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Railways

Text 1. From the History of Railways
The first railways were used hundreds of years ago in coal mines. Before that coal was brought out of the mines in wooden trucks, pushed by men or pulled by horses. It was hard work moving the heavy trucks over rough ground. So people found that horses could pull the heavy trucks much more easily along rails.
The earliest railways were made of wood. In 1767, an ironmaster called Abraham Darby started making rails of cast iron.
Trucks ran much more smoothly on these rails and horses could pull much heavier loads along them. People started using these rails instead of wooden ones. They tried to make different shaped rails.
The first successful steam locomotive was constructed by the English engineer George Stephenson. He is also known as the builder of the first public railway. George Stephenson was the engineer for the line, which ran between Stockton and Darlington.
He used his new steam engine, "the Locomotion". The line opened in 1825. It was the first public steam railway in the world.
The first railway carriages had three compartments. They were shaped like stage-coaches. In first and second class carriages there were benches and roofs. Third class passengers stood in open trucks. In 1844 seats and roofs were put on third class carriages. On these early trains there were no lavatories, nor was there any heating or lighting.
The freight trains were simple, flat, wooden platforms with low sides for carrying coal and animals. All these trucks were open. The goods were covered only with a tarpaulin. Goods fell off and were easily damaged in these open trucks. Later, covered trucks were used as well.
Many people hated the railways because they were dirty and ugly. Other people were afraid of them. They thought the trains were dangerous and traveled too fast.

Text 2.The Russian Railways
Road building in Russia began with the development of the mining industry. The first steam locomotive in Russia was constructed by the Cherepanovs, father and son. The first railway using steam traction was put into operation at the Nizhni Tagil metallurgical works.
In 1837, the inauguration of the St. Petersburg-Tsarkoye Selo railway took place. In 1851 that very important railway line , which was 27 km long, was followed by the construction of the St. Petersburg-Moscow line. Nowadays the tremendous area and population in the country determine the necessity for a widely developed transport system including all models of transportation.
Although the future belongs to air transport, the railways today still carry the bulk of passenger and goods traffic. Railway transport is still one of the cheapest ways of hauling freight over long distances.
Russian rail transport accounts for 80 percent of total freight turnover and 43 percent of passenger turnover; 45 percent of Russia railways are electrified.
Russian railway transport is a vitally important sector of the country's economy. Comprising 86,000 kilometers of track, the Russian railway system transports most of the country's industrial goods and raw materials.
Modern Russian railways are transcontinental and provide international passenger and freight service. It rushes passengers and freights across two continents - Europe and Asia.
Now the economic situation in this country is very complicated. In 2001, the Russian government approved a three-stage plan to restructure the rail system. The plan aims to transform the monolithic and heavily bureaucratic railway system into several organizations more responsive to the demands of a market economy and better able to attract needed investment.
The restructuring plan involves 1) creation of the new operational function stock company OAO Russian Railways, 2) development of new data communications systems, 3) introduction of market-orientated management, 4) creation of a new tariff structure, and so on.
New investment program targets infrastructure development, which includes wide automation, and computerization on railways construction of new high speed and safe locomotives.

Text 3. The British Railways Today
Britain has one of the most efficient and heavily used railway systems in the world. Both freight and long-distance passenger services now operate without subsidy from the Government, and in direct competition with other forms of transport. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in demand for rail transport.
Railways operate in direct competition with road hauliers and airlines.
Every day, over 700 Intercity trains link the .main cities and towns in Britain. More than 80 million Intercity journeys are made annually. British Rail's Intercity Sector operates without public subsidy. Intercity operates the world's fastest trains in existing tracks - achieving average speeds of 160 km/h.
Improved ticketing and passenger information systems are being introduced at the main terminals. New passenger coaches for the London-Edinburgh line have advanced audio-visual passenger information systems.
The Provincial Sector provides passenger services between provincial towns, cities and suburbs of London. Express diesels-designed for the long-distance inter-urban Provincial services are introduced. These vehicles have aluminium construction and are fitted with full air conditioning.
British Rail's freight activities are organized as five businesses, each serving a specific sector of the market. Four businesses represent the major Rail activities. These are the bulk haulage of coal, construction materials, metals and petroleum. The heaviest freight trains on British Rail weigh 4,600 tonnes and are hauled by a single diesel locomotive.
The fifth Rail freight business is responsible for distribution services and International traffic. Container traffic on British Rail is handled by the Freightliner subsidiary, which operates as two business units served by 26 depots and port facilities.

Text 4. The Channel Tunnel (the Chunnel)
The Channel Tunnel stretches from Folkestone (England) to Sangatte (France). It lies under the English Channel and is made of steel and concrete. Its length is 163, 680 feet (32 miles). It costs 21 billion dollars US. It was built by Transmanche Link Engineering Firm.
The Channel Tunnel, also called the Euro Tunnel or the Chunnel, actually consists of three tunnels. Two of the tubes are full sized and accommodate rail traffic, between the two train tunnels is a smaller service tunnel that serves as an emergency escape route. There are also several "cross-over" passages that allow trains to switch from one track to another. Just one year after the Chunnel was opened, this engineering design was put to the test. Thirty-one people were trapped in a fire that broke out in a train coming from France. The design worked. Everyone was able to escape through the service tunnel. At the time it was being built, the Chunnel was the most expensive construction project ever conceived. It took $21 billion to complete the tunnel. That's 700 times more expensive than the cost to build the Golden Gate Bridge! Many of the tunnel boring machines used on the Chunnel were as long as two football fields and capable of boring 250 feet a day.
When construction began in 1988, British and French tunnel workers raced to reach the middle of the tunnel first. The British won.
It took just three years for tunnel boring machines from France and England to chew through the chalky earth and meet hundreds of feet below the surface of the English Channel. Today, trains roar through the tunnel at speeds up to 100 miles per hour and it's possible to get from one end to the other in only 20 minutes!