Longest Trains
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The length of a
train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...
may be measured in number of
wagons A wagon (or waggon) is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draft animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...
(commonly used for bulk commodities such as
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
and
iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...
) or in
metres The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...
for general freight. On electrified railways, particularly those using lower-voltage systems such as
3 kV DC This is a list of the power supply systems that are, or have been, used for railway electrification. Note that the voltages are nominal and vary depending on load and distance from the substation. , many trams and trains use on-board solid-state ...
and 1.5 kV DC, train lengths and loads are often limited by traction and power supply constraints. Other limiting factors include drawgear strength,
coupling A coupling is a device used to connect two shafts together at their ends for the purpose of transmitting power. The primary purpose of couplings is to join two pieces of rotating equipment while permitting some degree of misalignment or end mo ...
systems, track curvature, gradients, and the lengths of crossing loops. The development of
distributed power In rail transport, distributed power (DP) is a generic term referring to the physical distribution—at intermediate points throughout the length of a train—of separate motive power groups. Such "groups" may be single units or multiple consi ...
—where locomotives are placed mid-train or at the rear of the
consist A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...
and remotely controlled from the lead unit—has enabled the operation of very long freight trains, sometimes exceeding in length. By distributing traction and braking forces more evenly throughout the train, this configuration allows for longer and heavier consists while reducing the risk of derailment, particularly on curves.


Bulk

*
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
**
BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the worldâ ...
iron ore train has typically 268 cars and a train weight of 43,000 tonnes carrying 24,200 tonnes of iron ore, long, two SD70ACe locomotives at the head of the train and two remote controlled SD70ACe locomotives as mid-train helpers. *** BHP used to run 44,500-tonne, 336-car long iron ore trains over long, with six to eight locomotives including an intermediate remote unit. This operation seems to have ceased since the trunk line was fully double tracked in May 2011. ** Leigh Creek coal—, formerly ran as 161 wagons and three locomotives. ** Cane tramway – 75 wagons ( gauge). *
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
**
Carajás Railway The Carajás Railway (; EFC or EF-315) is a railway line linking the cities of Parauapebas, Pará and São Luís, Maranhão Maranhão () is a States of Brazil, state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Re ...
gauge iron ore trains are typically 330 cars long, totaling in length. **
VLI Bauerfield International Airport () is an airport located in Port Vila, Vanuatu. The airport is relatively small in size, but its runway has the capability and length to accept jets up to the Airbus A330. It served as the hub for Vanuatu's flag ...
Grain with 160 hopper cars, or 80 hoppers plus 72 FTTs (for pulp transport) totaling about long. *
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
** Datong–Qinhuangdao railway is a dedicated coal-transport railway. Every day 50 pairs of long trains consisting of 210 wagons and two HXD1 locomotives use the line. Each train hauls over 20,000 tons of coal. *
Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...
** Iron ore trains on the
Mauritania Railway The Mauritania Railway is the national railway of Mauritania. Construction of the line began in 1960, with its opening in 1963. It consists of a single, railway line linking the iron mining center of Zouérat with the port of Nouadhibou, via ...
are up to in length. They consist of 2 diesel-electric EMD
locomotives A locomotive is a rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for longer and heavier freight train ...
, 200 to 210 cars each carrying up to 84 tons of iron ore, and 2-3 service cars. *
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
**
Sishen–Saldanha railway line The Sishen–Saldanha railway line, also known as the Ore Export Line (OREX), is an heavy-haul railway line in South Africa. It connects iron ore mines near Sishen mine, Sishen in the Northern Cape with the port at Saldanha Bay in the Western Ca ...
ore trains on – *
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
** 12,000 tonnes


General

* > –
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
–
BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...
and
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...
(UP) regularly operate
intermodal container An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, or a freight container, (or simply "container") is a large metal crate designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different Mode ...
trains exceeding in length on main lines in the
western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...
. On the UP, these trains can stretch to over with 5 locomotives and 280 well cars. Trains longer than accounted for approximately 6% of BNSF's and 10% of UP's total train volume . The practice has drawn criticism due to concerns about blocked road crossings, which can cause delays for motorists and impede emergency response times. Railroads have argued that longer trains improve efficiency, lower emissions, and reduce the number of crossing activations, the most likely time for a collisions between a train and vehicles. According to the
Association of American Railroads The Association of American Railroads (AAR) is an industry trade group representing primarily the major freight Rail transport, railroads of North America (Canada, Mexico and the United States). Amtrak and some regional Commuter rail in North Am ...
, fewer than 1% of trains in the United States exceed in length. * – India – The
Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
– Dharmavaram goods train * – United States – ''
Auto Train ''Auto Train'' is an scheduled daily train service for passengers and their automobiles operated by Amtrak between Lorton, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.), and Sanford, Florida (near Orlando, Florida, Orlando). ''Auto Train'' is the only mot ...
'', an Amtrak
motorail A motorail train or accompanied car train (ACT) is a passenger train on which passengers can take their car or automobile along with them on their journey. Passengers are carried in normal passenger carriages or in sleeping carriages on longer ...
service transporting passengers and their cars between the
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
and
Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...
regions. Typical consist includes 2 or 3 locomotives, 14 passenger cars and more than 23
autorack An autorack, also known as an auto carrier (also Flat wagon#Car transporters, car transporter outside the US), is a specialized piece of railroad rolling stock used to transport automobiles and light trucks. Autoracks are used to transport new ...
s for transporting vehicles. * –
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
double stack * — In Denmark and to Hamburg, Germany; 2 locomotives and 82 wagons.


Special test runs

These are one-off runs, sometimes specifically to set records.


Bulk (ore, coal etc)

*
BHP BHP Group Limited, founded as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company, is an Australian multinational mining and metals corporation. BHP was established in August 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. As of 2024, BHP was the worldâ ...
ran a world record-breaking ore train on 21 June 2001 the gauge line iron ore railway to
Port Hedland A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inla ...
in
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
. The train comprising 682 wagons and hauled by eight General Electric
GE AC6000CW The AC6000CW is a diesel locomotive, diesel electric locomotive built between 1995 and 2001 by GE Transportation. It is among the world's most powerful single-engined diesel locomotives. The locomotive was designed for extremely high horsepower ...
diesel-electric locomotives controlled by a single driver. The eight locomotives were distributed along its length to keep the
coupling A coupling is a device used to connect two shafts together at their ends for the purpose of transmitting power. The primary purpose of couplings is to join two pieces of rotating equipment while permitting some degree of misalignment or end mo ...
loads and curve performance controllable. The total length of the train was long, with a total weight 99,734 tons, largest in the world. The train carried 82,000 metric tons of ore. * Sishen–Saldanha, South Africa. Run on 26–27 August 1989, comprising 660 wagons, long and a total weight of 71,765 tons on a gauge line. The train comprised 16 locomotives (9 Class 9E
50 kV AC Railway electrification systems using alternating current (AC) at are used worldwide, especially for high-speed rail. It is usually supplied at the standard utility frequency (typically 50 or 60Hz), which simplifies traction substations. The dev ...
electric and 7 Class 37 diesel-electric). *
Norfolk and Western Railway The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...
unit coal train from
Iaeger, West Virginia Iaeger (pronounced YAY-ger) is a town in McDowell County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 257 at the 2020 census. History Iaeger was incorporated in 1917 and named for Colonel William G. W. Iaeger, an early settler. Geography ...
to
Portsmouth, Ohio Portsmouth is a city in Scioto County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located in southern Ohio south of Chillicothe, Ohio, Chillicothe, it lies on the north bank of the Ohio River, across from Kentucky and just east of the mouth of th ...
, 15 November 1967. The train consisted of 500 cars and six
EMD SD45 The SD45 is a six-axle diesel-electric locomotive class built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1965 and 1971. It has an EMD 645E3 twenty- cylinder engine generating on the same frame as the SD38, SD39, SD40, and SDP40. As o ...
diesel-electric locomotives distributed throughout the train for a total weight of 48,170 tons and total length of . * Bulk coal train from Ekibastuz to the Urals, Soviet Union, 20 February 1986. The train consisted of 439 wagons and several diesel locomotives distributed along the train with a total mass of 43,400 tonnes and a total length of . * Shuozhou–Huanghua railway is a heavy haul freight railway that has successfully tested 30,000 ton coal trains that stretch over in April 2024. The train consists of 324 cars wagons hauled with four
China Energy Investment CHN Energy Investment Group (branded as CHN Energy) is a state-owned mining and energy company administrated by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. History On August 28, 2017, SASAC announced th ...
HXD1 variants. * Datong–Qinhuangdao railway, China. On 2 April 2014, an experimental train ran with 320 wagons and six locomotives hauling a 31,500 ton load, with a total length of . *
Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...
operated the longest train in India on 15 August 2022. The 'Super Vasuki' freight train was long had a total of 6 locomotives pulling 295 wagons of coal. *
Kereta Api Indonesia PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) (, abbreviated as PT KAI or simply KAI) is a major railway operator in Indonesia and one of the Public transportation, public railway companies in the country. It is State-owned enterprise, state-owned and pa ...
, Super Babaranjang, the test train consisted of 120 coal cars with 4
EMD G26 The G26 is a diesel–electric locomotive built in the US by General Motors Electro-Motive Diesel for export and in Australia by Clyde Engineering under licence. The G26 was developed to increase traction capacities on the tracks which support ...
locomotives. The consist was roughly long. * A 1991 test train pulled by two
British Rail Class 59 The British Rail Class 59 is a fleet of Co-Co locomotives, Co-Co diesel-electric locomotives built between 1985 and 1995 by the Electro-Motive Diesel, Electro-Motive Division of General Motors for use in Great Britain. A total of 15 locomotives ...
diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...
s, weighing 12,108 tonnes and approximately long, was pulled with moderate success from Merehead Quarry to
Witham Friary Witham Friary is a small English village and civil parish located between the towns of Frome and Bruton in the county of Somerset. It is in the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the ancient Forest ...
.


General cargo

*
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...
, Intermediate locomotives in a long train – trial * trial trains


Passenger

* Kijfhoek–
Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...
, Netherlands. In 1989, the
Nederlandse Spoorwegen (, , NS ) is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. The rail infrastructure is maintained by network manager ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003. Freight operato ...
(Dutch Railways) celebrated their 150th anniversary. On 19 February 1989, NS ran a test train with 60 passenger cars ( long and weighing 2,597 tons), of which only the first 14 cars held actual passengers, pulled by one
1500 V DC This is a list of the power supply systems that are, or have been, used for railway electrification. Note that the voltages are nominal and vary depending on load and distance from the substation. , many trams and trains use on-board solid-state ...
locomotive. Twenty years later, in 2009, Railz Miniworld repeated the stunt on a smaller scale, inside their exhibition in Rotterdam. *
Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...
–
Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...
, Belgium. On 27 April 1991, one electric locomotive and 70 passenger cars (totalling and 2786 tons, excluding the locomotive) held a charity run for the Belgian Cancer Fund, exceeding the Dutch record. *
Rhaetian Railway The Rhaetian Railway (; ; ), abbreviated RhB, is a Swiss transport company that owns the largest network of all private railway operators in Switzerland. Headquartered in Chur, the RhB operates all the railway lines of the Cantons of Switzerland, ...
, Switzerland. On 29 October 2022, the Rhaetian Railway celebrated the 175th anniversary of Swiss railways with an hour-long, journey from Preda to Alvaneu in southeast Switzerland. The train had 25 4-car ABe 4/16 "Capricorn" EMUs, totalling 100 coaches with a total length of ; it ran on a
narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter cur ...
over several switchbacks and long curves.


See also

*
High-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated railway track, tracks. While there is ...
*
Track gauge In rail transport, track gauge is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have Wheelset (rail transport), wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many different track gauges ...
* '' Extreme Trains'' on the
History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...
2009 *
List of steepest gradients on adhesion railways This is a list of steep grades along adhesion railways, the most common type of railway that relies on the friction between the drive wheels and the tracks for traction. The inclusion of steep gradients on railways avoids the expensive engineeri ...
*
International Heavy Haul Association The International Heavy Haul Association is an association of Heavy Haul railways. Members Members as at October 2021 comprised:Members
Internation ...
* Longest road trains


References

{{reflist Trains Rail freight transport Rail transport-related lists of superlatives