Longest Trains - General Cargo

General Cargo

• United States are limited by air brake capability.
  • 3658 m – electronically controlled pneumatic braked (180 wagons) – AAR Standard S-4200.
• Canada
  • double-stack container trains reaching 4200 m are regularly operated by Canadian National Railway system wide with distributed power locomotives. General cargo trains are limited to 3700 m, and bulk trains are limited to 3000 m but up to 20,700 tonnes
• 1800 m – Australia—Parkes–Perth–Adelaide–Darwin—(limited by 1800 m crossing loops)
• 1500 m – Australia—Adelaide–Melbourne–Sydney–Brisbane—(limited by 1500 m crossing loops; some loops to be extended to 1800 m)
• 1500 m – UIC standard double length train
• 1222 m -The Bangalore–Dharmavaram goods train (India)—The train runs between Bangalore and Dharmavaram almost every day. There is no stop for this train, and there is no railway station on this route which can accommodate the whole train on a single track or platform. So all the Superfast, Express trains including the longest passenger train the 31-coacher Gomti express is sent to the loop line.

Indian Railways term this as increased vehicle length (IVL). This reduces the traffic in this single-lined region; two goods train attached back to back, each train is led by two locomotives. The hardest thing is to get the whole train in one frame.

• 1000 m
  • the Netherlands–Germany—trial trains of this length
  • Saudi Arabia 1000 m double stack
• 835 m—In Denmark and to Hamburg, Germany; 2 locos and 82 waggons.
• 800 m—RVR in East Africa (Kenya–Uganda) to introduce longer trains, which needs longer crossing loops.
• 750 m – Normal for mainlines in several countries in Europe.
• 750 m – UIC standard single length train
• 400 m – New South Wales steam era, where lengths also limited by practical length of crossing loops mechanically operated from signal boxes.