Original subtitles

Narrator: In germany, this team of elite engineers

Is embarking on an epic endeavor.

They're attempting to build one of the fastest trains on earth.

Made from nearly 500 tons of aluminum and steel,

They have just 12 weeks to build this high-tech supertrain.

To construct this colossus,

The team must battle tight deadlines...

We don't want delays.

Narrator: ...35,000 individual components...

And punishing safety tests.

This spectacular train ranks

In a league of ambitious new engineering wonders

That are bigger, faster, taller, and more advanced

Than anything ever constructed before.

This is the inside story

Of the extraordinary challenge of building these giants.

-- Captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by discovery communications

♪

Turkey, a country with a growing population

Of 81 million,

Spread across an area nearly twice as big as california.

♪

With 40 million people a year choosing to travel by train,

Its aging rail network is struggling to keep up.

To overcome this problem,

Turkey's national railway

Has tasked german train builders siemens mobility

To design and construct

19 new state-of-the-art high-speed trains.

The system, called the velaro turkey,

Should revolutionize turkey's rail network.

It can reach speeds of 200 miles per hour

While carrying 500 passengers at a time.

This is the super-high-speed train the team must build.

Nearly 500 tons of aluminum and steel

Make up its eight cars

That pierce through the air almost silently

Thanks to their advanced aerodynamic design.

Underneath the cars, 16 760-horsepower electric motors

Drive the train forwards.

Inside, soundproof windows, ergonomic seats,

And a hospitality bar mean passengers travel in style.

Above, a finely balanced pneumatic arm

Draws electricity from an overhead wire.

Capable of reaching 200 miles per hour,

This will be one of the fastest passenger trains in the world.

♪

But building such a powerful machine won't be easy.

♪

When traveling at such high speeds,

Nothing can be left to chance.

Aerodynamics engineer dr. Manuel gageik

And a team of designers

Spend years crafting every aspect of the train

Long before it goes into production.

During the build,

Engineers must stress-test every single component

And assemble each section with millimeter precision.

This is how they plan to do it.

First, workers weld

Precision-cut sheets of aluminum together

To form the train's aerodynamic cars.

Next, the team attaches the car doors

And bolts the pneumatic arm, called a pantograph,

Onto its roof.

Inside the car,

Electricians connect over 18 miles of cables

Before workers install carpets and hundreds of chairs.

♪

Next, engineers assemble the bogies.

These structures sit beneath each car

And contain the powerful motors, brakes, and wheel set.

Finally, they join the eight cars

Together to make a train,

Fitting a hand-built nose section to cars on each end

So it can travel at top speed

In either direction.

Work begins in the small town of krefeld, germany.

♪

Inside this vast, 2.7-million-square-foot factory,

2,200 welders, mechanics, and machinists

Work against the clock

On a sophisticated train production line.

They have just three months to build the first of 19 trains,

Then put it through its paces at their test track

In advance of delivery to the client.

Inside unit 38 is where velaro turkey is born.

And it all starts with an undercarriage.

Two super-strong, hollow aluminum beams

Make up the backbone of each car,

Precision-drilled with hundreds of fixing points

For electronics, brakes, and the wheel system below.

Three tough plates of aluminum tie the girders together

While four crossbeams add extra strength.

In charge of constructing this crucial section

Is mechanic patrick klingbeil.

My work for today is to put the floor into the undercarriage,

Get it on the right position,

And then weld the complete floor.

That's my work for today.

Narrator: Patrick assembles the six strong support girders

In a huge jig.

He now has just four hours to attach the sheeting

That will form the floor.

Klingbeil: We have dates to finish this,

Five hours for this part, six hours for this part.

Narrator: Luckily for patrick,

Working with trains is in his blood.

My father always worked with trains.

Many years later, I build them now.

[ laughs ]

♪

Narrator: His first challenge is to lift the 880-pound floor

And place it on top of the undercarriage.

Very, very heavy. That's very, very dangerous.

So I check everything.

Narrator: He must position it with pinpoint accuracy.

♪

His next challenge is to securely weld the floor

To the undercarriage.

The stress exerted onto the undercarriage at high speeds

Will be immense,

So these welds must be incredibly strong.

Patrick has to go over each joint up to seven times

To ensure its durability...

♪

...And then use ultrasound to scan the welds once complete.

If the joint contains any tiny air bubbles,

He will have to do it all over again,

Causing a costly delay.

Thankfully, the welds are good.

Yes, I'm happy. [ laughs ]

It looks perfect.

Yeah, I think it's good.

♪

Everything is okay. Now I got a break.

Narrator: Now workers transport this undercarriage

To the next stage of production,

The milling machine, where one wrong move

Could ruin the entire 82-foot-long structure.

♪

Narrator: In germany, a team of engineers

Is building one of the fastest trains in the world.

They've welded together the tough backbone of the car,

The undercarriage.

Now they have to finish it

Inside a vast milling machine.

This machine measures 98 feet long

And 26 feet high

And can carry loads of up to 55 tons.

Bjoern seiler oversees its operation

Right here in front of us,

We can see the very front end of the high-speed train

With the typical aerodynamic shape of the nose.

Narrator: The machine bores holes into the aluminum

So mechanics can attach components

Such as seating and piping.

♪

One mistake here,

And the whole undercarriage will be ruined.

If the wheels set doesn't fit properly, it costs time.

It costs money.

We don't want delays.

Narrator: Bjoern used his hardened steel tools

To drill holes into the aluminum

With incredible accuracy.

I'm a technical guy, so I love this machine.

And he's my favorite operator.

Narrator: But it's dangerous work.

Bjoern and his operator must control the machine

From behind a protective screen

So they're not peppered with sharp metal shards.

During milling operations,

The tool is spraying aluminum chips,

And it's dangerous to be inside the booth.

Narrator: It takes 12 hours and 12 different tool heads

To drill. The entire 82-foot-long floor.

The milling is nearly finished.

You did an excellent job.

And the velaro undercarriage

Goes to the next manufacturing step.

♪

Narrator: Workers now transport the undercarriage

To the next build station.

They will transform it into a fully formed car.

First, welders will attach

The two 82-foot-long sidewalls.

A crisscross structure sandwiched inside

Makes them strong and light.

Next, workers attach the curved roof,

Welding it to the car walls

While end pieces keep the whole structure stiff.

♪

It takes 30 days, but at last,

The body of the car is complete.

All that's missing now is its streamlined nose.

These noses are vital,

Because high-speed trains have a weakness --

Tunnels.

Tunnels create huge engineering challenges

For trains traveling at high speed.

♪

As a train enters a tunnel,

It compresses the air in front of it.

This creates pressure waves that race ahead and cause a boom

As they reach the end of the tunnel.

[ explosion ]

Over time, this could damage the train, tunnel walls,

And nearby buildings.

To prevent this,

Engineers use computer modeling and wind tunnel tests

To create an aerodynamic curved nose

At the front of the train.

This reduces shockwaves and eliminates tunnel boom.

They also make the sides of the cars with no protruding parts

So the air passes harmlessly around it.

♪

This keeps the train and tunnel safe.

♪

This is the first stage of the head of the train.

I'm gonna fix parts of the head together.

Narrator: Experienced mechanic ahmet is in charge

Of building this complex nose section.

He must seamlessly join together 14 different shapes

Into a complicated series of curves.

You can see the shape, the curve of the part.

Narrator: He starts by clamping curved,

5-millimeter-thick sheets of aluminum

Together inside a huge jig.

Only once every piece is in place

Can he weld them.

♪

Saukkan: Step by step, we put them one by one together.

It's like a jigsaw puzzle.

Narrator: The first 13 sheets fit just fine.

But the final 165-pound piece

Proves problematic.

This is the last part of the puzzle,

The top of the head of the train.

It's difficult to, with the crane,

It's difficult to control it.

♪

It's not in the exact position

We have to put the components a little bit further.

♪

[ metal clanks ]

Narrator: Finally, all the pieces are in place.

After carefully welding the joints,

The nose is now ready.

♪

The next challenge is to join it to the rest of the car.

♪

The train nose needs to fit perfectly,

Or it will set the build back weeks.

The man for the tricky job ahead

Is master mechanic mustafa.

Gunay: It's difficult.

The move is challenging. You need concentration.

Narrator: Mustafa uses a powerful hoist

To carry the 1-ton nose

165 feet over the crowded factory.

Controlling it is tough.

Gunay: Because it's like a pendulum,

I don't want to swing too fast.

Narrator: He reaches the rest of the car safely.

♪

Now he needs to fit it into place.

It's a tight squeeze.

♪

Stop!

♪

Narrator: Success.

For the moment, my work is finished.

Narrator: The aluminum shell of the front car is now complete.

But it will take serious power

To accelerate the whole train to its top speed.

Without a bogie, a train isn't going anywhere.

Narrator: In germany, engineers are building

One of the fastest trains in the world, the velaro.

It will take a huge amount of power

To accelerate this train to top speed.

This poses a problem for its designers.

So how do you accelerate a nearly 500-ton train

To 200 miles per hour as quickly as possible?

♪

On traditional trains,

One heavy engine pulls the rest of the cars from the front.

In this layout, just a few wheels drive the entire train.

With such limited grip, if it tries to accelerate quickly,

The wheels simply spin.

[ metal screeching ]

So instead, the designers of the velaro

Distribute 16 smaller motors throughout the train.

♪

Now, 32 wheels along its entire length

Power it forwards, giving it far more grip.

This nearly 500-ton train can now accelerate

To 200 miles per hour in just six minutes.

♪

And if one motor fails,

The others still have enough power

To get the train to its destination on time.

♪

Engineers install the motors over 600 miles away

From the german train factory, in graz, austria.

This historic city is home to over 300,000 people

And a high-tech, 750,000-square-foot factory.

♪

This is where workers build the bogies,

The complex units that hold the powerful motors

As well as the wheels and brakes.

♪

With just seven weeks to go, the pressure is on.

♪

Overseeing the bogie frame build is mechanic daniel larch.

A bogie is the powerhouse of a train.

Without a bogie, a train isn't going anywhere.

Narrator: First, his team bolts together

120 separate components and welds them into position

To form a super-strong, 1-ton frame.

♪

Next, they fit the motors, brake pads, and cables,

Then assemble the wheels.

♪

To do this, they grease a specially hardened steel axle

And slide the disc brakes on,

Followed by the nearly 800-pound wheels.

These are custom machined with a diameter of over 3 feet

And accurate to within 1/10 millimeter.

A powerful wheel press secures them into position.

♪

Finally, they lift the frame onto the wheels.

This is a critical stage.

Because the train travels at such high speeds,

It's vital that the bogie frame and wheels

Are perfectly aligned.

♪

As it travels,

Steel flanges on the wheels keep the high-speed train on track.

But if the weight on each wheel isn't even,

The wheel carrying less weight can climb up the rail.

[ metal whining ]

These oscillations can generate noise,

Extra wear, and instability.

To make sure this never happens.

The train builders insure every single bogie

Is perfectly balanced, with an equal amount of the car's weight

Pressing down onto each wheel.

♪

To make sure all trains in the fleet run true,

Every bogie must pass a stringent safety test

Before it leaves the factory floor.

We roll it into the press

And simulate the weight of the car shell onto the bogie.

Narrator: Once in position, they press down on the bogie

With a load of 18 tons.

This is a trailer bogie. We put on each side 9 tons.

Narrator: When running, each train

Will carry thousands of passengers a day.

So it's vital that every bogie is perfectly balanced.

Larch: So, this measures the forces under each wheel

To make sure the bogie is balanced.

After our hard work, this is the moment of truth.

♪

Now can see the forces on each wheel.

Narrator: After many days of intricate work,

This bogie passes its test.

I'm very happy with the test. It's within tolerance.

Narrator: The bogies are now ready

To be united with their cars back in germany.

But with just five weeks

Until the cars must depart for the test track,

It's now a race against time.

We have a big challenge, and it's also difficult.

Ah. Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop it!

Narrator: In germany, this team is in a race

To construct a fleet of pioneering high-speed trains.

♪

They've sprayed the aluminum cars

With seven layers of protective paint

And installed the complex mechanical doors.

They now have just five weeks to go

Before fully assembling the first train.

But some vital components are still missing.

♪

Today, mechanic lukas koscielski is tasked with installing

The custom-built, 27-square-foot windscreen.

It's difficult to do, and you need to have special training

For this kind of work.

♪

Narrator: At high speed, the curved windscreen

Is under enormous pressure from the incoming air.

Each one weighs 330 pounds,

Costs over $20,000,

And has been specially designed for strength.

Koscielski: High speed trains go fast,

So the windscreen needs to be thicker than on other trains.

The thickness is about 20 millimeters.

Narrator: This super-strong windscreen

Can resist more than 4,000 pounds of pressure.

♪

First, lukas uses a robotic arm

With rubber suction mounts

To lift the windscreen above the train.

I'm getting nervous.

Narrator: One wrong move, and the whole piece would be ruined.

♪

Next, he has to glue it in place.

This is my gluing machine.

I first have to put some glue in the corner...

♪

...To be sure that everywhere is glued and no bubbles.

♪

I want it to be perfect.

♪

♪

Narrator: Lukas now carefully lowers the windscreen

Into position.

♪

♪

I'm nearly finished.

I need to put the windscreen in the right position.

♪

Narrator: Fitting the windscreen in exactly the right place

Requires some elbow grease,

Help from a colleague,

And a bit of brute force.

♪

Ta-da.

[ laughs ]

Narrator: Lukas' boss gives it a quality check.

♪

All is good.

I'm happy it's finished. It fits perfectly.

My job is done.

♪

Narrator: The head car now looks nearly complete from the outside

With its larger parts, windows, and windscreen fitted in place.

♪

But the train has an astonishing 35,000 components.

Many of the most critical are out of sight

Beneath the car floor.

Overseeing their installation is mechanic petra hiebig.

Hiebig: Everybody thinks it's just normal that things work.

Is it nice? Is it comfortable?

Can I get something to eat?

And it's a very luxurious train inside.

But the other parts have to work also.

Most importantly, of course, the brakes

Are vital to the passenger.

♪

Narrator: Petra's team need to install 165 feet of brake piping

Underneath each car.

Hiebig: It's about millimeters, not centimeters.

♪

Sometimes you just need some brutal force

To put things in place.

♪

Narrator: But amazingly, one of the most important parts

Of the braking system is a box of sand.

This puts sand onto the rails for the braking.

Narrator: If the train brakes during icy or wet conditions,

Its metal wheels can skid along the smooth steel rails.

So special boxes release sand onto the track

In front of the wheels, helping them grip.

This is particularly important for winter in turkey,

Where it can reach minus-40 degrees

Hiebig: Train needs sand because metal on metal is just very smooth,

And you need sand to brake.

Very important if you are going on high speed.

Narrator: With just 21 days to go

Until the car departs for the test track...

This is the one.

Narrator: ...It's crucial

That teams don't fall behind schedule.

So many parts. It's all about time.

Getting a bit late.

Need to put more effort on it to make the deadlines.

♪

Narrator: Finally, the brake system

And sandboxes are installed.

♪

After 10 weeks of work,

The car body is now almost finished.

♪

It needs just one more vital structure --

The power source.

♪

Narrator: In krefeld, germany, a team of engineers

Has just two weeks to finish the head car

Of one of the fastest trains in the world.

They've almost completed the car body.

Now they need to top it off

With an ingenious power source called a pantograph.

The pantograph supplies all of the train's power.

It transmits electricity from the high-voltage cable overhead

To the motors below to keep the wheels turning.

It must maintain a constant connection,

Even at 200 miles per hour.

♪

To do that, the top of the pantograph

Can move up and down by over 3 feet.

An air-controlled piston acts like suspension,

Pushing up with precisely the right amount of force,

While the conductive elements on top are formed of carbon strips

To minimize friction and reduce weight.

Every piece must work flawlessly.

Lose contact for a fraction of a second,

And the enormous electric current

Could cause a plasma arc,

Burning through the air at 18,000 degrees fahrenheit.

♪

Today, evan avci must supervise

The testing of this pantograph in position on the car.

[ speaking german ]

Narrator: The team has already installed

The 350-pound pantograph onto the roof,

Bolting it into position.

♪

Now evan starts the test.

The force of the pantograph must read 70 newtons.

More than that, it would push too hard.

And wear out the overhead wire.

Less than that, it would push too little,

And contact would be lost.

Now the pantograph rises to its full height

Of 5 1/2 feet.

Next, they measure the force.

Success.

It reads the correct force of 70 newtons.

The pantograph passes its test.

♪

It's now the night shift at the train workshop.

And the powerhouse of the train,

The bogies, have arrived from austria.

♪

Mechanics hans and brocky are in charge of lifting

The 40-ton car shell onto its two bogies

With pinpoint accuracy.

We have a big challenge, to put the car on the bogies.

And it's difficult.

It's a tight schedule.

Narrator: The pressure is on.

The plan tonight is now lift the train up.

Narrator: They first use six stationary hoists

To lift the car up,

Then lock it in place 5 feet above the factory floor.

♪

Next, they roll the two 11-ton bogies into position.

This bogie is for under the driver's seat.

Narrator: They must keep the car completely horizontal

As they lower it down,

Or it could fall over.

♪

As tensions mount,

The car carefully lowers into position.

♪

Ah. Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop it!

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, it's good. Alright.

Yeah.

Finally, hans and brocky

Securely bolt the bogies to the car.

It's a huge milestone for the team.

So, fine, brocky.

♪

With the bogies attached,

The head car is finally complete.

♪

After a final quality control check...

♪

...And a special train shower to make sure it's watertight...

♪

...The cars are ready for the test track.

Engineers now transport them two at a time by rail

From the factory in krefeld

To the test track 40 miles away at wegberg.

♪

Here they will put this pioneering train

Through a series of grueling trials.

♪

Pushing the velaro turkey to its limits

Is manager stephan ruiss.

His first job is to fully join

All eight individual cars into a train.

Because the last test arrived

The eight cars roll out

And a special joint called a coupler

Locks them together.

[ beep ]

♪

The eight-car train is finally complete.

♪

It's now ready for its toughest test of all --

The emergency brake test.

♪

Narrator: In germany, engineers are pushing

One of the fastest passenger trains in the world

To its limits on the test track.

Today, manager stephan will conduct

The most critical test of all.

So just how do you brake a nearly 500-ton juggernaut

Traveling at 200 miles per hour?

♪

Traditional trains slow down by pushing brake pads

Directly onto their wheels. At high speeds,

These brakes get incredibly hot and quickly wear out.

♪

To prevent this problem,

The velaro has two separate braking systems.

At high speeds, the electric motor can switch modes

And slow the train down.

This is friction-free, so minimizes wear.

Only once the train is slowed to 25 miles per hour

Does it engage 128 air-powered disc brakes.

These use pneumatic pistons to drive toughened pads

Onto three sets of discs mounted on the wheel axle.

Working together, these two systems

Should slow this nearly 500-ton train

From 200 miles per hour to a complete halt

In just 100 seconds.

♪

A lot rides on this first emergency brake test.

If the train fails, it will delay the entire operation.

Taking charge of the train today is veteran driver alex.

♪

Alex doesn't have enough track to reach top speed,

So he powers the train up to 75 miles per hour.

When stephan gives him the signal,

He will slam on the brakes.

At this speed,

The train should stop in under 30 seconds,

Much faster than traditional trains.

The question is, will it stop in time?

It's the moment of truth.

Okay. Now.

[ air hissing ]

Narrator: The electrical brakes kick in,

And the train starts to slow.

♪

Next, the mechanical brakes take over.

[ metal whining ]

30 seconds later, the test is complete.

The train has passed.

It's a massive relief for the team.

Now the train can be sent to turkey,

Where it will run at high speeds for the first time.

This train is ready to depart.

♪

Special freight trains transport it by rail

1,800 miles across eastern europe.

♪

It takes two weeks until it arrives at its destination,

Ankara, turkey.

♪

This fleet of supertrains

Now speeds along 3,000 miles of track

And transports millions of passengers a month,

Revolutionizing turkey's rail system.

Now, finally, one of the world's fastest high-speed trains

Is ready to ride.

Gageik: I'm very proud of the velaro turkey.

It's my favorite train,

And I'm very happy with the end result.