a single unit, often called a
trainset.
Passenger cars
Articulated passenger cars are becoming increasingly common in Europe and the US. This means that the passenger cars share trucks and that the passageways between them are more or less permanently attached. The cars are kept in "trainsets" and not split up during normal operations. There is a safety benefit in that if the train derails, it is less likely to
jackknifeJackknifing means the accidental folding of an articulated vehicle such that it resembles the acute angle of a folding pocket knife. If a vehicle towing a trailer skids, the trailer can push it from behind until it spins round and faces backwards...
and modern construction techniques thankfully prevent
telescopingIn a railway accident, telescoping occurs when the underframe of one vehicle overrides that of another, and smashes through the second vehicle's body...
.
Articulated Cars are not however a new idea. Many British Railways in the first half of the 20th century frequently rebuilt older, shorter cars into articulated sets, and the Great Northern Railway in Britain built suburban car sets new. In the 1930s, a number of streamlined trains built for the
London and North Eastern RailwayThe London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...
also made use of articulated technology.
Freight cars
Manufacturers such as
GundersonGunderson is a surname which can refer to these people:*Carl Gunderson , Governor of South Dakota*Steven Craig Gunderson , United States congressman* Steve Gunderson , United States actor...
make articulated, low-floor "well" cars, articulated
trailer carriersIntermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation , without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damages and...
and articulated autoracks.
Advantages and disadvantages
Articulated cars have a number of advantages. They save on the total number of wheels and trucks, reducing initial cost, weight, noise, vibration and maintenance expenses. Further, movement between passenger cars is safer and easier than with traditional designs. Finally, it is easier to implement tilting schemes such as the
TalgoTalgo is a Spanish manufacturer of railway vehicles. It is best known for a design of articulated railway passenger cars in which the wheels are mounted in pairs, but not joined by an axle, and being between rather than underneath the individual coaches...
design which allow the train to lean into curves. The
trucksA bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar tracked...
of the
PendolinoPendolino is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, China and shortly in Romania, Ukraine and Russian Federation...
are entirely under the coach. The trucks of the
LRC passenger carsLRC is a bilingual acronym for Light, Rapid, Comfortable or Lèger, Rapide, et Confortable, the name of a series of lightweight diesel-powered passenger trains that were used on short- to medium-distance inter-city service in the Canadian Provinces of Ontario and Quebec...
built by
Bombardier TransportationBombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Bombardier Inc.. Bombardier Transportation is the world’s largest company in the rail equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters is in Berlin, Germany....
are entirely under the cars as well.
Disadvantages primarily relate to lesser operational flexibility. For example, additional cars cannot readily be added to an articulated trainset to accommodate peaks in traffic volume and a mechanical malfunction in one car or power unit can disable an entire trainset.
See also
- Air brake
An air brake is a conveyance braking system actuated by compressed air. Modern trains rely upon a fail-safe air brake system that is based upon a design patented by George Westinghouse on March 5, 1872. The Westinghouse Air Brake Company was subsequently organized to manufacture and sell...
- Articulated Light Rail Vehicle
The Articulated Light Rail Vehicle ' is a type of streetcar currently used by the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto, Canada.The ALRV is an extended version of the Canadian Light Rail Vehicle platform. A demo model, 4900 with pantograph, was built in 1984 and used by the Toronto Transit...
- Articulated trams
- Articulated vehicle
An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivoting joint in its construction, allowing the vehicle to turn more sharply. There are many kinds of articulated vehicles, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains...
- Bogie
A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar tracked...
- Jacobs bogie
Jacobs bogies are a type of rail vehicle bogie commonly found on articulated railcars and tramway vehicles.Instead of being underneath a piece of rolling stock, Jacobs bogies are placed between two carbody sections...
- Railway brakes
Brakes are used on the vehicles of railway trains to slow them, or to keep them standing when parked. While the principle is familiar from road vehicle usage, operational features are more complex because of the need to control trains, i.e...
- Stadler GTW
The Stadler GTW, sold by Stadler Rail of Switzerland, is an articulated railcar for local transport. GTW stands for Gelenktriebwagen .-Description:...
- TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by VFE, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator. It was developed during the 1970s by GEC-Alsthom and SNCF, and is now operated primarily by SNCF...
- Vacuum brake
The vacuum brake is a braking system used on trains. It was first introduced in the mid 1860s and a variant, the automatic vacuum brake system became almost universal in British train equipment, and in those countries influenced by British practice....