The Shame of Our Railways
Want to experience the thrill of high-speed rail? Explore the fastest trains in the world and their impact on global transportation. Apart from Europe, high-speed trains are also running in developed continents like Asia and Africa.
When we read about them or see them on TV, we have this aching desire that our country had such trains so that we too could enjoy fast travel, but sadly, the desire no longer exists.
Our misfortune is that in the kingdom of Khudadad-e-Pakistan, trains are still running on the railway tracks that were laid by the British during their rule and the bridges that were built. In between, electric trains were tested from Khanewal to Lahore, but now this service has also been suspended for a long time because the electric wires that used to run the train at high speeds were stolen. Then slowly The iron poles that supported the electric wires were also removed.
If we compare our railways with the neighboring country, we will be seen far behind. The “Vande Bharat Express” train in India can go up to 180 km/h, but the “Green Line” high-speed train in Pakistan can only go as fast as 120 km/h.
Here i am discussing only the top 5 fastest trains in the world right now:
1. “Al Baraq” [320 km/h (Morocco)]
On September 9, 2018, Tangier and Casablanca, two Moroccan ports, welcomed the first and only high-speed rail in Africa. This train is named “Al-Baraq” after the famous electric speed ride “Baraq” related to the journey of the Holy Prophet ﷺ. The current train service has only a portion of the 1,500 km of high-speed rail that the Moroccan Government plans to build throughout the entire nation.
The double-decker electric trains, modeled after the French-made TGV Euro Duplex, run at a speed of 320 km/h on a dedicated 186 km long new railway line between the cities of Tangier and Can Tara. The $2 billion project also includes upgrading the existing 137km section between Rabat and Casablanca.
As the trip between two cities, which formerly took 4 hours 45 minutes, will now cover only 2 hours 10 minutes. After the construction of the proposed new line to Casablanca, the journey time will be just 90 minutes.
“Al Baraq” also has the honor of being the fastest train in Africa. In a test run before being put into service, one of the 12 trains produced by Germany’s Alstom company set a speed record of 357 kilometers per hour on the new railway line.
2. “AVES-103” [310 km/h (Spain)]
Spain joined the high-speed railway club in 1992 when it used TGV technology imported from France. With Europe’s longest network dedicated to high-speed trains, journeys from Madrid to Seville, Malaga, Valencia, Galicia, and Barcelona are now extremely fast. AVE’s full name is Alta Velocipede Express, which means “Spanish High Speed.”
The train travels at a 310 km/h pace. The proudest of the Spanish train fleet is the S-102 Talgo and the S-103 “Vilaro”. The latter is as powerful as Germany’s ICE3 trains.
404 passengers can be accommodated onboard each S-103 train, which has a top speed of 350 km/h. In July 2006, an S-103 train traveled at a speed of 404 km. Set the Spanish rail speed record.
Spain’s trains were infamous for their protracted delays and slow speeds for many years, but in the past 30 years, AVE trains have significantly streamlined long-distance travel, and the nation’s quickest rail network now connects all points of the country.
Want to Know More About Trains, Read:
11 of the world’s best high-speed train journeys
3. “KTX-305” [305km/h (South Korea)]
Since 2004, South Korea has started expanding its high-speed railway. Before that, there were traditional trains like ours, where the journey was slow over difficult mountain routes and people were not even interested in rail travel.
But in 2004, a travel revolution took place after the opening of the first KTX train on the Busan route in the capital, Seoul. Despite having a 350 km/h maximum speed, the average speed limit for these trains is 305 km/h.
For the first generation of KTX-1 trains, the French TGV technology was used, after which the distance between Seoul and Busan, which used to take more than 4 hours, was covered in just 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Four nations in the world including South Korea have trains that can travel at a top speed of 420 kilometers per hour. Apart from South Korea, France, Japan, and China have this capability.
In South Korea’s new state-of-the-art trains, using domestic technology, the train carriages have been transformed into airplane-like “pressure-sealed cabins” and its outer surface consists of three glossy layers, making the train Passengers are protected from the loud rumbling sound while passing through the various tunnels.
On the main lines, two trains leave every hour and each train has 20 cars. Thus, KTX transports passengers from one place to another on a large scale and millions of passengers use this train service every year.
KTX trains connect the capital Seoul with the country’s southern cities of Gwangju, Jomo, and Yuseo, as well as the southeastern city of Gangneung. The latter line was built to transport passengers to PyeongChang, the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
4. “Train Italia-1000” [300-ETR km/h (Italy)]
Owned by the Italian government, the prestigious Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) high-speed train was introduced in 2017 in competition with a new privately owned train. These trains can run at a speed of 400 km per hour and, like their name, look like red arrows from a distance.
The power of 10,000 horsepower makes it lightning fast. Although it travels at a speed of 360 km/h with passengers, in 2016 one such train set a record of 394 km/h in a test run. These 200-meter-long trains have a total of 457 seats which are divided into four classes.
These include seats from comfortable standard to business and premium to executive classes. Executive classes are equipped with only 10 reclining armchairs and all meals and amenities are provided to passengers at their seats. “Red Arrow” operates on Italy’s high-speed network, which spans the country in the shape of the letter “T.”
These trains connect Bologna, Florence, Rome, and Naples in the north with Turin, Milan, and Venice. Commercial trains are normally allowed to run at a maximum speed of 300 km/h, but the trend of intercity train travel has grown so much, especially on the Milan and Rome routes, that Italy’s national Airline company Alitalia is starting to incur huge losses.
After extensive testing, Italy’s state-owned railways are competing with France’s TGV trains on the Milan, Paris, route and the “Red Arrow” train is proving to be a better alternative to the old French TGV. “Red Arrow”-like trains are also being exported to Spain, where they are outpacing the Spanish-built AVE and Daigo Espana on high-speed routes out of Madrid.
5. “Harman High-Speed Railway” [300-km/h (Saudi Arabia)]
In a place with extreme heat and frequent sandstorms, the concept of high-speed electric trains can be difficult, but the Saudi government has turned it into a reality.
Makkah and Madinah are the holiest cities for Muslims around the world and these two cities are collectively known as Harmann Sharif. Saudi Arabia’s Haramain High-Speed Railway (HHR) connects Makkah and Madinah by rail.
The speed of the train between these two holiest cities is 300 km per hour. 35 Spanish-made Talgo trains are being used on this route, which has been modified to suit the desert climate, where the outside temperature exceeds 50 degrees Celsius in summer, but the inside of the train is freezing.
Between Makkah and Madinah, this train travels 450 kilometers in just over two hours. Each HHR train has 13 cars 417 passengers can travel in economy or business class.
These trains can carry 6 crore passengers from one city to another in a year. Haj pilgrims have got a lot of convenience due to this train. It should be noted that about 20 lakh Muslims gather in the Holy Hijaz during the Hajj days.
Harman High-Speed Railway was inaugurated in 2018. Prior until today, it took around five hours to go by road between the two cities, a trip that now takes only three. Makkah to Madinah railway fare is 315 riyals while the minimum bus fare is 60 riyals.