Train Travel Trivia Quiz Questions with Answers

Trivia quiz questions with answers about train travel.

Fun Train Trivia Quiz Questions

A passenger train is one which includes passenger-carrying vehicles which can often be what?
A: Very long and fast.

It may be a self-powered multiple unit or railcar, or else a combination of one or more what?
A: Locomotives and one or more unpowered trailers known as coaches, cars or carriages.

Passenger trains travel between stations or depots, at which passengers may do what?
A: Board and disembark.

In most cases, passenger trains operate on a fixed what?
A: Schedule, and have superior track occupancy rights over freight trains.

Unlike freight trains, passenger trains must supply head-end power to each coach for what?
A: Lighting and heating, among other purposes.

This can be drawn directly from the locomotive's prime mover (modified for the purpose), or from what?
A: A separate diesel generator in the locomotive.

For passenger service on remote routes where a head-end-equipped locomotive may not always be available, what may be used?
A: A separate generator van may be used.

Oversight of a passenger train is the responsibility of whom?
A: The conductor.

He or she is sometimes assisted by other crew members, such as whom?
A: Service attendants or porters.

During the heyday of North American passenger rail travel, long distance trains carried how many conductors?
A: Two; the aforementioned train conductor, and a Pullman conductor, the latter being in charge of sleeping car personnel.

Many prestigious passenger train services have been given a what?
A: A specific name, some of which have become famous in literature and fiction.

In past years, railroaders often referred to passenger trains as what?
A: The "varnish", alluding to the bygone days of wooden-bodied coaches with their lustrous exterior finishes and fancy livery.

"Blocking the varnish" meant what?
A: A slow-moving freight train was obstructing a fast passenger train, causing delays.

Some passenger trains, both long distance and short distance, may use bi-level (double-decker) cars for what reason?
A: To carry more passengers per train.

Car design and the general safety of passenger trains have dramatically evolved over time, making travel by rail what?
A: Remarkably safe.

Long-distance trains travel between many cities and/or regions of a country, and sometimes cross what?
A: Several countries.

They often have a “what”, to allow passengers to have a meal during the course of their journey?
A: A dining car or restaurant car.

Trains traveling overnight may also have what?
A: Sleeping cars.

Currently much of travel on these distances of over 500 miles (800 km) is done by air in many countries but in others long-distance travel by rail is the only what?
A: Cheap way to travel long distances.

One notable and growing long-distance train category is what?
A: High-speed rail.

Generally, high speed rail runs at speeds above 200 km/h (120 mph) and often operates on dedicated track that is what?
A: Surveyed and prepared to accommodate high speeds.

Japan's Shinkansen popularly known as ("bullet-train") commenced operation in what year?
A: In 1964, and was the first successful example of a high speed passenger rail system.

What is the fastest wheeled train running on rails?
A: France's TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, literally "high speed train"), which achieved a speed of 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph), twice the takeoff speed of a Boeing 727 jetliner, under test conditions in 2007.

The highest speed currently attained in scheduled revenue operation is 350 km/h (220 mph) on what train?
A: The Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Rail and Wuhan–Guangzhou High-Speed Railway systems in China.

In most cases, high-speed rail travel is time- and cost-competitive with what?
A: Air travel when distances do not exceed 500 to 600 km (310 to 370 mi).

Airport check-in and boarding procedures may add how many hours to the actual transit time?
A: As many as two hours.

Some high speed rail equipment employs tilting technology to improve what?
A: Stability in curves.

The Electric Tilt Train is the fastest train in what country?
A: Australia, traveling between Brisbane and Rockhampton in Queensland, a distance of 615km.

Regional trains usually connect between towns and cities, rather than purely linking major population hubs like what?
A: Inter-city trains, and serve local traffic demand in relatively rural areas.

The trains for higher-speed rail services can operate at top speeds that are higher than conventional inter-city trains but the speeds are not as high as what?
A: Those in the high-speed rail services.

These services are provided after improvements to the conventional rail infrastructure in order to what?
A: Support trains that can operate safely at higher speeds.

Mumbai's suburban trains handle how many commuters daily?
A: 7.24 million.

For shorter distances many cities have networks of what?
A: Commuter trains (also known as suburban trains) serving the city and its suburbs.

Trains are a very efficient mode of transport to cope with what?
A: Large traffic demands in a metropolis.

Compared with road transport, it carries many people with much smaller land area and little what?
A: Air pollution.

Commuter rail also travels longer ranges compared to rapid transit systems with comparatively less what?
A: Frequency and may share tracks with other trains.

Some carriages may be laid out to have more standing room than seats, or to what?
A: Facilitate the carrying of prams, cycles or wheelchairs.

Double deck high speed and sleeper trains are becoming more common where?
A: In mainland Europe.

How many passengers ride every day on Yamanote Line in Tokyo, Japan, with its 29 stations?
A: An estimated 36.5 million.

For comparison, the New York City Subway carries how many passengers per day on 27 services serving 472 stations?
A: 5.7 million.

Passenger trains usually have emergency what?
A: Brake handles (or a "communication cord") that the public can operate.

Misuse is punished by what?
A: A heavy fine.

Various commuter and suburban train operators (e.g. Sydney Trains, NJ Transit, Paris RER) use what type of trains?
A: Double-decker trains.

Large cities often have a what?
A: A metro system, also called underground, subway or tube.

The trains are electrically powered, usually by third rail, and their railroads are separate from other what?
A: Traffic, usually without level crossings.

Usually they run in tunnels in the city center and sometimes on what?
A: Elevated structures in the outer parts of the city.

They can accelerate and decelerate faster than what?
A: Heavier, long-distance trains.

The term rapid transit is used for what?
A: Public transport such as commuter trains, metro and light rail.

However, services on the New York City Subway have been referred to as what?
A: "Trains".

Monorails were developed to meet medium-demand traffic in urban transit, and consist of a what?
A: Train running on a single rail, typically elevated.

Almost all monorail trains use what type of motors?
A: Linear induction motors.

In order to achieve much faster operation over 500 km/h (310 mph), innovative maglev technology has been researched since when?
A: The early 20th century.

The technology uses what to levitate the train above the track, reducing friction and allowing higher speeds?
A: Magnets.

An early prototype was demonstrated in 1913, and the first commercial maglev train was an airport shuttle introduced when?
A: In 1984.

The Shanghai Maglev Train, opened in 2003, is the fastest commercial train service of any kind, operating at speeds of up to how fast?
A: 430 km/h (270 mph).

Railway companies often give a name to a train service as a what?
A: A marketing exercise, to raise the profile of the service and hence attract more passengers.

The names of services such as the Orient Express, the Flying Scotsman, the Flèche d'Or, the Royal Scot, and the Red Arrow have passed into what?
A: Popular culture.

In the mid-1960s, British Rail introduced the "Freightliner" brand, for the new train services carrying what?
A: Containers between dedicated terminals around the rail network.

Mine trains are operated in large mines and carry what?
A: Both workers and goods.

Freight trains are sometimes illegally boarded by passengers who want a what?
A: A free ride, or do not have the money to travel by ordinary means.

This is referred to as what?
A: "Freighthopping".

A common way of boarding the train illegally is by sneaking into a train yard and doing what?
A: Stowing away in an unattended boxcar.

Amore dangerous practice is trying to catch a train how?
A: “On the fly”, which is, while it is moving, leading to occasional fatalities.

Railroads treat it as what?
A: Trespassing and may prosecute it as such.