Train on Train

Short description: Japanese concept for train piggybacking

| The factual accuracy of this engineering may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please update this engineering to reflect recent events or newly available information. (October 2020)

|

A "Train on Train" experimental mockup at Naebo Works, October 2008 Mock-up wagons at Naebo Works, April 2007

"Train on Train" (トレイン・オン・トレイン, Torein on Torein) is a term used in Japanese rail transport. It refers to the concept of piggybacking, carrying narrow-gauge wagons on broader-gauge flat wagons. "Train on Train" uses a similar concept to Transporter wagons and Rollbocks.

The need for "Train on Train" arose when Japan's Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) was planning for standard-gauge Hokkaido Shinkansen high-speed trains to operate in the undersea Seikan Tunnel from 2016. The problem was that narrow-gauge freight trains did not operate at high speeds. Since the tunnel is 53.85 km (33.46 mi) long, incorporating the slower narrow-gauge trains into the timetable would significantly disrupt the planned high-speed services. It was also considered technically difficult to build new freight train shelters within the Seikan Tunnel. JR Hokkaido would investigate a solution of mounting narrow-gauge freight trains on to faster standard-gauge freight trains.[1] JR Hokkaido applied for a patent for train-on-train on February 22, 2006, and has continued research and development to realize a Shinkansen freight train since then.[2] The development of "Train on Train" was effectively frozen in 2015. The Hokkaido Shinkansen opened on March 26, 2016, without "Train on Train" being put into use.

## Development

When the Hokkaido Shinkansen opened between Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate in 2016, high-speed Shinkansen trains shared the dual gauge tracks through the Seikan Tunnel which links the main island of Honshu with Hokkaido. While in the tunnel, freight trains on the narrow-gauge 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) rails are limited to 110 km/h (70 mph). The "Train on Train" concept involved loading narrow-gauge KoKi 100 container wagons on to specially built standard-gauge wagons to allow operation at speeds of up to 200 km/h (120 mph).[1] The speeds in the Seikan Tunnel were reported as having been increased to 160 km/h (99 mph) after extensive testing in 2014.[3]

Piggyback by Trainload concept

The "Train on Train" concept was announced in 2006[4] and a full-size mockup vehicle was built and demonstrated at Naebo Works (ja) in 2007. While the next phase was to build a prototype train for actual operation this plan was never followed through on.[1][5] beginning in 2010, JR Freight started developing a new Electric Locomotive, the Class EH800 to run on 20/25 kV AC to operate through the Seikan Tunnel.[6] These locomotives would have hauled "Train on Train" services through the tunnel. A "Forum 2050" presentation by JR Hokkaido in 2010 stated that using a "double traverser" arrangement would allow an entire train to be transferred to and from the '"Train on Train" wagons in approximately 10 minutes.[7][8] As of October 2024, the concept of "Train on Train" has not been implemented.

## See also

* Gauge Change Train, an experimental Japanese train designed to operate on both narrow-gauge and standard-gauge routes
* Modalohr
* Piggyback (transportation)
* Roadrailer
* Rolling highway
* Variable gauge

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 (in Japanese)Hokkaido Shimbun (Japan: The Hokkaido Shimbun Press). 20 December 2008. http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/cont/shinkansen/45633.html.
2. ↑ "開発は凍結状態 貨車を新幹線に積む「トレイン・オン・トレイン」 - タタールのくにびき －蝦夷前鉄道趣味日誌－". https://ishikari210.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-1377.html.
3. ↑ "東京―新函館4時間10分 北海道新幹線、16年春開業" (in ja). 2014-04-16. https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASDG16047_W4A410C1CC1000/.
4. ↑ (in Japanese)Tokachi Mainichi Newspaper (Japan). 26 April 2006. Archived from the original on 5 July 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090705133331/http://www.tokachi.co.jp/kachi/0604/04_26.htm. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
5. ↑ "開発は凍結状態 貨車を新幹線に積む「トレイン・オン・トレイン」 - タタールのくにびき －蝦夷前鉄道趣味日誌－". https://ishikari210.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-1377.html.
6. ↑ JR Hokkaido. "Error: no `|title=` specified when using {{Cite web}}". https://www.mlit.go.jp/common/000193032.pdf.Error:+no+`|title=`+specified when+using+{{[[Template:Cite+web|Cite+web]]}}&rft.atitle=&rft.aulast=JR+Hokkaido&rft.au=JR+Hokkaido&rft_id=https://www.mlit.go.jp/common/000193032.pdf&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikibooks.org:Engineering:Train_on_Train">
7. ↑ (in Japanese)Hokkaido Shimbun (Japan: The Hokkaido Shimbun Press). 1 February 2010. Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100204011244/http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/news/bullet_train/213317.html. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
8. ↑ "JR貨物 新幹線との供用走行専用の新型機関車を導入". Tetsudō Daiya Jōhō Magazine (Japan: Kōtsū Shimbun) 41 (337): 70. May 2012.

## External links

* Animated video showing operation Script error: The function "in_lang" does not exist.

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train on Train. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Engineering:Train_on_Train&oldid=3895365"