Rail

Aluminium is used extensively for railroad and rail freight cars as well as for most modern subway cars. As it is lightweight, highly durable and highly recyclable - aluminium is highly suitable for railway vehicles serving both intra and inter-city routes.

The first use of aluminium in a rail freight car dates back to 1931. In the 1960s, the first 100-tonne capacity boxcars were built with aluminium bodies. Each car needed 6,800 kg of aluminium, and weighed 10 tonnes less than if it had been steel.

Canada's LRC (light-rapid-comfortable) trains, France's TGV (high-speed) trains and the latest version the 700 Series of the Japanese Bullet Train (see story opposite) all have passenger cars made of aluminium.

Aluminium is perfectly suited to the rail industry as its rate of corrosion is one twenty-fifth that of high-resistance steel. Steel coal cars must be rebuilt after some 15 years because of accelerated corrosion caused by sulphur while aluminium is not affected.

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About Aluminium

Japanese Bullet Train

Introduced in 1999, the 700 Series are the most innovative bullet trains ever built. Developed as the next generation, they have many stylish features including an aerodynamically shaped nose, which helps it achieve a maximum speed of 285 km/h whilst combining comfort, reliability and energy consumption. The trains have a double skin consisting of large aluminium extrusions, which increase the rigidity of the structure and improve the insulation of passenger compartments.

Efforts have been made to reduce the weight of the car body and increase performance. The middle car of a 700 Series train now weighs 7 tonnes less than previous models and up to 24% less than more conventional, non-aluminium equivalents.