The standard distance between two tracks of American railway is 4.85 feet. This is a very strange standard. Where did it come from?
It turns out that this is the British railway standard, because the American railway was first designed and built by the British. So why do the British use this standard?
It turns out that the British railway was designed by the people who built the tram track, and this 4.85 foot is the standard used by trams. Where does the tram track standard come from?
It turns out that the earliest people who built trams were used to build carriages. And they take the rail width of the carriage as the standard. So, why do carriages use such track standards?
Because if the carriage had used any other track at that time, the wheels of the carriage would have been damaged on the old horse road in England soon. Why? Because the rut width on these roads is 4.85 feet. So where did the width of these ruts come from?
The answer was set by the ancient Romans, and 4.85 feet was the width of the Roman chariot. If anyone drives on these roads with different tracks, his wheel life will not be long. Let's ask again: Why did the Romans use 4.85 feet as the track of the chariot? The reason is very simple, this is the width of two horse-drawn chariots! The story should end here, but it's not over yet.
Next time you see the American space shuttle standing on the launch pad on TV, please notice that there are two rocket propulsion on both sides of its fuel tank. These propellers are supplied by factories in Utah. If possible, the engineers in this factory hope to make these propellers fatter, which will have greater capacity, but they can't. Why?
Because after these propellers are made, they have to be transported from the factory to the launch site by train, and there are some tunnels on the way. The width of these tunnels is only a little wider than the width of the train track. However, we should not forget that the width of train tracks is determined by the width of horses.
Therefore, it can be asserted that the design of the most advanced transportation system in the world today is determined by the width of two horses two thousand years ago. This is "path dependence", which seems absurd and humorous, but it is true.
Two. A brief history of world railways
Greece is the earliest country with railway transportation, and there were carriages running along the track at least 2000 years ago.
1804, Richard Telwick invented the first steam locomotive in Wales, England, but he didn't make any money.
The first successful steam locomotive was a rocket made by george stephenson in 1829.
/kloc-in the 1920s, the stoughton and Darlington railways in Britain became the first successful steam train railways. Later, the railway between Liverpool and Manchester showed great development potential of the railway.
Soon, railways became popular in Britain and all over the world and became the leader of world transportation for nearly a century. It was not until the invention of airplanes and automobiles that the importance of railways decreased.
1888 After the invention of overhead cables, the first electrified railway using overhead cables was put into use in 1892.
After World War II, diesel and electric trains gradually replaced steam-driven trains. Since the 1960s, many countries have built high-speed railways. Freight railways are also connected to ports, and cooperate with shipping to transport a large number of goods in containers, greatly reducing costs.
At present, among 236 countries and regions in the world, 144 have railway transportation (including the Vatican, the smallest country in the world), and about 90 countries provide railway passenger service. Railway is still the largest passenger transport in the world and has an irreplaceable position.
The first railway in China was built by the British in Shanghai, and was bought back and demolished by local officials in the Qing Dynasty. The first officially used railway and steam locomotive was built by Kailuan Company Coal Mine initiated by Li Hongzhang.
History of world railway development
1688, the British bourgeoisie launched a "glorious revolution", announcing the birth of the capitalist system. The new relations of production liberated the productive forces. The increasingly fine technical division of labor in handicraft workshops simplifies all production processes to the extent that manual labor can be replaced by machines, which makes the skills of manual workers tend to be specialized and creates favorable conditions for the invention and application of machines. The industrial revolution began.
The industrial revolution first began in the textile industry. In the textile industry, the production of large machines has gradually gained a dominant position. With the invention and application of the machine, the steam engine came into being, and then the steam car driving on the road was made by using the principle of the steam engine, which was the later car. Decades later, the steam locomotive that can run on the track came out.
On September 27th, 1825, the stockton-Darlington railway, the world's first permanent public transport facility for steam locomotives, was officially opened to traffic. At the grand opening ceremony, the "travel" train consisting of locomotives, coal water tankers, 32 trucks and/kloc-0 buses was driven by designer Stephenson himself. Depart from Iku Lane Station at 9: 00 a.m. and arrive in stockton at 3: 47 p.m. The whole journey is 31.8km..
The official opening of stockton-Darlington Railway marks the beginning of modern railway transportation. People attach great importance to railway because of its advantages of speed, convenience and economy. Needless to say, in Britain, the birthplace of railways, building railways has become the hottest and most fashionable thing. The 1950s of 19 was the * * * period of British railway construction. The main line was basically completed in 1880, and the national railway network was formed in 1890, with a total length of 32,000 kilometers.
Third, how is the birth and development of railways recorded in history? Railways are the tracks of trains and other means of transportation.
As a way of land transportation, railway uses locomotives to pull trains on two parallel tracks. However, railway transportation in a broad sense also includes non-steel wheels such as maglev trains, cable cars and ropeways, or rail transportation.
Rails can provide a very smooth and hard medium for train wheels to roll on with minimal friction, which makes people feel more comfortable and saves energy. If properly configured, railway transportation can save energy by 50% to 70% compared with road transportation with the same weight.
Moreover, the rail can evenly disperse the weight of the train, which greatly improves the load capacity of the train. Ancient Greece was the earliest country with railway transportation, and there were horse-drawn carts running along the track at least 2000 years ago.
Li Xie 1804? Telwijk invented the first steam locomotive in Wales, England, which can advance on the rails. 18 14, Stephenson successfully manufactured the first steam-powered train locomotive.
The first successful steam locomotive was George? The "rocket" built by Stephen Sun in 1829. /kloc-in the 1920s, the stoughton and Darlington railways in Britain became the first successful steam train railways.
Later, the railway between Liverpool and Manchester showed great development potential of the railway. Soon, railways became popular in Britain and all over the world and became the leader of world transportation for nearly a century. It was not until the invention of airplanes and automobiles that the importance of railways decreased.
1888 After the invention of overhead cables, the first electrified railway using overhead cables was put into use in 1892. After World War II, diesel and electric trains gradually replaced steam-driven trains.
Since 1960, many countries have built high-speed railways. The freight railway is also connected with the port, and the container is used to transport a large number of goods in cooperation with the sea, which greatly reduces the cost.
At present, among 236 countries and regions in the world, 144 have railway transportation (including the Vatican, the smallest country in the world), and about 90 countries provide railway passenger service. Railway is still the largest passenger transport in the world and has an irreplaceable position.
The first railway in China was built by the British in Shanghai, and was bought back and demolished by local officials in the Qing Dynasty. The first officially used railway and steam locomotive was built by Kailuan Company Coal Mine initiated by Li Hongzhang.
Fourthly, the first railway in the history of China was built in that era. The first opinion is 1865. A 500-meter-long model railway with a small steam locomotive was laid by British businessman Durand outside Xuanwu Gate, which was the first railway in China.
It is based on the fact that although this railway is advertised, it is paved with a small track, which is "long and long" and uses a steam locomotive. "There is a car driving on it, as fast as flying." This has the main characteristics of railways, and it is appropriate to regard it as the first railway in China.
The second opinion is that 1876, the passenger-freight railway built by Jardine Matheson in Britain between Wusong and Shanghai was the first railway in China. 1866, in order to expand the invasion of China, the British colonialists resorted to deception, demanding the construction of a railway on the pretext that the river between Wusong and Shanghai was not dredged, so that the goods from Wusong could be transported from the sea to Shanghai and then transported by rail.
This request was not approved by Qing. On 1875, the unwilling British invaders smuggled railway equipment from Britain to Shanghai through Jardine Matheson, a British businessman, and laid rails and built roads without authorization.
1 876 65438+February1The whole line from Shanghai to Wusong was completed and opened to traffic. The invasion of British imperialism caused strong resistance, and the people along the route set off a spontaneous mass struggle against foreign aggression in the process of road construction.
1In September, 877, the Qing Dynasty redeemed the railway with a large sum of money, but failed to make use of it. Instead, it foolishly demolished the railway line with a length of about 15 km.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) The origin and development of railways Trains and tracks Today, we are used to seeing railways as the oldest mode of transportation.
However, few people know that two inventions on which trains are based have long been known and used. As early as in ancient Greece and Rome, people at that time began to build roads and transport goods by rail and human or horse-drawn vehicles.
However, this outstanding invention was forgotten in the Middle Ages. It was not until the end of 16 that the vehicles along the track were used again to transport coal in the coal mine.
At that time, the wheels and tracks of these vehicles were made of wood wrapped in iron sheets. /kloc-in the 0/8th century, steam engines appeared and were widely used in industry.
However, in transportation, steam engines and railway tracks have been used separately for many years. When the two were finally combined one day, the railway appeared.
The appearance of steam locomotive has a long history, full of genius ideas and failed applications. At the end of 18 and the beginning of 19, many outstanding people tried to use steam engines on vehicles (the initiator was Nicolas, a French artillery officer in 1763).
Joseph. Cugnot), and some people try to make steam locomotives run on the rails (180 1 and 1803, British Richard.
Trevitchik did such an experiment), but in the end it was George, an Englishman. Stephenson first invented the truly practical steam locomotive.
George. Stephenson was born in Newcastle 178 1.
18 14 years, he made a steam locomotive called "Half Boot", which was the prototype of all steam locomotives later. Extension of Railway After the invention of the first steam locomotive, the history of trains mainly changed into the history of railway expansion.
For many years, cars driven by steam locomotives have no running tracks. The first railway used to carry passengers was built by Stephenson in Bishop Crane, England, with a total length of only 17 km.
However, the railway did not immediately enter the era of expansion. In response to Stephenson's invention, progressive conservatives launched their typical attack.
They criticized that this huge evil machine would bring death to human beings and animals and destroy the beautiful rural scenery. However, the railway finally gained the upper hand.
1830 September 15, the railway from Manchester to Liverpool was completed and opened to traffic. This is considered to be the first real railway in history.
Since then, the railway has been developing rapidly and continuously. Large-scale projects such as bridges, viaducts and tunnels have brought railway tracks to all parts of the world.
The idea of electric train first came from German engineer and industrialist Werner. Feng.
Siemens, who built the first electrified railway at 188 1 In the initial test, the locomotive's current was transmitted directly through the rails.
Then the overhead cable was invented to provide power, which was much safer and could provide enough power for locomotives with fewer substations. The system was subsequently applied to subways and urban light rail trains.
1870, the first city train (subway) officially started running in London, when steam locomotives were used. Twenty years later, the first electric subway was finally built.
Subsequently, almost all the ground and underground railways were gradually electrified, and steam locomotives gradually withdrew from the historical stage. The legendary "Rocket" 1826, after overcoming great resistance, the proposal to build the Manchester-Liverpool railway was finally passed in the British Parliament.
In order to choose the locomotive used in this railway, the United Kingdom * * * publicly invited tenders to the public. As a result, this tender has become a highly concerned competition of the public.
1829, 10 In June, locomotives from four locomotive manufacturers held an open race on the track near Rheinhill. Finally, George.
Stephenson's "rocket" locomotive beat other competitors. The "rocket train" successfully completed its operation in various situations and reached a record speed of 57 kilometers per hour.
Since then, the "rocket" locomotive has become the most widely used train locomotive in the world. The braking system was invented in about 1767. Braking doesn't need a reason at all.
Reducing the speed of high-speed vehicles is the most natural requirement of modern society. From the day of invention, the braking system is a device that rubs the wheels to slow down, but it is gradually improved with the passage of time.
The most important invention of the braking device came from George, an Englishman. Westinghouse, who invented the compressed air brake.
Before that, the brakes were all manually operated. With this invention, the strength of cylinder and piston replaced manpower.
More effective braking greatly improves the speed of the train because it provides a safer guarantee. The maglev train can reach a speed of 550 kilometers per hour and run a few centimeters above the track.
Its secret lies in superconducting magnets installed on rails and carriages. Since 1970s, Germany and Japan have begun to study this system, and it is close to practical use. This kind of train is expected to replace the high-speed trains currently running in Europe.
Unlike the traditional train, the power of maglev train comes from the rail. Part of the power device of maglev train is on the track.
The magnets on the car body suspend the car body on the rails, while the magnets on the rails give the magnets on the car body a repulsive force to push the car body forward. By adjusting the current intensity flowing through the magnet, the speed of the train can be changed conveniently.
It is estimated that there will be 30 to 220 practical maglev trains per train/KLOC-0 in the future, with a running speed of 300 to 500 kilometers per hour. At present, the speed record of maglev train is set by Japan MLX0 1.
At 1998, the train runs at a speed of 550 kilometers per hour. Prior to this, the speed record of maglev train was set by French TGV train, with a speed of 5 15 km/h.
MLX0 1 The train adopts hydraulically operated pneumatic braking system. There are three carriages, each with 30 to 4/kloc-0 seats.
At both ends are two carefully designed streamlined heads to reduce air resistance. At first, this kind of train runs on wheels, and the speed reaches more than 100 km per hour, before it begins to "float" on the track and is driven by magnets.
Underwater train 1994, something people have always owned, connects Britain and France through the seabed.
6. The first railway in the history of China was built in that era-the first railway in China-Songhu Railway. 1872, New Westernization Era. The representative of the US military stationed in Shanghai established the "Road Company" in Wusong, a northern suburb of Shanghai. They claimed to build an "ordinary highway" between Wusong and Shanghai. They deliberately concealed their attempt to build a railway, because 10 years ago, when the American and British gun teams helped the Qing army defeat the Taiping Army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, they took the opportunity to propose to Li Hongzhang to build the Suzhou-Shanghai line, and Li Hongzhang dared not make a decision.
This time, they cheated the Shanghai Daotai and the Emperor, so they began a one-year survey and planning along Henan Luqiao, Bao Tong Road and Tiantong Temple from Zhabei, but because the cost was too high to raise a large sum of money, they transferred the project to a powerful upstart, the British businessman Yihe Foreign Firm, which relied on opium business to establish itself in Shanghai.
Jardine Matheson immediately contacted some other British businessmen to set up the Songhu Railway Company after receiving the engineering data of Songhu Railway, and appointed American Morrison as the chief engineer to transport a group of engineers and technicians, materials, locomotives and carriages from Britain. After four years, the Songhu Railway with a total length of 16. 1km was opened to traffic on July 3, 2006. One month after opening to traffic, the first train accident in China killed one person. The deceased was a soldier. When the train crashed out of the platform of Tiantong 'an Road, he fought with the train and died. This ordinary traffic accident shocked the Qing court. The newly appointed Emperor Guangxu sent Sheng Xuanhuai, the minister of supervision, and Mei Huili, the British minister, signed the terms of purchasing the Songhu Railway in Nanjing on October 24th, 65438, with 285,000 silver to buy the railway, so the silver was paid in three installments within one year from the date of signing.
1August 25th, 877, one year after opening to traffic, the Qing Dynasty paid off all the money and the Songhu Railway was returned to China. Guangxu, who was a common enemy with the Emperor Tongzhi, followed the "Ancestral Law" to vent his anger against foreigners, ordered the dismantling of the Songhu Railway and shipped all the dismantled tracks and railway equipment to Taiwan Province Province.
Europe's advanced technology met with stubborn resistance from feudal China.
Of course, it became famous later, or because of the Japanese invasion of China. In August1937-1October 1 13, the "Battle of Songhu" broke out around this abandoned railway. As for the self-built railway, as the fourth floor said, it was Mr. Zhan Tianyou who built the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway.
All the above are original according to the information I have seen, and only for friends with common hobbies to share.
7. What is the historical positive significance of the emergence of China Railway? The first railway in the history of China-Beijing Suburb Railway.
1865, British businessmen built a small railway with a length of about 0.5 kilometers outside Beijing and tried a small train. However, because Beijingers unexpectedly regarded him as a "monster" and made a lot of noise, Cixi hurriedly ordered the dismantling of the military yamen, which became a big joke in the history of railways. This incident is recorded in Li Yuerui's Riding in the Ice Room in Spring: "In July of the fourth year of Tongzhi, Durand, an Englishman, used a small railway as long as Xu Li to lay it on the flat land outside Yongdingmen Gate in Shi Jing. He drove his car on it as fast as flying. Shi Jingren-unheard of, terrible as a monster, if this country is crazy, it will change a lot. After the yamen was demolished under the command of the spinning army, the group began to rest. This matter can be imported into China for the railway before driving in Shanghai. "
The earliest commercial railway in the history of China-Wusong Railway.
1874 65438+In February, the British built Wusong Railway in Shanghai without authorization, which was the first railway used for operation in China. Wusong Railway runs from Shanghai to Wusong Town, with a length of 14.5km, a gauge of 762mm and a track weight of 13kg per meter. However, after all, this railway was forcibly built by westerners without the prior consent of the Qing Dynasty, and some farmers who felt that their land rights and interests were damaged along the way sometimes clashed with the railway company. 1876 train passed by, and soon, a China man was run over and killed, which made people angry and forced the train to stop. On June+10 in 5438, Qing * * * entered into the terms of redemption of Wusong Railway with Britain, and redeemed the railway with 285,000 silver. It was completely demolished in June 65438+June 0877, and the rails were thrown into the sea.
The first railway built by China people-Keelung Mining Area Railway in Taiwan Province Province.
1877, Ding Richang, governor of Fujian province, an official of the Westernization School, built a railway by himself in Keelung mining area of Taiwan Province Province from the old Liaokeng mine site to the coastal berth of Keelung coal mine in Taiwan Province Province. This was the first time that China built a railway by himself. Tang said to him, "if coal and iron are transported together, we must build our own railway, so that we can see great benefits." It is Taipei Mining, and the coal well has not yet been opened. The railway was built first. This is what is called. "
Kaiping Railway Company, the first railway company operated by China people.
In 188 1 year, the people of China built another railway-Tang Xu Railway. The railway runs from Tangshan to Xugezhuang (now Fengnan County) with a total length of 9.7 kilometers. The gauge 1.435 mm and the rail per meter 15 kg are adopted. This railway is for the development of Kaiping Coal Mine. Under the sponsorship of Qing Westernization School, Kaiping Mining Bureau is responsible for raising funds to build it. 1886, Kaiping Railway Company was established. After buying Tang-Xu Railway, he began to independently develop and operate railway business. Kaiping Railway Company is the first railway company in China. 1887, tangxu railway was built to lutai, 1888 was built to Tianjin, and 1894 was opened to traffic between Tianjin and Shanhaiguan, renamed as jinyu railway.
The first passenger railway in the history of China-Jixin Railway in Taiwan Province.
Liu Mingchuan approved the construction of Taiwan Province Railway on 1887. The line is centered in Taipei, east to Keelung Port and southwest to Hsinchu. Completed in 189 1 and 1893 respectively. The total length of the two sections is about 107 km, the track gauge is 1.067mm, and the track weight is per meter 18 kg. This is the first official railway carrying passengers in China.
China's first railway designed and built by itself-Jing-Zhang Railway.
The Jing-Zhang Railway is a railway that is hosted by Zhan Tianyou and successfully built to connect Beijing and Zhangjiakou. This is a railway financed, surveyed, designed and built by China itself, with a total length of more than 200 kilometers. Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway started in September and was completed in August. Jing-Zhang Railway is the first railway trunk line designed and built by China people themselves, and it is a pioneering work of railway engineering technology in China.
Eight, about the history of the train or the development history of the train-the invention of the train, like all other inventions, was invented to meet the needs of society.
/kloc-At the beginning of the 0/8th century, with the development of social productive forces, people urgently needed a new type of transportation with more load and faster speed than horse-drawn carriages. In this case, the Englishman Watt invented the steam engine.
This machine is much more powerful than horses, and it attracted people's attention as soon as it came out. Some people just want to put the Hercules steam engine on the car instead of human or animal power to make the car move forward.
Interestingly, this bold idea was first realized militarily. At that time, in order to meet the operational needs, the armies of European countries adopted artillery with increasing caliber and range.
Due to the increasing weight of artillery, it is difficult to ensure that artillery can follow the troops in time by pushing horses with people. In order to solve this problem, a French artillery officer named Junio developed a "steam car" driven by a steam engine, which paved the way for the vigorous development of modern vehicles powered by machines and laid the foundation for the birth of trains.
How does this mechanical car with steam engine drive the car? From its shape, we can see that the steam engine has a large boiler, which is installed at the front end of the frame. The coal fire burns under the boiler, heating the water in the boiler into steam.
Steam is introduced into the cylinder above the front wheel of the car through a tube on the boiler. Steam is very powerful, so it pushes the piston in the cylinder forward, and the piston is connected with the front wheel through the connecting rod and crankshaft. When the crankshaft rotates, the wheels rotate accordingly, thus driving the car forward. Shortly thereafter, such smoking and panting cars appeared in Britain and Germany, such as 1804 British-made steam locomotive.
But its appearance is not the same as before: some move the boiler to the middle of the car, cover it with a cover, and install several rows of seats at both ends; Some moved the boiler to the back of the car, installed a carriage where the front person sat, and so on. Steam cars are a bit modern.
Steam cars, like most new things, were criticized and rejected everywhere in European countries where carriages dominated at that time. Take Britain as an example. At that time, the post office in the city used a large number of carriages to transport mail.
In order to safeguard its own interests, the post office has joined forces with horse owners, big and small, to deal with the newly born steam trucks, and asked * * * to impose various restrictions on steam trucks. Later, the British * * * also stood on the horse owner's side and opposed the steaming car, stipulating many rules and regulations.
For example, when a steam car is ordered to run, a person must run 55 meters in front of the car with a small red flag to call pedestrians to avoid it; Where there are horses, it is not allowed to steam the boiler of the car; Steam cars are not allowed to whistle in the street; The speed of steam cars on rural roads should not exceed 6 km/h, and it should not exceed 3 km/h in cities ... This is simply slower than the old ox cart! Now it looks really funny. Later, although people improved the steam car, people gradually became disappointed with it because of its inherent shortcomings, such as the large and heavy steam engine installed on the car, inconvenient to operate, emitting a lot of smoke and steam, occupying a lot of space on the car and unable to transport too much goods.
Just when people were worried about the future of the steam car, someone thought of a wooden car in the mine in the middle of the 6th century/kloc-0, which was pulled by manpower and animal power, and put forward the idea of laying tracks for the steam car (the wooden track is obviously not good, so the rails are needed), so that it can drag several cars on the rails. This is a good idea, not only can the carriage carry a lot of goods and people, but also can give full play to the power of the steam engine and make the car run fast.
On September 27th, 1825, the world's first railway from stockton, England to Arlington was officially opened to traffic. The steam locomotive (we usually call it locomotive) transformed from a steam car began to show its talents, and the steam engine came into great use from then on.
This also announced the official appearance of the world's first train. That morning, a "sports" steam locomotive made and driven by Stephenson set out from stockton with 33 carriages.
The carriages were full of coal and passengers, while the spectators stood on both sides of the railway. Some people walk, some ride, some chase, some run, surrounded by this huge snake-shaped monster that drives slowly.
1828, Stephenson and his son jointly built a "rocket" steam locomotive and took part in a competition. At that time, three locomotives took part in the race, and one of them broke the seam of the boiler shortly after the start of the race; The other one walked more than 40 kilometers and stopped driving because of the damage of the cylinder; Only the "Rocket" locomotive pulled more than 10 tons of goods at an average speed of 22 kilometers per hour, ran the distance of 1 12.6 kilometers, successfully reached the finish line and won the championship.
Since then, trains have attracted people's attention and developed all over the world. Soon after the train was born, it ran very slowly. Some horse owners who once treated the train coldly became more arrogant and often compared with the train to show that his carriage ran fast.
However, sometimes the carriages do run proudly in front of the train, which urges people to improve the train continuously. Early steam locomotives came in various shapes: some were like rollers, some were like wagons (such as "No.1 steam locomotive" in Britain), and some were like primitive cars ... These locomotives were not big enough to run much faster than horse-drawn carriages.
Because they all use coal or wood as fuel, the boiler is full of flames and smoke, so people are used to calling it a "train". Although it "eats" coarse grains-coal, it is strong, and the cost of coal is low and the source is rich, so the steam engine has been used for a long time.
As a product of the development of industrial production, steam locomotives will naturally be valued by some industrialized countries. They built railways and trains one after another, which soon made steam locomotives popular all over the world.
By the middle of the19th century, this wind of building roads and cars has set off another upsurge. Britain, the United States, Japan, Germany and other countries, besides making their own steam locomotives, find it profitable to repair railways, so they publicize and sell them all over the world and contract projects to build roads and cars.
Nine. World Railway Development History Railways are the tracks of trains and other means of transport.
Cihai's interpretation of the railway is that locomotives are used to draw vehicles to form trains (or vehicles with their own power devices) and follow the rules. Railway transportation is a land transportation mode, in which locomotives are used to pull trains and vehicles on two parallel rails.
The traditional way is to travel on steel wheels, but railway transportation in a broad sense still includes non-steel wheels such as maglev trains, cable cars and ropeways, or rail transit. Rails can provide a very smooth and hard medium for train wheels to roll on with minimal friction, which makes people feel more comfortable and saves energy.
If properly configured, railway transportation can save energy by 50% to 70% compared with road transportation with the same weight. Moreover, the rail can evenly disperse the weight of the train, which greatly improves the load capacity of the train.