The tunnel used 85,000 tons of cement, enough to
build a 10m (33ft)-wide wall higher than Burj KhalifaThe highest point of the Qinghai-Tibet railway is
262m (860ft) higher than Mont BlancEight
incredible
railways
and trains
Ever since the fi rst working railway was
created in England over 400 years ago, in
1603, engines have evolved from primitive
coal-powered mechanisms to super-
effi cient electric motors, meaning that they
are able to travel much longer distances,
both faster and with less resources for each
unit of power. However, this has also meant
that humans have had to get constantly
more creative with the ways they overcome
the challenges of travelling over and under- and sometimes straight through – trick y
terrain. Through incredible and
imaginative engineering, trains are now
able to go over mountains, through hills
and even under the sea. There are some
lines that represent the dream of a life of
lu xur y, while others are a daunting
experience you probably wouldn’t want to
repeat in a hurr y! But which are the most
extreme of all?
The Trans-Siberian Railway cost around seven times
as much as the Golden Gate Bridge.STAT
One of the most dangerous railways in histor y is
the Chennai-Rameswaram railway line, which
links mainland India w ith the island of
Rameswaram. In 1964 the train, which still has to
battle f urious crossw inds, was hit by a huge tidal
wave, knocking it off the tracks, killing all 115
people on board and demolishing part of the
track. Although it has been rebuilt to be safer, it
still crawls along the bridge at just over eight
kilometres (fi ve miles) per hour.The world’s most
dangerous railway
The Chennai-Rameswaram train travels at around
the same speed as a swimming penguinSTAT
STAT STAT
If you want to get across the world’s largest country,
you’ll need the world’s largest railway. Back in 1891,
the Russians built the Trans-Siberian Railway. It spans
over 9,200 kilometres (5,700 miles) and transports
vital goods like oil, coal and grain. It was fi nished in
1916 and linked the inhospitable Siberia with the rest
of Europe and Asia. Four kilometres (2.5 miles) of
track were laid every day using stone to provide a
stable surface in the swampy stretches and light
metal and wood for the tracks themselves.If you’ve got a head for heights, it could well be worth
taking a trip on the world’s highest railway, taking you
from China to Tibet. It’s called the Qinghai-Tibet
railway and treats passengers to incredible views
across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The Lhasa Express
reaches a dizzying 5,072 metres (16,640 feet) high
with an average elevation of over 4,000 metres
(13,123 feet) above sea level. It also houses the world’s
highest railway station, the Tanggula, which sits at
5,068 metres (16,627 feet) above sea level.The Seikan railway tunnel connects Japan’s Honshu
and Hokkaido islands and sits 140 metres (460 feet)
underneath the seabed, making it lower than any
other railway. It was built between 1971 and 1988 and
will be able to accommodate the superfast
Shinkansen from 2016. The tunnel itself is nearly 54
kilometres (33.6 miles) long, with just under half of it
below the seabed. 50 train journeys go through it
every day, transporting people and freight between
the two islands.The world’s longest The world’s highest The world’s lowest
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