Guinness World Records 2018

Trains & Railways

TRANSPORT

STEEPEST

RAILWAY GRADIENT

The Katoomba

Scenic Railway in

the Blue Mountains

of New South

Wales, Australia,

has a 52° slope.

The 310-m-long

(1,017-ft) funicular

was originally built

for mining purposes

in 1878 but was

converted into a

recreational ride

for tourists in 1945.

It runs at a speed

of 4 m/sec (9 mph)

and can carry

84 passengers.

LARGEST HIGH-SPEED RAIL NETWORK

As of Jan 2017, China had more than 20,000 km (12,430 mi) of high-

speed rail track – that’s more than all the high-speed networks in the

rest of the world combined. Plans are already underway to add another

15,000 km (9,320 mi) to the network by 2025. Trains on these routes

run at an average speed of 200 km/h (124.27 mph).

BUSIEST STATION

Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Japan, is the world’s

busiest station. An average of 3.64 million

passengers per day pass through the stop, which

serves the city’s western suburbs via a range

of intercity, commuter rail and metro services.

The station first opened in 1885 and underwent

a major overhaul in 1933.

FIRST MOUNTAIN RACK RAILWAY

The Mount Washington Cog Railway in Bretton

Woods, Coös County, New Hampshire, USA,

was built by Sylvester Marsh (USA) and opened

on 3 Jul 1869. Known as the “Cog”, the line still

operates today, transporting passengers from

Marshfield station a distance of 3 mi (4.8 km)

up to the summit of Mount Washington.

Stray dogs have learned to navigate Moscow’s subway system

and now use the trains to get around the Russian capital.

LONGEST

DRIVERLESS

METRO NETWORK

The Dubai Metro has

two lines, with a total

length of 74.694 km

(46.41 mi). It was built by

the Roads and Transport

Authority in Dubai, UAE,

and officially inaugurated

on 9 Sep 2011.

The single longest

driverless metro line

is the Dubai Metro Red

Line, which is 52.1 km

(32.37 mi) long.

Propeller-driven train

The Schienenzeppelin (“Rail Zeppelin”) reached

230 km/h (143 mph) during a test run between

Hamburg and Berlin in Germany on 21 Jun 1931

Diesel train

A British Rail “Class 43” high-speed train

(HST) hit 238 km/h (148 mph) on 1 Nov 1987,

travelling between Darlington and York

in the UK

Steam locomotive

On 3 Jul 1938, the “Class A4” No.4468 Mallard

reached 125 mph (201 km/h) at Stoke Bank,

near Essendine in Rutland, UK. Indeed, it briefly

achieved 126 mph (202.7 km/h), but did not

maintain this speed for the required distance.

GWR presents a whistlestop

tour of some of the fastest

trains in history. Our first

entry – the Mallard – achieved

a truly remarkable speed for a

steam-powered locomotive,

but was more than 50 times

slower than our final entry!

Highest sustained train speed (1,000 km)

On 26 May 2001, a French SNCF TGV train

recorded an average speed of 306.37 km/h

(190.37 mph) across a distance of 1,000 km

(621 mi) between Calais and Marseille. The train

covered the 1,067 km (663 mi) in 3 hr 29 min,

with a top speed of 366 km/h (227 mph).

Largest railway station (platforms)

Built between 1 903 and 1 913, Grand Central

Terminal at Park Avenue and 42nd Street

in New York City, USA, has 44 platforms.

They are set on two underground

levels, with 41 tracks on the upper

level and 26 on the lower.

Highest railway line

Most of the 1,956-km-long (1,215-mi)

Qinghai–Tibet railway in China

lies 4,000 m (13,123 ft) above sea

level. Its highest point, at 5,072 m

(16,640 ft), is more than half the

height of Mount Everest. Passenger carriages

are pressurized and oxygen masks are available.

It was completed in Oct 2005. The line also boasts

the highest-altitude railway tunnel. Built in

2001–03, the Fenghuo Mount tunnel lies at an

altitude of 4,905 m (16,092 ft), where the line

passes over the Qinghai–Tibet Highland.

The highest railway station is Tibet’s

unstaffed Tanggula station on the Qingzang line,

at 5,068 m (16,627 ft) above sea level. It has a

1.25-km-long (0.77-mi) platform.

Highest railway bridge

The deck of the Najiehe bridge in Liuchangxiang,

Guizhou, China, is some 310 m (1,017 ft) above

the original level of the Wujiang River below. The

truss arch has a main span of 352 m (1,154 ft).

Oldest model railway club

Based near King’s Cross in London, UK, The Model

Railway Club held its inaugural meeting on 3 Dec

1910. The members still meet weekly.

LONGEST CHILDREN’S RAILWAY LINE

The 11.7-km-long (7.27-mi) narrow-gauge

Children’s Railway runs through

the woods on the Buda side

of Budapest in Hungary,

between Hűvösvölgy and

Széchenyihegy stations.

Operated by children

aged 10–14 under adult

supervision, it stops at the

seven stations in between

for a one-way trip of around

50 min. The railway has run

continuously since the first

3.2 km (2 mi) of track was

inaugurated on 31 Jul 1948.

FASTEST...