Specifications.

The Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway Co., Ltd. was in charge of construction. The project was expected to cost 220 billion yuan (about $32 billion). An estimated 220,000 passengers are expected to use the trains each day, which is double the current capacity. During peak hours, trains should run every five minutes. 1,140 km, or 87% of the railway is elevated. There are 244 bridges along the line. The 164-km long Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge is the longest bridge in the world, the 114-km long viaduct bridge between Langfang and Qingxian is the second longest in the world, and the Cangde Grand Bridge between Beijing's 4th Ring Road and Langfang is the fifth longest. The line also includes 22 tunnels, totaling. A total of of the length is ballastless.  According to Zhang Shuguang, then deputy chief designer of China's high-speed railway network, the designed continuous operating speed is, with a maximum speed of up to. The average commercial speed from Beijing to Shanghai was planned to be, which would have cut the train travel time from 10 hours to 4 hours. The rolling stock used on this line consists mainly of CRH380 trains. The CTCS-3 based train control system is used on the line, to allow for a maximum speed of 380 km/h of running and a minimum train interval of 3 minutes. With power consumption of 20 MW and capacity of about 1,050 passengers, the energy consumption per passenger from Beijing to Shanghai should be less than 80kWh.

History.

China's two most important cities, Beijing and Shanghai, were not linked by rail until 1912, when the Jinpu railway was completed between Tianjin and Pukou. With the existing railway between Beijing and Tianjin, which was completed in 1900, the Huning railway between Nanjing and Shanghai opened in 1908, interrupted by a ferry between Pukou and Nanjing across the Yangtze River. A weekly Beijing–Shanghai direct train was first introduced in 1913.  In 1933 a train ride from Beijing to Shanghai took around 44 hours, at an average speed of 33 km/h. Passengers had to get off in Pukou with their luggage, board a ferry named "Kuaijie" across the Yangtze, and get on another connecting train in Xiaguan on the other side of the river.  In 1933 the Nanjing Train Ferry was opened for service. The new train ferry, "Changjiang" (Yangtze), built by a British company, was 113.3 meters long, 17.86 meters wide, was able to carry 21 freight cars or 12 passenger cars. Passengers could remain on the train when crossing the river, and the travel time was thus cut to around 36 hours. The train service was suspended during the Japanese invasion.  In 1949 from Shanghai's North railway station toward Beijing (then Beiping) it took 36 hours, 50 minutes, at an average speed of 40 km/h. In 1956 the trip time was cut to 28 hours, 17 minutes. In the early 1960s the travel time was further cut to 23 hours, 39 minutes.  In October 1968, the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge was opened. The travel time was cut to 21 hours, 34 minutes. As new diesel locomotives were introduced in the 1970s, the speed was increased further. In 1986, the travel time was 16 hours, 59 minutes.  China introduced six line schedule reductions from 1997 to 2007. In October 2001, train T13/T14 took about 14 hours from Beijing to Shanghai. On April 18, 2004, Z-series trains were introduced. The trip time was cut to 11 hours, 58 minutes. There were five trains departing around 7 pm every day, each 7 minutes apart, arriving at their destination the next morning.  The railway was completely electrified in 2006. On April 18, 2007, the new CRH bullet train was introduced on the upgraded railway as part of the Sixth Railway Speed-Up Campaign. A day-time train D31 served the route, departing from Beijing at 10:50 every morning, and arriving at Shanghai at 20:49 in the evening, travelling mostly at 160–200 km/h (up to 250 km/h in a very short section between Anting and Shanghai West). In 2008 overnight sleeper CRH trains were introduced, replacing the locomotive-hauled Z sleeper trains. With a new high-speed intercity line opening between Nanjing and Shanghai in the summer of 2010, the sleeper trains made use of the high-speed line in the Shanghai–Nanjing section, travelling at 250 km/h for a longer distance. The fastest sleeper trains took 9 hours, 49 minutes, with four intermediate stops, at an average speed of 149 km/h.  As the Nanjing Yangtze Bridge connected the two sections of the railway into a continuous line, the entire railway between Beijing and Shanghai was renamed the Jinghu Railway, with "Jing" (京) being the standard Chinese abbreviation for Beijing, and "Hu" (沪), short for Shanghai. The Jinghu Railway has served as China's busiest railway for nearly a century. Due to rapid growth in passenger and freight traffic in the last 20 years, this line has reached and surpassed capacity.

Dedicated high-speed rail proposal.

The Jinghu high-speed railway was proposed in the early 1990s, because one quarter of the country's population lived along the existing Beijing-Shanghai rail line In December 1990, the Ministry of Railways submitted to the National People's Congress a proposal to build the Beijing–Shanghai high speed railway parallel to the existing Beijing–Shanghai railway line. In 1995, Premier Li Peng announced that work on the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway would begin in the 9th Five Year Plan (1996–2000). The Ministry's initial design for the high-speed rail line was completed, and a report was submitted for state approval in June 1998. The construction plan was set in 2004, after a five-year debate on whether to use steel-on-steel rail track, or maglev technology. Maglev was not chosen due to its incompatibility with China's existing rail-and-track technology and its high price, which is two times higher than that of conventional rail technology.

Technology debate.

Although engineers originally said construction could take until 2015, the China's Ministry of Railways initially promised a 2010 opening date for the new line. However, the Ministry did not anticipate an ensuing debate over the possible use of maglev technology. Although more traditional steel-on-steel rail technology was chosen for the railway, the technology debate resulted in a substantial delay of the railway's feasibility studies, completed in March 2006. The current rolling stock is the CRH380AL, which is a Chinese electric high-speed train that was developed by China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corporation Limited (CSR). CRH380A is one of the four Chinese train series which have been designed for the new standard operating speed of 380 km/h (236 mph) on newly constructed Chinese high-speed main lines. The other three are CRH380B, CRH380C and CRH380D.

Engineering challenges.

Testing began shortly thereafter on the main line section between Shanghai and Nanjing. This section of the line sits on the soft soil of the Yangtze Delta, providing engineers an example of the more difficult challenges they would face in later construction. In addition to these challenges, high speed trains use extensive amounts of aluminium alloy, with specially designed windscreen glass capable of withstanding avian impacts.

Construction.

Construction work began on April 18, 2008. Track-laying was started on July 19, 2010, and completed on November 15, 2010. On December 3, 2010, a 16-car CRH380AL trainset set a speed record of on the Zaozhuang West to Bengbu section of the line during a test run. On January 10, 2011, another 16-car modified CRH380BL train set a speed record of during a test run. The overhead catenary work was completed on February 4, 2011 for the entire line. According to CCTV, more than 130,000 construction workers and engineers were at work at the peak of the construction phase.  According to the Ministry of Railways, construction has used twice as much concrete as the Three Gorges dam, and 120 times the amount of steel in the Beijing National Stadium. There are 244 bridges and 22 tunnels built to standardized designs, and the route is monitored by 321 seismic, 167 windspeed and 50 rainfall sensors.

Start of service.

Tickets were put on sale at 09:00 on June 24, 2011, and sold out within an hour. To compete with the new train service, airlines slashed the cost of flights between Beijing and Shanghai by up to 65%. Economy air fares between Beijing and Shanghai fell by 52%.  Sleeper bullet trains on the upgraded railway were cancelled at the beginning, but later resumed. The new line will increase the freight capacity of the old line by 50 million tons per year between Beijing and Shanghai.  In its second week in service, the system experienced three malfunctions in four days. On July 10, 2011, trains were delayed after heavy winds and a thunderstorm caused power supply problems in Shandong. On July 12, 2011, trains were delayed again when another power failure occurred in Suzhou. On July 13, 2011, a transformer malfunction in Changzhou forced a train to half its top speed, forcing passengers to take a backup train. Within two weeks after opening, airline prices had rebounded due to frequent malfunctions on the line. Airline ticket sales were only down 5% in July 2011 compared to June 2011, after the opening of the line. On August 12, 2011, after several delays caused by equipment problems, 54 CRH380BL trains running on this line were recalled by their manufacturer. They returned to regular service on November 16, 2011. A spokesman for the Ministry of Railways apologized for the glitches and delays, stating that in the two weeks since service had begun only 85.6% of trains had arrived on time.

Finances.

In 2006, it was estimated that the line would cost between CN¥130 billion (US$16.25 billion) and ¥170 billion ($21.25 billion). The following year, the estimated cost had revised to ¥200 billion ($25 billion), or ¥150 million per kilometer. Due to rapid rises in the costs of labor, construction materials and land acquisitions over the previous years, by July 2008, the estimated cost was increased to ¥220 billion ($32 billion). By then, the state-owned company Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway, established to raise funds for the project, had raised ¥110 billion, with the remaining to be sourced from local governments, share offerings, bank loans and, for the first time for a railway project, foreign investment. In the end, investment in the project totaled ¥217.6 billion ($34.7 billion).  In 2016 it was revealed, that last year the Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway Company (BSHSRC) has total assets of ¥181.54 billion ($28 billion), revenue ¥23.42 billion ($3.6 billion) and a net profit ¥6.58 billion (US$1 billion), thus being labeled as the most profitable railway line in the world. In 2019, Jinghu Express Railway Company submitted an application for an IPO. The company announced that the Jinghu HSR recorded a net profit of ¥9.5 billion (US$1.35 billion) in the first nine months of 2019.  In 2020, BSHSRC went public, as the first high-speed rail operator in China. The proceeds of the IPO will be used to purchase a 65% stake in the Beijing Fuzhou Railway Passenger Dedicated Line Anhui Company, which operates the Hefei-Bengbu high-speed railway, Hefei-Fuzhou high-speed railway (Anhui section), Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou High-speed Railway (Anhui section, still under construction) and Zhengzhou-Fuyang high-speed railway (Anhui section).

Rolling stock.

350km/h services utilize the CR400AF, CR400BF, CRH380A, CRH380B, and CRH380C trainsets, prior to 2014 slower 250 km/h services use CRH2 and CRH5 trainsets. First and Second Class coaches are available on all trains. On the shorter trains, a six-person Premier Class compartment is available. Available on the longer trains are up to 28 Business Class seats and a full-length dining car.

Operation and ridership.

More than 90 trains a day run between Beijing South and Shanghai Hongqiao from 07:00 until 18:00.  The line's average daily ridership in its initial two weeks of operation was 165,000 passengers daily, while 80,000 passengers every day continued to ride on the slower and less expensive old railway. The figure of 165,000 daily riders was three-quarters of the forecast of 220,000 daily riders. After the opening passengers numbers continued to grow, with 230,000 passengers using the line each day by 2013. By March 2013, the line had carried 100 million passengers. By 2015, daily ridership grew to 489,000 passengers per day. By 2017, average daily ridership reached over 500,000 passengers per day.  This line is gradually gaining popularity through the years and it is reaching its capacity at weekends and holidays. With the introduction of the China Standardized EMU, the highest operation speed of the line is raised to 350 km/h on September 21, 2017. The fastest train will complete the journey in 4 hours 18 minutes (G7), while making two stops along the trip at Jinan and Nanjing.  In 2019, in response to high passenger demand 17 car long Fuxing trains started operating on the line.

Fares.

On June 13, 2011, the list of fares was announced at a Ministry of Railways press conference. The fares from Beijing South to Shanghai Hongqiao in RMB Yuan are listed below:  Note: Only available on services using the CRH380AL, CRH380BL and CRH380CL trains  On June 14, 2011, the list of stop-by-stop fares was published on the Ministry of Railways' website.  With tickets priced at ¥1750 one way in the sightseeing compartment at the ends of the trains, passengers can sit behind the driver. Tickets at the same price all feature seats which recline in full. Holders of these tickets are additionally given free lounge access at major stations, are served a free meal onboard close to meal times, and are given unlimited refills of non-alcoholic drinks while on board.

Online ticketing service.

The online ticket service opened when brick and mortar ticket service started. Passengers can buy tickets on the internet and pay the fare by debit or credit card. If the passenger uses a 2nd-generation PRC ID Card and does not want any documents printed, they can use their ID card directly as the ticket to pass the AFC, otherwise the passenger must change to a paper ticket prior to travel. Since late 2011, it has also been possible for users of these ID cards to print a ticket with the remark "Ticket Checked" after the end of the trip for reimbursement purposes.

Stations and service.

There are 24 stations on the line. Cruise speeds are 300 and 350 km/h depending on services. Fare are calculated based on distance traveled regardless of speed and travel time. More than 40 pairs of daily scheduled train services travel end-to-end along this route, and hundreds more that only use a segment of it. Note:  <nowiki>*</nowiki> – Lines in italic text are under construction or planned  The travel time column in the following table only list shortest time possible to get to a certain station from Beijing. Different services make different stops along the way and there is no services that stop at every station.

Bridges.

The railway line has some of the longest bridges in the world. They include:

The Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway (or Jinghu high-speed railway, from its name in Mandarin) is a high-speed railway that connects two major economic zones in the People's Republic of China: the Bohai Economic Rim and the Yangtze River Delta. Construction began on April 18, 2008, with the line opened to the public for commercial service on June 30, 2011. At long, it is the world's longest high-speed line ever constructed in a single phase.

La ligne à grande vitesse Pékin - Shanghai, ou LGV Jing-hu (chinois simplifié : 京沪高速铁路 ; chinois traditionnel : 京沪高速鐵路 ; pinyin : "Jing Hu Gaosu Tielu") est une ligne à grande vitesse de de long reliant Pékin et Shanghai, en Chine.


Cantonist schools during the 18th and early 19th centuries.

Cantonist schools were established by the 1721 decree of Tsar Peter the Great that stipulated that every regiment was required to maintain a school for 50 boys. Their enrollment was increased in 1732, and the term was set from the age of 7 to 15. The curriculum included grammar and arithmetic, and those with a corresponding aptitude were taught artillery, fortification, music and singing, scrivenery, equine veterinary science, or mechanics. Those lacking in any talent were taught carpentry, blacksmithing, shoemaking and other trades useful to the military. The ablest ones were taught for additional 3 years, until the age of 18. All entered military service at the completion of their studies. The decree of 1758 required all male children of the military personnel to be taught in the cantonist schools. In 1798 a military "asylum-orphanage" was established in St Petersburg, and all regimental schools were renamed after it, the total enrollment reaching 16,400.  The schools were reorganized in 1805 and all children were now referred to as "cantonists". After the War of 1812 their number increased dramatically, when many orphaned children of military personnel killed in the war enrolled in cantonist schools voluntarily. During this period the curriculum of cantonist schools was equivalent to that of gymnasia, and military subjects were not taught.  In 1824 all cantonist schools were made answerable to the Director of Military Settlements Count Aleksey Arakcheyev, and in 1826 they were organized into cantonist battalions. The standards of curriculum dropped significantly, and it was limited to the subjects useful to the military.  During the reign of the Nicholas I of Russia the number of cantonists reached 36,000. Several cantonist battalions became specialized: they prepared auditors, artillerists, engineers, military surgeons, cartographers.  More children were added to the category of cantonists. Eventually children of the discharged soldiers were also included, illegitimate children of soldiers' wives' or widows', and even foundlings.  There were several exemptions:  There were considerable differences in cantonists' service obligations:

Cantonism and ethnic minorities.

There was forcible conscription of underage recruits from the populations of indigenous peoples, Old Believers, Gypsies, and common vagabonds from 1805, Jews from 1827, and Poles from 1831.  There were some significant differences in treatment of Jews and non-Jews: all others were required to provide conscripts between 18 and 35, while for Jews the age limit was 12–25, and it was left to the discretion of the Jewish "qahal" to choose conscripts from whatever age they decided. Thus in practice, Jewish children were often conscripted as young as eight or nine years old. This system created a disproportionate number of Jewish cantonists, and betrayed the utilitarian agenda of the statute: to draft those more likely to be susceptible to external influence, and thus to assimilation.

Jews.

After 1827, the term was applied to Jewish and Karaite boys, who were drafted to military service at the age of twelve and placed for their six-year military education in cantonist schools. Like all other conscripts, they were required to serve in the Imperial Russian army for 25 years after the completion of their studies (in 1834 the term was reduced to 20 years plus five years in reserve and in 1855 to 12 years plus three years of reserve). According to the "Statute on Conscription Duty" signed by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia on August 26 (September 7 new style), 1827, Jews were made liable to personal military service and were subject to the same conscription quota as all other tax-paying estates ("sosloviya") in the Russian Empire. The total number of conscripts was uniform for all populations (four conscripts per each thousand subjects); however, the actual recruitment was implemented by the local "qahals" and so a disproportionate number of Jewish conscripts were underage.  In the aftermath of the Polish uprising of 1831, children of political prisoners and boys on the streets of captured cities often were abducted, and placed in cantonist schools, with the intent of their Russification, see Incorporation of Polish children into the Imperial Russian Army (1831-1832) for more.  The vast majority of Jews entered the Russian Empire with the territories acquired as the result of the last partitions of Poland of the 1790s; their civil rights were severely restricted (see Pale of Settlement). Most lacked knowledge of the official Russian language. Before 1827, Jews were doubly taxed en lieu of being obligated to serve in the army and their inclusion was supposed to alleviate this burden. However, the number of recruits reduced the number of young men that could go into the workforce, and this in combination with political restrictions led to widespread destitution.  Russia was divided into northern, southern, eastern, and western "conscription zones" and the levy was announced annually for only one of them. The Pale of Jewish settlement was outside conscription in the fallow years, so the conscription in general and of cantonists in particular occurred once every four years, except during the Crimean War, when conscription was annual. The first 1827 draft involved some 1,800 Jewish conscripts; by the "qahal's" decision half of them were children. In 1843 the conscription system was extended to the Kingdom of Poland that was previously exempt from it.

Strains within the Jewish community.

The 'decree of August 26, 1827' made Jews liable for military service, and allowed their conscription between the ages of twelve and twenty-five. Each year, the Jewish community had to supply four recruits per thousand of the population. Strict quotas were imposed on all communities and the "qahals" were given the unpleasant task of implementing conscription within the Jewish communities. Since the merchant-guild members, agricultural colonists, factory mechanics, clergy, and all Jews with secondary education were exempt, and the wealthy bribed their way out of having their children conscripted, fewer potential conscripts were available; the adopted policy deeply sharpened internal Jewish social tensions. Seeking to protect the socio-economic and religious integrity of Jewish society, the "qahals" did their best to include “non-useful Jews” in the draft lists so that the heads of tax-paying middle-class families were predominantly exempt from conscription, whereas single Jews, as well as "heretics" (Haskalah influenced individuals), paupers, outcasts, and orphaned children were drafted. They used their power to suppress protests and intimidate potential informers who sought to expose the arbitrariness of the "qahal" to the Russian government. In some cases, communal elders had the most threatening informers murdered (such as the Ushitsa case, 1836)  The zoning rule was suspended during the Crimean war, when conscription became annual. During this period the "qahals" leaders would employ informers and kidnappers (Russian: "ловчики", "lovchiki", khappers), as many potential conscripts preferred to run away rather than voluntarily submit. In the case of unfulfilled quotas, younger boys of eight and even younger were frequently taken.

Training and pressures to convert.

All cantonists were institutionally underfed, and encouraged to steal food from the local population, in emulation of the Spartan character building. On one occasion in 1856, a Jewish cantonist Khodulevich managed to steal the Tsar's own watch during military games at Uman. Not only was he not punished, but he was given a reward of 25 roubles for his prowess.  The boys in cantonist schools were given extensive training in Russian grammar (and sometimes literature), and mathematics, in particular geometry necessary in naval and artillery service. Those who showed aptitude for music were trained in singing and instrumental music, as the Imperial Army had a large demand for military wind bands and choirs. Some cavalry regiments maintained equestrian bands of torban players, and cantonist schools supplied these as well. Some cantonist schools also prepared firearms mechanics, veterinarians for cavalry, and administrators ("auditors").  The official policy was to encourage their conversion to the state religion of Orthodox Christianity and Jewish boys were coerced to baptism. As kosher food was unavailable, they were faced with the necessity of abandoning of Jewish dietary laws. Polish Catholic boys were subject to similar pressure to convert and assimilate as the Russian Empire was hostile to Catholicism and Polish nationalism. Initially conversions were few, but after the escalation of missionary activities in the cantonist schools in 1844, about one third of all Jewish cantonists would have undergone conversion.

Other.

In the era of Arakcheev's military settlements (1809-1831) indigenous peasants who fell within the territory of a military settlement were subject to incorporation into the military in various ways. In particular, indigenous children (under the age of 18) considered as military cantonists, were divided into three age groups: minor (under the age of 7), middle (ages 8–12), and senior, with the latter group assigned to the military school of the settlement. Minors stayed with the parents, while minor orphans were transferred to military settlers, with an award of 10 roubles. All male newborns automatically became cantonists. Later it turned out that instead of 11 years, 8 years of military training were enough. Correspondingly, the age groups were changed: under 10, under 14, and under 18.  In the aftermath of the Polish uprising of 1831, children of political prisoners and boys on the streets of captured cities were often abducted, and placed in cantonist schools, with the intent of their Russification, see Incorporation of Polish children into the Imperial Russian Army (1831-1832) for more.

In the army.

For all cantonists, their 25-year term of service began after they reached the age of 18 and were recruited into the army.  Discriminatory regulations ensured that unconverted Jews were held back in their army promotions. According to Benjamin Nathans, "... the formal incorporation of Jews into Nicolas I's army was quickly compromised by laws distinguishing Jewish from non-Jewish soldiers. Less than two years after the 1827 decree on conscription, Jews were barred from certain elite units, and beginning in 1832 they were subject to separate, more stringent criteria for promotion, which required that they "distinguish themselves in combat with the enemy." Jews who refused to convert were barred from ascending above the rank of "унтер-офицер" i.e. NCO; only eight exceptions were recorded during the 19th century. These restrictions were not lifted until the February Revolution in 1917.  Some baptized cantonists eventually reached high ranks in the Imperial Army and Navy; among them were generals Grulev, Arnoldi, Zeil, Khanukov; admirals Kaufman, Sapsay, Kefali.

Literary references.

The cantonists' fate was sometimes described by Yiddish and Russian literature classics.  Alexander Herzen in his "My Past and Thoughts" described his somber encounter with Jewish cantonists. While being convoyed to his exile in 1835 at Vyatka, Herzen met a unit of emaciated Jewish cantonists, some eight years old, who were marched to Kazan. Their (sympathetic) officer complained that a third had already died.  Nikolai Leskov described underage Jewish cantonists in his 1863 story "The Musk-Ox" (Ovtsebyk).  The agony of Polish children incorporated into the Imperial Russian Army was presented in Juliusz Słowacki's narrative poem "Anhelli".

Abolition and results of cantonist policy.

The cantonist policy was abolished by Tsar Alexander II's decree on 26 August 1856, in the aftermath of the Russian defeat in the Crimean war, which made evident the dire necessity for the modernisation of the Russian military forces. Nonetheless, the drafting of children lasted through 1859. All unconverted cantonists and recruits under the age of 20 were returned to their families. The underage converted cantonists were given to their godparents. However the implementation of the abolition took nearly 3 years.  It is estimated that between 30,000 and 70,000 Jewish boys served as cantonists, their numbers were disproportionately high in relation to the total number of cantonists. Jewish boys comprised about 20% of cantonists at the schools in Riga and Vitebsk, and as much as 50% at Kazan and Kiev schools. A general estimate for the years 1840–1850 seems to have been about 15%. In general Jews comprised a disproportionate number of recruits (ten for every thousand of the male population as opposed to seven out of every thousand), the number was tripled during the Crimean War (1853–1856).  At the conclusion of the conscription term, former cantonists were allowed to live and own land anywhere in the Empire, outside the Pale of Settlement. The earliest Jewish communities in Finland were Jewish cantonists who had completed their service. The rate of conversion was generally high, at about one third, as was eventual intermarriage. Most never returned to their homes.

Statistics.

Jewish cantonist recruits in 1843–1854, according to statistics of the Russian War Ministry. Only in the eleven years listed below – the total of 29,115 children were conscripted. Basing on these data, it was estimated that between 1827 and 1856, there were over 50,000 of them.

Cantonists (Russian language: кантонисты; more properly: военные кантонисты, "military cantonists") were underage sons of conscripts in the Russian Empire. From 1721 on they were educated in special "canton schools" (Кантонистские школы) for future military service (the schools were called garrison schools in the 18th century). The canton schools were eventually abolished in 1857.

Les cantonistes (russe : Кантонисты "Kantonisty") sont les fils de conscrits de l’armée russe, engagés eux-mêmes pour une durée de vingt-cinq ans et éduqués dans les « écoles cantonales » (russe : Кантонистские школы "kantonistskie skoly") en préparation de leur service militaire.


History.

Early history (1861–1945).

In 1861, the City of Toronto issued a thirty-year transit franchise (Resolution 14, By-law 353) for a horse-drawn street railway, after the Williams Omnibus Bus Line had become heavily loaded. Alexander Easton's Toronto Street Railway (TSR) opened the first street railway line in Canada on September 11, 1861, operating from Yorkville Town Hall to the St. Lawrence Market. At the end of the TSR franchise, the City government ran the railway for eight months but ended up granting a new thirty-year franchise to the Toronto Railway Company (TRC) in 1891. The TRC was the first operator of horseless streetcars in Toronto. The first electric car ran on August 15, 1892, and the last horse car ran on August 31, 1894, to meet franchise requirements.  There came to be problems with interpretation of the franchise terms for the City. By 1912, the city limits had extended significantly, with the annexation of communities to the north (1912: North Toronto) and the

Plans for abandonment (1945–1989).

After the Second World War, many cities across North America and Europe began to eliminate their streetcar systems in favour of buses. During the 1950s, the TTC continued to invest in streetcars and the TTC took advantage of other cities' streetcar removals by purchasing extra PCC cars from Cleveland, Birmingham, Kansas City, and Cincinnati.  In 1966, the TTC announced plans to eliminate all streetcar routes by 1980. Streetcars were considered out of date, and their elimination in almost all other cities

Second period of expansion (1989–2000).

The TTC returned to building new streetcar routes in 1989. The first new line was route 604 Harbourfront, starting from Union station, travelling underneath Bay Street and rising to a dedicated centre median on Queen's Quay (along the edge of Lake Ontario) to the foot of Spadina Avenue. This route was lengthened northward along Spadina Avenue in 1997, continuing to travel in a dedicated right-of-way in the centre of the street, and

21st century (2001–present).

By 2003, two-thirds of the city's streetcar tracks were in poor condition as the older track was poorly built using unwelded rail attached to untreated wooden ties lying on loose gravel. The result was street trackage falling apart quickly requiring digging up everything after 10 to 15 years. Thus, the TTC started to rebuild tracks using a different technique. With the new technique, concrete is poured over compacted gravel, and the ties are placed in another bed of concrete, which is topped by more concrete to embed rail clips and rubber-encased rails. The resulting rail is more stable and quieter with less vibration. The new tracks are expected to last 25 years after which only the top concrete layer needs to be removed in order to replace worn rails. Route 512 St. Clair was rebuilt to restore a separated right-of-way similar to

Incidents.

On December 16, 2010, the TTC suffered its worst accident since the Russell Hill subway crash in 1995. Up

Routes.

Based on 2013 statistics, the TTC operated of routes on streetcar network (double or single track) throughout Toronto. There are 10 regular streetcar routes on the TTC network.  Due to a shortage of streetcars, as well as various construction projects, some streetcar routes are temporarily supplemented or replacedpartly or entirelywith buses. Some routes operate wholly or partly within their own rights-of-way and stop on demand at frequent stops.

Route numbers.

Until 1980, streetcar routes had names but not numbers. When the CLRVs were introduced, the TTC assigned route numbers in the 500 series. CLRVs have a single front rollsign showing various combinations of route number and destination, while PCC streetcars showed a route identifier (route name until the 1980s and later route number) and destination on two separate front rollsigns. The digital destination signs on the new Flexity Outlook streetcars show route number, route name and destination.<ref name="TT-4506a/"> photo</ref> Before 2018, streetcar-replacement bus services indicated route number and destination but not route name, like the CLRVs.

Subway connections.

There are underground connections between streetcars and the subway at, Spadina, and Union stations, and streetcars enter,,,, and stations at street

Dedicated rights-of-way and transit malls.

The majority of streetcar routes in Toronto operate in mixed traffic, generally reflecting the original track configurations of the streetcar system, a system that dates back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, newer trackage has largely been established within dedicated rights-of-way, in order to allow streetcars to operate with fewer disruptions due to delays caused by automobile traffic. Most of the system's dedicated rights-of-way operate within the median of existing streets, separated from general traffic by raised curbs and controlled by specialized traffic signals at intersections. Queen

Future expansion.

Near future.

, the TTC is considering changes to several streetcar routes by 2022. These ideas are

Transit City.

The City of Toronto's and the TTC's Transit City report released on March 16, 2007, proposed creating new light rail lines. These are mainly separate from the streetcar network as the track gauge and vehicle specifications

Other proposals.

The following are proposals to expand the streetcar system that were under consideration in 2015:

Discontinued streetcar routes.

Toronto Street Railway.

Routes with "Transferred to City" in the "Ended" column were operating on May 20,

Toronto Railway Company.

Routes marked "to TTC" were operating on September 21, 1921,

Toronto Civic Railways.

All routes transferred to the Toronto Transportation Commission.

Rolling stock.

Streetcars acquired by the TTC.

When the TTC was created in 1921, it acquired hundreds of cars from its two predecessor companies: the Toronto Railway Company and the Toronto Civic Railways. In 1927, the TTC acquired the radial cars of the former Toronto & York Radial Railway when it took over operation of that system from the Hydro-Electric Railways.  In the 1920s, the TTC purchased new Peter Witt streetcars, and they remained in use into the 1960s. In 1938, the TTC started to operate its

Streetcar shortage (2016–present).

Since 2016, the TTC has faced a streetcar shortage because of:  In January 2017, the TTC claimed that delays in delivery of the new Flexity Outlook streetcars had resulted in both streetcar and bus shortages. Because the CLRV/ALRV streetcars required extra maintenance, only 170 of the 200 CLRVs and ALRVs could be put into service. This shortage led to the replacement of streetcars by buses on some routes, which in turn led to a reduction of service on some bus routes.  To address the streetcar shortage, as well as construction projects, the TTC has used bus substitution at various times on several streetcar routes. The first bus substitution due to the streetcar

Track characteristics.

The track on the Toronto streetcar system has characteristics of non-standard gauge, tight curve radii and single-point switches that previous generations of high-floor streetcars were adept at handling. Some of these characteristics were problematic for Bombardier when it adapted its low-floor Flexity Outlook for Toronto's streetcar tracks.

Track gauge.

All streetcar lines use the unique Toronto gauge of which is wider than the used by most other rail lines in Canada. This broad gauge was adopted in 1861 for the city's horse-drawn streetcar lines to allow horse-drawn wagons and carriages to use the inside of the rail for a smoother ride through muddy, unpaved

Track curvature.

Curved track on the streetcar system has a very low minimum radius of curvature, with streetcars designed for a minimum radius of. The tightest curves are of at Roncesvalles Carhouse and Russell Carhouse. Almost all

Track switches.

As with most legacy streetcar systems in North America, the TTC uses single-point switches in special work throughout the system. In contrast, most light-rail systems use double-point switches, with a movable blade on each track. With single-point switches, the blade is only on the inner rail of the curve, and streetcars must have a rigid, continuous axle to pull the wheel on the outer rail through the curve without the blade. Thus, low-floor streetcars with split axles cannot operate through single-point switches. In the early days of the CLRV, Bochum wheels with rubber rings holding the axle caused derailments due to a lack of rigidity, and had to be replaced with SAB wheels.  Streetcar switches are either manual or automatic. For automatic switches, there

Electrical pickup.

The older CLRV and ALRV streetcars have only a trolley pole. New Flexity Outlook streetcars are delivered with both a pantograph as well as a trolley pole. All streetcars in service had been using the trolley pole until September 12, 2017, when 509 Harbourfront became the first route to use the pantograph.  With the introduction of the new Flexity streetcars, the TTC plans to convert the entire system to be pantograph-compatible. The new streetcars need 50% more electrical current than the older streetcars, and use of the trolley pole limits the amount of electricity the new cars can draw from the overhead wire, resulting in reduced performance. One consequence of trolley pole use on the Flexity streetcars is that air conditioning does not function in summer.  Since 2008, the TTC has been converting the streetcar overhead wire to be compatible for pantograph electrical pickup as well as for trolley poles. The overhead over the Fleet Street tracks was the first to be

Winter operational issues.

Extreme cold weather.

The fleet of CLRV and ALRV streetcars experienced several operational issues during extreme cold temperatures during late 2013 and early 2014, late 2014 and early 2015, late 2017 and early 2018, and late 2018 and early 2019, as doors and brakes failed as moisture in the pneumatic lines froze. Moisture also caused track sanders to fail. Buses were used to replace streetcars unfit for service, some of which

Freezing rain.

The streetcar overhead is vulnerable during freezing rain storms. During such storms, the TTC applies anti-freeze to the overhead wire to prevent ice from interrupting electrical contact. In addition, the TTC attaches "sliders" to trolley poles on every fifth streetcar to knock ice off the overhead wire. The TTC places overhead crews on standby at various locations around the streetcar network to address

Properties.

Dedicated station.

is the one standalone underground station that does not connect to the subway. It

Loops.

Since all of Toronto's current streetcars are single-ended, turning loops are provided at the normal endpoints of each route and at likely intermediate turnback locations.

Carhouses.

Toronto's streetcars are housed and maintained at various carhouses or

Advertising.

Pattison Outdoor Advertising is responsible for posters outside and inside the streetcars, as well as outside and inside the buses and the subway system.

The Toronto streetcar system is a network of ten streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is the third busiest light-rail system in North America. The network is concentrated primarily in Downtown Toronto and in proximity to the city's waterfront. Much of the streetcar route network dates from the 19th century. Most of Toronto's streetcar routes operate on street trackage shared with vehicular traffic, and streetcars stop on demand at frequent stops like buses.

Le tramway de Toronto est un des systèmes de transport en commun desservant la ville de Toronto, dans la province de l'Ontario au Canada. Il est composé de onze lignes gérées par la Toronto Transit Commission, l'entreprise publique chargée d'assurer la gestion des transports publics de la ville. Le réseau des tramways, dont la construction date, pour sa majeure partie, du, est principalement concentré dans les quartiers centraux de la ville, ainsi que sur les rives du lac Ontario. Contrairement aux tramways de nouvelle génération qui circulent plus souvent en site propre, les lignes historiques du tramway de Toronto partagent leur parcours avec le flux automobile, les arrêts se faisant à la demande des voyageurs, tel que c'est le cas pour les bus. Certaines lignes bénéficient cependant, sur tout ou partie de leur trajet, d'un système de voies ferrées dédié.


History.

The area around Camrose was first settled by Europeans in around 1900. At that time the nearby settlement of Wetaskiwin was a major centre for pioneers; typically, it was the last stopping-off point before they set out in search of nearby land. The site that was to be Camrose was about a day's journey from Wetaskiwin along the railroad, which made it a popular place on the route of pioneers. Soon businessmen and other settlers arrived to stay. The settlers came primarily from Scandinavian countries, such as Norway and Sweden, and many settlers also came from the United States. At that time the settlement was known as the hamlet of Stoney Creek. In 1904, Stoney Creek began receiving mail service, its first businesses began to open, and its first Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer (Constable "Blue" Smith) arrived.  On May 4, 1905, the settlement was incorporated as the Village of Sparling, named for Reverend Dr. Sparling of Winnipeg. However, because the name was often confused with Sperling and Stirling, in 1906 the Village Council renamed the settlement to Camrose. There is no factual evidence about the reason for the choice of the name Camrose, but it is generally thought that it was named after the Village of Camrose in Pembrokeshire, South Wales. In December 1906, Camrose was incorporated as a town.  In 1906, Camrose opened its first newspaper, "The Camrose Mail", which was replaced in 1908 by the "Camrose Canadian", which was published until 2018. In March 1907 the town erected a building for town administration, which also held its first police and fire station. In May 1907, it spent $10,000 on its schoolhouse. In October 1907 men from Alberta Government Telephones set up Camrose's first telephone exchange, and by 1908 about fifty residents had telephone access. 1911 saw the construction of Camrose's first power plant.  From 1905 to 1914, there was a great deal of railway construction in the Camrose area. Camrose became a bit of a railroad hub, sitting on railways that connected to Edmonton and Calgary, as well as many of the smaller towns in central Alberta, such as Vegreville, Stettler, Drumheller, and Wetaskiwin. By 1914, twelve passenger trains came through Camrose daily. In those days the growth of Camrose was strongly linked with the railway.  On June 26, 1912, the first building of the Camrose Lutheran College (known as Augustana University College from 1991 to 2004) was opened. Today the campus continues as the Augustana Faculty of the University of Alberta.  During World War II, the Camrose Fairgrounds were converted to an army training grounds. About ten H-Shaped huts were built, as were mess quarters, a medical building and a storehouse. Thousands of Canadian boys came to Camrose to receive their basic training.  Camrose became a city on January 1, 1955. By 1958, Camrose had converted the old post office into the new City Hall. In 1954, however, Camrose had sold the old town hall to the federal government, so in the interim the city council met for almost three years in the hall of the local Methodist Church.  Camrose has continued to expand, even as the significance of the railroads waned. It is now stretching out along Highway 13, and is becoming a major stop for travellers along that road. With the advent of the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose it has become even more oriented towards tourism and hospitality.  Camrose was host to an Alberta Music Camp for upwards of 40 years, named MusiCamrose, until it later changed to MusiCamp Alberta, now hosted in Red Deer, Alberta. It celebrated its 50th anniversary in the summer of 2007. It was founded by Peterkin.  On October 26, 2005, a single lottery ticket worth $54,000,000 (the second largest in Canadian history) was sold in Camrose. The ticket belonged to 17 oil industry workers.  In August 2006, Camrose held a Founders Day when four men were inducted as founding fathers of Camrose.

Geography.

Camrose is situated about from Edmonton, the capital of Alberta. Camrose is a small city, but is actively growing along Highway 13, which runs through its centre. Camrose is located in a transitory region of Alberta, between prairie and boreal forest, known as aspen parkland. It is a major economic centre for many small farming communities in the surrounding area. The Stoney Creek runs through the city and flows into the Battle River south of the city.

Climate.

Camrose has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification "") and falls into the NRC Plant Hardiness Zone 3b.

Demographics.

In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the City of Camrose recorded a population of 18,742 living in 8,055 of its 8,520 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 17,286. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2016.  The population of the City of Camrose according to its 2016 municipal census is 18,044, a change of from its 2014 municipal census population of 18,038.  In the 2011 Census, the City of Camrose had a population of 17,286 living in 7,460 of its 7,945 total dwellings, a change of 10.6% from its 2006 adjusted population of 15,630. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2011.  The primary ancestries are Scandinavian (26.3%), German (25.6%), English (20.2%), Scottish (17.6%), Irish (14.4%), and Aboriginal (3.5%).  English is the first language of 90% of the population. About 2.1% of residents said German, 1.1% said Ukrainian, 1.0% said French, and 0.7% said Spanish was their first language. The next most common languages were Chinese and Dutch at 0.6% each, followed by Danish and Norwegian at 0.4% each, Swedish at 0.3%, and Lao at 0.2%.  The 2001 census found 85% of residents identified as Christian, while 14% had no religious affiliation. For specific denominations Statistics Canada found that 24% of residents identified as Roman Catholic, while 20% identified as Lutheran, and 19% identified with the United Church of Canada. Among the less numerous denominations, 4% identified as Anglican, and about 2% each identified as Baptist and Pentecostal.

Sports and recreation.

The Camrose Recreation Centre, a multi-purpose sporting facility, officially opened on September 28, 2007. The complex includes the 2,500 seat Encana Arena (home of the Camrose Kodiaks of the AJHL and the Augustana Vikings of the ACAC), and the 300+ seat Border Paving arena. The facility also boasts a three lane fitness track, fitness centre, physiotherapy clinic, physiotherapy lab, children's play room, meeting rooms, offices, and food and beverage facilities. Attached to this facility is the Max McLean Arena (former home of the Viking Cup, the Vikings and the Kodiaks), as well as the Camrose Aquatic Centre and curling rink.  Other recreational facilities include the Camrose Community Centre (walking track and indoor soccer centre), spray park, Camrose Skate Park, Kinsmen Park (which includes tennis courts, three fastball fields, football field, beach volleyball courts, a 2.2 km walking path), and Rudy Swanson Park, home to various soccer facilities and recreational groups.  Camrose has a large urban trail system which winds through Stoney Creek Valley. The total trail length is approximately 10.2 km.  Camrose is also home to a wide variety of sports clubs including figure skating, baseball, football, fastball, hockey and swimming to name a few. The Camrose Ski Club, founded in 1911, is the oldest cross-country ski club in Canada, and has produced many elite level athletes including several Olympians.

Parks.

Camrose is known colloquially as the "Rose City" due to the large number of wild roses which grow in the surrounding parklands. Developed to withstand the Alberta climate, the Camrose Rose was introduced to the city in 1995. Local rose grower Jerry Twomey bred and patented this variety of rose to honour his birthplace. The variety may be seen on display at the Bill Fowler Centre.

Government.

The current mayor in Camrose is Norman Mayer, and Malcolm Boyd is the city's manager. The Camrose City Council is made up of the mayor and eight elected councillors, all at large. The current MP is Kevin Sorenson, and the current MLA is Bruce Hinkley.

Infrastructure.

Camrose is served by Camrose Airport.  Camrose's water supply comes from nearby Driedmeat Lake.

Education.

Secondary.

Three authorities provide secondary schooling in Camrose, including the Battle River School Division (BRSD), Conseil Scolaire Centre-Nord (CSCN) and Elk Island Catholic Schools (EICS). The BRSC operates 37 schools in Camrose and the surrounding area. EICS operates one elementary school (St. Patrick Catholic School) and one junior/senior high-school (Our Lady of Mount Pleasant Catholic School).

Post-secondary.

The primary post-secondary institution in Camrose is the Augustana Faculty of the University of Alberta (formerly known as Augustana University College). Established in 1910 by Norwegian settlers, under the name Camrose Lutheran College. As a Faculty of the University of Alberta, Augustana continues to build on its reputation for high-quality teaching in a friendly, caring, residence-based setting. In doing so, it provides a distinctive small-campus undergraduate experience within one of Canada's leading universities. Augustana remains mindful of its heritage, open to a diversity of perspectives and backgrounds, and responsive to the rural region in which it is located.  In 2006, the university celebrated its first fourth generation graduate.  Camrose also hosts the "Canadian Lutheran Bible Institute" and "Gardner College "(previously known as Gardner Bible College and Alberta Bible Institute).

Media.

Camrose is served by two local papers. Formerly, the weekly "Camrose Canadian", was published up until August 9, 2018 when its parent company announced that it was ceasing production. The weekly "Camrose Booster" and the small daily, "Camrose Morning News". There is also a local Christian paper published monthly called "Crosswalk".  Camrose is also home to two radio stations. The first is AM station 840 CFCW. Despite having a studio in West Edmonton Mall, CFCW still has its main broadcast studio in Camrose.  The second station is the much-newer FM station, CAM-FM, at a frequency of 98.1 FM which has been recently changed to 98.1 New Country. Both stations are owned by Newcap Broadcasting.

Sister cities.

The City of Camrose has twinning agreements with several similar communities in Canada and around the world. These relationships are developed in part with a mind toward promoting goodwill, education, economic and tourist benefits.

Camrose is a city in central Alberta, Canada, amid some of the richest farmland in the prairies. It is a relatively small city which grew up along a railway and now grows along Highway 13.

Camrose, est une cité du centre de l'Alberta, au Canada. Elle compte quelques-unes des fermes les plus riches des prairies. C'est une ville relativement petite qui a poussé à l'origine le long du chemin de fer et à présent le long de l'autoroute 13. Camrose, avec ses nombreux parcs, est surnommée "The Rose City".


History.

The exact date of execution of the statue is unknown, but it is usually related to the project for the tomb of Julius II. It is thought to have been intended for one of the lower niches of one of the last projects for the tomb, perhaps that of 1532 for which the so-called "Captives" or "Provinces" now in the Galleria dell'Accademia of Florence may have also been made. On the other hand, the monument may have been coupled with a similar pair of fighters, a clay model in the Casa Buonarroti – the so-called.  With the famous statue unfinished, "Victory" forms an interesting footnote in history: left in the artist's studio after his final departure from Florence in 1534, it became the property of his nephew Leonardo Buonarroti, who first tried to sell it in 1544 without obtaining the necessary authorization from his uncle. Then, at the suggestion of Daniele da Volterra, he tried to place it on Michelangelo's tomb in Santa Croce (1564), but Giorgio Vasari, who was redesigning the church's interior, was against it being used there. At Vasari's suggestion, the statue was given to Duke Cosimo I de' Medici that year. Two early "Captives" originally intended for Julius's tomb ended up in France, while four larger figures, created much later, now in Florence's Accademia, were initially placed in Buontalenti's Grotto in the Boboli Gardens, after the artist's death. The "Victory" came to decorate the Salone dei Cinquecento of the Palazzo Vecchio. It was placed along the wall, among other victory groups inspired by Michelangelo's, such as the statues of the Labors of Hercules by Vincenzo de' Rossi and others.  In 1868, three years after the opening of the National Museum of the Bargello, the statue was included in the collection of Florentine sculpture gathered in the museum. It was returned to the Palazzo Vecchio on 6 November 1921, and placed in a niche in the center of the back wall of the room, where, since the time Florence had been the capital of Italy (1865), the 19th-century statue of Savonarola had stood (now in Piazza Savonarola). Only in recent years has the "Victory" been restored to its former position along the right wall.

Description and style.

The dating and attribution of the statue to the project of the tomb are based on stylistic elements that link the work to the Captives: the twisting of the body and the vigorous anatomy, as well as comparable proportions. In addition, the head has a crown of oak leaves that allude to the Della Rovere emblem. The sculpture does not represent a moment of fighting, but rather serves as an allegory of victoriousness. It depicts the winner who dominates the submissive loser with great agility, with one leg that blocks the body of the captive, who is folded and chained. The young man who is the victor is beautiful and elegant, while the dominated man is old and bearded, and dressed in the garb of an ancient Roman warrior. The surfaces are treated expressively to enhance the contrast between the two figures: the young polished to perfection, the old rough and incomplete, still retaining the compressed boulder-like solidity of the heavy stone from which it was made.  According to some scholars, the inspiration for the titular figure was Tommaso dei Cavalieri, a young Roman nobleman known to Michelangelo in Rome in 1532, to whom he dedicated love poems, and the older figure alludes to Michelangelo himself.

The Genius of Victory is a 1532–1534 marble sculpture by Michelangelo, produced as part of a design for the tomb of Pope Julius II. It is 2.61 m high and is now in the Salone dei Cinquecento of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.

Le Génie de la Victoire (ou Génie victorieux et initialement Victoire) est une sculpture du grand peintre et sculpteur italien de la Renaissance Michel-Ange, conservée aujourd'hui au Palazzo Vecchio à Florence, exposée dans le Salon des Cinq-Cents.


History.

Beginnings.

The Northwestern Elevated Railroad Company was incorporated on October 30, 1893, and on January 8, 1894, it was granted a 50-year franchise by the City of Chicago. The original franchise stipulated that service between a downtown location to the south of the Chicago River and Wilson Avenue was to begin by December 31, 1897. This franchise was altered in 1895 to allow the line to connect to the new Union Loop, and the deadline for completion was later extended to May 31, 1899.  Construction of the line started in February 1896, but the project experienced financial difficulties and work was paused later in the year and stopped completely in 1897. New financing was found, and construction began again in July 1899. In order to meet the franchise requirements, an inaugural train ran north from the Loop on December 31, 1899. However, on January 1, 1900, city officials declared that the railroad was unsafe and that the franchise had expired. Defiantly, the company ran another train the next day. Police stopped the train and arrested the crew, but company officials took the controls and managed to run the train into the Loop. In order to stop its return, police opened the Wells Street bridge and blocked the track with railroad ties, but the officials managed to evade the police by having the train switched on to the Lake Street Elevated Railroad. Eventually the company reached a new agreement with the city, and the first section of the railroad was officially opened on May 31, 1900.

Expansion.

On May 18, 1907, the Northwestern opened a branch to Ravenswood. The new branch left the main line just south of Clark Street and operated to Western Avenue. An at-grade extension to the branch's final terminal at occurred a few months later.  Service was extended north from the Wilson terminal to Central Street in suburban Evanston on May 16, 1908. This route was over the electrified trackage of the Milwaukee Road's Chicago and Evanston line. Initially the elevated tracks at Wilson were linked to the street level tracks of the Milwaukee Road by a wooden trestle incline. The Milwaukee Road depots at Argyle Park, Edgewater, North Edgewater, Rogers Park, Birchwood, Calvary,,,, and Central were demolished and the tracks spread to allow their replacement with new temporary island platform stations. New stations were also added at Hayes Street and Howard Avenue. The section of the line in southern Evanston between Howard Avenue and University Place was elevated onto an embankment by 1910, and the tracks between Lawrence and Howard were elevated between 1914 and 1922. A short extension from Central to Linden Avenue in Wilmette occurred on April 2, 1912.

Consolidation.

In 1913, Chicago's four elevated railroad companies came together to form the Chicago Elevated Railways Collateral Trust, establishing crosstown services for the first time, and in 1924, all four companies were formally united to form the Chicago Rapid Transit Company. The Chicago Transit Authority took over the assets of the CRT in 1947.

The Northwestern Elevated Railroad was the last of the privately constructed rapid transit lines to be built in Chicago. The line ran from the Loop in downtown Chicago north to Wilson Avenue in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood with a branch to Ravenswood and Albany Park that left the main line at Clark Street. The Ravenswood line is now operated as the Brown Line, while the Main Line is used by the Purple and Red Lines.

La Northwestern Elevated Railroad est une ancienne compagnie de métro de la ville de Chicago. C’est la dernière des quatre compagnies originales à avoir ouvert ses portes et elle se concentrait essentiellement sur la desserte des quartiers nord-ouest de la ville de Chicago.


Role.

The Royal Thai Armed Forces official role is the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Thailand. The armed forces are also charged with the defence of the monarchy of Thailand against all threats, foreign and domestic. Apart from these roles, the armed forces also responsible for ensuring public order and participating in social development programs by aiding the civilian government. The armed forces are also charged with assisting victims of national disasters and drug control.  Some critics have contended that, in reality, the Thai armed forces serve two main functions: a) internal security: to safeguard ruling class hegemony from challenges by mass movements to expand the democratic space, and b) to satisfy the self-enrichment goals of the upper echelons of the Thai military.  In recent years the Royal Thai Armed Forces has increased its role on the international stage by providing peacekeeping forces to the United Nations (UN), in the International Force for East Timor (INTERFET), from 1999 to 2002 and participating in the multinational force in Iraq, contributing 423 personnel from 2003 to 2004.

Manpower.

, the Royal Thai Armed Forces number 360,850 active duty and 200,000 reserve personnel,nearly one percent of Thailand's population of 70 million. This percentage is higher than that of the US, but lower than that of nearby Vietnam. The Thai military has more than 1,700 flag officers (generals and admirals), roughly one general for every 212 troops, a bloated number for a military of its size. By comparison, the US military as of 1 November 2018 had 920 active duty general and flag officers (GFOs) for a force of 1,317,325 personnel, or 0.07% of the total force. On 2 May 2015 1,043 new Thai flag officers of all three services promoted in 2014–2015 took the oath of allegiance. It is not clear how many retired during the same period. According to one observer, each Thai general has three aims: to align himself with politicians of the right political party; to ensure that he receives the best possible postings; and to enrich himself and share his takings with his subordinates thus ensuring their loyalty.

Conscription.

Conscription was introduced in Thailand in 1905. According to the Constitution of the Kingdom, serving in the armed forces is a national duty of all Thai citizens. In practice, only males over the age of 21 who have not gone through reserve training are subject to conscription. The enlistment draft is held in early-April annually. On the draftee selection day, those who are called up for the draft report to their selection center at 07:00. During roll call, eligible draftees can request to volunteer to serve, or they may choose to stay for the lottery. Those who volunteer then undergo physical and mental health examinations including a urine test for drugs. The results of the urine test for drugs are entered into a Narcotics Control Board database. In 2018, of the first 182,910 men entered in the database, 12,209 men, or 6.7 percent, tested positive for drugs: 11,139 for methamphetamine, 750 for marijuana, and the remainder for other drugs. Over 3,000 of those who tested positive will serve in the military where they will receive drug rehabilitation treatment. Those who tested positive, but who were not drafted, will undergo a 13-day rehabilitation regimen in their home provinces. Those who do not pass the physical and mental health examinations are promptly released. Enlisting volunteers then choose their service branch (Royal Thai Army, Royal Thai Navy, or Royal Thai Air Force) and the reporting date of their choice, and receive documentation of the year's draft selection, and an enlistment order to report for basic training with notification details of the reporting time and location. The enlistees are then dismissed for the day until the day that they must report for basic training.  After the enlisting volunteers are dismissed for the day, the lottery process begins. Each selection center has a set quota, and the number of individuals conscripted through the lottery at each selection center will be the quota subtracted by the number of volunteers. Those who choose to proceed with the lottery then undergo the same physical and mental health exams as the volunteers, with the same procedure for dismissal for those who do not pass the health exams. Each man who stays for the lottery draws a card out of an opaque box. Those who draw a black card are released from their military service requirement and are issued the letter of exemption. Those who draw a red card are required to serve starting from the induction date specified on the card. Those with higher educational qualifications can request a reduction of service obligation. In 2018, the Royal Thai Armed Forces called up more than 500,000 men for selection. The combined quota was approximately 104,000 men: 80,000 men for the Royal Thai Army, 16,000 for the Royal Thai Navy, and 8,700 for the Royal Thai Air Force. On selection day, there were 44,800 men who volunteered to serve. After accepting the volunteers and dismissing those who were deemed ineligible, there remained a quota of approximately 60,000 slots for approximately 450,000 men who entered the draft lottery, i.e., the overall probability of drawing a red card in the lottery was approximately 13 percent. In 2017, 103,097 men participated in the draft between 1–12 April. The armed forces needed only 77,000 conscripts per annum. It has not been uncommon for some selection centers to not have to conduct the balloting lottery at all, because quotas were met by the enlisting volunteers. In such instances, those who decided not to volunteer and stay for the lottery were all issued with a certificate of exemption.  Length of service varies by whether a person volunteers to enlist and their educational background. Serving a shortened period of time is given to those who enlist voluntarily. Those without a high school diploma are required to serve two years regardless of whether they volunteer. High school graduates who volunteer are required to serve one year, while high school graduates who draw red cards are required to serve two years. Those with an associate degree or higher who volunteer are required to serve for six months. Those with an associate degree or more who draw red cards can request a reduction in time of service of up to one year. University students can request for deferment of conscription until they are awarded their diploma or reach 26 years of age.  All conscripts are assigned the rank of Private / Seaman / Aircraftman (OR-1) for their entire length of service, regardless of educational qualification. There are wage increases after completion of basic training and for time-in-grade. Although it is alleged that more than half of conscripts end up as servants to senior officers or clerks in military cooperative shops, most conscripts regardless of their volunteer status and educational background are placed in an occupational specialty dictated by the needs of their service branch. The most common specialties are infantryman (for Royal Thai Army conscripts), Royal Marine (for Royal Thai Navy conscripts), and security forces specialist (for Royal Thai Air Force conscripts). Duties may include carrying out military operations, manning security checkpoints, force generation, as well as manual labor and clerical duties, depending on the needs of the unit. At the end of their service, conscripts are given the option of reenlisting to remain in the service. In April 2020, only 5,460 out of 42,000 conscripts scheduled for discharge at the end of the month volunteered to remain in the military.  Top government officials insist that conscription is indispensable, but some question the need for conscription in the 21st century Thailand and call for an open debate on its efficacy and value to the nation. Critics claim that external threats to Thailand are negligible in 2019. The Thai government appears to agree: Thailand's new National Security Plan, published in the "Royal Gazette" on 22 November 2019, sees external geo-political threats to the country as insignificant in the years ahead. The plan, in effect from 19 November 2019 to 30 September 2022, views domestic issues, especially declining faith in the monarchy and political divisions, as greater concerns.  In a report issued in March 2020, Amnesty International charged that Thai military conscripts face institutionalised abuse systematically hushed up by military authorities. According to Amnesty, the practice has "long been an open secret in Thai society".

Budget.

The defence budget nearly tripled from 78.1 billion baht in 2005 to 207 billion baht for FY2016 (1 October 2015 – 30 September 2016), amounting to roughly 1.5% of GDP. The budget for FY2017 is 214 billion baht (US$6.1 billion)—including funds for a submarine purchase—a nominal increase of three percent. The proposed budget again represents around 1.5% of GDP and eight percent of total government spending for FY2017. The FY2018 defence budget is 220 billion baht, 7.65% of the total budget. According to "Jane's Defence Budgets", the Royal Thai Army generally receives 50% of defense expenditures while the air force and navy receive 22% each.

History.

Ancient military forces.

The Royal Siamese Armed Forces was the military arm of the Siamese monarchy from the 12th to the 19th centuries. It refers to the military forces of the Sukhothai Kingdom, the Ayutthaya Kingdom, the Thonburi Kingdom and the early Rattanakosin Kingdom in chronological order. The Siamese army was one of the dominant armed forces in Southeast Asia. As Thailand has never been colonized by a European power, the Royal Thai Armed Forces boasts one of the longest and uninterrupted military traditions in Asia.  The army was organized into a small standing army of a few thousand, which defended the capital and the palace, and a much larger conscription-based wartime army. Conscription was based on the "ahmudan" system, which required local chiefs to supply, in times of war, a predetermined quota of men from their jurisdiction on the basis of population. The wartime army also consisted of elephantry, cavalry, artillery, and naval units.  In 1852, the Royal Siamese Armed Forces came into existence as permanent force at the behest of King Mongkut, who needed a European trained military force to thwart any Western threat and any attempts at colonialisation. By 1887, during the next reign of King Chulalongkorn, a permanent military command in the "Kalahom" Department was established. The office of "Kalahom", as a permanent office of war department, was established by King Borommatrailokkanat (1431–1488) in the mid-15th century during the Ayutthaya Kingdom. Siam's history of organized warfare is thus one of Asia's longest and uninterrupted military traditions. However, since 1932, when the military, with the help of civilians, overthrew the system of absolute monarchy and instead created a constitutional system, the military has dominated and been in control of Thai politics, providing it with many prime ministers and carrying out many coups d'état, the most recent being in 2014.

Conflicts.

The Royal Thai Armed Forces were involved in many conflicts throughout its history, including global, regional and internal conflicts. However, most these were within Southeast Asia. The only three foreign incursions into Thai territory were the Franco-Siamese War, the Japanese invasion of Thailand in December 1941, and in the 1980s with Vietnamese incursions into Thailand that led to several battles with the Thai Army. Operations on foreign territory were either territorial wars (such as the Laos Civil War) or conflicts mandated by the United Nations.

Franco-Siamese War (1893).

With the rapid expansion of the French Empire into Indochina, conflicts necessarily occurred. War became inevitable when a French mission led by Auguste Pavie to King Chulalongkorn to try to bring Laos under French rule ended in failure. The French colonialists invaded Siam from the northeast and sent two warships to fight their way past the river forts and train their guns on the Grand Palace in Bangkok (the Paknam Incident). They also declared a blockade of Bangkok, which almost brought them into conflict with the British Navy. Siam was forced to accept the French ultimatum and surrendered Laos to France, also allowing French troops to occupy the Thai province of Chantaburi for several decades.

World War I (1917–1918).

King Vajiravudh on 22 July 1917 declared war on the Central Powers and joined the Entente Powers on the Western Front. He sent a volunteer corps, the Siamese Expeditionary Force, composed of 1,233 modern-equipped and trained men commanded by Field Marshal Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanath. The force included air and medical personnel, the medical units actually seeing combat. Siam became the only independent Asian nation with forces in Europe during the Great War. Although Siam's participation militarily was minimal, it enabled the revision or complete cancellation of unequal treaties with the United States, France, and the British Empire. The Expeditionary Force was given the honour of marching in the victory parade under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Nineteen Siamese soldiers died during the conflict, and their ashes are interred in the World War I monument at the north end of Bangkok's Pramane Grounds.

Franco-Thai War (1940–1941).

The Franco-Thai War began in October 1940, when the country under the rule of Field Marshal Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram followed up border clashes by invading a French Indo-China, under the Vichy regime (after the Nazi occupation of Paris) to regain lost land and settle territorial disputes. The war also bolstered Phibun's program of promoting Thai nationalism. The war ended indecisively, with Thai victories on land and a naval defeat at sea. However, the disputed territories in French Indochina were ceded to Thailand.

World War II (1942–1945).

To attack British India, British Burma and Malaya, the Japanese Empire needed to use bases in Thailand. By playing the British Empire against Japan, Prime Minister Phibunsongkhram was able to maintain a degree of neutrality for some time. However, this ended in the early hours of 8 December 1941, when Japan launched a surprise attack on Thailand at nine places along the coastline and from French Indo-China. The greatly outnumbered Thai forces put up resistance, but were soon overwhelmed. By 07:30, Phibun ordered an end to hostilities, though resistance continued for at least another day until all units could be notified. Phibun signed an armistice with Japan that allowed the empire to move its troops through Thai territory. Impressed by Japan's easy defeat of the British military in Malaya, Phibun formally made Thailand part of the Axis by declaring war on the United Kingdom and the United States, though the Regent refused to sign it in the young king's name. (The Thai ambassador to Washington refused to deliver the declaration, and the United States continued to consider Thailand an occupied country.) An active and foreign-assisted underground resistance movement, the Free Thai, was largely successful and helped Thailand to rehabilitate after the war and be treated as an occupied nation rather than a defeated enemy.

Korean War (1950–1953).

During the United Nations-mandated conflict in the Korean peninsula, Thailand provided the reinforced 1st Battalion of the 21st Infantry Regiment, Some 65,000 Thais served in Korea during the war. The foot soldiers took part in the 1953 Battle of Pork Chop Hill. During the war the battalion was attached at various times to U.S. 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team and the British 29th Infantry Brigade. The kingdom also provided four naval vessels, the HTMS "Bangprakong", "Bangpako", "Tachin", and "Prasae", and an air transport unit to the UN command structure. The Thai contingent was actively engaged and suffered heavy casualties, including 139 dead and more than 300 wounded. They remained in South Korea after the cease fire, returning to Thailand in 1955.

Vietnam War (1955–1975).

Due to its proximity to Thailand, Vietnam's conflicts were closely monitored by Bangkok. Thai involvement did not become official until the total involvement of the United States in support of South Vietnam in 1963. The Thai government then allowed the United States Air Force in Thailand to use its air and naval bases. At the height of the war, almost 50,000 American military personnel were stationed in Thailand, mainly airmen.  In October 1967 a regiment-size Thai unit, the Queen's Cobras, were sent to Camp Bearcat at Bien Hoa, to fight alongside the Americans, Australians, New Zealanders and South Vietnamese. About 40,000 Thai military would serve in South Vietnam, with 351 killed in action and 1,358 wounded. Thai troops earned a reputation for bravery and would serve in Vietnam until 1971, when the men of the Royal Thai Army Expeditionary Division (Black Panthers) returned home.  Thailand was also involved in the Laotian Civil War, supporting covert operations against the communist Pathet Lao and the North Vietnamese from 1964 to 1972.  By 1975 relations between Bangkok and Washington had soured, and the government of Kukrit Pramoj requested the withdrawal of all US military personnel and the closure of all US bases. This was completed by March 1976.

Communist insurgency (1976–1980s).

The communist victory in Vietnam in 1975 emboldened the communist movement in Thailand, which had been in existence since the 1920s. After the Thammasat University massacre of leftist student demonstrators in 1976 and the repressive policies of right-wing Prime Minister Tanin Kraivixien, sympathies for the movement increased. By the late-1970s, it is estimated that the movement had as many as 12,000 armed insurgents, mostly based in the northeast along the Laotian border and receiving foreign support. By the 1980s, however, all insurgent activities had been defeated. In 1982 Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda issued a general amnesty for all former communist insurgents.

Vietnamese border raids (1979–1988).

With the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1978, communist Vietnam had a combined force of about 300,000 in Laos and Cambodia. This posed a massive potential threat to the Thais, as they could no longer rely on Cambodia to act as a buffer state. Small encounters occasionally took place when Vietnamese forces crossed into Thailand in pursuit of fleeing Khmer Rouge troops. However, a full and official conflict was never declared, as neither country wanted it.

Thai–Laotian Border War (1987–1988).

This was a small conflict over mountainous territory including three disputed villages on the border between Sainyabuli Province in Laos and Phitsanulok Province in Thailand, whose ownership had been left unclear by the map drawn by the French some 80 years earlier. Caused by then-Army commander Chavalit Yongchaiyudh against the wishes of the government, the war ended with a stalemate and return to status quo ante bellum. The two nations suffered combined casualties of about 1,000.

East Timor (1999–2002).

After the East Timor crisis, Thailand, with 28 other nations, provided troops for the International Force for East Timor or INTERFET. Thailand also provided the force commander, Lieutenant General Winai Phattiyakul. The force was based in Dili and lasted from 25 October 1999 to 20 May 2002.

Iraq War (2003–2004).

After the successful US invasion of Iraq, Thai Humanitarian Assistance Task Force 976 Thai-Iraq Thailand contributed 423 non-combat troops in August 2003 to nation building and medical assistance in post-Saddam Iraq. The Thais could not leave their base in Karbala as their rules governing their participation restricted them to humanitarian assistance which could not be accomplished due to the insurgency during the Thai's tenure in Iraq. Troops of the Royal Thai Army were attacked in the 2003 Karbala bombings, which killed two soldiers and wounded five others. However, the Thai mission in Iraq was considered an overall success, and Thailand withdrew its forces in August 2004. The mission is considered the main reason the United States decided to designate Thailand as a major non-NATO ally in 2003.

South Thailand insurgency (2001–ongoing).

The ongoing southern insurgency had begun in response to Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram's 1944 National Cultural Act, which replaced the use of Malaya in the region's schools with the Thai language and also abolished the local Islamic courts in the three ethnic Malay and Muslim majority border provinces of Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat. However, it had always been on a comparatively small scale. The insurgency intensified in 2001, during the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Terrorist attacks were now extended to the ethnic Thai minority in the provinces. The Royal Thai Armed Forces also went beyond their orders and retaliated with strong armed tactics that only encouraged more violence. By the end of 2012 the conflict had claimed 3,380 lives, including 2,316 civilians, 372 soldiers, 278 police, 250 suspected insurgents, 157 education officials, and seven Buddhist monks. Many of the dead were Muslims themselves, but they had been targeted because of their presumed support of the Thai government.

Cambodian–Thai border stand-off (2008–2011).

Is an event that began in June 2008 over the border dispute with the Temple of Preah Vihear afterwards There were many clashes between the two sides. Along with the claims of each party over the said dispute territory

Sudan (2010–2011).

Thai soldiers joined UNMIS in 2011.

Current developments.

Thai military deputized as police.

On 29 March 2016, in a move that the "Bangkok Post" said will "...will inflict serious and long-term damage...", the NCPO, under a Section 44 order (NCPO Order 13/2559) signed by junta chief Prayut Chan-o-cha, granted to commissioned officers of the Royal Thai Armed Forces broad police powers to suppress and arrest anyone they suspect of criminal activity without a warrant and detain them secretly at almost any location without charge for up to seven days. Bank accounts can be frozen, and documents and property can be seized. Travel can be banned. Automatic immunity for military personnel has been built into the order, and there is no independent oversight or recourse in the event of abuse. The order came into immediate effect. The net result is that the military will have more power than the police and less oversight.  The government has stated that the purpose of this order is to enable military officers to render their assistance in an effort to "...suppress organized crimes such as extortion, human trafficking, child and labor abuses, gambling, prostitution, illegal tour guide services, price collusion, and firearms. It neither aims to stifle nor intimidate dissenting voices. Defendants in such cases will go through normal judicial process, with police as the main investigator...trial[s] will be conducted in civilian courts, not military ones. Moreover, this order does not deprive the right of the defendants to file complaints against military officers who have abused their power."  The NCPO said that the reason for its latest order is that there are simply not enough police, in spite of the fact that there are about 230,000 officers in the Royal Thai Police force. They make up about 17 percent of all non-military public servants. This amounts to 344 police officers for every for every 100,000 persons in Thailand, more than twice the ratio in Myanmar and the Philippines, one and a half times that of Japan and Indonesia and roughly the same proportion as the United States.  In a joint statement released on 5 April 2016, six groups, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), condemned the move.

Corruption.

The "Asia Sentinel" in 2014 called the Thai military one of the most deeply corrupt militaries in Asia. The Thai armed forces have a history of procurement scandals and dodgy dealings dating back to at least the 1980s.

Weapons and equipment.

Thailand's defense spending has soared since 2006. Since then the military has seized control from civilian governments on two occasions. Defense spending has increased by US$1 billion since the latest coup in 2014.

Uniforms, ranks, insignia.

To build institutional solidarity and esprit de corps, each Thai service component has developed its own distinctive uniforms, ranking system, and insignia. Many Thai military uniforms reflect historical foreign influences. For example, most of the distinctive service uniforms were patterned on those of the US, but lower ranking enlisted navy personnel wear uniforms resembling those of their French counterparts. The early influence of British advisers to the Thai royal court and the historical role of the military in royal pomp and ceremony contributed to the splendor of formal dress uniforms worn by high-ranking officers and guards of honour on ceremonial occasions.  The rank structures of the three armed services are similar to those of the respective branches of the US Armed Forces, although the Thai system has fewer NCO and warrant officer designations. The king, as head of state and constitutional head of the armed forces, commissions all officers. Appointments to NCO ranks are authorised by the minister of defence. In theory, the authority and responsibilities of officers of various ranks correspond to those of their US counterparts. However, because of a perennial surplus of senior officers—in 1987 there were some 600 generals and admirals in a total force of about 273,000—Thai staff positions are often held by officers of higher rank than would be the case in the US or other Western military establishments.  Thai military personnel are highly conscious of rank distinctions and of the duties, obligations, and benefits they entail. Relationships among officers of different grades and among officers, NCOs, and the enlisted ranks are governed by military tradition in a society where observance of differences in status are highly formalised. The social distance between officers and NCOs is widened by the fact that officers usually are college or military academy graduates, while most NCOs have not gone beyond secondary school. There is a wider gap between officers and conscripts, most of whom have even less formal education, service experience, or specialised training.  Formal honours and symbols of merit occupy an important place in Thai military tradition. The government grants numerous awards, and outstanding acts of heroism, courage, and meritorious service receive prompt recognition.

The Royal Thai Armed Forces (; ) is the name of the military of the Kingdom of Thailand. The nominal head of the Thai Armed Forces (จอมทัพไทย; ) is the King of Thailand. The armed forces are managed by the Ministry of Defense of Thailand, which is headed by the minister of defence and commanded by the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, which in turn is headed by the Chief of Defence Forces. The commander in chief of the army is considered the most powerful position in the Thai Armed Forces.

Les Forces armées royales thaïlandaises (thaï : กองทัพไทย ; Kongthap Thai) sont les forces armées du royaume de Thaïlande. Elles comportent 3 branches :