Tilting train
Encyclopedia
Rail tracks
The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...
. As a train (or other vehicle) rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide about or seated passengers to feel squashed by the outboard armrest due to its centripetal force
Centripetal force
Centripetal force is a force that makes a body follow a curved path: it is always directed orthogonal to the velocity of the body, toward the instantaneous center of curvature of the path. The mathematical description was derived in 1659 by Dutch physicist Christiaan Huygens...
, and standing passengers to lose their balance. Tilting trains are designed to counteract this discomfort. In a curve to the left the train tilts to the left to compensate for the g-force push to the right, and vice versa. The train may be constructed such that inertia
Inertia
Inertia is the resistance of any physical object to a change in its state of motion or rest, or the tendency of an object to resist any change in its motion. It is proportional to an object's mass. The principle of inertia is one of the fundamental principles of classical physics which are used to...
l forces cause the tilting (passive tilt), or it may have a computer-controlled power mechanism (active tilt).
The first tilting train regularly put into public service was the 381 series
381 series
The is a tilting DC electric multiple unit introduced in 1973 by Japanese National Railways , and currently operated by West Japan Railway Company , and formerly also operated by Central Japan Railway Company in Japan.-JR West:...
run by Japanese National Railways
Japanese National Railways
, abbreviated or "JNR", was the national railway network of Japan from 1949 to 1987.-History:The term Kokuyū Tetsudō "state-owned railway" originally referred to a network of railway lines operated by nationalized companies under the control of the Railway Institute following the nationalization...
(JNR), which became operational in July 1973 in Shinano (train)
Shinano (train)
The , branded as is limited express train service in Japan operated by Central Japan Railway Company , which runs from and to via .-Route: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -History:...
limited express service from Nagoya to Nagano on the Chūō Main Line
Chuo Main Line
The , commonly called the Chūō Line, is one of the major trunk railway lines in Japan. It runs between Tokyo and Nagoya, although it is the slowest direct railway connection between the two cities; the coastal Tōkaidō Main Line is slightly faster, while the Tōkaidō Shinkansen is the fastest rail...
. This technology was not fully implemented world-wide as the marginally increased curve speeds did not justify the extra expense and technology in many cases. The British Advanced Passenger Train
Advanced Passenger Train
The Advanced Passenger Train was an experimental tilting High Speed Train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s....
(being operational from 1984 to 1985) was the first to successfully implement active tilt increasing speeds significantly on tight rail curves. Active tilting is the mechanism most widely used today.
The most successful active tilt trains of note in operation is the Italian Pendolino
Pendolino
Pendolino is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russian Federation, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Switzerland, China and shortly in Romania and Poland...
(built and produced by Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
), partially based on the Advanced Passenger Train. The most successful passive tilting train is the Spanish Talgo
Talgo
Talgo 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...
.
Rationale
The particular angle of tilt ("superelevation") is determined by the intended vehicle speed — faster speeds require more banking. But with a growing desire in the 1960s and 1970s to build high-speed rail networks, a problem arose: the amount of tilt appropriate for high-speed trains would be over-tilted for slower-speed local passenger and freight trains sharing the lines. France, building its TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
, avoided the problem by building a new rail network for high-speed trains which minimized curves, likewise Japan's bullet train
Shinkansen
The , also known as THE BULLET TRAIN, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-shinkansen with a...
and other high speed lines have necessitated new infrastructure.
Spain's national railway RENFE
RENFE
Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...
took a domestic invention, the Talgo
Talgo
Talgo 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...
, and developed it into a reliable high speed train for a low traffic density railway. British Railways invested heavily in tilting train technology to overcome the limitations of a rail network in built-up areas. Italy's
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Trenitalia
Trenitalia
Trenitalia is the primary train operator in Italy. Trenitalia is owned by Ferrovie dello Stato, itself owned by the Italian Government. It was created in 2000 following the EU directive on the deregulation of rail transport.-Passenger transport:...
has used tilting technology to speed trains through mountainous terrain.
Tilting trains are meant to help reduce the effects of centrifugal force
Centrifugal force
Centrifugal force can generally be any force directed outward relative to some origin. More particularly, in classical mechanics, the centrifugal force is an outward force which arises when describing the motion of objects in a rotating reference frame...
on the human body, but they can still cause nausea
Nausea
Nausea , is a sensation of unease and discomfort in the upper stomach with an involuntary urge to vomit. It often, but not always, precedes vomiting...
as they do not reduce the Coriolis effect
Coriolis effect
In physics, the Coriolis effect is a deflection of moving objects when they are viewed in a rotating reference frame. In a reference frame with clockwise rotation, the deflection is to the left of the motion of the object; in one with counter-clockwise rotation, the deflection is to the right...
on balancing systems. The effect could be felt under maximum speed and tilt, when the combination of tilting outside view and lack of corresponding sideways force can be disconcerting to passengers, like that of a "thrill ride
Amusement ride
Amusement rides are large mechanical devices that move people to create enjoyment. They are frequently found at amusement parks, traveling carnivals, and funfairs.-Notable types:*Afterburner*Ali Baba*Balloon Race*Booster...
". Researchers have found that if the tilting motion is reduced to compensate for 80% or less of lateral apparent force passengers feel more secure. Also, motion sickness on tilting trains can be essentially eliminated by adjusting the timing of when the cars tilt as they enter and leave the curves. It was found that when the cars tilt just at the beginning of the curves instead of while they are making the turns, there was no motion sickness.
High-speed trains
A high speed tilting train is a tilting train that operates at high speed, typically defined as by the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
to include 200 km/h (124 mph) for upgraded track and 250 km/h (155 mph) or faster for new track.
Tilting trains operating at 200 km/h (124 mph) or more on upgraded track include the Acela Express
Acela Express
The Acela Express is Amtrak's high-speed rail service along the Northeast Corridor in the Northeast United States between Washington, D.C., and Boston via Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York...
in the USA, the X 2000
X 2000
X 2000 is the brand name of Sweden's tilting 200 km/h high-speed train class X2, which was constructed by Kalmar Verkstad in Kalmar, Sweden and operated by SJ. It was launched in 1990 as a first-class only train with a meal included in the ticket price, and free use of the train's fax machine...
in Sweden, the Pendolinos
British Rail Class 390
The Class 390 Pendolino is a type of train used in Great Britain. They are electric multiple units using Fiat's tilting train pendolino technology and built by Alstom. Fifty-three 9-car units were originally built for Virgin Trains from 2001 to 2004 for operation on the West Coast Main Line , with...
and Super Voyagers
British Rail Class 221
The Class 221 Super Voyager is a class of British diesel-electric multiple-unit express trains built by Bombardier Transportation between 2001 and 2002, entering service on 12 April 2002....
on the West Coast Main Line
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
in Great Britain, and the ICE TD
ICE TD
The DBAG Class 605 is a high-speed diesel multiple unit train, in service with Deutsche Bahn and DSB, commonly known as the ICE TD.- Development :...
in Germany (the latter two being diesel powered).
Some older high-speed lines were built for lower line speeds (≤ 230 km/h (143 mph)); newer tilting trainsets can maintain higher speeds on them. For example, the Japanese N700 Series Shinkansen
N700 Series Shinkansen
The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train with tilting capability developed jointly by JR Central and JR West for use on the Tōkaidō and Sanyō Shinkansen lines, and also operated by JR Kyushu on the Kyushu Shinkansen line....
may tilt up to one degree on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, allowing the trains to maintain 270 km/h (168 mph) even on 2500 metre radius curves that previously had a maximum speed of 255 km/h (158 mph).
Many high-speed trainsets are designed to operate on purpose-built high-speed lines and then continue their journeys on legacy lines, upgraded or not. Where the legacy lines justify it, a tilting train may operate at higher speeds on the latter, even if below the normal 200 km/h (124 mph) threshold, whilst operating at 250 km/h (155 mph) or faster, usually with tilt disabled, on the high speed lines.
Santa Fe Pendulum-suspension car #1100
In 1938 Pullman built for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RailwayAtchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...
an experimental pendulum-suspension "chair" car (coach), which saw service on the San Diegan
San Diegan
The San Diegan was one of the named passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and a "workhorse" of the railroad. Its 126-mile route ran from Los Angeles, California south to San Diego. It was assigned train Nos. 70–79 The San Diegan was one of the named passenger trains of the...
train among others. Mounted on high springs, the car tilted inwards on curves to counterbalance the cant deficiency with the induced centrifugal force. As it relied on passive components, it was not entirely successful, and the lack of damping produced a sea-sickness inducing rolling motion that doomed the experiment.
SNCF experiment
In 1956 SNCFSNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...
experimented with a self-propelled pendulum car, which also relied on centrifugal force. This experiment demonstrated the need for an active suspension system to tilt the coach bodies.
Pendolino
The first tilting train to enter regular service was the ETR 401 run by Italian State Railways, which became operational on 2 July 1976 on the RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
-Ancona
Ancona
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 101,909 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region....
(later extended to Rimini
Rimini
Rimini is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa...
) line. The original ETR 401 train was built by FIAT in 1975 for the Italian State Railways following a prototype in 1970 and ran successfully for many years.
The Pendolino
Pendolino
Pendolino is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russian Federation, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Switzerland, China and shortly in Romania and Poland...
project ticked over on a low budget developing a hypothetical successor until the early 1980s when the go ahead was given to build a new fleet, which was the ETR 450
ETR 450
ETR 450 was the first series Italian tilting train .The Pendolino project was started in the 1970s by FIAT Ferroviaria, but also absorbed technology from tilting train experiments from elsewhere, most notably the British Advanced Passenger Trains, FIAT having bought the patents...
. Later developments of this train (ETR 460
ETR 460
The ETR 460 is a tilting EMU built by FIAT Ferroviaria beginning from 1993, also known as Pendolino.ETR 460 was an improved development of ETR 450, a Pendolino EMU developed in the 1970s, being characterized by improved layout, electrical and electronic systems, and a better comfort. Maximum speed...
and ETR 480
ETR 480
The ETR 480 is a tilting Electric Multiple Unit built by FIAT Ferroviaria since 1993, It is also known as Pendolino. It was developed from the first new-generation Pendolino, the ETR 460...
) have been very successful and are used throughout Europe. Aspects of the British Advanced Passenger Train
Advanced Passenger Train
The Advanced Passenger Train was an experimental tilting High Speed Train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s....
were used in the design. The latest development in this line is the ETR 610, which will enter service in Switzerland and Italy (and possibly Germany) in 2007/8 on the Cisalpino
Cisalpino
Cisalpino AG was a railway company operating international trains between Switzerland and Italy connecting Basel, Schaffhausen, Zürich, Geneva, Milan, Venice, Trieste, Livorno, and Florence...
routes.
Talgo Pendular
Talgo
Talgo 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...
in Spain, developed in the 1950s as a lightweight, fast train using passive tilt. The Spanish National Railway, RENFE
RENFE
Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...
, adopted the system widely, but was restricted to the Iberian peninsula initially.
The first test of a Talgo in the United States was the John Quincy Adams trainset with Fairbanks-Morse
Fairbanks-Morse
Fairbanks Morse and Company was a manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, locomotives and industrial supplies until it was merged in 1958...
P-12-42
FM P-12-42
The P-12-42, also known as the Speed Merchant, was a streamlined, locomotive built between 1957–1958 by Fairbanks-Morse, specifically to operate on each end of the Talgo train produced by American Car and Foundry...
tested by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
in 1957–1958. Due to technical troubles and the precarious financial state of the New Haven railroad, the trainset was set aside. The first full commercial application of passive tilting trains appeared in early 1980s with the Talgo Pendular. Talgo is currently in its 21st generation of production. Talgo trains are in service in various parts of Europe, and built under licence in Latin America and Asia. In North America, Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
uses Talgo trains in its Cascades
Amtrak Cascades
The Amtrak Cascades is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in partnership with the states of Washington and Oregon in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and the province of British Columbia in Canada...
service in the Northwest.
First Talgo tilting series was "pendular" ones, from 400 series onwards.
UAC TurboTrain
The first tilting train to enter into regular service in North America was the United AircraftUnited Aircraft and Transport Corporation
The United Aircraft and Transport Corporation was formed in 1929, when William Boeing of the Boeing firms teamed up with Frederick Rentschler of Pratt & Whitney to form a large, amalgamated firm, uniting business interests in all aspects of aviation—a combination of aircraft engine and airframe...
TurboTrain, used by Canadian National Railways in the 1970s. Plagued with frequent breakdowns of its turbine power plants, it nevertheless assured daily service between Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
until it was replaced by Bombardier
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
LRC
LRC (train)
LRC is a bilingual acronym for Light, Rapid, Comfortable or Léger, 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...
trains in 1982. United Aircraft Turbos were also used by Amtrak between Boston and New York. The UAC Turbo had a passive tilt mechanism and they inspired the second generation of TALGO
Talgo
Talgo 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...
trains. Its ride quality was mediocre. Due to the inadequate suspension on the single axle trucks (bogies) between the cars, the tilt system required a direct connection between bogies and coaches. None are currently in use.
Advanced Passenger Train
The Advanced Passenger TrainAdvanced Passenger Train
The Advanced Passenger Train was an experimental tilting High Speed Train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s....
is the basis of tilting trains used today, although none are currently built in the UK. It was the pioneer of the active tilt to negotiate tight curves at higher speeds than previous passive tilting trains. After successfully developing, building and actually running in service for a year the train was scrapped.
In the 1970s and 1980s British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
wanted an advanced fast train to negotiate the UK's twisting and winding Victorian rail system. Conventional trains were limited in speed due to the twisting nature of the network. British Rail deliberately commissioned two young, bright, inventive engineers with no experience in trains or railways to head the development of the project. One had worked in missiles and the other for the National Coal Board. They worked in isolation to the in-house British Rail engineering team. The reason for total outsiders to develop the trains was that they would have no preconceived rail engineering prejudices and would approach the problem with a fresh open mind. These fresh minds brought to trains methods and technology from other advanced fields. They brought science into British railways, an industry that from its quantum leap in innovative technology in the Victorian times, had advanced at a snail's pace ever since.
The by-passed in-house British Rail design engineers poured scorn on the project, nevertheless the new engineers used their inventiveness to progress the project. The project engineers experimented with aluminium bodies, turbines, new suspension and bogies and active tilt to negotiate the British rail network at speed, developing the Advanced Passenger Train
Advanced Passenger Train
The Advanced Passenger Train was an experimental tilting High Speed Train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s....
. The APT-E (E for experimental) was powered by gas turbines and the APT-P (P for prototype) was electric. With no tilting the train was developed to break the British rail speed record. Tilting trains were not new and used passive tilt, however not common, and not widely implemented. The engineers decided that active tilt was the key to success to negotiate curves at much higher speeds.
The train was advanced in both name and nature. Not only did it actively tilt, it had hydro-dynamic brakes, was articulated, had lightweight bodies, and two power cars in the centre of the train. The latter was necessary because two power cars were deemed necessary for the proposed schedule, but the use of a "roof-line" to send the 25 kV supply along the train, and thus allow the power cars to be placed at the ends of the unit, was not acceptable at that time. When the prototypes were built, worked and proven the engineering development team was disbanded and the trains handed over to British Rail's in-house engineering department to build. The pioneering developing engineers moved to different fields while British Rail engineered the train into a production model. The British Rail engineers, who had little to no involvement in the development of the train, changed some of the prime and proven engineering aspects. Such as, changing the active tilt mechanism to air rather than the developed and proven hydraulics.
The trains were introduced in 1981 and immediately taken out of service. During initial tests some passengers complained of being nauseous due to the tilting motion. Subsequently it was learned that this could be prevented by reducing the tilt slightly, so that there was still some sensation of cornering. The APT-P trains were quietly reintroduced into service in mid-1984 and ran regularly for a year, the teething problems having been corrected. The political and managerial will to continue the project and build in numbers the projected APT-S production vehicles, had evaporated under an in-house engineering management who felt slighted and by-passed in a project they did not develop. Despite being an eventual success, the project was scrapped by British Rail in 1985 more for political reasons than technical. This was another British innovation that was left to others to implement.
Some aspects of the technology were purchased by the Italian Pendolino
Pendolino
Pendolino is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russian Federation, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Switzerland, China and shortly in Romania and Poland...
group to enlarge its portfolio. Ironically, Pendolino export active tilting trains to the UK, the country that invented the active tilting train.
However, much of the technology developed for the power cars was subsequently used in the InterCity225 Class 91 locomotives, which run on the East Coast route from London to Leeds and Edinburgh.
The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
wrote in its 21 February 1998 issue, "Tilt technology, to be sure, got off to a disastrous start in 1981. That was when British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
(BR), Britain's old nationalised railway, had to withdraw its so-called Advanced Passenger Train after only three days of scheduled services. Passengers had complained of feeling sick, and there were many technical hitches with brakes and the state-of-the-art suspension. Since that unhappy debut, however, the technology has developed to a point where tilt trains are now being operated throughout Europe."
X 2000
In 1990 Swedish railwaysSJ AB
SJ is a government-owned passenger train operator in Sweden. SJ was created in 2000, out of the public transport division of Statens Järnvägar, when the former government agency was divided into six separate government-owned limited companies.-Overview:SJ's operations fall broadly into subsidised...
introduced a high speed service called X 2000
X 2000
X 2000 is the brand name of Sweden's tilting 200 km/h high-speed train class X2, which was constructed by Kalmar Verkstad in Kalmar, Sweden and operated by SJ. It was launched in 1990 as a first-class only train with a meal included in the ticket price, and free use of the train's fax machine...
. It uses an active tilting system to be able to run in high speed (200 km/h) on standard track.
Light, Rapid, Comfortable
LRC (train)
LRC is a bilingual acronym for Light, Rapid, Comfortable or Léger, 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...
(Light, Rapid, Comfortable) train, built by Bombardier
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
. This train is rather conventional, having separable carriages instead of articulated trailers, and can be intermingled with conventional non-tilt cars. In the United States, Amtrak experimented with the LRC in 1980, but retired it a few years later. In Canada, it entered service in 1981, and the carriages remain in use today, although the tilt mechanisms are being removed to reduce weight and maintenance costs. The LRC tilt-mechanism is power-assisted, driven by accelerometers. The ride quality is very smooth, even on relatively low-end tracks. Bombardier have since used updated versions of the LRC carriages for Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
's Acela Express
Acela Express
The Acela Express is Amtrak's high-speed rail service along the Northeast Corridor in the Northeast United States between Washington, D.C., and Boston via Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York...
, the third generation of tilting ICE, the new generation of fast British trains (Virgin Super Voyager
British Rail Class 221
The Class 221 Super Voyager is a class of British diesel-electric multiple-unit express trains built by Bombardier Transportation between 2001 and 2002, entering service on 12 April 2002....
) and the experimental JetTrain
JetTrain
The JetTrain is a Canadian experimental high-speed passenger train created by Bombardier Transportation in an attempt to make European-style high-speed service more financially appealing to passenger railways in North America. It uses the same LRC-derived tilting carriages as the Acela Express...
.
Germany
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
started tests with tilting trains in Germany with its class 634
DB Class VT 24
Class 624 and class 634 are types of diesel multiple unit, originally operated by Deutsche Bahn.- Development :Whereas during the first years after World War II the focus of the Deutsche Bundesbahn was on repairs of rolling stock, lines and buildings, with the beginning of the 1950s attention...
in 1967 when some class 624 DMUs were equipped with passive tilting systems. As the passengers experienced motion sickness, the tilting technology was disabled and later removed. The tests continued with the prototypes of the following class 614
DB Class 614
The DB Class 614s are German diesel multiple units operated by the Deutsche Bundesbahn, comprising two Class 614 driving units and up to two Class 914 centre cars...
units, but due to the again unsatisfying results the serial types were delivered without tilting system.
Another early train with tilting technology was Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
's class 403
DB Class 403
The DB Class 403 was a series of three electric multiple units commissioned by the Deutsche Bundesbahn in the 1970s, an early predecessor of the Intercity-Express as a high-speed train. The units were mainly used for InterCity services and again by the Lufthansa airline in the 1980s. Due to their...
(today this number is used by ICE 3
Siemens Velaro
Siemens Velaro is a family of high-speed EMU trains used in Europe and China. The Velaro is based on Deutsche Bahn's ICE 3 high-speed trains, but is a full Siemens product unlike the ICE 3 which involved other manufacturers....
) high speed EMU. Following its InterCity
InterCity
InterCity is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe...
services until 1979, it was also used for airport transfers between Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
and Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
(see also: AiRail Service
AiRail Service
AIRail Service is offered by Deutsche Bahn AG in cooperation with Lufthansa, American Airlines and Emirates. It is one example of several a dedicated air-rail alliances currently operating worldwide....
). Class 403 was able to tilt 4°, but the fixed pantographs limited this to 2°. Shortly after the train had gone into service the tilting technology was disabled as many passengers experienced motion sickness because the pivotal point was too low.
The next attempt was made with DMUs and the well proven Italian hydraulic active tilting system. Between 1988 and 1990 DB commissioned 20 class 610
DB Class 610
The DB Class 610 is a Diesel Multiple Unit train type operated by the Deutsche Bahn in Germany. They were built from 1991 to 1992 by MAN and DUEWAG. The class has a tilting system and was inspired by Italian Pendolino trains.-General Information:...
units for fast regional traffic. This time the results were quite satisfying and allowed a significant reduction of running times. Class 610 was followed by class 611 which basically was built for the same purpose (fast regional traffic with up to 160 km/h on twisting non-electrified lines). Class 611's tilting system was electric, with a maximum 8° tilt, based on military technology from the Leopard tank. However, after coming into service in 1996 this 50-unit class experienced problems both with the newly-developed tilting system as well as chassis and axles, so it was judged not successful. The tilting system was out of service until 2006, when hardened axles and system updates finally solved the problems. In consideration of these problems DB ordered a full re-engineering, resulting in the development of class 612
RegioSwinger
The RegioSwinger is a tilting Diesel Multiple Unit passenger train used for fast regional traffic on unelectrified lines.- Development and Service :...
. Starting in 1998, a total of 192 units were commissioned by DB. The tilting system was reliable, but when in 2004 cracks were detected in a number of wheel sets, again wheels and axles had to be replaced. Today class 612 is back to tilting operation and forms the backbone of DB's fast regional service on non-electrified lines. Additional units were sold to Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, where they are used for InterCity services.
Finally in 1999 DB was able to use tilting technology for its InterCityExpress
InterCityExpress
The Intercity-Express or ICE is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany and neighbouring countries. It is the highest service category offered by DB Fernverkehr and is the flagship of Deutsche Bahn...
services, when with class 411 and 415
Siemens Venturio
Siemens Venturio is a concept intercity and interregional train from Siemens.The Venturio concept is intended for top speeds between 160 km/h and 250 km/h, train lengths of 3-9 cars, and optional active tilting...
an electric high-speed tilting train was commissioned. While classes 401 to 403 (without tilting technology) were to cover the newly built or modernized high speed lines at up to 300 km/h (class 403), classes 411 and 415 with maximum speed of 230 km/h were designed for older twisting main lines. A total of 60 class 411 and 11 class 415 (shorter version) have been built so far. Both classes worked reliably until late 2008 when cracks were found on an axle during a routine check. The tilting mechanism has been switched off since 23. October 2008 and the maintenance intervals were drastically reduced which lead to major service disruptions.
Much of the technical layout is derived from the ICE 3
Siemens Velaro
Siemens Velaro is a family of high-speed EMU trains used in Europe and China. The Velaro is based on Deutsche Bahn's ICE 3 high-speed trains, but is a full Siemens product unlike the ICE 3 which involved other manufacturers....
. Austria's ÖBB
ÖBB
The Austrian Federal Railways is the national railway system of Austria, and the administrators of Liechtenstein's railways...
has purchased three units in 2007, operating them jointly with DB for services from Germany to Austria. It might be noteworthy that even though DB assigned the name ICE-T to class 411/415, the T originally did not stand for tilting but for Triebwagen (self-propelled car), as DB's marketing department at first deemed the top speed too low for assignment of the InterCityExpress brand and therefore planned to refer to this class as IC-T (InterCity-Triebwagen).
Rather luckless was class 411/415's adaptation for diesel services. In 2001 a total of 20 units were commissioned for use on the Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
-Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
line, but these class 605
Siemens Venturio
Siemens Venturio is a concept intercity and interregional train from Siemens.The Venturio concept is intended for top speeds between 160 km/h and 250 km/h, train lengths of 3-9 cars, and optional active tilting...
(ICE-TD) units experienced trouble from the start. After the breaking of an axle in 2002, all remaining 19 units (one fell off a working platform) were taken out of service. Even though one year later the trains were admitted to service again, DB judged their operation the be overly expensive. In 2006 those trains were used for amplifier trains and since 2008 they run on the Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
-Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
route.
TGV Pendulaire
In 1998 SNCFSNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...
bowed to political pressure (the tilt-train was a credible threat to the TGV dedicated high-speed line network) and put in service an experimental TGV pendulaire. Following the test programme, it was converted back to a TGV-PSE train.
InterCity Neigezug
Cisalpino
Cisalpino AG was a railway company operating international trains between Switzerland and Italy connecting Basel, Schaffhausen, Zürich, Geneva, Milan, Venice, Trieste, Livorno, and Florence...
, which entered Switzerland in 1996) on May 28, 2000. The ICN (InterCity Neigezug, or InterCity Tilting Train) was made by Bombardier, including a tilting-system designed by SIG (today ALSTOM). It started service on the line from Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
via Biel/Bienne and Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
to St Gallen. It was a major carrier in the national exhibition Expo.02
Expo.02
Expo.02 was the 6th Swiss national exposition, which was held from 15 May to 20 October 2002. The exposition took place around the lakes of Neuchâtel, Bienne/Biel and Morat/Murten. It was divided into five sites, which were called Arteplages, due to the proximity of the water...
.
Japan
In Japan, tilting trains were first introduced in 1972 in the form of 381 series381 series
The is a tilting DC electric multiple unit introduced in 1973 by Japanese National Railways , and currently operated by West Japan Railway Company , and formerly also operated by Central Japan Railway Company in Japan.-JR West:...
EMUs on Shinano limited express services operating on the Chūō Main Line
Chuo Main Line
The , commonly called the Chūō Line, is one of the major trunk railway lines in Japan. It runs between Tokyo and Nagoya, although it is the slowest direct railway connection between the two cities; the coastal Tōkaidō Main Line is slightly faster, while the Tōkaidō Shinkansen is the fastest rail...
. The 381 series developed from the earlier experimental 591 series EMU built in 1969.
2000 series DMUs were built by JR Shikoku
Shikoku Railway Company
, commonly known as , is one of the constituent companies of Japan Railways Group . It operates intercity rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company is headquartered in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture.- Lines :...
and introduced on the Shiokaze and Nanpū limited express services in 1990.
The first revenue-earning tilting Shinkansen
Shinkansen
The , also known as THE BULLET TRAIN, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-shinkansen with a...
train was the N700 series
N700 Series Shinkansen
The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train with tilting capability developed jointly by JR Central and JR West for use on the Tōkaidō and Sanyō Shinkansen lines, and also operated by JR Kyushu on the Kyushu Shinkansen line....
, introduced in 2007.
Technology
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
ETR 401 used individual gyroscopes in each carriage so there was inevitably a lag, even though nausea had not been a major problem with this train. The APT
Advanced Passenger Train
The Advanced Passenger Train was an experimental tilting High Speed Train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s....
was supposed to overcome this problem by using gyroscopes at the ends of the train and a master/slave control system which defined a "tilting curve" for the whole train. It would appear that the technology of the era was not able to implement this technique as well as required.
Modern tilting trains are profiting from state-of-the-art signal processing which senses the line ahead and is able to predict optimal control signals for the individual carriages. Complaints about nausea have by and large become a thing of the past.
Some tilting trains run on narrow gauge railways. In Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
there are many narrow gauge lines in mountainous regions, and tilting trains have been designed to run on these. In Australia the service between Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and Cairns by the QR Tilt Train claims to be the fastest narrow-gauge train in the world, running at 160 km/h.
Tilting trains around the world
- TalgoTalgoTalgo 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...
XXI (SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
) - UAC TurboTrain (United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
) - JNR 381 series381 seriesThe is a tilting DC electric multiple unit introduced in 1973 by Japanese National Railways , and currently operated by West Japan Railway Company , and formerly also operated by Central Japan Railway Company in Japan.-JR West:...
(JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
), introduced in 1973 by the former Japan National Railways. Now it is used by JR WestWest Japan Railway Company, also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group companies and operates in western Honshū. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka.-History:...
for KuroshioKuroshio (train)is a limited express train connecting Kyoto, Shin-Ōsaka, Tennōji, Wakayama, Kii-Tanabe, Shirahama, and Shingu via the Tōkaidō Main Line , Osaka Loop Line, Hanwa Line, and Kisei Line , operated by West Japan Railway Company...
, Super Kuroshio, and YakumoYakumo (train)The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR West which runs from Okayama to Matsue and Izumoshi....
.
Trains with active tilting with sensory information given by accelerometer
Accelerometer
An accelerometer is a device that measures proper acceleration, also called the four-acceleration. This is not necessarily the same as the coordinate acceleration , but is rather the type of acceleration associated with the phenomenon of weight experienced by a test mass that resides in the frame...
s:
- LRCLRC (train)LRC is a bilingual acronym for Light, Rapid, Comfortable or Léger, 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...
designed by MLW before being bought by Bombardier (CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
)
Trains with tilting controlled by a computer:
- Acela ExpressAcela ExpressThe Acela Express is Amtrak's high-speed rail service along the Northeast Corridor in the Northeast United States between Washington, D.C., and Boston via Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York...
(United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
), a BombardierBombardier TransportationBombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
-built high-speed tilting train operating between BostonBostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and Washington D.C. - Advanced Passenger TrainAdvanced Passenger TrainThe Advanced Passenger Train was an experimental tilting High Speed Train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s....
(United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
), a British RailBritish RailBritish Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
project for high-speed inter-city tilting trains that saw limited service in the 1980s, from London Euston to Glasgow. - British Rail Class 390British Rail Class 390The Class 390 Pendolino is a type of train used in Great Britain. They are electric multiple units using Fiat's tilting train pendolino technology and built by Alstom. Fifty-three 9-car units were originally built for Virgin Trains from 2001 to 2004 for operation on the West Coast Main Line , with...
"Pendolino" (United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
), a high-speed train run by Virgin Trains from London Euston to Liverpool/ Manchester / Glasgow / Birmingham and Wolverhampton. - Alfa PendularAlfa PendularAlfa Pendular is the name of the Pendolino high-speed tilting train of Portuguese state railway company CP. It connects the cities of Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Santarém, Lisbon, Albufeira and Faro, among others at speeds of up to ....
(PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
) - ElettroTrenoElettroTrenoETR is a series of Italian high-speed trains.-Tilting EMU trains:*ETR 401*ETR 450*ETR 460*ETR 470*ETR 480*ETR 600 These models are often referred as Pendolino....
(ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) - ICE-TICE TDBAG Class 411 and Class 415 are German tilting high-speed electric multiple-unit trains in service with Deutsche Bahn , commonly known as ICE T.- Development :...
, also called ICT (GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
), a tilting version of the ICEInterCityExpressThe Intercity-Express or ICE is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany and neighbouring countries. It is the highest service category offered by DB Fernverkehr and is the flagship of Deutsche Bahn... - ICN (SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
), a new generation of tilting trains operated by Swiss Rail, a BombardierBombardier TransportationBombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
-built high-speed tilting train operating between Zurich and Geneva. - JetTrainJetTrainThe JetTrain is a Canadian experimental high-speed passenger train created by Bombardier Transportation in an attempt to make European-style high-speed service more financially appealing to passenger railways in North America. It uses the same LRC-derived tilting carriages as the Acela Express...
(North America), Bombardier's experimental non-electric high-speed train - NSB Class 73NSB Class 73NSB Class 73 is a class of 22 electric multiple units built by Adtranz for the Norwegian State Railways. The four-car trains were modifications of Class 71, which was again based on the Swedish X2. The A-series consists of 16 intercity trains; they were delivered in 1999 and 2000 and are used on...
(NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
) - SŽ series 310 (InterCitySlovenijaInterCitySlovenijaSŽ series 310 is a high-speed tilting EMU used on the InterCitySlovenija premium train service in Slovenia, operated by Slovenske železnice. It is based on the Italian ETR 460 commonly known as Pendolino. The train is capable of reaching a maximum speed of 200 km/h. The train is electric...
), a high-speed tilting train operating between LjubljanaLjubljanaLjubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
, MariborMariborMaribor is the second largest city in Slovenia with 157,947 inhabitants . Maribor is also the largest and the capital city of Slovenian region Lower Styria and the seat of the Municipality of Maribor....
and Koper - RegioSwingerRegioSwingerThe RegioSwinger is a tilting Diesel Multiple Unit passenger train used for fast regional traffic on unelectrified lines.- Development and Service :...
(GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
), a diesel regional tilting train. In CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
(Croatian RailwaysCroatian RailwaysCroatian Railways is the national railway company of Croatia. It was formed after the dissolution of Yugoslavia and Yugoslav Railways.Croatia is a member of the International Union of Railways . The UIC Country Code for Croatia is 78.-Railway network:...
) the train operates the premium brand services InterCity Nagibni (ICN) on the routes ZagrebZagrebZagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
-OsijekOsijekOsijek is the fourth largest city in Croatia with a population of 83,496 in 2011. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja county...
, ZagrebZagrebZagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
-VarazdinVaraždinVaraždin is a city in north Croatia, north of Zagreb on the highway A4. The total population is 47,055, with 38,746 on of the city settlement itself . The centre of Varaždin county is located near the Drava river, at...
, ZagrebZagrebZagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
-SplitSplit (city)Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
, and ZagrebZagrebZagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
-RijekaRijekaRijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants... - PendolinoPendolinoPendolino is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russian Federation, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Switzerland, China and shortly in Romania and Poland...
(ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and Czech RepublicCzech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
), built by AlstomAlstomAlstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
(formerly FiatFiatFIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
); see also the British Rail Class 390British Rail Class 390The Class 390 Pendolino is a type of train used in Great Britain. They are electric multiple units using Fiat's tilting train pendolino technology and built by Alstom. Fifty-three 9-car units were originally built for Virgin Trains from 2001 to 2004 for operation on the West Coast Main Line , with...
. - Virgin Train Super VoyagerBritish Rail Class 221The Class 221 Super Voyager is a class of British diesel-electric multiple-unit express trains built by Bombardier Transportation between 2001 and 2002, entering service on 12 April 2002....
, a BombardierBombardier TransportationBombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
-built high-speed tilting train operating between London and Holyhead / Wrexham / Chester and Birmingham to Edinburgh or Glasgow. - Taroko ExpressTaroko ExpressThe Train of Taroko Express is a tilting train of the Taiwan Railway Administration. The name of this type of train series is named after the 19 kilometer long Taroko Gorge, one of Taiwan's most popular tourist spots and Truku people.The Taroko Express trains are Electrical Multiple Units called...
(TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
), based on JR Kyūshū 885 Series. - Tilt Train by QRQueensland RailQueensland Rail, also known as QR, is a government-owned railway operator in the state of Queensland. Under the control of the Queensland Government, Queensland Rail operates the inner-city and long-distance passenger services, as well as some freight operations and gives railway access to other...
, dieselDiesel engineA diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
and electric tilting TraveltrainTravelTrainTraveltrain provides long range passenger rail services in Queensland, run by Queensland Rail. Its flagships are the electric and diesel Tilt Trains, servicing Brisbane – Rockhampton and Brisbane – Cairns respectively...
s (AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
), the world's fastest narrow gauge trains operating between BrisbaneBrisbaneBrisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and Cairns. Electric Tilt Train is based on the JR Shikoku 8000 series8000 series (JR Shikoku)The is a limited express electric multiple unit operated by Shikoku Railway Company in Shikoku, Japan....
. - X2 (SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
), with tilting mechanism of ABBAsea Brown BoveriABB is a Swiss-Swedish multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, and best known for its robotics. ABB operates mainly in the power and automation technology areas. It ranked 143rd in Forbes Ranking ....
. It is also used in ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
under the name Xīnshísù. - JR ShikokuShikoku Railway Company, commonly known as , is one of the constituent companies of Japan Railways Group . It operates intercity rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company is headquartered in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture.- Lines :...
2000 series (Japan, 1989), the first tilting DMUDiesel multiple unitA diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
in the world. It is used for many limited express services in ShikokuShikokuis the smallest and least populous of the four main islands of Japan, located south of Honshū and east of the island of Kyūshū. Its ancient names include Iyo-no-futana-shima , Iyo-shima , and Futana-shima...
, including Ashizuri, Ishizuchi, NanpūNanpuThe is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR Shikoku which runs from Okayama to Kōchi and Sukumo. Trains are usually formed of 3-car 2000 series DMUs, and often run coupled with Shimanto services.-History:...
, Shimanto, ShiokazeShiokaze (train)The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR Shikoku which runs from Okayama to Matsuyama and Uwajima.-Route:The main stations served by this service are as follows.Okayama - Tadotsu - Iyo-Saijō - Matsuyama - Uwajima-Rolling stock:...
, Uwakai, and UzushioUzushio (train)The is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR Shikoku which runs from Tokushima to Takamatsu and Okayama....
. The upgraded N2000 Series was introduced from 1995. - JR HokkaidōHokkaido Railway CompanyThe is one of the constituent companies of Japan Railways Group , and thus often known as . It operates intercity rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a smart card ticketing system, from autumn 2008....
KiHa 281 series (Japan, 1992), branded Heat 281 or Furico 281. It is used for Super HokutoSuper HokutoThe and are limited express train services between and in Hokkaido operated by Hokkaido Railway Company . The journey time of the Super Hokuto is approximately 3 hours, faster than that of the Hokuto....
limited express service. - JR Shikoku 8000 series8000 series (JR Shikoku)The is a limited express electric multiple unit operated by Shikoku Railway Company in Shikoku, Japan....
(Japan, 1992). It is used for the limited express service on Yosan LineYosan LineThe is a railway line on the island of Shikoku in Japan, operated by the Shikoku Railway Company . It runs along the Inland Sea coast, connecting the prefectural capitals of Takamatsu and Matsuyama , continuing on to Uwajima...
, namely Ishizuchi and Shiokaze. - JR EastEast Japan Railway Companyis the largest passenger railway company in the world and one of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo....
E351 seriesE351 seriesThe is a DC electric multiple unit operated by East Japan Railway Company on Chūō Main Line Super Azusa Limited express services in Japan. First introduced in December 1993 , the trains feature a tilting mechanism...
(Japan, 1993), used for Super AzusaAzusa (train)The and are limited express services operated by East Japan Railway , which run between Shinjuku and Matsumoto via the Chūō Main Line and Shinonoi Line.The name Azusa is taken from the Azusa River in Matsumoto, Nagano.-Azusa:-Super Azusa:...
. - Chizu ExpressChizu ExpressThe ' is a Japanese third-sector semi-public railway that connects Hyōgo, Okayama and Tottori prefectures. The Chizu Line is not electrified, but is a high-grade railroad, and runs a total of 56.1 kilometers...
HOT7000 series (Japan, 1994), used for Super Hakuto. - JR CentralCentral Japan Railway CompanyThe is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as . Its headquarters are located in the JR Central Towers in Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.The company's operational hub is Nagoya Station...
383 series383 seriesThe is a tilting DC electric multiple unit operated by Central Japan Railway Company on Chūō Main Line, Shinonoi Line and Tōkaidō Main Line Shinano Limited Express services in Japan.- Services on which 383 series operate :...
(Japan, 1994), used for Wide View Shinano. - JR KyūshūKyushu Railway CompanyThe , also referred to as , is one of the constituent companies of Japan Railways Group . It operates intercity rail services in Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait between Fukuoka and Busan, South Korea.When Japan Railways was divided in...
883 series883 seriesThe is an AC electric multiple unit tilting train type operated on Sonic limited express services by Kyushu Railway Company in Japan since April 1995.-Formations:...
(Japan, 1994), used for SonicSonic (train)is the name used by Kyushu Railway Company for the limited express train service operating between Hakata and Ōita via Kokura and Beppu along the Kagoshima Main Line and Nippō Main Line in Kyūshū, Japan...
. - JR Hokkaidō KiHa 283 series (Japan, 1995), branded Furico 283. It is used for limited express services Super HokutoSuper HokutoThe and are limited express train services between and in Hokkaido operated by Hokkaido Railway Company . The journey time of the Super Hokuto is approximately 3 hours, faster than that of the Hokuto....
, Super ŌzoraSuper OzoraThe is a limited express train service between and in Hokkaido, Japan, operated by Hokkaido Railway Company . There are seven trains per day running in both directions, with the fastest journeys taking 3 hours 35 minutes.-History:...
, and Super TokachiSuper TokachiThe is a limited express train service between and in Hokkaido, Japan, operated by Hokkaido Railway Company . As of October 2009, there are five trains per day running in both directions, with the fastest journey taking 2 hours 25 minutes .-History:The service commenced as the express on 1...
. - JR West 283 series283 seriesThe , or more popularly known as Ocean Arrow, is a DC electric multiple unit operated by JR West on the Kinokuni Line . Two six-car and two three-car sets were built, and were introduced in 31 July 1996 to improve travel times on the Kuroshio limited-express service.-3-car sets:-6-car...
(Japan, 1996), used for Ocean Arrow. - JR Kyūshū 885 series885 seriesThe is an AC electric multiple unit type operated on limited express services by Kyushu Railway Company in Japan. The type is part of Hitachi's A-train family of multiple units.-Operations:...
(Japan, 1999), used for KamomeKamomeis a limited express train operated by JR Kyushu in Japan. It operates between Hakata and Nagasaki on the Kagoshima Main Line and the Nagasaki Main Line. Kamome means seagull in Japanese.-History:...
and Sonic. - JR West KiHa 187 series (Japan, 2001), used for Super InabaSuper InabaThe is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR West which runs between Okayama and Tottori.-History:In October 2003, the KiHa 181 series DMUs operating on the former Inaba service were replaced by new KiHa 187 series trains, and the service was upgraded to become the Super...
, Super Kunibiki, and Super OkiSuper OkiThe is a limited express train service in Japan operated by JR West which runs from Tottori and Yonago to Shin-Yamaguchi.- Stations where trains stop : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - *: limited stop...
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Trains with active suspension
Active suspension
Active or adaptive suspension is an automotive technology that controls the vertical movement of the wheels with an onboard system rather than the movement being determined entirely by the road surface...
:
- JR Hokkaidō KiHa 201 seriesKiHa 201 seriesThe is a tilting diesel multiple unit train type operated by Hokkaido Railway Company on Sapporo area suburban services in Hokkaido, Japan since 1997. Some trains operate in multiple with 731 series EMU sets over certain routes.-Formation:...
(Japan, 1996), used for local/rapid trains around SapporoSapporo, Hokkaidois the fourth-largest city in Japan by population, and the largest city on the island of Hokkaido. It is the capital of Hokkaidō Prefecture, located in Ishikari Subprefecture, and an ordinance-designated city of Japan....
. - JR Hokkaidō KiHa 261 series (Japan, 1999), branded Tilt 261. It is used for Super SōyaSuper SoyaThe is a limited express train service between and in Hokkaido, which is operated by Hokkaido Railway Company . It was named Sōya until 2000...
. - Meitetsu 1600 seriesMeitetsu 1600 seriesThe was a commuter electric multiple unit type operated by Nagoya Railroad in Japan from 1999 to 2008. The cars were modified to create the 1700 series, which succeeded the 1600 series.-References:...
(Japan, 1999), branded Panorama Super. Mainly used for Meitetsu Nishio LineMeitetsu Nishio LineThe is a railway line operated by Nagoya Railroad in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The line was formerly operated by Nishio Railroad and Hekikai Electric Railway until Nagoya Railroad merged with both of the companies.-Stations:●：Stop ▲：Partial stop ｜：Pass...
limited express trains. - Meitetsu 2000 seriesMeitetsu 2000 seriesThe is an express electric multiple unit type operated by Nagoya Railroad in Japan since 2004. It was one of the four recipients of the 46th Laurel Prize presented annually by the Japan Railfan Club.-Airport service:...
(Japan, 2004), branded μ-Sky. It links NagoyaNagoya, Aichiis the third-largest incorporated city and the fourth most populous urban area in Japan.Located on the Pacific coast in the Chūbu region on central Honshu, it is the capital of Aichi Prefecture and is one of Japan's major ports along with those of Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Yokohama, Chiba, and Moji...
and Chūbu Centrair International AirportChubu Centrair International Airportis an airport on an artificial island in Ise Bay, Tokoname City in Aichi Prefecture, south of Nagoya in central Japan.Centrair is classified as a first class airport and is the main international gateway for the Chūbu region of Japan...
. - Odakyū 50000 series VSEOdakyu 50000 series VSEThe or VSE is an electric multiple unit operated by Odakyu Electric Railway on Romancecar services in Japan. Two 10-car articulated sets were introduced in March 2005, manufactured by Nippon Sharyo....
(Japan, 2005), used for RomancecarRomancecarThe is Odakyu Electric Railway's name for its limited express luxury tourist services south-west of Tokyo, to mountain resorts such as Gotenba and Hakone, and beaches such as Numazu and Enoshima. Service started in 1957 with the 3000 series SE trainset, it broke the world speed record for a...
limited express services. - N700 Series ShinkansenN700 Series ShinkansenThe is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train with tilting capability developed jointly by JR Central and JR West for use on the Tōkaidō and Sanyō Shinkansen lines, and also operated by JR Kyushu on the Kyushu Shinkansen line....
(except N700-7000/8000 series) (Japan, 2007), introduced by JR Central and JR West, used for Tōkaidō and Sanyō ShinkansenSanyō ShinkansenThe is a line of the Japanese Shinkansen high-speed rail network, connecting Shin-Ōsaka in Osaka with Hakata Station in Fukuoka, the two largest cities in western Japan...
lines. - E5 Series ShinkansenE5 Series ShinkansenThe is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type operated by East Japan Railway Company on Tōhoku Shinkansen services since 5 March 2011. A total of 59 10-car sets are on order, with three sets in service in time for the start of new Hayabusa services to Shin-Aomori in March...
(Japan, 2011), introduced by JR East, used for Tōhoku ShinkansenTohoku ShinkansenThe is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture for a total length of 674 km, Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main island Honshu. It has two spur lines, Yamagata...
lines. - E6 Series ShinkansenE6 Series ShinkansenThe is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type on order by East Japan Railway Company for use on Komachi 'mini-shinkansen' services on the Tōhoku Shinkansen and Akita Shinkansen from Tokyo to Akita commencing in March 2013. The new 7-car trains will operate in conjunction with newly...
(Japan, 2013), introduced by JR East, used for Tōhoku ShinkansenTohoku ShinkansenThe is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture for a total length of 674 km, Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main island Honshu. It has two spur lines, Yamagata...
and Akita ShinkansenAkita ShinkansenThe is a Mini-shinkansen high-speed rail line in Japan. Serving the Kantō and Tōhoku Regions of the country, it links Tokyo and Akita in Akita prefecture with direct service. From Tokyo to Morioka in Iwate prefecture, it operates on the Tōhoku Shinkansen tracks. From there to Ōmagari, it uses the...
lines.
External links
- Queensland High Speed Line
- Tilting Trains
- Pendolino
- Photos of Japanese trains — some tilting
- Amtrak accelerates at last
- Ride Comfort and Motion Sickness in Tilting Trains
- Tilting train photography on FlickrFlickrFlickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...