From horseback to maglev. A brief excursion into the history of public transport

When the omnibus became a familiar bus

For the first time, they tried to launch public transport in the city in 1662. Mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal developedLes carrosses à cinq sols: Pascal entrepreneur / Éric Lundwall; pref. de Jean Mesnard a system of horse-drawn carriages that traveled the streets of Paris according to a schedule. But by transport bannedLes carrosses à cinq sols: Pascal entrepreneur / Éric Lundwall; pref. de Jean Mesnard to be used by soldiers, pages and other people in uniform - all for the comfort of the privileged classes. This state of affairs caused discontent, interest in transport began to fade, and it was soon abolished.

A better story took shape in the 1820s. At this time in France appearedmass transit / Britannica omnibuses are multi-seat horse-drawn carts. About 25 people could ride in such transport. To increase the number of passengers, placedLondon's horse bus era 1829–1910 / London Transport Museum

not only in the cab, but also on the roof.

Buses in their usual form began to appear after the automobile industry began to produce cars with internal combustion engines. The first introducedThe first motorized bus, dating back to 1895, was a Benz / Mercedes‑Benz German factory "Benz" in 1895. From a technical point of view, the bus wasThe first motorized bus, dating back to 1895, was a Benz / Mercedes‑Benz a converted model of a passenger car equipped with a landau body - the top opened over the rear seats. The transport was equipped with a 5 horsepower engine. It could accommodate only eight people, including the driver.

In Russia, the first buses entered the routes in Arkhangelsk and St. Petersburg in 1907. In honor of such an event, Petersburg Leaflet published messageThe history of the bus / mos.ru:

“By twelve o’clock in the afternoon, an omnibus car or, as they are now called, a bus, arrived at the Alexander Garden, opposite Voznesensky Prospekt”

How the electric tram replaced the horse tram

The ride on the horse-drawn omnibus was not very pleasant - on bumpy roads without asphalt, it shook a lot. This problem was solved in the USA in 1832. Crew with horses came up withmass transit / Britannica put on flights. Such transport provided a smoother ride and less resistance to movement. Gradually, horse-drawn railways spread throughout Europe.

In Russia, the first horse-drawn builtThe construction of the first "horse" in Moscow began 148 years ago / Parliamentary newspaper in St. Petersburg in 1854. And almost two decades later, she appeared in Moscow.

The horses were very popular. For example, in the same New York for each resident had toFrom Horse Power to Horse Power / Access Magazine 297 trips per year. But the transport had a serious drawback - the horses left a lot of manure. It bred flies that carried infectious diseases - as a result, in New York there were outbreaksFrom Horse Power to Horse Power / Access Magazine typhoid fever and intestinal infections in children.

With the advent of electricity, transport workers from different countries began to work on the creation of electric trams. In the 1880s they were already in France, Germany, Great Britain and the USA. It was easy to replace horse cars with them - trams used existing rails, but could carry more passengers. Today, there is only one operating horse-drawn railway in the world. It is located in Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man, and operates during the warm season.

Why one rail is good, but two is better

At the beginning of the 19th century, in parallel with trams and trains, transport developed, which uses one load-bearing rail above or below the wagon. It is believed that the monorail inventedBuilt and Forgotten: A History of Monorails / Techinsider and embodied in 1820 by the Russian Ivan Elmanov. But patentedBuilt and Forgotten: A History of Monorails / Techinsider technology a year later, another inventor - Henry Palmer from England. The first designs were slow and unreliable. For example, in 1878 he began actMonorail History / The Monorail Society steam monorail between Gilmore and Bradford in Pennsylvania. But after an accident in which several people died, the route was closed.

More successful was the attempt of the German engineer Eugen Langen. In 1901, according to his project launchedThe German city with an incredible upside down railway / CNN monorail cable car that connected Wuppertal and Dresden. The route so far enjoySuspension monorail | Wuppertal up to 85 thousand passengers per day. There are monorails in other countries as well. For example, the largest Tokyo monorail on weekdays carriesTokyo Monorail more than 240 thousand people. But in Russia, transport has not taken root. The only branch works in Moscow, but they want to close it every now and then. Before the pandemic on the monorail traveledLet's decide the fate of the monorail together / Moscow transport only 2.7 thousand people per day.

By the way, there is another interesting type of transport - maglev. Maglev train idea appearedMaglev / Britannica back in the 1900s, but they were not introduced into commercial use until 80 years later. Maglevs "float" in the air, held by an electromagnetic field. Due to the absence of friction, such transport can reach tremendous speeds. For example, in China a couple of years ago they introduced a maglev, which acceleratesChinese maglev at a speed of 600 kilometers per hour rolled off the assembly line / N + 1 up to 600 km/h. Magnetic levitation cars started in Moscow testThe Yars developer began testing maglev cars in Moscow / TASS In the past year.

Where was the first subway built?

The idea of ​​an underground road appeared in the 19th century, when the congestion of the streets of big cities increased. And the implementation became possible thanks to the inventor Mark Brunel, who in 1818 inventedtunneling shield / Britannica tunneling shield - a metal structure used for the construction of tunnels. The invention was successfully used in the construction of the world's first underwater tunnel under the Thames in London.

In 1863 in the capital of the British Empire appearedA very short history of the Underground / London Transport Museum a new form of transport - the subway.

Initially underground usedSubway / Britannica locomotives that burned coke and then coal. But already in 1890 earnedtunneling shield / Britannica first electric road. London Underground Today has grownA very short history of the Underground / London Transport Museum up to 11 lines with a length of 402 km and carriesA short history of world metro systems — in pictures / The Guardian up to 1.17 billion passengers per year. Gradually, the subway appeared in other cities - by the end of the 19th century, underground lines were already operating in Budapest, Paris, and Boston.

In the USSR, the first branch openedAbout the Metro / Moscow Metro in 1935 in Moscow. The train was moving along the line "Sokolniki" - "Park Kultury". From the Okhotny Ryad station there was a branch - to the Smolenskaya station. Construction was not easy. For example, at the Krasnye Vorota, Chistye Prudy, and Lubyanka stations, the ground was heavily saturated with water. Engineer Nikolai Trupak proposedHow the metro was created: an engineer's view / Arzamas to freeze it - a cooled solution was fed into the well, and only after the appearance of an ice-ground wall, work was carried out. By the way, the station "Chistye Prudy" builtSokolnicheskaya metro station Kirovskaya (currently Chistye Prudy) / Center for Integrated Development JSC without a full-fledged central hall - because of the same groundwater. And it acquired its modern look after reconstruction in 1971.

Why balloons and airships "did not take off"

People have dreamed of flying since ancient times. Sketches of aircraft were created in the 15th century by Leonardo da Vinci. His archives have blueprints"Helicopter" Leonardo da Vinci (project) / Wikipediaresembling a propeller. But in reality, the inventors managed to take to the air much later.

In 1782, the Montgolfier brothers noticed that the heated air inside the bag caused it to rise into the air. Soon they submittedJoseph‑Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier / Britannica to the public his invention - a balloon. At first, the launches took place without people on board, but already in November 1783, passengers rose above the ground - Pilatre de Rozier and Francois Laurent D'Arlande. By the way, a few years later de Rozier triedBalloon-flight. Historical development / Britannica fly across the English Channel. But the balloon caught fire in the air - its passenger became the first person to die in a plane crash.

However, flight experiments continued. In 1852 the French inventor Henri Giffard builtairship / Britannica first airship. Unlike a hot air balloon, which flew only with the wind, the airship could be directed in the right direction. And yet, the first designs were not very strong and reliable, because regular flights were not made until the advent of the internal combustion engine.

For passenger transportation, airships began to be used at the beginning of the 20th century. For example, by 1914, aircraft built by the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin had made 1,588 successful flights and carried more than 34,000 people. And in 1928 took placeGraf Zeppelin History / Airships.net first commercial flight across the Atlantic. The flight from Germany to the USA took more than four days. Flying on airships was quite comfortable - advanced models had a restaurant and rooms for passengers.

Unfortunately, several high-profile plane crashes have seriously affected the reputation of these air giants. In 1937, during the crash of the Hindenburg diedThe collapse of the airship "Hindenburg" / Arzamas 36 people. And although in the history of airships wereWorst Airship Disaster in History: USS Akron - April 4, 1933 / Airships.net larger accidents, it was this one that received a wide response. Interest in such aircraft began to decline, and gradually they were replaced by aircraft. Airships are rarely used today. Mainly for recreational flying.

How a wooden plane conquered the sky

Aircraft developed in parallel with airships, but at first they were not so popular. In 1903 brothers Wilber and Orville Wright builtWright flyer of 1903 / Britannica the first aircraft with an internal combustion engine. The details were fulfilledWright flyer of 1903 / Britannica from spruce and ash, and the engine developed a power of about 12.5 horsepower in a few seconds. Successful tests took place on December 17 of the same year - on the first attempt, the aircraft held outWright brothers. Early glider experiments / Britannica in the air for 12 seconds and covered 36 meters. The brothers improved the design, and after a year they could beWright brothers. Early glider experiments / Britannica in the air for up to 39 minutes, fly in circles and perform other maneuvers. And in 1908 Wilber Wright raisedWright brothers. Early glider experiments / Britannica into the air of the first passenger.

Following the Wrights, other engineers began to create their own aircraft. In 1909, the French aviator Louis Bleriot on the monoplane Bleriot XI built by him for the first time crossedBlériot XI / Britannica English Channel. This flight showed that aircraft can be used not only for the entertainment of the public, but also for a full-fledged vehicle. And already in 1914 openedThe story of the world's first airline / International Air Transport Association (IATA) the first commercial airline in the United States - between St. Petersburg and Tampa. 20-30 years can be called the heyday of civil aviation. During this period, airlines appeared in the UK, France, the Netherlands and Germany. Some of them, such as KLM and Deutsche Luft Hansa, are still flying today.