Electric Freight Train

Tons of the world's modernizing materials head through the vast countryside, sliding across long metal tracks woven over the surface of the earth like a headless snake trying unsuccessfully to find its own tail. The electric motor makes the forests and furry little creatures breath easy, allowing for the future of train travel to take route without the need for suffocating black fumes and toxic chemicals filling the air of these pristine and forgotten places. An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or an on-board energy storage device (such as a chemical battery or fuel cell). Electricity is used to eliminate smoke and take advantage of the high efficiency of electric motors; however, the cost of railway electrification means that usually only heavily used lines can be electrified. Electrification also results in higher performance, lower maintenance costs and lower energy costs for electric locomotives. Power plant capacity is far greater than what any individual locomotive uses, so electric locomotives can have a higher power output than diesel locomotives and they can produce even higher short-term surge power for fast acceleration. Electric locomotives are ideal for commuter rail service with frequent stops. They are used on high-speed lines, such as ICE in Germany, Acela in the US, Shinkansen in Japan, China Railway High-speed in China and TGV in France. Electric locomotives are also used on freight routes that have a consistently high traffic volume, or in areas with advanced rail networks.