Glossary of Terms

Showing all 43 terms

Technical and Engineering Terms 13

Track gauge: The distance between the two rails. The most widespread measure in the world is 1,435 millimetres, known as the standard gauge. The difference of gauge between countries is one of the reasons trains stop at frontiers.
High-speed rail (HSR): A train with steel wheels upon rails which, by special design and powerful electric traction, reaches speeds of about 300 to 350 kilometres an hour, and can also run upon ordinary lines.
Maglev: The magnetically levitated train; a train without wheels which floats a few centimetres above its track by the force of magnetism. Having no contact and no friction of wheel upon rail, it is faster and quieter and suffers less mechanical wear; but it is dearer, requires a dedicated route, and the maintenance of its magnetic and electrical systems demands its own expertise and expense.
Hyperloop: An idea in which a capsule carrying passengers moves within a tube emptied of air, so that air resistance is reduced to a minimum. In principle it could exceed a thousand kilometres an hour, but it has not yet reached the stage of commercial operation.
Bored tunnel: A tunnel dug by giant boring machines through the earth and rock beneath the ground or beneath the bed of the sea. The Channel Tunnel between England and France is of this kind.
Immersed tube tunnel: A tunnel whose sections are made in a factory and floated upon the water, then lowered into a trench in the seabed and joined together. It suits shallow to medium waters and can be made resistant to earthquake.
Submerged floating tunnel (SFT): A tunnel which neither rests upon the seabed nor becomes a bridge, but remains suspended within the water itself, anchored by cables. It has been proposed as a solution for very deep waters and geologically active regions; but it is only a theoretical design and to this day has nowhere been fully built and tested.
Signalling and control system (ETCS / ERTMS): A unified system which takes the place of dozens of incompatible national systems and allows trains to cross frontiers without interruption and in safety. Its successful example has been implemented in Europe.
Grades of automation (GoA): A scale from zero to four for measuring how far a train is automatic; from wholly manual driving (zero) to the train that is entirely self-driving and without any attendant (four).
Predictive maintenance: The modern method of maintenance in which, instead of waiting for a failure or making calendar inspections, sensors and artificial intelligence predict which component will run into trouble and when, and it is replaced just before it fails.
Digital twin: A complete virtual copy of a structure or a network within a computer, kept in agreement moment by moment with the real one. Engineers can conduct trials upon it without touching the real structure.
Chokepoint: A narrow strait or canal through which a great part of the world’s trade passes, and whose closing can disrupt the global economy; such as Hormuz, Malacca, Suez and Panama.
Tonne-kilometre: The unit for measuring freight carriage: the movement of one tonne of goods a distance of one kilometre. It is used to compare the cost and the pollution of the various means of transport.

Economic and Financial Terms 11

Usury (riba): The interest taken upon money lent, without the lender sharing in the risk or in any real work. The financial model of this project is built upon its avoidance.
Sukuk: Investment certificates which take the place of interest-bearing bonds. The holder of sukuk, rather than being a lender, holds a share of a real asset and benefits from the income of that same asset.
Musharakah: Genuine partnership in profit and loss; investor and executor both have a share in the outcome of the work, and if a loss occurs, each bears it in proportion to his capital.
Mudarabah: A contract in which one party brings the capital and the other the work and the management, and the resulting profit is divided upon a proportion agreed beforehand.
Ijarah: A method in which an investor provides an asset — such as trains or equipment — and obtains a regular income by leasing it to the operator.
Istisna’: The contract of manufacture; an instrument in which the cost of building an infrastructure is provided in advance so that the work may begin, and is repaid after completion. It suits construction projects very well.
Waqf: The permanent setting aside of a capital or an asset for the public benefit. The principal of the asset is preserved and its income is spent for ever upon the service of the people.
Deferred shares: A mechanism particular to this project, for countries that have not the means of cash payment; such a country may pay its share gradually out of the future income of that same portion of the network which is built upon its own soil.
Network Development Fund: The fund to which a share of the net profit — ten per cent, in the proposal of this book — is allotted, and which is spent upon the future expansion and improvement of the network.
Guarantee and Emergency Fund: A fund for days of crisis and unforeseen events; including the giving of aid to travellers who have fallen into difficulty upon the road.
Anti-monopoly mechanism: The body of rules which prevents any individual, company or government from concentrating the ownership of the network in its own hands; including the wide dispersal of shares and the setting of a ceiling upon the share of any one actor.

Terms of Governance 6

Consortium: The union of several countries or institutions for the joint execution of a great project. Its successful examples in history have been the International Space Station and the satellite consortia.
General Assembly: The highest body of decision in the Consortium, in which all member countries have a representative and each country — great or small — has one equal vote.
Executive Council: The executive arm of the Consortium, which puts the decisions of the General Assembly into effect and directs the daily work.
Technical Commission: The assembly of engineers and specialists which decides upon the standards, the technology and the engineering questions of the network.
Court of Dispute Resolution: An independent body for the impartial arbitration of disputes between member countries, so that disagreements, instead of turning into tension, are resolved peacefully.
Independent Audit Office: The supervising body which oversees all financial affairs and guarantees transparency; no one, not even the highest officers, stands outside its supervision.

Geographical and Project Names 10

GRN: The abbreviation of “Global Rail Network”; the name of this project.
Economic corridor: An infrastructural link between two or several neighbouring countries, with the aim of regional trade; which usually includes, besides rail, road, port, energy and industrial zones. Its example is the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
International rail network: The rail connection of several countries to one another, stitching their national lines together. Its example is the Trans-Afghan Railway project between Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Global rail network: A vision beyond both of these; a continuous and unified network which at last gathers all the continents and all the countries of the world into a single body.
The Bering Strait: The water crossing between Asia and America, about 88 kilometres wide and relatively shallow, with two small islands in the middle which make the building of a crossing easier.
The Strait of Gibraltar: The water crossing between Europe and Africa, about 14 kilometres wide; narrow, but deep and in a region prone to earthquake.
The Strait of Bab al-Mandab: The water crossing between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, about 30 kilometres wide.
The Strait of Hormuz: The water crossing between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran, about 39 kilometres wide at its narrowest.
Branch lines: The some thirty-three branches which carry the main arteries to each individual country and to the remotest regions; the very lines which make good the promise of joining 195 countries.
The fourth route: A possible future route which may be added to the network at the proposal or the request of member countries; a sign that this plan is not closed and unalterable.

Statistical and Scientific Terms 3

Internal climate migration: The forced movement of people within their own country, because of the gradual effects of climate change such as water shortage, falling crops and the rising of the sea.
Water stress: The condition in which the demand for water outstrips the available resources, or in which the quality of the water limits its use.
Megatons to Megawatts: The real programme of America and Russia (1993 to 2013) in which the uranium of twenty thousand nuclear warheads was turned into fuel for power stations and supplied part of the electricity of America for years.