Portal:Trains/Did you know/August 2011

...that a massive project to connect the Tōkyū Tōyoko Line, the oldest portion of which opened in 1926, to the Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line in Japan, allowing through service to Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and beyond, is expected to open in 2013?

...that the network now operated by Tunisian Railways is primarily standard gauge in the north and metre gauge in the south due to the concessions that were granted for railway construction and operation in the late 19th century?

...that Ttukseom Resort Station on Seoul Subway Line 7 in the Gwangjin-gu administrative district of Seoul, is the only station in South Korea to be located on the underside of a bridge, having been built beneath Cheongdam Bridge?

...that because Los Angeles County Metro Rail in California has a mix of barrier free and faregated areas, fare inspectors check to make sure Transit Access Pass users have validated their card by using a wireless handheld unit?

...that the electrical power conversion equipment at early traction substations for railway electrification systems often consisted of one or more motor-generator sets containing three-phase synchronous AC motors and single-phase AC generators, mechanically coupled to a common shaft?

Tokyo Kyuko Electric Railway 8500 series EMU in 2008

...that after their withdrawal from service by Tokyu Corporation on the Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line and Tōkyū Ōimachi Line in Japan, a number of 8500 series trains were resold to other operators in Japan and to KRL Jabotabek in Indonesia?

...that Thrissur Railway Station, which was opened in 1902, is the busiest railway station in the Indian state of Kerala in terms of number of trains with an average of 55 pairs of trains serving the station every day?

...that when the Thames Branch connecting Thames with Hamilton, New Zealand, opened in 1898, The Minister of Railways, Alfred Cadman, drove the first train into Thames, headed by an F class locomotive?

...that Turkish State Railways (TCDD) E8000 class three-car electric multiple unit trains, built by Alstom, Jeumont and De Dietrich and initially delivered in 1955, were the first electric trains delivered to Turkey?

...that unlike the four other stations along the Rawang-Tanjung Malim shuttle service (formerly known as the Rawang-Kuala Kubu Bharu shuttle service) route operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu in Malaysia, Tanjung Malim railway station is situated along three railways with three platforms?

...that despite its size with former entrances on street and platform levels, Swastika railway station, established in 1908 by the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway in Ontario, Canada, only a small waiting room off the platform is in passenger use for Northlander trains of Ontario Northland Railway?

...that Summit Tunnel beneath the Pennines between Littleborough and Walsden (near Todmorden), England, is one of the oldest railway tunnels in the world, having been built between 1838 and 1841 by the Manchester and Leeds Railway?

VBZ Cobra tram on the second stage of the Glattalbahn just before the Glattbrugg Unterriet stop in 2009

...that the Stadtbahn Glattal, a metre gauge tram system with through running to Glattal, north of Zurich, Switzerland, is sometimes described in German as a mittelverteiler (intermediate distributor) referring to the system's interconnectivity between the city's S-Bahn and bus lines?

...that the sole surviving mainline diesel-hydraulic locomotive in North America, Southern Pacific 9010, built by Krauss-Maffei in 1964 and as of 2010 undergoing restoration at the Niles Canyon Railway, was rebuilt circa 1970 by SP's Sacramento General Shops into a "camera car" for the purpose of shooting motion picture background plates for a ground-based locomotive training simulator?

...that initial and in service repair cost considerations of South African Railways' Class 12A 4-8-2 steam locomotives led to the locomotives' original boilers being built without integrated combustion chambers, so much of the class was rebuilt with new boilers and remained in service through the late 20th century?

...that the Class 77 diesel locomotives operated by SNCB/NMBS were designed by Siemens in the late 1990s for both shunting and mainline use and as such, sets of the class vary in the type of equipment they carry for operations in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany?

...that when the production F class electric locomotives were delivered to Swedish State Railways in the 1940s, they differed from the three prototype units that had been trialled by only having two instead of three front windows, though the first three were later rebuilt?

...that many diesel locomotive models were originally designed with a short hood the full height of the locomotive (a high short hood) which provided extra equipment room and was often used to house a steam generator?

...that although several other metro systems were opened in Chinese cities, the Shenyang Metro was proposed as early as 1940 when a Japanese company planned a 52-kilometre (32 mi) long metro network for the city?

...that the Severn Bridge Railway, connecting Berkeley Road railway station to Sharpness railway station via the Sharpness Branch Line, was formed in the 1870s to operate the line over the Severn Railway Bridge in Gloucestershire, England, and was amalgamated into the Severn and Wye Railway in 1879, the same year the bridge was opened?

...that the present Sekishō Line, connecting Minami-Chitose and Shintoku Station in Japan and operated by Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido), was originally opened in 1892 by the Hokkaido Colliery and Railway Company as the Yūbari Line (夕張線, Yūbari-sen) from Oiwake to Yūbari for transporting coal?

...that current proposals for a new Seattle Streetcar Network in the U.S. state of Washington include lines to South Lake Union, Capitol Hill via First Hill, the University District, Fremont and Ballard, and may also include a revitalization of the Waterfront Streetcar, which was closed in 2009?

...that the Sassari Tram-train, also known as the Sassari Metro-tramway, in Sassari, Sardinia, Italy, operates both on the tracks of an urban tramway network and also on the existing suburban narrow gauge railways operated by the Ferrovie della Sardegna?

...that although all passenger services were transferred to Rossio Train Station from 1891 to 1957, Santa Apolónia Station is the oldest railway terminus in Lisbon, Portugal, having originally opened in 1865?

...that Sandsfoot Castle Halt railway station, on the Portland Branch Railway between Weymouth and Portland in Dorset, England, a line that is now the basis of the Rodwell Trail, was originally opened in 1932 as part of a scheme that saw several halts to counter road competition?
...that Red Devil high-speed interurban trolleys developed in the 1920s by the Cincinnati Car Company for the Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad were among the first lightweight trolleys, with side plates made from aluminum?

...that the Sakura high-speed shinkansen service now operated between Shin-Ōsaka and Kagoshima in Japan was originally introduced in 1951 as a daytime limited express service between Tokyo and Osaka?

...that before the introduction of the KTX express trains in 2004, Saemaeul were the fastest class of trains in South Korea, making the journey from Seoul to Busan in less than 5 hours?