1.
Pendolino
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Pendolino is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russian Federation, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Switzerland and China. Based on the design of the Italian ETR401 and the British Advanced Passenger Train, it was developed and manufactured by Fiat Ferroviaria. By tilting, the train could go around curves designed for trains at higher speeds without causing undue discomfort to passengers. In Italy, various possibilities were explored, a number of prototypes were built and tested, including an automotrice derived from ALn 668 diesel car and provided with tilting seats. The first working prototype using a tilting carbody was ETR Y0160 and this was the first to be christened Pendolino. It led to the construction of a whole EMU in 1975, one was put into public service on 2 July 1976 on the Rome-Ancona line, operated by Italian State Railways. Between Roma and Ancona the train took 2 hours and 50 minutes while the trains took 3 hours and 30 minutes. The train had four cars and was considered a travelling laboratory for the new technology. The second unit was adapted for service to the wide-gauge RENFE Spanish lines. In 1982, FS retired the ETR401 from service, due the high maintenance cost, after 1988, it went around the world to demonstrate the greatness of the revolutionary technology and between 1994 and 2001 it were a chater train. In 2001 were abandoned and since 2013, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first official pendolino service, on 29 May 1988, the ETR450 became the first pendolino to enter in a high-speed regular service in the world. The project of the new train was similar to the predecessor, but it utilise many electronic parts, as the chopper. Characterized by a 9-car configuration, ETR450 could run the Rome-Milan line in four hours, at speeds up to 250 km/h. Passenger numbers increased from 220,000 in 1988 to 2.2 million in 1993, in 1994, the next generation, the ETR460, styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro, began service. Though plagued by technical teething problems, the ETR460 introduced several innovations, the bogie-to-body connection is extremely simple and easy to make, with clear advantages for maintenance. ETR460 keeps axle load to an low level to allow the train to negotiate curves up to 35% faster than conventional Intercity trains. ETR460 was built in only 10 units, improved versions include ETR470 for the Italo-Swiss Cisalpino company and the ETR480, used by Trenitalia under AC lines such as those in France and Switzerland. A total of 34 EMUs of the ETR 460/470/480 series were built, FIAT Ferroviaria was sold to the French Alstom company in 2000
2.
Transport
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Transport or transportation is the movement of people, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, the field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles and operations. Transport is important because it enables trade between people, which is essential for the development of civilizations, terminals may be used both for interchange of passengers and cargo and for maintenance. Vehicles traveling on these networks may include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, trucks, people, helicopters, operations deal with the way the vehicles are operated, and the procedures set for this purpose including financing, legalities and policies. In the transport industry, operations and ownership of infrastructure can be public or private, depending on the country. Passenger transport may be public, where operators provide scheduled services, freight transport has become focused on containerization, although bulk transport is used for large volumes of durable items. Transport plays an important part in growth and globalization, but most types cause air pollution. While it is subsidized by governments, good planning of transport is essential to make traffic flow. A mode of transport is a solution that makes use of a type of vehicle, infrastructure. The transport of a person or of cargo may involve one mode or several of the modes, each mode has its own advantages and disadvantages, and will be chosen for a trip on the basis of cost, capability, and route. Human powered transport, a form of transportation, is the transport of people and/or goods using human muscle-power. Modern technology has allowed machines to enhance human power, human-powered vehicles have also been developed for difficult environments, such as snow and water, by watercraft rowing and skiing, even the air can be entered with human-powered aircraft. Animal-powered transport is the use of working animals for the movement of people, humans may ride some of the animals directly, use them as pack animals for carrying goods, or harness them, alone or in teams, to pull sleds or wheeled vehicles. A fixed-wing aircraft, commonly called airplane, is a craft where movement of the air in relation to the wings is used to generate lift. The term is used to distinguish this from rotary-wing aircraft, where the movement of the lift surfaces relative to the air generates lift, a gyroplane is both fixed-wing and rotary-wing. Fixed-wing aircraft range from small trainers and recreational aircraft to large airliners, two things necessary for aircraft are air flow over the wings for lift and an area for landing. The majority of aircraft also need an airport with the infrastructure to receive maintenance, restocking, refueling and for the loading and unloading of crew, cargo and passengers. While the vast majority of land and take off on land, some are capable of take off and landing on ice, snow
3.
Rail transport in the Czech Republic
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Rail transport in the Czech Republic carried 162.906 million passengers and 68.37 million tonnes of cargo in the year 2009. The majority of services run nowadays are operated by the state company České dráhy. In 2009 the country had 9,420 km of standard gauge track,3,153 km of which is electrified, the network has same gauge links to all four countries bordering the Czech Republic with passenger services to all four countries in operation. Major hubs for passenger services on the network are in Prague, Ostrava and Břeclav. History of rail transport in the territory of the present day Czech Republic dates back to the Austro-Hungarian empire, the first horse-drawn railway in Europe, between České Budějovice and Linz commenced operations in 1832, and the first locomotive-hauled railway from Vienna to Břeclav opened seven years later. From 1948 until the Velvet Revolution the border crossings with Austria, following the fall of communism, the railway network was reopened to Western Europe, the first EuroCity trains operated in transitional Czechoslovakia in 1991. In the 21st century the network has undergone extensive modernisations, the company Správa železniční dopravní cesty is responsible for maintaining the infrastructure. In 2010, the Czech government proposed merging SŽDC and České dráhy to a single company, in 2011, RegioJet, a subsidiary of Student Agency, became the first company to actively compete with České dráhy on a route, launching a service between Prague and Havířov. Other private companies own exclusive rights to run services on certain lines, the Czech Republic is a member of the International Union of Railways and has the country code 54. In central Europe, Railway Wonders of the World, pp. 1454–1463 illustrated description of the railways of Czechoslovakia in the 1930s
4.
Narrow-gauge railways in the Czech Republic
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The Czech Republic formerly had a large number of narrow-gauge railways. Apart from the lines listed below, there were many non-public industrial, forest and agricultural narrow-gauge systems
5.
Prague
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Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is the 14th largest city in the European Union and it is also the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city has a temperate climate, with warm summers and chilly winters. Prague has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its history and it was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire. Prague is home to a number of cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence. Main attractions include the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The city has more than ten major museums, along with theatres, galleries, cinemas. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city, also, it is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe. Prague is classified as an Alpha- global city according to GaWC studies, Prague ranked sixth in the Tripadvisor world list of best destinations in 2016. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination, and the city more than 6.4 million international visitors annually. Prague is the fifth most visited European city after London, Paris, Istanbul, the region was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. In the last century BC, the Celts were slowly driven away by Germanic tribes, around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map of Ptolemaios mentioned a Germanic city called Casurgis. In the following century, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in Levý Hradec, Butovice and in the Šárka valley. The construction of what came to be known as the Prague Castle began near the end of the 9th century, the first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885 at the latest. The other prominent Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort Vyšehrad, was founded in the 10th century, Prague Castle is dominated by the cathedral, which was founded in 1344, but completed in the 20th century. The legendary origins of Prague attribute its foundation to the 8th century Czech duchess and prophetess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, legend says that Libuše came out on a rocky cliff high above the Vltava and prophesied, I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars. She ordered a castle and a town called Praha to be built on the site, a 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c.1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya. The region became the seat of the dukes, and later kings of Bohemia, under Roman Emperor Otto II the area became a bishopric in 973
6.
Rapid transit
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Rapid transit, also known as heavy rail, metro, subway, tube, or underground, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. The stations typically have high platforms, without steps inside the trains and they are typically integrated with other public transport and often operated by the same public transport authorities. However, some transit systems have at-grade intersections between a rapid transit line and a road or between two rapid transit lines. It is unchallenged in its ability to transport large numbers of people quickly over short distances with little use of land, variations of rapid transit include people movers, small-scale light metro, and the commuter rail hybrid S-Bahn. The worlds first rapid-transit system was the partially underground Metropolitan Railway which opened as a railway in 1863. In 1868, New York opened the elevated West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, china has the largest number of rapid transit systems in the world. The worlds longest single-operator rapid transit system by length is the Shanghai Metro. The worlds largest single rapid transit service provider by both length of revenue track (665 miles and number of stations is the New York City Subway. The busiest rapid transit systems in the world by annual ridership are the Tokyo subway system, the Seoul Metropolitan Subway, the Moscow Metro, the Beijing Subway, Metro is the most common term for underground rapid transit systems used by non-native English speakers. One of these terms may apply to a system, even if a large part of the network runs at ground level. In Scotland, however, the Glasgow Subway underground rapid transit system is known as the Subway, in the US, underground mass transit systems are primarily known as subways, whereas the term metro is a shortened reference to a metropolitan area. In that vein, Chicagos commuter rail system, serving the area, is called Metra. Exceptions in naming rapid transit systems are Washington DCs subway system the Washington Metro, Los Angeles Metro Rail, and the Miami Metrorail, the opening of Londons steam-hauled Metropolitan Railway in 1863 marked the beginning of rapid transit. Initial experiences with steam engines, despite ventilation, were unpleasant, experiments with pneumatic railways failed in their extended adoption by cities. Electric traction was more efficient, faster and cleaner than steam, in 1890 the City & South London Railway was the first electric-traction rapid transit railway, which was also fully underground. Both railways were merged into London Underground. The 1893 Liverpool Overhead Railway was designed to use electric traction from the outset, budapest in Hungary and Glasgow, Chicago and New York all converted or purpose-designed and built electric rail services. Advancements in technology have allowed new automated services, hybrid solutions have also evolved, such as tram-train and premetro, which incorporate some of the features of rapid transit systems
7.
Prague Metro
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The Prague Metro is the rapid transit network of Prague, Czech Republic. Founded in 1974, the Prague Metro now comprises three lines, serving 61 stations, and consists of a transit network 65.2 kilometres long, Prague Metro system served 589.2 million passengers in 2012, making it the fifth busiest metro system in Europe. Two types of trains are used on the lines of the Prague Metro, 81-71M. All the lines are controlled automatically from the central dispatching, the driver is responsible for opening and closing doors. The Prague Metro has three lines, each represented by its own colour on the maps and signs, Line A, Line B, there are 61 stations in total connected by nearly 66 kilometres of mostly underground railways. The metro service operates from 4-5 am until midnight, with about 110 to 200-second intervals between trains and 4-10 minutes off the rush hours, nearly 600 million passengers use the Prague Metro every year. The metro is run by the Prague Public Transit Company Co. Inc. which manages all means of transport around the city. Since 1993, this system has been connected to commuter trains and buses, together they form an extensive public transportation network reaching further from the city, called Prague Integrated Transport. Whilst the large system is zonally priced, the metro is entirely inside the central zone, many Prague Metro stations are quite large, with several entrances spaced relatively far apart. This can often lead to confusion for those unfamiliar with the system, in general the stations are well signposted even for those unfamiliar with the Czech language. In the centre is planned introduction of multilingual signs, the Prague metro is very safe. The Prague Metro system is out as a triangle, with all three lines meeting in the centre of the city at three interchange stations. Each interchange station has two halls, one hall for each line, the depth of the stations varies considerably. The deepest station is Náměstí Míru, located 52 metres under the ground, parts of the tracks in the city centre were mostly bored using the tunnelling shield. Outer parts were dug by the method and the stations are only a few metres under the surface. Part of Line B runs in a tunnel above the ground. Most stations usually have an island platform in the centre of the station hall serving both directions. The sub-surface stations have a straight ceiling sometimes supported by columns, the deep-level stations are larger tunnels with the track tunnels on each side
8.
Brno
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Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic by population and area, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the center of the South Moravian Region in which it forms a separate district. The city is also a significant administrative centre and it is the seat of a number of state authorities, including the Ombudsman, and the Office for the Protection of Competition. Brno is also an important centre of education, with 33 faculties belonging to 13 institutes of higher learning. Brno Exhibition Centre ranks among the largest exhibition centres in Europe, the complex opened in 1928 and established the tradition of large exhibitions and trade fairs held in Brno. Brno hosts motorbike and other races on the Masaryk Circuit, an established in 1930. Another cultural tradition is a fireworks competition, Ignis Brunensis. The other large preserved castle near the city is Veveří Castle by the Brno Dam Lake and this castle is the site of a number of legends, as are many other places in Brno. Another architectural monument of Brno is the functionalist Villa Tugendhat which has been included on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites, one of the natural sights nearby is the Moravian Karst. The etymology of the name Brno is disputed and it perhaps comes from Old Czech brnie muddy, swampy. Alternative derivations are from a Slavic verb brniti or a Celtic language spoken in the area before it was overrun by Germanic peoples, throughout its history, Brnos locals also referred to the town in other languages, including Brünn in German, ברין in Yiddish and Bruna in Latin. The city was referred to as Brunn in English. The Asteroid 2889 Brno was named after the city, as well as the Bren light machine gun, one of the most famous weapons of World War II. In the early 11th century Brno was established as a castle of a prince from the House of Přemyslid. Brno was first mentioned in Cosmas Chronica Boëmorum dated to year 1091, seats of these rulers and thus capitals of these territories were castles and towns of Brno, Olomouc, and Znojmo. In the late 12th century, Moravia began to reunify, forming the Margraviate of Moravia, since then, until the mid of the 17th century, it was not clear which town should be the capital of Moravia. Political power was therefore divided between Brno and Olomouc, but Znojmo also played an important role. The Moravian Diet, the Moravian Land Tables, and the Moravian Land Court were all seated in both cities at once, however, Brno was the official seat of the Moravian Margraves, and later its geographical position closer to Vienna also became important
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