Trains have a long history and are important around the world. This means there are plenty of facts about them. Here are 10 awesome train facts for the fact-collecting part of your brain.
1- now that’s fast
It’s all about speed in our first fact of the blog. At the time of writing the fastest train in the world is the Shanghai Maglev (Maglev stands for Magnetic levitation).
Incredibly it can travel at 268 miles per hour!
Can you imagine travelling nearly 300 miles per hour? Or a better question – can you imagine travelling nearly 300 miles per hour on a floating train? That’s right- the maglev floats.
The more professional word for floating is levitation, hence the name magnetic levitation. It’s a train levitating on electromagnets.
2- Four legs are better than wheels?
Steam locomotives started to appear in America around the 1830s.
In order to demonstrate that steam power was better than horsepower a race was put on. The locomotive which went up against the fabled horse was called “Tom Thumb”, capable of reaching speeds of 18 miles per hour.
The history books will always state that the horse won the race- and it did – but only because Tom Thumb broke down.
Still- imagine the horror of realising your brand new steam locomotive is beaten by a horse. A horse can run up to 55 miles per hour- so it’s not really that surprising. Locomotives were built for endurance though.
3- Punctual!
Unless you’re extremely lucky you will have been delayed on the train, if you’re a regular commuter you probably get delayed every single day.
Passengers on the Japanese Shinkansen very rarely have to suffer such delays. In 2021 the Shinkansen system ran with an average delay of just 24 seconds!
What’s even more unique (and awesome) is that if a train is 5 minutes delayed the conductors apologise to each passenger as they check tickets.
I’m not one for begging- but pretty please with a cherry on top can we have these trains in the UK?
4- the fastest steam locomotive in the world
A short and simple fact- the fastest steam locomotive ever recorded was the Mallard.
It travelled 126 miles per hour in 1938 and has never officially been beaten. It went so fast that it actually broke.
5- The busiest railway in Europe
Britain has the busiest rail network in Europe. There are roughly 3.5 million passengers every single day. That’s a lot of farts that happen on the railways every day.
joke break!
Now that we’re halfway through our 10 awesome train facts let’s take a little break with a joke- a railway-related joke of course.
Why can’t a train driver get electrocuted? Because they’re not the conductor…
Funny right? Anyway- let’s get back to the list of our 10 awesome train facts.
6-Hope there’s enough leg room!
I often struggle with legroom on the train (being nearly 6ft 5″ doesn’t help) but luckily I normally only have to travel on the train for up to 2 hours if I’m going to London.
The longest train ride in the world goes from Portugal to Vietnam. The journey is 10,056 miles long and takes just 12 days to complete. I hope they at least stop for comfort breaks. I will certainly be paying for added legroom.
7- A multipurpose tool
On a steam locomotive, there was a fireman who used a shovel to move coal from the Tender (at the back) into the firebox (where the fire is). It was an important job but did you know the shovel had more than one use?
Not only was it used for shovelling coal it was used to cook food and even for taking a quick poo!
8- Old but still going strong
The oldest working steam locomotive in the world runs in India. It’s called the ‘Fairy Queen’. It was built in Britain in 1855 before being shipped to India. Old- but still going strong.
9- Going underground
The first underground railway in the world was in London! It opened in 1863 between Paddington and Farringdon. The cool kids call it the Metropolitan Railway.
Less than 100 years later there were underground railways in most major European cities. Talk about copycats.
10- where did the word train come from?
To finish our 10 awesome train facts I thought it would be good to tell you where the word “train” actually comes from.
The word has been part of the English language since medieval times and came from a French verb which meant “to drag” and referred to the part of the dress that used to drag behind the wearer – literally what a train does I suppose.
If you’ve enjoyed these 10 awesome train facts then you should consider picking up my book- the not-so-romantic railways which will take you on an epic journey through the Victorian Railways in Britain.
Which of the 10 awesome train facts was your favourite? Do you have a railway fact you think I should know? Let me know in the comments down below.