{"id":1116,"date":"2026-03-10T21:59:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T21:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiozone.ru\/?p=1116"},"modified":"2026-03-10T21:59:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T21:59:26","slug":"why-do-trains-rattle-in-russia-but-in-europe-china-and-japan-there-are-almost-none","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiozone.ru\/?p=1116","title":{"rendered":"Why do trains rattle in Russia, but in Europe, China and Japan there are almost none?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;ve ever traveled by train in Russia, you probably remember the characteristic rhythm of the road: &#8220;tuk-tuk&#8230; tuk-tuk&#8230;&#8221;.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/why-do-trains-rattle-in-russia-but-in-europe-china-and-japan-there-are-almost-none-40d7716.jpg\" alt=\"Why do trains rattle in Russia, but in Europe, China and Japan there are almost none?\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Butt and buttless paths<\/p>\n<p>This sound accompanies the trip almost all along the way and for many has become an integral part of the atmosphere of railway travel. But it&#8217;s worth taking a train ride in Europe, Japan or China, and you&#8217;re surprised: the train runs almost silently, without the usual knocking.<\/p>\n<p>The reason lies not in the trains themselves, but in the design of the railway tracks.<\/p>\n<h3>Where does the famous &#8220;tuk-tuk&#8221; come from<\/h3>\n<p>For a long time, many railways, including in Russia, used <strong>joint track construction<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The rails are laid in separate sections with a length of approximately 12.5\u201325 meters, and small gaps are left between them.<\/p>\n<p>This is due to the usual physics of metal:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>in summer, the rails expand<\/li>\n<li>in winter they contract<\/li>\n<li>without gaps, the metal could bend or deform<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When the train wheel passes the junction of the two rails, a small bump occurs. Then the wheel passes through the next joint and the impact repeats.<\/p>\n<p>This is how the familiar rhythm of the railway appears:<\/p>\n<p><i><strong>tuk-tuk&#8230; tuk-tuk&#8230;<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/why-do-trains-rattle-in-russia-but-in-europe-china-and-japan-there-are-almost-none-87ac19d.jpg\" alt=\"Why do trains rattle in Russia, but in Europe, China and Japan there are almost none?\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The connecting path<\/p>\n<h3>Why is there almost no knocking in Europe, China and Japan<\/h3>\n<p>Today, a joint-less track is widely used in many countries.<\/p>\n<p>The rails are welded together in long continuous lines. Sometimes the length of such a rail reaches several kilometers.<\/p>\n<p>The wheels of the train move almost along a solid metal strip, so the bumps at the joints disappear.<\/p>\n<p>This has several advantages:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>almost no wheel impacts<\/li>\n<li>significantly less vibration<\/li>\n<li>movement becomes smoother<\/li>\n<li>noise level is reduced<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Therefore, on trains in Europe, China or Japan, passengers often hear only a slight rustle of movement, even at high speed.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/why-do-trains-rattle-in-russia-but-in-europe-china-and-japan-there-are-almost-none-f83bb5e.jpg\" alt=\"Why do trains rattle in Russia, but in Europe, China and Japan there are almost none?\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Seamless track<\/p>\n<h3>What happens to rails in heat and frost<\/h3>\n<p>A logical question arises: if the rails are welded into a long line, then how is the problem of thermal expansion solved?<\/p>\n<p>Modern technology uses several solutions.<\/p>\n<p>Firstly, the rails are laid at a so-called neutral temperature\u2014 usually around 20-30 \u00b0C. At this point, the metal is roughly in the middle between future expansion and contraction.<\/p>\n<p>Secondly, the rails are rigidly fixed:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>on reinforced concrete sleepers<\/li>\n<li>with special powerful fasteners<\/li>\n<li>through elastic gaskets<\/li>\n<li>on a dense crushed stone base<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Temperature changes are distributed over the entire length of the rail and create internal stresses that the structure is designed to withstand.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Special expansion compensators are installed on bridges, arrows and some technical sections<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>What is happening on modern lines in Russia<\/h3>\n<p>Russian railways are gradually switching to modern technologies.<\/p>\n<p>A <strong>seamless path<\/strong> is already used on many main sections.<\/p>\n<p>New lines apply:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>long welded rails<\/li>\n<li>reinforced concrete sleepers<\/li>\n<li>elastic rubber gaskets<\/li>\n<li>vibration reduction systems<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Therefore, on high-speed train routes, for example <strong>&#8220;<\/strong>Peregrine Falcon&#8221;, the movement is already noticeably quieter and smoother.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/why-do-trains-rattle-in-russia-but-in-europe-china-and-japan-there-are-almost-none-bb6c632.png\" alt=\"Why do trains rattle in Russia, but in Europe, China and Japan there are almost none?\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Why do trains rattle their wheels in Russia<\/p>\n<h3>Why will the knocking be heard for a long time anyway<\/h3>\n<p>Russia has one of the largest railway networks in the world \u2014 <strong>tens of thousands of kilometers of tracks<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>A complete modernization of such an infrastructure requires huge investments and time. Therefore, traditional butt rails are still used in many areas.<\/p>\n<p>That is why, when traveling around the country, we still hear the familiar rhythm of the road.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>For engineers, this is just a feature of the track design, and for passengers, it is one of the most recognizable sounds of railway travel.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/why-do-trains-rattle-in-russia-but-in-europe-china-and-japan-there-are-almost-none-7a2a80e.jpg\" alt=\"Why do trains rattle in Russia, but in Europe, China and Japan there are almost none?\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Why do trains rattle in Russia, but in Europe, China and Japan there are almost none?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;ve ever traveled by train in Russia, you probably remember the characteristic rhythm of the road: &#8220;tuk-tuk&#8230; tuk-tuk&#8230;&#8221;. Butt and buttless paths This sound accompanies the trip almost all along the way and for many has become an integral part of the atmosphere of railway travel. But it&#8217;s worth taking a train ride in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiozone.ru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1116"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiozone.ru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiozone.ru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiozone.ru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiozone.ru\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cardiozone.ru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiozone.ru\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cardiozone.ru\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiozone.ru\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cardiozone.ru\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}