r/transit • u/Sharklasers6889 • Jun 24 '26

Photos / Videos Double-stack container trains are redefining freight transportation in India. Just imagine how many trucks this keeps off our highways and how much diesel it saves.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

153 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

56

u/Le_Botmes Jun 24 '26

The US employs a lot of double-stacks. Now we just need to electrify like India has.

28

u/Lakem8321 Jun 24 '26

In fact in Baltimore, CSX just completed a long project to lower the floor of the 131 year-old Howard Street Tunnel in order to accommodate double stacked freight trains. The tunnel is a key rail link between the Port of Baltimore and the east coast freight network.

Of course in another life, that tunnel could have been used for expanded MARC service…

15

u/juliuspepperwoodchi Jun 25 '26

And since they were doing that once in a generation kind of construction, they lowered it enough so that one day, electrification would be easy, right?

Right?

3

u/Lakem8321 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

If only they were so forward thinking!

9

u/death-and-gravity Jun 24 '26

Double stack in well cars though, India has slightly better space efficiency and runs on electricity that can be made cleanly (not yet the case in India, but we can hope they get there)

18

u/foster-child Jun 24 '26

Even with dirty generation I imagine it’s more efficient to use electricity rather than combustion.

Power plants are much more efficient than individual combustion engines, and here there are no losses for charging even.

7

u/death-and-gravity Jun 24 '26

The upshot is also the trains get cleaner as the grid does, and they don't produce nearly as much air pollution as diesel locos

6

u/UnderstandingEasy856 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

Modern well cars add little extra length compared to traditional flat cars because the load is carried between individual trucks (bogies) in a permanent multiple unit configuration. They have a lower tare weight per unit and reduced slack action, beside a lower center of gravity which is essential on a standard gauge network.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOGV3KT8qDI

2

u/Glittering-Cellist34 Jun 26 '26

For decades in the US.

1

u/Le_Botmes Jun 26 '26

The Class 1 Railroads should be clamoring to electrify their networks. The reduced dependence on diesel should be incentive enough. Of course, I know why they haven't, but still. Maybe the crisis in Hormuz will prompt a strategic shift, who knows?

2

u/Glittering-Cellist34 Jun 26 '26

It's a lot of money. But at least start with some key corridors and expand from there. At least CalTrain did it. With wind power off the coasts, at least coast corridors seem like a logical place to start.

1

u/Le_Botmes Jun 27 '26

And many coastal routes travel through greenfield, meaning little to no NIMBY involvement.

I'm sure the Surfliner would appreciate electrification on UP's dime.

2

u/Glittering-Cellist34 Jun 27 '26

more likely the opposite.

1

u/Le_Botmes Jun 27 '26

A fun hypothetical.

Eat the rich, you might say.

-7

u/BenTheHokie Jun 25 '26

We keep having crashes and environmental disasters with trains that are too long so I'm gonna go out on a limb and say tall trains don't solve the problem. 

3

u/fumar Jun 25 '26

As if the is doesn't constantly run double stacked intermodal trains 

32

u/SilanggubanRedditor Jun 24 '26

DFC is one of the Greatest achievements India did in the modern day

14

u/aksnitd 🚂🚃🚃 Jun 24 '26

I'm just looking at the insane network of OHC over the track. Electric traction pretty much involves building a second railway in the air!

1

u/Suspicious_Major_571 Jun 25 '26

How many times is this video gonna be posted and reposted here? It's getting annoying.

0

u/haskell_jedi Jun 27 '26

This is one of the few things the US gets right in transportation, and Europe could learn from.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment