Many people have not experienced the feeling of taking the high-speed rail between 0 am and 6 am, because the high-speed rail is "sleeping" during this time, and the high-speed rail station does not open until 6 am.
Trains, on the other hand, can run 24 hours a day. However, there are also some high-speed trains that can travel at night, and they are called "red-eye high-speed rail".
So, what exactly does red-eye high-speed rail look like? Why is it that trains can run at night but high-speed trains cannot?
Anyone who regularly rides high-speed rail knows that whether passengers can buy tickets or not, high-speed rail will close before midnight. The reason why high-speed trains do not operate in the middle of the night is because this is their "skylight period", that is, the time for maintenance, which is closely related to the speed of high-speed rail.
In 1993, the average running speed of railway trains in China was 48 per hour1 km, and now it has increased to 48 per hour1 km, compared to 320 km/h for high-speed trains in our neighboring Japan.
High-speed rail is a kind of high-speed railway train, and China stipulates that the speed of high-speed rail should reach at least 200 kilometers per hour.
At present, China is still working hard to improve the operating speed of high-speed rail, and is moving towards the goal of 450 kilometers per hour.
The faster the speed of the high-speed railway, the higher the requirements for the railway line and its own performance.
During the high-intensity operation during the day, the high-speed rail may have problems such as wheel wear and line aging, so it is necessary to inspect the high-speed rail body and railway lines to ensure the safety of the next day's operation.
In addition, the choice to carry out the maintenance at night is also based on practical considerations. No matter what time it is, the amount of ** during the day is larger than that at night, and midnight maintenance can reduce the impact on passenger travel.
Even if there is a high-speed train in the middle of the night, there will not be too many passengers, and it is likely that every train will lose money, which will make the loss of the national railway even worse.
In addition, although China has developed high-speed rail autonomous driving technology, the current high-speed rail still needs to be driven manually.
As we all know, the speed of high-speed rail is very fast, and the driver of high-speed rail cannot control the direction and speed at will like driving a bus, but must drive according to the instructions of the dispatching command system and the operation control system.
Therefore, high-speed rail drivers should always maintain concentration, if they drive at night, high-speed rail drivers will be more tired, plus poor visibility at night, so generally high-speed rail does not run at night.
The train here refers mainly to the traditional "green train", which is powered by an internal combustion engine.
The traditional green train is generally pulled by the front of the locomotive, the speed is not fast, as long as the front of the locomotive is running normally, there is generally not much problem.
In contrast, high-speed rail is powered by electric traction, has a more complex power system, and each carriage has a power unit, and the structure is much more complex, so it also takes more time to overhaul.
In addition, the track design of traditional green trains is also relatively simple, most of them only have two steel rails, which is relatively easy to maintain.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, the maintenance of traditional green trains only takes 1 2 hours, and can be carried out in sections, that is, while one part of the line is being overhauled, the other part of the line can continue to run.
In contrast, high-speed rail needs to be overhauled every day, and the maintenance time is up to 6 hours, so it is more difficult to realize the night travel of high-speed rail.
However, this does not mean that there has never been an overnight high-speed railway, and some areas have also opened "red-eye high-speed rail" in order to cope with special needs.
Red-eye high-speed rail refers to high-speed rail that runs between 0:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., and they are generally opened in large periods or regions, such as Spring Festival, 11th week and other holidays, or the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and other regions.
The addition of red-eye high-speed rail can increase the capacity of high-speed rail and meet the travel needs of more passengers, but it also brings greater challenges to the operation and maintenance of high-speed rail.
First of all, the red-eye high-speed rail means that the high-speed rail and high-speed rail stations will be open 24 hours a day, and almost the entire high-speed rail system will have to be adjusted.
Secondly, the red-eye high-speed rail means that some high-speed rail lines do not have the ability to carry out "skylight" operations, so these lines should be overhauled in advance.
Thirdly, the red-eye high-speed rail means that the high-speed rail drivers will be driving at night, so it is necessary to strengthen their safety and rest arrangements.
Finally, red-eye high-speed rail means that the safety risk of high-speed rail will increase, so it is necessary to strengthen the monitoring and emergency treatment of high-speed rail.
Most of these high-speed trains are long-distance destinations, so the mechanics on board will keep a close eye on the weather, routes, and other aspects.
If the high-speed rail needs to be parked in a different place, the vehicle department will also be responsible for doing a good job of opening and closing the door test and other inspections, paying close attention to the specific situation of the train to ensure that the high-speed rail can continue to operate safely.
In addition to holidays, it is sometimes seen that some bullet trains run at night, and these bullet trains are usually on the old lines, such as CRH2E and other models.
EMU refers to the type of train, and the train that I usually see at the beginning of G refers to high-speed EMU trains, which are generally called "high-speed rail", but in fact, this name is not accurate.
There are also ordinary EMU trains starting with D and intercity EMU trains starting with C.
These bullet trains will not travel at more than 160 kilometers per hour on the old line, which is similar to the traditional green train, so the "V-shaped skylight" measure can be used, which means that while one part of the line is overhauled, the other part of the line can continue to run.
However, compared with high-speed rail, the speed of these bullet trains is still much slower, and the requirements for maintenance are not so high.
In addition, in order to ensure the safety of the high-speed rail throughout the day, there must be an empty dynamic inspection car before the official departure every day, and they usually set off before dawn to check the line for the high-speed rail behind.
Seeing this, can you understand why the national railway often loses money?
In fact, many people believe that in order to meet the travel needs of passengers, we should let the high-speed rail achieve 24-hour uninterrupted operation, that is, open more "red-eye high-speed rail".
Especially on holidays such as the Spring Festival and the 11th week, high-speed rail tickets for many lines are hard to find.
In the past, you could buy tickets at any time for many flights, but now you can only see the word "standby" many times, which shows that the demand of Chinese people for high-speed rail travel is growing.
In addition, at present, China has developed high-speed rail autonomous driving technology, and this technology successfully passed the trial review in 2018.
In the future, high-speed rail in China and even in the world will develop in the direction of autonomous driving, which provides strong support for high-speed rail to achieve 24-hour uninterrupted operation.
But in general, the night travel of high-speed rail should still be based on the premise of safety, and only when safety is ensured, it is possible for the country to consider the full opening of the "red-eye high-speed rail".