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Articulated cars are rail vehicles which are consist of a number of smaller, lighter cars which are semi-permanently attached to each other and which share common trucks. They are much longer than single passenger cars, and on the TGV Réseau, for example, 8 cars are joined this way. Because of the difficulty and cost of separating each car from the next, they are nearly always operated as a single unit, often called a trainset.
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Passenger cars
Articulated passenger cars are becoming increasingly common in Europe and the US. This means that the passenger cars share trucks and that the passageways between them are more or less permanently attached. The cars are kept in "trainsets" and not split up during normal operations. There is a safety benefit in that if the train derails, it is less likely to jackknife and modern construction techniques thankfully prevent telescoping.
Articulated Cars are not however a new idea. Many British Railways in the first half of the 20th century frequently rebuilt older, shorter cars into articulated sets, and the Great Northern Railway in Britain built suburban car sets new. In the 1930s, a number of streamlined trains built for the London and North Eastern Railway also made use of articulated technology.
Freight cars
Manufacturers such as Gunderson make articulated, low-floor "well" cars, articulated trailer carriers and articulated autoracks.
Advantages and disadvantages
Articulated cars have a number of advantages. They save on the total number of wheels and trucks, reducing initial cost, weight, noise, vibration and maintenance expenses. Further, movement between passenger cars is safer and easier than with traditional designs. Finally, it is easier to implement tilting schemes such as the Talgo design which allow the train to lean into curves. The trucks of the Pendolino are entirely under the coach. The trucks of the LRC passenger cars built by Bombardier Transportation are entirely under the cars as well.
Disadvantages primarily relate to lesser operational flexibility. For example, additional cars cannot readily be added to an articulated trainset to accommodate peaks in traffic volume and a mechanical malfunction in one car or power unit can disable an entire trainset.
See also
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