The longest train in the world: 7,353 meters long with 682 carriages, what exactly is it used for?
The distance from Shenyang to Haikou is about 3,300 kilometers, and there is such a train, and if you put it between these two places, it will exceed several carriages.
This is the longest train in the world, the BHP Iron Ore Train.
As the name suggests, this is a train dedicated to pulling iron ore. And the prefix "BHP Billiton" in its name is actually a well-known mining company located in Melbourne, Australia. The company was founded in 1885, and its relationship with the mainland began in 1888.
As we all know, Australia is very rich in iron ore resources, as of the end of 2022, Australia's iron ore reserves are 23 billion tons, with an annual output of 920 million tons, and the production and reserves are the first in the world, and it is known as the "pearl of minerals in the southern hemisphere". In order to save time and increase shipments, the company developed and created this train that can transport iron ore in large quantities.
BHP Billiton's iron ore train is 7,353 meters long, with a total of 682 carriages, its own weight of 100,000 tons, and 82,000 tons of cargo at a time. However, according to some data, its largest single chain has reached 180,000 tons so far. It is precisely because of the large volume of goods that the whole train is driven by 8 locomotives. What's even worse is that such a long train can be handled by only one driver.
It travels very slowly, at around 27 km/h. So, a 275-kilometer journey takes 10 hours to get down. But it does not hinder its ability to pull goods, after all, it can make a lot of money at one time. Seeing the picture of it running is like a science fiction movie, there is a kind of posture of a dragon seeing the head and not seeing the tail, and the greedy snake does not dare to play for so long.
In fact, the train was only 3,000 meters at the beginning, but with the increasing pressure on mineral resources, the company had to increase the length of the train, and gradually evolved into the 7,352 meters we see today. If you don't have an idea of this length yet, let's compare it.
The length of an ordinary passenger train is about 400-600 meters, and the length of BHP Billiton's iron ore train is about 18 times that of an ordinary passenger train.
Speaking of which, do you know how long the longest passenger train in the world is?
In October 2022, the Swedish company Lytien Railways operated a passenger train. The train is 1,910 meters long, with 100 carriages and 4,450 seats. Seven drivers and 21 technicians are required to drive this train.
Its first journey took 25 kilometres and 45 minutes on the Alpine tracks, traversing 22 tunnels and crossing 48 bridges. This may be too slow for most people, but in Sweden, it allows people to appreciate more of the natural and human combinations made in heaven.
Now that we've talked about the longest train in the world, let's take a look at the longest car in the world. In 1986, American car customizer Jay Olberg created a luxury elongated version of the car. The car is 30.54 meters long, which is 8 times longer than a regular car, with a total of 26 wheels and a capacity of 75 people. Miraculously, it can be opened on both sides.
It's just that for urban traffic, will such a length go which way to block?