CHUNNEL : UNDER-SEA ADVENTURE
(By Subbaram Danda)
Zooming ahead in a super fast train under the sea for the first time will certainly be a fond desire of any one. It is no longer an extravagant fantasy but a thrilling reality. Eurostar, the top speed rail-line, offers this unique opportunity. The train thunders under the English Channel through specially-designed tunnels connecting London in England with Paris in France at a mind-boggling velocity of 215 kilometres an hour on an average. The rail-line has other core destinations and connections as well.
The journey is a distinctive and delightful experience. At the station one enters an elegantly-designed carriage with high expectations tinged with some inexplicable fears. As the train starts gently, picks up momentum and roars overland past urban landscapes and rural scenes, one looks forward to the moment of entering the tunnel. It takes place in an astonishingly seamless fashion. The initial reservations gradually give way to an elated feeling of fulfillment. The train pierces through the seabed in a secure tube and whizzes forward at an average depth of 145 feet. One can see walls of the tunnel speeding in the opposite direction in an optical illusion. It is indeed sheer exhilaration!
Eurostar high speed train that travels under the English Channel
The concept of travel under the sea through tunnels has been a daring dream that found expression as early as in the era of Napoleon, the famous French emperor of the early 19th century. But nothing concrete emerged. Only in late 1970s, work on the current system began but it too had a roller-coaster ride. It was finally completed in 1993. One of the largest projects of the 20th century, its total cost was $21 billion, the most expensive construction in the world at that time.
Engineering wonder
An engineering marvel of daunting dimensions, the “Tunnel under the Channel,” popularly known as the Chunnel, consists of three tunnels – two tubes of 25 feet in diameter for trains and a smaller middle one of 16 feet for service purposes. The American Society of Civil Engineers has selected the Chunnel as “one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.”
In May 1994 the Chunnel service was formally inaugurated for business in a dedication ceremony participated by British Queen Elizabeth II and French President Francois Mitterrand. Eurostar takes just 2 hours and 15 minutes to complete its travel between London and Paris – a distance of about 500 km. Of this, the length of the Chunnel segment is about 50 km and the time taken to cover it is 20 minutes.
The beauty of the Chunnel system is that it combines the concept of a novel under-sea journey with the idea of a high speed train travel. It is a great success story. Tour operators take pride in describing the Chunnel journey as “a lifetime experience” and love to include it in every itinerary.
Floating trains
But, in recent years what has really revolutionized train travel in the world is the introduction of ultra high speed trains employing the technology of magnetic levitation (maglev). These trains really float!
Magnetic fields created by electrified coils lift the trains up to ten centimeters above a platform-like “guideway” and propel them. Thus they literally float over a cushion of air eliminating friction. And lack of this resistance and aerodynamic design of the trains allow them to attain “unprecedented speeds” of more than 500 km an hour! These trains do not have wheels nor are there conventional rail tracks.
A maglev connecting China’s Shanghai international airport and a downtown station is the first viably operated system in the world that has been in operation since 2003. Running at an average velocity of 240 km per hour and touching a maximum of 430 km an hour en route, it clocks less than eight minutes to cover a distance of 30 km against an hour in a taxi. Plans are afoot to extend it. In Japan there is an “urban maglev” since March 2005. Several other countries have also been experimenting with maglevs and their projects are in different stages of completion.
Chinese Maglev - See the "guideway" also on the right forefront
Japan and bullets
In recent decades, the development and growth of the overland super fast trains themselves have been fascinating. Though research and tests had been going on in many countries for long, it is Japan that really took the lead in introducing these trains commercially.
Trains capable of travelling at a high velocity of 200 km per hour or more have come to be known as bullet trains. In fact, bullet is the name coined by the western countries, which figuratively likened its speed to that of a bullet. In Japan, the train is called Shinkansen, meaning “New Trunk Line.” The first bullet rolled out in October 1964 in time for the Tokyo Olympics, and since then the system has seen rapid development and expansion.
The fastest of all the Shinkansen services is the Nozomi train, which travels at a maximum of 300 km per hour, covering a distance of 515 km between Tokyo and Osaka in 2.5 hours. It is roughly the same distance as between Chennai and Mysore in India. In Japanese, the word Nozomi means hope. The country has other services too – Hikari (light), the second fastest, and Kodama (echo), the third.
People visiting Japan love and cherish their journey in a bullet for its sheer super speed and cozy comfort. Luxurious seats, posh interiors, soothing lights and courteous service in an exciting ambience heighten the pleasure of travel. Today, bullet has become synonymous with any super high speed train and such services are available in several countries, including France, Britain, China, Germany, Spain, Italy, South Korea, Russia and the United States.
Chinese strides
Among the nations, which have made extra-ordinary strides in recent years in putting bullets into service, is China. As of June 2011, the country has the world’s longest high speed rail network of about 9,676 km of routes in service. The Beijing-Shanghai top speed train inaugurated in June 2011 completes the 1,318 km journey in less than five hours.
Train travel in many countries is all set to undergo a dramatic transformation and emerge more romantic with exciting features. It will be a fait accompli sooner than later.
August 20, 2011 (1,047 words)
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