The length of a train may be measured in number of wagons (for bulk loads such as coal and iron ore) or in metres for general freight. Train lengths and loads on electrified railways, especially lower voltage 3000 V DC and 1500 V DC, are limited by traction and power considerations. Drawgear and couplings can also be a limiting factor, along with curves, gradients and crossing loop lengths.
Very long freight trains with a total length of 3 km (1.9 mi) or more are possible with the advent of distributed power, or additional locomotive units between or behind long chains of freight cars (referred to as a "consist"). Additional locomotive units enable much longer, heavier loads without the increased risks of derailing that stem from the stress of pulling very long chains of train-cars around curves.
BHP iron ore train has typically 268 cars and a train weight of 43,000 tonnes carrying 24,200 tonnes of iron ore, 2.8 km long, two SD70ACe locomotives at the head of the train and two remote controlled SD70ACe locomotives as mid-train helpers.[2]
BHP used to run 44,500-tonne, 336-car long iron ore trains over 3 km long, with six to eight locomotives including an intermediate remote unit. This operation seems to have ceased since the trunk line was fully double tracked in May 2011.[3]
The record-breaking ore train from the same company, 682 cars and 7,300 m or 7.3 km long, once carried 82,000 metric tons of ore for a total weight of the train, largest in the world, of 99,734 tonnes. It was driven by eight locomotives distributed along its length to keep the coupling loads and curve performance controllable.[4]
Leigh Creek coal—2.8 km, formerly ran as 161 wagons and three locomotives.[5][6]
Cane tramway – 75 wagons (610 mm (2 ft) gauge).[7]
Datong–Qinhuangdao railway is a dedicated coal-transport railway. Each typical train hauls 20,000 tons of coal using 210 wagons and two HXD1 locomotives, with total length 2.614 km (1.624 mi). [10]
Indian Railways operated the longest train in India on 15 August 2022. The 'Super Vasuki' freight train was 3.5 km (2.2 mi) long had a total of 6 locomotives pulling 295 wagons of coal.[11]
Iron ore trains on the Mauritania Railway are up to 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) in length. They consist of 3 or 4 diesel-electricEMDlocomotives, 200 to 210 cars each carrying up to 84 tons of iron ore, and 2-3 service cars.
4,300 metres (14,000 ft) – United States – According to the AAR, approximately 1% of trains run in the US in 2021 and 2022 have lengths over 14,000 feet.[15]
Australia – The Ghan, running the 2,979 km from Adelaide to Darwin, was lengthened to 44 coaches totalling 1,096 m for nine weeks from May 2016.[22]
Canada - Canadian (Via Rail) runs 4,466 km from Toronto to Vancouver and can be as long as 30 cars in the summer months, though more regularly it operates with 18 to 22 cars with up to three F40PH-2D locomotives.[23]
Special test runs
These are one-off runs, sometimes specifically to set records.
Bulk (ore, coal etc)
BHP run on 21 June 2001, comprising 682 wagons and hauled by eight 6000 hp General Electric GE AC6000CW diesel-electric locomotives controlled by a single driver with a total length of 7.352 km (4.57 mi) on the 275 km (170.88 mi) iron ore railway to Port Hedland in Western Australia – total weight 99,734 tons on a 1,435 mm gauge line.[24]
Datong–Qinhuangdao railway, China. On 2 April 2014, an experimental train ran with 320 wagons and six locos hauling a 31,500 ton load, with a total length of 3.971 km (2.467 mi).[25]
Sishen–Saldanha, South Africa. Run on 26–27 August 1989, comprising 660 wagons, 7.302 kilometres (4.537 mi) long and a total weight of 71,765 tons on a 1,067 mm gauge line. The train comprised 16 locomotives (9 Class 9E50 kV AC electric and 7 Class 37 diesel-electric).[26][27]
Bulk coal train from Ekibastuz to the Urals, Soviet Union, 20 February 1986. The train consisted of 439 wagons and several diesel locomotives distributed along the train with a total mass of 43,400 tonnes and a total length of 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi).[28]
Union Pacific, United States. Run from 8–10 January 2010, consisting of 296 container cars and hauled by nine diesel-electric locomotive spread through the train with a total length of 18,000 feet (3.4 mi; 5.5 km), from a terminal in Texas to Los Angeles. Around 618 double-stacked containers were carried at speeds up to 70 mph/112 km/h. 14,059 t.[31][32]
BNSF, United States, 10 July 2009—3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi; 12,000 ft), 458 container units powered by seven locomotives[33]
Passenger
Kijfhoek–Eindhoven, Netherlands. In 1989, the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Dutch Railways) celebrated their 150th anniversary. On 19 February 1989, NS ran a test train with 60 passenger cars (1,602 metres (5,256 ft) long and weighing 2,597 tons), of which only the first 14 cars held actual passengers, pulled by one 1500 V DC locomotive.[34] Twenty years later, in 2009, Railz Miniworld repeated the stunt on a smaller scale, inside their exhibition in Rotterdam.[35]
Ghent–Ostend, Belgium. On 27 April 1991, one electric locomotive and 70 passenger cars (totalling 1,733 m (5,685.70 ft) and 2786 tons, excluding the locomotive) held a charity run for the Belgian Cancer Fund, exceeding the Dutch record.[34]
Rhaetian Railway, Switzerland. On 29 October 2022, the Rhaetian Railway celebrated the 175th anniversary of Swiss railways with an hour-long, 25-kilometre (16 mi) journey from Preda to Alvaneu in southeast Switzerland. The train had 25 4-car ABe 4/16 "Capricorn" EMUs, totalling 100 coaches with a total length of 1,910 metres (6,270 ft); it ran on a narrow-gauge railway over several switchbacks and long curves.[36][37]
Distributed power—Where operational considerations or economics require it, trains can be made longer if intermediate locomotives are inserted in the train and remotely controlled from the leading locomotive.
^"Archived copy"(PDF). www.ihha2011.org. Archived from the original(PDF) on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2022.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
