Electric train

The electric train is formed of motor (performing the function of traction) and trailed cars . Trailer cars may contain equipment that performs auxiliary functions - for example, compressors (receiving compressed air for the brake system , raising current collectors , opening and closing doors, pneumatic contactors and other systems), batteries , voltage converters, etc. Electric train cars with control cabins called the head . Passengers can be accommodated in all cars of the electric train.

The smallest composite manning unit containing the entire range of equipment is called a section .

In some electric trains, each car has a control cabin or, by default, a closed backup control panel in the cabin and can be used as the head - for example, many domestic metro trains starting from A and ending with Hedgehog-3 were formed only from head cars with control cabins, most of which used as intermediates.

However, there are electric trains in which the head carriage is not designed to carry passengers ; in fact, it could be considered an electric locomotive if it were not for constructive linking with intermediate cars and another head car (or tail car with a remote control cabin) of the electric train. Such (in some intercity rank diesel trains and turbo trains also occurs / has occurred) the head carriage is usually called the traction “head” . For example, TGV and (the first modification with two "heads", the second modifications with one "head" and "tail") ICE are built according to this scheme.

There are also electric trains of locomotive traction, where instead of the head carriage a full-fledged electric locomotive is used (single or section), used in normal operation with coupled passenger or freight trains. As part of such an electric train, both the head section of a multi-section electric locomotive with one control cabin and a single electric locomotive with two control cabins can be used. Electric locomotives can be attached both on both sides of the train (usually in this case sections of two-section electric locomotives are used), and on one (both a section and a two-cab single electric locomotive can be used, and an intermediate trailer car is coupled on the other hand). In Russia, a small number of electric locomotive traction trains ED1 , ED4DK were produced, one section of the VL80 ^S electric locomotive was located in the head of the electric train, the other section was in the tail (“push-pull”) . The VL80 ^S series electric locomotives underwent a small alteration, control systems for lighting and heating of cars, door opening were added. In Germany, the practice of forming locomotive traction trains from a single two-cabin electric locomotive and several trailed cars with a head car with a control cabin at the tail of the train is widespread.

For coupling cars between themselves on the railways of the countries that were part of the USSR , the automatic coupling SA-3 is used mainly, which ensures the interchangeability of sections and the possibility of transporting individual sections with a shunting locomotive. Scharfenbeg automatic couplings , which automate the process of connecting pneumatic highways and electric control circuits, are also widespread on many modern electric trains of land railways and underground trains. Scharfenberg automatic couplings are installed in front of the head cars, which also allows several electric trains to be automatically coupled into one train for operation on a system of many units , on the other hand, the presence of Scharfenberg automatic couplings on railways complicates the process of coupling trains with other rolling stock (for example, locomotives during transportation) due to the need for coupling through the adapter. Separate electric trains are equipped with other types of couplings (Janney automatic coupler , screw coupler ). Between cars of many modern electric trains, clearance-free coupling devices of a special design are often installed, different from coupling devices in front of the head cars. Such electric trains, as a rule, constitute a single machine complex, which contains different equipment in different cars, and therefore cannot be operated with other components not provided by the manufacturer, and cannot be uncoupled under normal conditions.

Mechanical

The mechanical part of the car contains a body, carts , shock - traction devices and brake equipment. Unlike electric locomotives, traction motors are self-ventilated (that is, their cooling is provided by fans located directly on the axis of the electric motor, while separate electric motor fans are used on electric locomotives ).

Passengers enter the cars through the doorways on the sides. Most modern electric trains have automatic doors, which are controlled from the driver’s remote control, the oldest electric trains and narrow gauge trains can have manual doors. By design, the doors can be sliding, reclining-sliding or pivoting and are driven by a pneumatic or electric drive.

In most cases, each carriage is supported by two individual carriages for each carriage, however, a significant part of the electric train models has articulated carriages that are located between two carriages of the train and are structurally linked to the intercar passage. In the vast majority of cases, electric train bogies are biaxial, however, electric trains with light weight wagons, especially narrow gauge ones, often have uniaxial bogies . For motor cars, traction motors are most often installed on both carts, but there are electric trains with cars in which only one of the two carts is motor. Traction motors with frame suspension are usually installed on motorized carts. To ensure smoother movement and cushioned shocks, the trolleys have double spring suspension.

Electrical part

Classical electric trains receive energy from a contact wire or contact rail using current collectors. Current collectors can be placed both on motor and trailed cars, in the latter case, power is transferred to the motor car through intercar electric cables. The most common type of current collection is the upper current collection from a contact wire suspended above the railway line using current collectors in the form of a pantograph or half pantograph. On subway lines, the lower side or inter-rail contact rail is more often used for energy supply, from which the electric train receives power through current collectors in the form of protruding runners, while the location of the current collector relative to the rail can also vary. In most cases, a single-phase current collector is used, but there are also three-phase current collector lines where electric trains use special design current collectors for separate contact with several wires or contact rails.

Some models of electric trains are equipped with traction batteries, allowing them to be operated for short periods in areas without a contact rail; recharging the batteries is carried out when the electric train is operating in electrified areas. Such electric trains, called battery-powered, are not widely used.

In 2017, Byron Bay in Australia created an electric train that receives energy from solar panels located on the roofs of its wagons and at intermediate stations. In sunny weather, the composition can move without resorting to other sources of energy; batteries are also provided for operation in cloudy weather ^[1] .

The electric equipment of electric trains depends on the type of current (electric trains of direct current, alternating current, two-system), type of traction motors ( collector , asynchronous ), the presence or absence of electric braking .

Basically, the electrical equipment of electric trains is similar to the electrical equipment of electric locomotives. However, unlike electric locomotives, on most models of electric trains it is placed under the body and on the roofs of cars to increase passenger space, as a rule, only a few cabinets with electric equipment occupy the cabin space (with the exception of electric trains of locomotive traction and electric trains with locomotive type motor cars) . The principles of controlling the engines of electric trains are approximately the same as on electric locomotives . Unlike electric locomotives, the process of accelerating an electric train is partially automated: switching of starting resistors (or taps of a traction transformer on AC electric trains) is automatically controlled by an acceleration relay until one of the four running positions is reached. And on electric locomotives (with the exception of modern models with microprocessor control), all several dozen positions are manually switched by turning the knob of the controller of the driver.

USSR and Russia

The first train in Russia was to become Oranela , which was planned to be launched in 1914-1915. However, due to the First World War and the ensuing revolution, the project was not completed. Nevertheless, in 1920 Oranela was launched as part of the Northwest Railways and was considered an experimental line for suburban traffic. As motor and trailed cars, we used modernized (increased in body size) cars from Riga manufactured by the Phoenix company (in the future RVZ is the leading Soviet manufacturer of electric trains). However, according to the capacity of the wagons (they received the designation MC- F), their number in the composition and network voltage (the same as in the city tram - 600 V), Oranela occupied an intermediate place between the electric train and the city tram. It is noteworthy that the word "train" itself, as the researcher N.N. Goltsov, first used in 1913 in a newspaper article on the construction of Oranela .

In the USSR, the first electric trains began to be operated in 1926 on the Baku-Sabunchi-Surahani line (direct current, voltage 1200 V). For the construction of this road, a practically finished section of Oranela from Strelna to Oranienbaum was dismantled and transported. Special electric trains (pictured), the first in the history of the USSR, were built at the Mytishchi plant using electrical equipment from the Austrian company Elin , also delivered to Oranela before the revolution .

On August 29, 1929, the movement of electric trains of series C began on the Moscow - Mytishchi line (direct current, voltage 1500 V). From 1937 to 1958 Soviet electric trains of series C operated both at a voltage of 1500 V and at 3000 V, switching of electrical equipment to a different voltage occurred at the docking stations . In the 1950s almost all C series DC electric trains from 1500 V were converted to 3000 V. Electric trains mainly consisted of three wagons - two head trailed and one intermediate motor, part of the trains consisted of two head (motor and intermediate) wagons. Trains could be operated according to the system of many units , gathering in six-car and nine-car trains. The doors of these electric trains opened manually and for the most part had exits to low platforms, and some of them only to high ones. Later, an experimental batch of CH electric trains was launched, for which automatic external doors were first used.

Subsequently, in the USSR, all electric trains were mass-produced by the Riga Car Building Plant in cooperation with the Riga Electric Machine Building and Kalininsky Car Building Plants (all trains of the ER series). They began to be produced from the late 1950s. instead of series C electric trains, the issue began with ER1 and ER2 trains at 3000 V DC, and a bit later - ER7 and ER9 for 25 000 V AC, which began to be introduced. These electric trains were fundamentally different from the predecessors of Series C and were formed from two-car electric sections, each of which included a motor and trailer car, on the principle of a variable number of cars in the train, and the operation of two or more trains in a multi-unit system was not provided. The trains also had new cabins, equipment and automatic sliding doors. The constructional speed of all these trains is 130 km / h.

In general, ER2 and ER9 trains became the most common on the railways of the USSR and served as a constructive basis for most of the subsequent models of domestic-made electric trains, including both ER trains and trains of other plants that began to be released after the collapse of the USSR. Later, modifications with regenerative-rheostatic inhibition were released - ER2R / ER2T and ER9T .

In the 1960s and 1970s RVZ produced four-car electric trains with longer cars and three entrance doors to the car, capable of operating on a system of many units - ER10 and ER22 (as well as modifications of ER22M and ER22V) of direct current and ER11 of alternating current. The head cars of these trains were motorized with a current collector, and intermediate ones were trailed. The ER22 and ER11 trains were numbered as eight-car and in fact represented a couple of two four-car electric trains with a single number according to CME. All were equipped with electric braking. The plant also produced a batch of two high-speed electric trains ER200 for the Moscow-Leningrad line.

In the 1990s, after the collapse of the USSR, the production of electric trains was mastered at the Demikhovsky and Torzhoksky plants. In Demikhovo, the production of electric trains of the ED series was established: direct current of the ED2T / ED4 family and alternating current ED9 with modifications of various indices, which were modifications of the ER2T and ER9T with somewhat elongated wagons and vestibules and a new shape of the frontal part. In Torzhok, the production of ET trains was launched, the main models of steel are ET2 and ET2M , which are structurally based on ER2T . Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant also developed an electric train model ( EN3 ) and made a prototype.

Since 2007, the Torzhok Carriage Works has been producing a four - car diesel electric train DT1 . In non-electrified areas, traction motors are powered by two diesel generator sets, in areas electrified with a constant voltage of 3 kV, they are powered by a contact wire. Diesel generators are located under the body of the head cars, carts with traction electric motors are installed on the motor car (with a current collector), one of the cars is trailed.

Since the mid-2000s, Russia and the countries of the former USSR decided to purchase imported electric trains for high-speed and high-speed communication. Siemens received Velaro RUS high-speed electric trains in Russia in two versions - EMV1 for direct current and EMV2 of two-system power. On the route St. Petersburg - Helsinki, a two-system Sm6 high-speed electric train began to run. For suburban routes, two-system Siemens Desiro trains - ES1 “Swallow” were purchased. Later, the production of similar trains in the modification of the direct current ES2G was localized in Russia at the Uralsky Locomotives plant.

Currently, in Russia, suburban and regional routes operate direct current trains of the following series: ER2 (as well as modernized ER2, which are given the new names EM2 , EM2I, EM4 , ES2 , or ER2K), ER2R , ER2T , ET2 , ET2M , ED2T , ED4 , ED4M (and modifications), EP2D , ES2G ; electric trains of alternating current ER9 , ER9P, (as well as upgraded with assignment of index EM9) ER9E, ER9T, ED9T , ED9M , ED9E . Electric trains of direct current ЭШ2 and ЭГ2Тв , alternating current ЭП3Д are expected to be put into operation in the near future.

Electricity

From the time of the first film show of the Lumiere brothers to the present day, the train moving in the frame, shot from a certain angle, remains a rather expressive and widespread artistic element of the cinema.

In many countries of the world there is a phenomenon of stowaways in electric trains, which has a high level of development in Russia. To avoid ticket control in electric trains, fare dodgers can apply various tactics, the most common of which is to leave the controllers in composition in the direction of their movement and then cross the platform while stopping at the tested part of the train ^{[2] [3]} . At present, ticket control in Russian electric trains is carried out by employees of private suburban passenger companies, which, according to the current legislation, do not have the legal right to demand a ticket from a passenger or to fine ticketless passengers ^[4] , therefore, controllers often conflict with passengers who refuse to provide tickets him a ticket for verification, including if the latter is available ^[5] . At present, a subculture of stowaways of electric trains unifying in informal communities has developed in Russia. Also in Russia there is an informal subculture of “electric trainers” - passengers of electric trains who practice various techniques to provide more convenient travel on electric trains or travel without a ticket, the complex of which is called “electric train” by them ^[6] .

ZHCHR

On a number of railway lines in the world, some passengers practice traveling from the outside of electric trains outside the passenger compartment (mainly on the tail booths, on the roofs and between the cars), also known as “train surfing”, “train hopping”, “hooking”, or simply “ZZPCh”. Although this method of travel is ubiquitous and can be practiced on electric trains of urban, suburban and long-distance traffic, it was most widely used in Southeast Asia on suburban railway lines with congested passenger traffic, especially in India ^[7] and Indonesia ^[8] . In Russia, travel outside suburban electric trains became widespread during the summer of 2010 in a number of directions of the Moscow Railway as a result of abnormal heat and large-scale cancellation of electric trains ^[9] , which led to a sharp increase in the number of passengers practicing this method of transportation ^[10] and the popularization of trainer-surfing communities in Russia ^[11] . On most railways in the world, travel from the outside is seen as a violation of administrative law and passenger travel rules, and many railway companies, together with law enforcement agencies, are trying to take measures to counter this phenomenon.

Common names

The colloquial name of the electric train is in Russia and in countries where the Russian language is “ electric train ”; at the same time, this word is often applied to diesel trains , rail buses , highways (for example, RA-2 ) and even to suburban trains of non-electrified locomotive traction of cars. There is also a jargon name for electric trains - “ dogs ”: this jargon, for example, is mentioned in the DDT song “Lyudmila Night”. The origin of the name is probably connected with the saying "get on the dogs": at the peak of the development of suburban commuter trains, it was possible to get to almost any large city in the USSR.

In the future, another analogy with a dog appeared - associated with the image of a branded dog on the trains of the Region-Express service company or REKS , which is an agent for servicing passengers of several commuter express trains and accelerated commuter trains ED4M and EP2D in Moscow and the Moscow Region ^[12] .

Declaring Stops

Before the electric train leaves for the first flight, the driver informs the point of departure, departure and stop times with which the train follows. This is due to the fact that not all trains have stops at all points (mainly only to the nearest ones). The format of the announcement is “Next stop ... (name). Caution, the doors close ” , even if the train proceeds without stops at stations 1-3. If the electric train stops only at large stations or more stations follow, the driver reports this (2 times), warning of attention, since, having passed this section, the electric train can continue to its destination with stops at all points.

In the literature

• In the 1960s and later, the song of D. Tukhmanov to the poems of M. Nozhkin “The Last Train”, written in a twist rhythm, was very popular.
• A train ride forms the basis of the plot of Venedikt Yerofeyev ’s poem “ Moscow - Petushki ”.

• Electrification of Railways
• Electric trains of the Soviet and Russian railways
• Intermediate car

• Other types of substations
  • Diesel train
  • Railcar
  • French electric trains of the Z 20500 , Z 20900 , Z 5600 , Z 8800 , Z 92050 series
  • Electric train DB series 420 (Germany)
• Other means of transport based on the MVPS railway
  • City train

• Railways: "General Course" (textbook). M. M. Uzdin, Yu. I. Efimenko, V. I. Kovalev, S. I. Loginov, B. F. Shaulsky.

• Professionally about electric trains
• Russian electric trains
• The history of suburban traffic from Riga Station