Car design and the general safety of passenger trains have dramatically evolved over time, making travel by rail remarkably safe.
[6] In 1808, Trevithick ran a passenger-carrying exhibition train called Catch Me Who Can on a small loop of track in London.
[12] The first successful example of a high-speed passenger rail system was Japan's Shinkansen, colloquially known as the "bullet train", which commenced operation in October 1964.
[13] Other examples include Italy's Le Frecce, France's TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, lit.
'high speed train'), Germany's ICE (Inter-City Express), and Spain's AVE (Alta Velocidad Española) in Europe.
[14] Also, rail operating costs over these distances may be lower when the amount of jet fuel consumed by an airliner during takeoff and climbout is taken into consideration.
Tilting is a dynamic form of superelevation, allowing both low- and high-speed traffic to use the same trackage (though not simultaneously), as well as producing a more comfortable ride for passengers.
"Inter-city" is a general term for any rail service that uses trains with limited stops to provide fast long-distance travel.
This practice allows less populous communities to be served in the most cost-effective way, at the expense of a longer journey time for those wishing to travel to the terminus station.
These services are provided after improvements to the conventional rail infrastructure to support trains that can operate safely at higher speeds.
The term is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single passenger car (carriage, coach) with a driver's cab at one or both ends.
Light rails are electrically powered urban passenger trains that run along an exclusive rights-of-way at ground level, raised structures, tunnels, or in streets.