WorldWideScience

Sample records for grand trunk railway

  1. 75 FR 21718 - Canadian National Railway Company and Grand Trunk Corporation-Control-EJ&E West Company 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-26

    ... headquarters in Washington, DC. The purpose of the hearing is for Canadian National Railway Company (CN) to... Railway Company and Grand Trunk Corporation-- Control--EJ&E West Company \\1\\ \\1\\ This decision also... Room on the first floor of the Board's headquarters at Patriot's Plaza, 395 E Street, SW., Washington...

  2. 78 FR 16569 - Iowa Pacific Holdings, LLC, Permian Basin Railways, and San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad-Corporate...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-15

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. FD 35721] Iowa Pacific Holdings, LLC, Permian Basin Railways, and San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad--Corporate Family Transaction... subsidiaries Permian Basin Railways (PBR) and San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad (SLRG), and Massachusetts Coastal...

  3. 76 FR 31678 - San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad-Continuance in Control Exemption-Saratoga and North Creek Railway...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-01

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. FD 35499] San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad--Continuance in Control Exemption--Saratoga and North Creek Railway, LLC San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad (SLRG), a Class III rail carrier, has filed a verified notice of exemption to continue in...

  4. Along the Grand Trunk Road: The Photography of Raghubir Singh

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chaya Chandrasekhar

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available For more than two millennia, the historic Grand Trunk Road, the busy thoroughfare that extends some 1500 miles through north India and Pakistan served as the main artery of South Asia. It was also the gateway through which waves of immigrants, travelers, and invaders entered the subcontinent. As a result, a great deal of diversity and tolerance marks the road. Between 1988 and 1991, Raghubir Singh (1942-1999, one of India’s renowned documentary photographers, traveled and photographed the Indian stretch of the Road. Ninety-six photographs from his journeys appear in the publication, 'The Grand Trunk Road: A Passage Through India '(1995. Singh used the pictorial style of street photography that he is known for to capture everyday life along the path. Further, he emphasized the tremendous diversity he witnessed along the road through the selections he made for inclusion in the book and the specific manner in which he arranged many of them. By underscoring the heterogeneity, Singh provided a critical visual commentary of the political climate in India during the 1980s and early nineties. This period coincided with the rise of Hindu nationalism, which aimed to erase the subcontinent’s diverse past and promote instead the idea of a homogenous/Hindu India. By documenting the road in his uniquely pictorial style and arranging the photographs in his book to draw attention to the differences and tolerance witnessed along the path, Singh demonstrated that India was not a monolithic culture as the politics of the time claimed, but a rich interwoven fabric of many varied strands.

  5. Town and Citadel of Quebec

    OpenAIRE

    Vallée Louis-Prudent, 1837-1905, photographer

    2003-01-01

    230 x 176 mm. A view looking across the St. Lawrence towards the town and Citadel of Quebec, with shipping at anchor in the river. A photograph taken from the Grand Trunk Railway Depot, Point Lewis, probably in 1870. In the foreground railway lines run down to wharves beside the terminal.

  6. Health and Labour from the Perspective of Railway Dock workers in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valdecir Costa

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The main goal of this study is to understand and analyse the perspective of dockworkers on health and labour at the Railway Dry Port of the Municipality of Uruguaiana in the State of Rio Grande do Sul (RS, Brazil. Sixteen dockworkers participated in the study under the methodological approach of qualitative research. The fieldwork was conducted through individual interviews by applying a semi-structured research script with open-ended questions. For the data analysis, the "discourse analysis" method was adopted, leading to the definition of five thematic categories of interpretation. From the perspective of dockworkers, dock work differs in both the weight of toil, which is hard and intense, and the sense of satisfaction regarding the collaborative and collective aspect of labour, emphasising the human side of labour. Several reports on work accidents and the identification of hazards that may be avoided by implementing changes in the organisation and work conditions were also noted.

  7. Health and Labour from the Perspective of Railway Dock workers in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costa, Valdecir; Souza, Katia Reis; Teixeira, Liliane Reis; Hedlund, Charles Jopar; Fernandes Filho, Luiz Antonio; Cardoso, Letícia Silveira

    2015-04-01

    The main goal of this study is to understand and analyse the perspective of dockworkers on health and labour at the Railway Dry Port of the Municipality of Uruguaiana in the State of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Brazil. Sixteen dockworkers participated in the study under the methodological approach of qualitative research. The fieldwork was conducted through individual interviews by applying a semi-structured research script with open-ended questions. For the data analysis, the "discourse analysis" method was adopted, leading to the definition of five thematic categories of interpretation. From the perspective of dockworkers, dock work differs in both the weight of toil, which is hard and intense, and the sense of satisfaction regarding the collaborative and collective aspect of labour, emphasising the human side of labour. Several reports on work accidents and the identification of hazards that may be avoided by implementing changes in the organisation and work conditions were also noted.

  8. Trunk Stability, Trunk Strength and Sport Performance Level in Judo.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Barbado

    Full Text Available Although trunk muscle function has been suggested to be a determinant of judo performance, its contribution to high-level performance in this sport has been poorly studied. Therefore, several tests were used to assess the differences in trunk muscle function between 11 international and 14 national level judo practitioners (judokas. Trunk strength and endurance were assessed using isokinetic tests and core stability was assessed using two protocols: 1 sudden loading, to assess trunk responses to unexpected external perturbations; 2 stable and unstable sitting, to assess the participants' ability to control trunk balance. No differences between groups were found for trunk flexor isokinetic strength, trunk responses against lateral and posterior loading and trunk control while sitting. However, international level judokas showed significantly higher trunk extensor isokinetic strength (p <0.05 and lower trunk angular displacement after anterior trunk loading (p <0.05 than national level judokas. Few and low (r < 0.512 significant correlations were found between strength, endurance and stability parameters, which suggests that trunk strength and endurance are not limiting factors for trunk stability in competitive judokas. These results support the importance of trunk extensor strength and trunk stability against forward perturbations in elite judo performance.

  9. Comparison of trunk kinematics in trunk training exercises and throwing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stodden, David F; Campbell, Brian M; Moyer, Todd M

    2008-01-01

    Strength and conditioning professionals, as well as coaches, have emphasized the importance of training the trunk and the benefits it may have on sport performance and reducing the potential for injury. However, no data on the efficacy of trunk training support such claims. The purpose of this study was to examine the maximum differential trunk rotation and maximum angular velocities of the pelvis and upper torso of participants while they performed 4 trunk exercises (seated band rotations, cross-overs, medicine ball throws, and twisters) and compare these trunk exercise kinematics with the trunk kinematics demonstrated in actual throwing performance. Nine NCAA Division I baseball players participated in this study. Each participant's trunk kinematics was analyzed while he performed 5 repetitions of each exercise in both dominant and nondominant rotational directions. Results indicated maximum differentiated rotation in all 4 trunk exercises was similar to maximum differentiated rotation (approximately 50-60 degrees) demonstrated in throwing performance. Maximum angular velocities of the pelvis and upper torso in the trunk exercises were appreciably slower (approximately 50% or less) than the angular velocities demonstrated during throwing performance. Incorporating trunk training exercises that demonstrate sufficient trunk ranges of motion and velocities into a strength and conditioning program may help to increase ball velocity and/or decrease the risk injury.

  10. Railway infrastructure security

    CERN Document Server

    Sforza, Antonio; Vittorini, Valeria; Pragliola, Concetta

    2015-01-01

    This comprehensive monograph addresses crucial issues in the protection of railway systems, with the objective of enhancing the understanding of railway infrastructure security. Based on analyses by academics, technology providers, and railway operators, it explains how to assess terrorist and criminal threats, design countermeasures, and implement effective security strategies. In so doing, it draws upon a range of experiences from different countries in Europe and beyond. The book is the first to be devoted entirely to this subject. It will serve as a timely reminder of the attractiveness of the railway infrastructure system as a target for criminals and terrorists and, more importantly, as a valuable resource for stakeholders and professionals in the railway security field aiming to develop effective security based on a mix of methodological, technological, and organizational tools. Besides researchers and decision makers in the field, the book will appeal to students interested in critical infrastructur...

  11. Railway noise annoyance on the railway track in northwest slovakia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pultznerova, Alzbeta; Eva, Panulinova; Kucharova, Daniela; Argalasova, Lubica

    2018-01-01

    This paper describes an assessment of noise caused by railway traffic in a large high-loaded railway track in Northwest Slovakia. The measurements of noise levels generated by trains passing through residential neighborhoods were taken. Noise maps were also calculated showing noise pollution generated by the train traffic. In addition, the annoyance level and sleep disturbance of residents affected by railway noise were evaluated by a validated questionnaire on a pilot sample of 107 respondents living near the important railway track. The measurements indicated that the noise levels generated by the passage of the train were extremely high especially at night, clearly exceeding the nighttime limits of equivalent sound pressure level established by the Decree of the Slovak Ministry of Health (No.549/2007) (L Aeq  = 55 dB). Measurements at one point during the night exceeded the limit values of up to 17.4 dB. The residents reported feeling affected by the noise generated by passing trains, which caused irritability, headache, poor concentration, and insomnia. In addition, 19.64% of the residents claimed that nocturnal noise pollution was the most distressing. The results of bivariate analysis showed a higher risk of annoyance especially for railway noise [OR MH  = 7.80 (4.02-15.14)] and the noise from industry [OR MH  = 3.08 (1.72-5.50)] in the exposed location. The effects of railway traffic on annoyance/sleep and psychosocial well-being were evaluated in a few studies. In accordance with our results the railway noise mostly disturbs sleep and rest of the respondents. The pilot survey showed the importance of sleep and rest disturbance by railway noise and the possibilities of getting worse health condition in the future. Noise abatement measures and strategies should, therefore, be implemented in an effective and manageable way increasing the environmental advantages of rail transport.

  12. VoLTE performance in railway scenarios

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sniady, Aleksander; Sønderskov, Morten; Soler, José

    2015-01-01

    GSM-Railways (GSM-R) is the current standard for railway voice and data communication. GSM-R provides railway specific voice services, such as Railway Emergency Call (REC). GSM-R provides also the European Train Control System (ETCS), which offers in-cab signaling and Automatic Train Protection...... (ATP). Despite these features and services, GSM-R has various major shortcomings. Therefore, alternative technologies are considered to replace GSM-R and become the next generation railway mobile communication network. 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a likely candidate for GSM-R replacement. LTE...... is more efficient, flexible and offers much higher capacity, which allows the railway network to provide new communication-based applications for railways. Most of the research on LTE in railways has been focused on data-based railway applications (ETCS signaling and other). Nevertheless, voice...

  13. VoLTE Performance in Railway Scenarios

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sniady, Aleksander; Sønderskov, Morten; Soler, José

    2015-01-01

    GSM-Railways (GSM-R) is the current standard for railway voice and data communication. GSM-R provides railway specific voice services, such as Railway Emergency Call (REC). GSM-R provides also the European Train Control System (ETCS), which offers in-cab signaling and Automatic Train Protection...... (ATP). Despite these features and services, GSM-R has various major shortcomings. Therefore, alternative technologies are considered to replace GSM-R and become the next generation railway mobile communication network. 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a likely candidate for GSM-R replacement. LTE...... is more efficient, flexible and offers much higher capacity, which allows the railway network to provide new communication-based applications for railways. Most of the research on LTE in railways has been focused on data-based railway applications (ETCS signaling and other). Nevertheless, voice...

  14. Electrical railway transportation systems

    CERN Document Server

    Brenna, Morris; Zaninelli, Dario

    2018-01-01

    Allows the reader to deepen their understanding of various technologies for both fixed power supply installations of railway systems and for railway rolling stock. This book explores the electric railway systems that play a crucial role in the mitigation of congestion and pollution caused by road traffic. It is divided into two parts: the first covering fixed power supply systems, and the second concerning the systems for railway rolling stock. In particular, after a historical introduction to the framework of technological solutions in current use, the authors investigate electrification systems for the power supply of rail vehicles, trams, and subways. Electrical Railway Transportation Systems explores the direct current systems used throughout the world for urban and suburban transport, which are also used in various countries for regional transport. It provides a study of alternating current systems, whether for power supply frequency or for special railway frequency, that are used around the world for ...

  15. Capacity Utilization in European Railways

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Khadem Sameni, Melody; Landex, Alex

    2013-01-01

    and unprecedented approach for this aim. Relative operational efficiency of 24 European railways in capacity utilization is studied for the first time by data envelopment analysis (DEA). It deviates from previous applications of DEA in the railway industry that are conducted to analyze cost efficiency of railways....... Six DEA models quantify various aspects of micro, macro and quality of railway capacity utilization in these countries. New inputs like gross domestic product, population and area of the country help to provide a better picture of the status of railways. Passenger satisfaction data about different...... aspects of railway services in European countries has recently been quantified by European commission and are used for the first time in the literature. Invaluable insights can be inferred from the results which can provide a ground basis for railway practitioners and policy makers....

  16.  Railway Reforms

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Asmild, Mette; Holvad, Torben; Hougaard, Jens Leth

    This paper considers railway operations in 23 European countries during 1995-2001, where a series of reform initiatives were launched by the European Commission, and analyses whether these reform initiatives improved the operating efficiency of the railways. Efficiency is measured using Multi......-directional Efficiency Analysis, which enables investigation of how railway reforms affect the inefficiencies of specific cost drivers. The main findings are that the reform initiatives generally improve operating efficiency but potentially differently for different cost drivers. Specifically, the paper provides clear...

  17. 78 FR 56769 - South Carolina Division of Public Railways, d/b/a Palmetto Railways-Intra-Corporate Family...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-13

    ... Cooper and Berkeley Railroad Company South Carolina Division of Public Railways, d/b/a Palmetto Railways... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. FD 35762] South Carolina Division of Public Railways, d/b/a Palmetto Railways--Intra-Corporate Family Transaction Exemption--The...

  18. Analisis Migrasi Radio Trunking Analog ke Radio Trunking Digital di Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Riza Azmi

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Dalam Tabel Alokasi Spektrum Frekuensi di Indonesia pada catatan kaki INS9 dan INS13 disebutkan bahwa alokasi pada pita-pita frekuensi yang digunakan untuk teknologi trunking direncanakan dimigrasi ke sistem komunikasi trunking digital pada waktu yang akan ditentukan oleh pemerintah. Terkait dengan hal itu, studi ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji bagaimana kelayakan migrasi dari sistem trunking analog ke sistem trunking digital dan hal-hal yang terkait dengannya. Dengan menggunakan analisis biaya dan manfaat (Cost-Benefit Analysis studi ini melihat bahwa migrasi hanya dapat dilakukan jika umur masing-masing lisensi dari operator telah berakhir, atau dengan kata lain pemerintah dapat mendorong transisi ke digital dengan menerbitkan lisensi baru yaitu lisensi trunking digital.

  19. Study on the correlation between the hierarchical urban system and high-speed railway network planning in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hong Sun

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the interrelatedness between the hierarchical structure of China׳s urban system and high-speed railway (HSR network planning at the national level. As a multi-layered system, the Chinese HSR can be categorized into three sub-networks, namely, the national HSR trunk network, the national HSR extensional network, and the intercity HSR network. By examining the direct HSR network connection, HSR nodal connection, and HSR operational frequency of 287 prefecture-level cities, this study demonstrates that the hierarchies of China׳s administrative, demographic, and economic urban systems strongly influence HSR network planning. The national HSR trunk network prioritizes the connection of top-level central cities, whereas the extensional network prioritizes cities at the lower level of the urban system. Moreover, the national HSR system forms the backbone of the HSR network structure based on a national scale, whereas the intercity HSR system satisfies the travel needs within urban agglomerations based on the regional level.

  20. TRUNK LEAN DURING A SINGLE-LEG SQUAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH TRUNK LEAN DURING PITCHING.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plummer, Hillary A; Oliver, Gretchen D; Powers, Christopher M; Michener, Lori A

    2018-02-01

    Impaired trunk motion during pitching may be a risk factor for upper extremity injuries. Specifically, increased forces about the shoulder and elbow have been observed in pitchers with excessive contralateral trunk lean during pitching. Because of the difficulty in identifying abnormal trunk motions during a high-speed task such as pitching, a clinical screening test is needed to identify pitchers who have impaired trunk motion during pitching. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the degree of lateral trunk lean during the single-leg squat and amount of trunk lean during pitching and if trunk lean during pitching can be predicted from lean during the single-leg squat. Controlled Laboratory Study; Cross-sectional. Seventy-three young baseball pitchers (11.4 ± 1.7 years; 156.3 ± 11.9 cm; 50.5 ± 8.8 kg) participated. An electromagnetic tracking system was used to obtain trunk kinematic data during a single-leg squat task (lead leg) and at maximum shoulder external rotation of a fastball pitch. Pearson correlation coefficients for trunk lean during the single-leg squat and pitching were calculated. A linear regression analysis was performed to determine if trunk lean during pitching can be predicted from lean during the single-leg squat. There was a positive correlation between trunk lean during the single-leg squat and trunk lean during pitching (r = 0.53; plean during the single-leg squat predicted the amount of lateral trunk lean during pitching (R 2 = 0.28; p lean during an SLS and pitching. Trunk lean during the single-leg squat explained 28% of the variance in trunk lean during pitching. Diagnosis, level 3.

  1. 76 FR 59482 - The New Brunswick Railway Company-Continuance in Control Exemption-Maine Northern Railway Company...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-26

    ... requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323-25, for Eastern Maine Railway, a Class III rail common carrier to continue in... Exemption-- Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, Ltd.; Maine Northern Railway Company--Modified Rail...

  2. 76 FR 6517 - Carolina Coastal Railway, Inc.-Lease and Operation Exemption-Norfolk Southern Railway Company

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-02-04

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. FD 35461] Carolina Coastal Railway, Inc.--Lease and Operation Exemption-- Norfolk Southern Railway Company Carolina Coastal Railway, Inc. (CLNA), a Class III carrier, has filed a verified notice of exemption \\1\\ under 49 CFR 1150.41 to...

  3. Railway Reform in China.

    OpenAIRE

    Wu, J. H.; Nash, C.

    1998-01-01

    The purpose of this working paper is to consider the current situation of Chinese Railways, the progress of reforms to date, and possible future developments. The first section describes the current problems of Chinese Railways, as a vast organisation subject to strong central control, facing enormous and rapidly growing demands which it is unable to satisfy. The progress of reform in Chinese Railways to date, and in particular the Economic Contract Responsibility System instituted in the lat...

  4. Perfluoroalkyl substances in waters along the Grand Canal, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Piao, H T; Jiao, X C; Gai, N; Chen, S; Lu, G H; Yin, X C; Yamazaki, E; Yamashita, N; Tan, K Y; Yang, Y L; Pan, J

    2017-07-01

    The Grand Canal, also known as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the longest canal in the world. It is an important trunk line of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in China. The contamination status and spatial distributions of perfluoroalky substances (PFASs) in waters of the Grand Canal were investigated. The total concentrations of PFASs (∑PFASs) range from 7.8 ng/L to 218.0 ng/L, with high ∑PFASs occurring in the southern part of the Grand Canal which is located in a highly urbanized and economically developed region. The dominance of PFOA showed a decreasing trend toward north while shorter chain homologue proportions increased in the northern part of the Canal which mainly traverses underdeveloped and rural areas in Eastern China. Positive correlations were observed between ∑PFASs and the population density as well as GDP per capita. Intersection with large rivers may affect the contamination levels and composition of PFASs in the water of the Grand Canal near the intersection sites. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. HIGH SPEED RAILWAY LINES – FUTURE PART OF CZECH RAILWAY NETWORK?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lukáš Týfa

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The paper first describes high speed rail generally and explains the relationship between high speed and conventional railway networks (according to the vehicle types in operation on the network. The core of the paper is comprised of the methodology for choosing the best route for a railway line and its application to the high speed railway connection Praha – Brno. The Algorithm used assumes the existence of more route proposals, which could be different in terms of the operational conception, line routing or types of vehicles used. The optimal variant is the one with the lowest daily cost, which includes infrastructure and vehicle costs; investment and operational costs. The results from applying this model confirmed the assumption, that a dedicated high speed railway line, only for high speed trains, has the same or lower investment costs than a line for both high speed and conventional trains. Furthermore, a dedicated high line also has a lower cost for infrastructure maintenance but a higher cost for buying high speed multiple units.

  6. Trunk proprioception adaptations to creep deformation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abboud, Jacques; Rousseau, Benjamin; Descarreaux, Martin

    2018-01-01

    This study aimed at identifying the short-term effect of creep deformation on the trunk repositioning sense. Twenty healthy participants performed two different trunk-repositioning tasks (20° and 30° trunk extension) before and after a prolonged static full trunk flexion of 20 min in order to induce spinal tissue creep. Trunk repositioning error variables, trunk movement time and erector spinae muscle activity were computed and compared between the pre- and post-creep conditions. During the pre-creep condition, significant increases in trunk repositioning errors, as well as trunk movement time, were observed in 30° trunk extension in comparison to 20°. During the post-creep condition, trunk repositioning errors variables were significantly increased only when performing a 20° trunk extension. Erector spinae muscle activity increased in the post-creep condition, while it remained unchanged between trunk repositioning tasks. Trunk repositioning sense seems to be altered in the presence of creep deformation, especially in a small range of motion. Reduction of proprioception acuity may increase the risk of spinal instability, which is closely related to the risk of low back pain or injury.

  7. Railway Track Allocation: Models and Methods

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lusby, Richard Martin; Larsen, Jesper; Ehrgott, Matthias

    2011-01-01

    Efficiently coordinating the movement of trains on a railway network is a central part of the planning process for a railway company. This paper reviews models and methods that have been proposed in the literature to assist planners in finding train routes. Since the problem of routing trains......, and train routing problems, group them by railway network type, and discuss track allocation from a strategic, tactical, and operational level....... on a railway network entails allocating the track capacity of the network (or part thereof) over time in a conflict-free manner, all studies that model railway track allocation in some capacity are considered relevant. We hence survey work on the train timetabling, train dispatching, train platforming...

  8. Railway Track Allocation: Models and Methods

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lusby, Richard Martin; Larsen, Jesper; Ehrgott, Matthias

    Eciently coordinating the movement of trains on a railway network is a central part of the planning process for a railway company. This paper reviews models and methods that have been proposed in the literature to assist planners in nding train routes. Since the problem of routing trains......, and train routing problems, group them by railway network type, and discuss track allocation from a strategic, tactical, and operational level....... on a railway network entails allocating the track capacity of the network (or part thereof) over time in a con ict-free manner, all studies that model railway track allocation in some capacity are considered relevant. We hence survey work on the train timetabling, train dispatching, train platforming...

  9. Real-time Railway Traffic Management : Dispatching in complex, large and busy railway networks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Corman, F.

    2010-01-01

    Railway is an important and sustainable transportation mode, which despite good potentials results in a limited attractiveness, mostly due to the perceived consequences of unreliability. In fact, busy railway networks with frequent and heterogeneous services are highly sensitive to delay

  10. LTE for Railways: Impact on Performance of ETCS Railway Signaling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sniady, Aleksander; Soler, José

    2014-01-01

    The Global System for Mobile Communications-Railways (GSM-R) is an obsolete mobile technology with considerable shortcomings in terms of capacity and data transmission capabilities. Because of these shortcomings, GSM-R is becoming the element limiting the number of running trains in areas with high...... train concentration, such as major train stations. Moreover, GSM-R cannot support advanced data services. Hence, modern technologies, such as long-term evolution (LTE), have to be evaluated as possible railway communication technologies to replace GSM-R in the future. This article analyzes...... the characteristics of the LTE railway radio access network in terms of eNodeB (LTE base station) density and eNodeB transmission power. Based on this analysis, a set of computer-based simulation scenarios (e.g., OPNET) with varying numbers of eNodeBs is evaluated regarding the achieved transfer delay and data...

  11. Sporophyte and gametophyte development of Platycerium coronarium (Koenig) Desv. and P. grande (Fee) C. Presl. (Polypodiaceae) through in vitro propagation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aspiras, Reyno A

    2010-01-01

    The sporophyte and gametophyte development of Platycerium coronarium and P. grande were compared through ex situ propagation using in vitro culture technique and under greenhouse and field conditions. The morphology of the sporophyte and gametophyte, type of spore germination and prothallial development of P. coronarium and P. grande were documented. Gametophytes of P. coronarium and P. grande were cultured in vitro using different media. The gametophytes were then transferred and potted in sterile chopped Cyathea spp. (anonotong) roots and garden soil for sporophyte formation. Sporophytes (plantlets) of the two Platycerium species were attached on the slabs of anonotong and on branches and trunks of Swietenia macrophylla (mahogany) under greenhouse and field conditions. Sporophyte morphology of P. coronarium and P. grande varies but not their gametophyte morphology. P. coronarium and P. grande exhibited rapid spore germination and gametophyte development in both spore culture medium and Knudson C culture medium containing 2% glucose. Gametophytes of P. coronarium and P. grande transferred to potting medium produced more number of sporophytes while the gametophytes inside the culture media did not produce sporophytes. Sporophytes of P. grande attached on mahogany branches produced more number of leaves with bigger leaf area than those attached on anonotong slabs. Likewise, sporophytes of P. coronarium attached on mahogany branches and anonotong slabs did not develop new leaves during two weeks monitoring and are still in a period of adjustment to its environment. Sporophytes of P. grande grown or attached on the trunk of mahogany trees in the field and under shaded environment favored their growth.

  12. Capacity at Railway Stations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Landex, Alex

    2011-01-01

    zone(s) the possible conflicts with other trains (also in the opposite direction) are taken into account leading to more trustworthy results. Although the UIC 406 methodology proposes that the railway network should be divided into line sections when trains turn around and when the train order...... is changed, this paper recommends that the railway lines are not always be divided. In case trains turn around on open (single track) line, the capacity consumption may be too low if a railway line is divided. The same can be the case if only few trains are overtaken at an overtaking station. For dead end...

  13. Magnetic levitation railways. 2. enlarged ed. Magnetschwebebahnen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miedtank, R [comp.

    1989-01-01

    The bibliography contains 129 literature references, mostly with German abstracts on: Representation of the magnetic levitation railway (MAGLEV railway) as a fast modern railway; type of design of tracks and stations; manufacture of track supports made of steel and reinforced concrete with the accuracy required for this fast railway system. Introduction of experimental sections and planning study for this means of transport. (orig./HP).

  14. An economic evaluation of setting up physical barriers in railway stations for preventing railway injury: evidence from Hong Kong.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Law, C K; Yip, P S F

    2011-10-01

    Setting physical barriers, for example platform screen doors (PSDs), has been proven to be effective in preventing falls onto railway tracks, but its cost-effectiveness is not known. For economic evaluation of public health interventions, the importance of including non-health factors has been noted despite a lack of empirical studies. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of PSDs, which are installed in part of the Hong Kong railway system, for preventing railway injuries. Data on railway injuries from 1997 to 2007 were obtained from the railway operators. Poisson regression was used to examine the risk reduction. Two incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) were calculated to assess the cost-effectiveness based on (1) disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) only and (2) DALYs with potential fare revenue and passengers' waiting time lost due to railway circulation collapse. The PSD installation has effectively reduced railway injuries (adjusted 5-year average percentage change: -68.8%, pfair and appropriate value of the intervention's cost-effectiveness is needed.

  15. Model for Railway Infrastructure Management Organization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gordan Stojić

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available The provision of appropriate quality rail services has an important role in terms of railway infrastructure: quality of infrastructure maintenance, regulation of railway traffic, line capacity, speed, safety, train station organization, the allowable lines load and other infrastructure parameters.The analysis of experiences in transforming the railway systems points to the conclusion that there is no unique solution in terms of choice for institutional rail infrastructure management modes, although more than nineteen years have passed from the beginning of the implementation of the Directive 91/440/EEC. Depending on the approach to the process of restructuring the national railway company, adopted regulations and caution in its implementation, the existence or absence of a clearly defined transport strategy, the willingness to liberalize the transport market, there are several different ways for institutional management of railway infrastructure.A hybrid model for selection of modes of institutional rail infrastructure management was developed based on the theory of artificial intelligence, theory of fuzzy sets and theory of multicriteria optimization.KEY WORDSmanagement, railway infrastructure, organizational structure, hybrid model

  16. Model of traffic access mode and railway station choice of suburban railway system in Slovenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gregor RAK

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available This article presents the establishment of a model of understanding the access mode and railway station choice of Slovenian passengers. Therefore, a model has been designed to predict the determination of existing decision making preferences of railway users about the access mode and railway station choice with a stated preference survey and face to face method. The target group in the survey were railway passengers in the suburban environment that use the rail for work and school purposes. The total number of respondents was 412. The survey showed that most passengers access the railway station with car (60,2%, by foot (26,2%, with public transport (bus – 8,3% and with bike (5,3%. Average distance to the station is 4,9 km, average time of access is 10,5 min. Upon exit most passengers walk to the final destination (84,5%, use the public transport (bus – 14,1%, car (1,2% or bike (0,2%. Average time from exit of the train to final destination is 13,1 min, average distance is 1,58 km.

  17. Disruption Management in Passenger Railway Transportation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jespersen-Groth, Julie; Potthoff, Daniel; Clausen, Jens

    This paper deals with disruption management in passenger railway transportation. In the disruption management process, many actors belonging to different organizations play a role. In this paper we therefore describe the process itself and the roles of the different actors. Furthermore, we discuss...... the three main subproblems in railway disruption management: timetable adjustment, and rolling stock and crew re-scheduling. Next to a general description of these problems, we give an overview of the existing literature and we present some details of the specific situations at DSB S-tog and NS....... These are the railway operators in the suburban area of Copenhagen, Denmark, and on the main railway lines in the Netherlands, respectively. Since not much research has been carried out yet on Operations Research models for disruption management in the railway context, models and techniques that have been developed...

  18. COELIAC TRUNK BRANCHING PATTERN AND VARIATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jude Jose Thomson

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND Anatomical variations involving the visceral arteries are common. However, variations in coeliac trunk are usually asymptomatic, they may become important in patients undergoing diagnostic angiography for gastrointestinal bleeding or prior to an operative procedure. This study was useful for knowing the possible morphological variations before an upper abdominal surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS This was a descriptive study done by cadaveric dissection, conducted on thirty cadavers. The coeliac trunk being examined for its origin, branching pattern, distribution, and variations. Results were statistically analysed and compared with the previous studies. RESULTS In our study, 60% of the coeliac trunk shows variations and 40% have normal branching pattern. A complete absence of coeliac trunk was observed in one case. In the present study the Right inferior phrenic artery arising from coeliac trunk in 2 cases (6.6% and left inferior phrenic artery arising from coeliac trunk in 3 cases (9.9%. Both inferior phrenic arteries are arising from coeliac trunk in 2 cases (6.6%. The common hepatomesenteric trunk and gastro splenic trunk was found in 1 case (3.3%. Hepatosplenic trunk was found in 2 cases (6.6%. In another 2 cases (6.6% gastric and hepatic artery originate from coeliac trunk but splenic artery has a separate origin from abdominal aorta. An absent trunk was also found in 1 case (3.3%. In 5 cases (16.7% showed trifurcation with variation in the branching pattern. CONCLUSION The branching pattern and extreme degree variability in coeliac trunk as brought out in the observations of the present study make it obvious that the present study almost falls in description with previous studies.

  19. Experimental Stress Analysis at Railway Inspection Pit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicuşor Laurentiu Zaharia

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available Railway inspection pits are used in railway halls. The purpose of inspection pits is to allow the working under the vehicle. Inspection pits can be found in locomotive depots, factories etc. The new design for a inspection pit in a railway hall involve tests in purpose of homologations the railway infrastructure. Before the homologation committee meeting, tests are made; after the test, a testing report is made which it will be part at homologation documents.

  20. [Research on China railway health campaign in 1930s].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Huaping

    2015-01-01

    The motivation factors of China's railway health campaign in 1930s included avocation by the government, mass media mobilization, railway authorities' hygiene awareness and the systematization of the construction of organization. During the health campaign, the railway authorities adopted various approaches for its formation, including the rally speeches, distribution of materials, cleaning and vaccination etc. Unfortunately, the actual effect of railway health campaign was not satisfactory, yet, it enhanced theoretically railway employees' health knowledge and contributed to the promotion of modernization of hygienic knowledge. Meanwhile, there still existed many problems in the railway health campaign, for example, lack of funds, formalism and uneven development among the railway bureaus.

  1. Railway safety climate: a study on organizational development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Yung-Hsiang

    2017-09-07

    The safety climate of an organization is considered a leading indicator of potential risk for railway organizations. This study adopts the perceptual measurement-individual attribute approach to investigate the safety climate of a railway organization. The railway safety climate attributes are evaluated from the perspective of railway system staff. We identify four safety climate dimensions from exploratory factor analysis, namely safety communication, safety training, safety management and subjectively evaluated safety performance. Analytical results indicate that the safety climate differs at vertical and horizontal organizational levels. This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence of the multilevel safety climate in a railway organization, presents possible causes of the differences under various cultural contexts and differentiates between safety climate scales for diverse workgroups within the railway organization. This information can be used to improve the safety sustainability of railway organizations and to conduct safety supervisions for the government.

  2. Impact of service quality management (SQM) practices on Indian railways : study of South Central Railways.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-09-01

    The main objective of this study is to present a framework developed for assisting Railways to monitor and : control the quality of services provided to passengers. The study evaluated the passenger Rail Service quality of : Indian Railways by develo...

  3. Existing Noise Level at Railway Stations in Malaysia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shahidan Shahiron

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Railway transportation known as one of the most environmental friendly transportation mode. However, the significance problems of railway transportation are noise pollution and negatively impact the wellbeing of the whole community. Unfortunately, there has been lack of public awareness about the noise level produce by the railway transportation in Malaysia. This study investigates the noise level produced by railway transportation in Malaysia specifically by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB. Methods of collecting existing noise level at railway stations in Malaysia are briefly discussed in this study. The finding indicates that the noise level produced by the railway transportation in Malaysia which is by KTMB is considered as dangerous to human being and also exceed the noise limit that has been assigned by Department of Environment Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Malaysia. A better noise barrier and improved material should be developed to mitigate the existing noise level produced by railway transportations in Malaysia.

  4. 20 CFR 202.15 - Railway labor organizations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Railway labor organizations. 202.15 Section... EMPLOYERS UNDER THE ACT § 202.15 Railway labor organizations. Railway labor organizations, national in scope... bylaws of such organizations, shall be employers within the meaning of the act. (a) An organization doing...

  5. Communication Technologies Support to Railway Infrastructure and Operations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sniady, Aleksander

    GSM-Railways (GSM-R), which is state-of-the-art railway mobile communication technology, is gradually replacing legacy analogue radio systems. Although GSM-R is an unquestionable achievement in terms of European railway interoperability, from a telecommunication point of view, it is an obsolete...... are considered to replace GSM-R in the future. This thesis is focused on Long Term Evolution (LTE) as one of the most likely successors to GSM-R. As a technology designed for commercial purposes, LTE has to be investigated specifically in railway environment. Using computer-based simulations, the LTE network...... important railway applications: European Train Control System (ETCS) signalling and railway-specific voice communication. Therefore, LTE is technically capable of replacing GSM-R as the communication network for the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). Moreover, the simulation results show...

  6. RESTRUCTURING INDONESIAN RAILWAY – INTEGRATION OR SEPARATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Utut Widyanto

    2013-05-01

    The study found that the separation model is still the best approach for restructuring Indonesian railway but if looking at the Indonesian railway current condition with its problem of backlog assets it would be better that the separation approach is used in the development of railway in other islands. Keywords: Restructuration, separation, funds, operator.

  7. Effects of pushing height on trunk posture and trunk muscle activity when a cart suddenly starts or stops moving.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Yun-Ju; Hoozemans, Marco J M; van Dieën, Jaap H

    2012-01-01

    Unexpected sudden (un)loading of the trunk may induce inadequate responses of trunk muscles and uncontrolled trunk motion. These unexpected perturbations may occur in pushing tasks, when the cart suddenly starts moving (unloading) or is blocked by an obstacle (loading). In pushing, handle height affects the user's working posture, which may influence trunk muscle activity and trunk movement in response to the perturbation. Eleven healthy male subjects pushed a 200 kg cart with handles at shoulder and hip height in a start condition (sudden release of brakes) and a stop condition (bumping into an obstacle). Before the perturbation, the baseline of the trunk inclination, internal moment and trunk extensor muscle activity were significantly higher when pushing at hip height than at shoulder height. After the perturbation, the changes in trunk inclination and internal moment were significantly larger when pushing at shoulder height than at hip height in both conditions. The opposite directions of changes in trunk inclination and internal moment suggest that the unexpected perturbations caused uncontrolled trunk motion. Pushing at shoulder height may impose a high risk of low-back injury due to the low trunk stiffness and large involuntary trunk motion occurring after carts suddenly move or stop.

  8. Trunk Robot Rehabilitation Training with Active Stepping Reorganizes and Enriches Trunk Motor Cortex Representations in Spinal Transected Rats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oza, Chintan S.

    2015-01-01

    Trunk motor control is crucial for postural stability and propulsion after low thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI) in animals and humans. Robotic rehabilitation aimed at trunk shows promise in SCI animal models and patients. However, little is known about the effect of SCI and robot rehabilitation of trunk on cortical motor representations. We previously showed reorganization of trunk motor cortex after adult SCI. Non-stepping training also exacerbated some SCI-driven plastic changes. Here we examine effects of robot rehabilitation that promotes recovery of hindlimb weight support functions on trunk motor cortex representations. Adult rats spinal transected as neonates (NTX rats) at the T9/10 level significantly improve function with our robot rehabilitation paradigm, whereas treadmill-only trained do not. We used intracortical microstimulation to map motor cortex in two NTX groups: (1) treadmill trained (control group); and (2) robot-assisted treadmill trained (improved function group). We found significant robot rehabilitation-driven changes in motor cortex: (1) caudal trunk motor areas expanded; (2) trunk coactivation at cortex sites increased; (3) richness of trunk cortex motor representations, as examined by cumulative entropy and mutual information for different trunk representations, increased; (4) trunk motor representations in the cortex moved toward more normal topography; and (5) trunk and forelimb motor representations that SCI-driven plasticity and compensations had caused to overlap were segregated. We conclude that effective robot rehabilitation training induces significant reorganization of trunk motor cortex and partially reverses some plastic changes that may be adaptive in non-stepping paraplegia after SCI. PMID:25948267

  9. Assessing The Impact Of Railway Restructuring In Nigeria | Ibe ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study presents railway restructuring as a solution option to railway problems in Nigeria. It aims at ascertaining the efficiency of the critical input factors of Nigerian Railway corporation (NRC) while comparing it with that of the restructured developed and best practices railways to establish the basis for restructuring.

  10. Operating a railway system within a challenging environment: Economic history and experiences of Zimbabwe’s national railways

    OpenAIRE

    Charles Mbohwa

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents a historical background to the development of the railways in Zimbabwe and then discusses their current state. Besides being a landlocked country in Southern Africa, Zimbabwe has since 2000 been saddled with socio-economic and political challenges which have seen a decline in all economic indices, hence posing some challenges to its railways. This article discusses the challenges faced by the railways as a result of high inflation, unstable currency exchange rate, brain dr...

  11. Railway power supply - free of crises and independent

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weigert, E.

    1981-01-01

    The German Federal Railway realizes 84% of its transport performance by electric traction. The prevailing primary energy source of the railway electric power supply is coal, but the DB uses also furnace gas, nuclear energy and hydroelectric power. The shave of mineral oil lies by about 5%. The public utilities deliver about 15%. The dispersed situation of the power stations and converter stations over the whole supply area offers the advantage of short transport distances. Therefore the 110-kV-railway mains especially meets distribution demands. Very useful is the compound operation with the Austrian Federal Railways and the Swiss Federal Railways. (orig.) [de

  12. Towards a real-time Structural Health Monitoring of railway bridges

    OpenAIRE

    Vagnoli, Matteo; Remenyte-Prescott, Rasa; Andrews, John

    2017-01-01

    More than 350,000 railway bridges are present on the European railway network, making them a key infrastructure of the whole railway network. Railway bridges are continuously exposed to changing environmental threats, such as wind, floods and traffic load, which can affect safety and reliability of the bridge. Furthermore, a problem on a bridge can affect the whole railway network by increasing the vulnerability of the geographic area, served by the railway network. In this paper a Bayesian B...

  13. Trunk robot rehabilitation training with active stepping reorganizes and enriches trunk motor cortex representations in spinal transected rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oza, Chintan S; Giszter, Simon F

    2015-05-06

    Trunk motor control is crucial for postural stability and propulsion after low thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI) in animals and humans. Robotic rehabilitation aimed at trunk shows promise in SCI animal models and patients. However, little is known about the effect of SCI and robot rehabilitation of trunk on cortical motor representations. We previously showed reorganization of trunk motor cortex after adult SCI. Non-stepping training also exacerbated some SCI-driven plastic changes. Here we examine effects of robot rehabilitation that promotes recovery of hindlimb weight support functions on trunk motor cortex representations. Adult rats spinal transected as neonates (NTX rats) at the T9/10 level significantly improve function with our robot rehabilitation paradigm, whereas treadmill-only trained do not. We used intracortical microstimulation to map motor cortex in two NTX groups: (1) treadmill trained (control group); and (2) robot-assisted treadmill trained (improved function group). We found significant robot rehabilitation-driven changes in motor cortex: (1) caudal trunk motor areas expanded; (2) trunk coactivation at cortex sites increased; (3) richness of trunk cortex motor representations, as examined by cumulative entropy and mutual information for different trunk representations, increased; (4) trunk motor representations in the cortex moved toward more normal topography; and (5) trunk and forelimb motor representations that SCI-driven plasticity and compensations had caused to overlap were segregated. We conclude that effective robot rehabilitation training induces significant reorganization of trunk motor cortex and partially reverses some plastic changes that may be adaptive in non-stepping paraplegia after SCI. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/357174-16$15.00/0.

  14. Parameters of passenger facilities according to railway station characteristics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ondřej HAVLENA

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The article presents ways and goals of categorization of railway stations and stops in the Czech railway network. The aim of this categorization is to classify railway stations (or stops in the railway network according to a suite of entrance parameters (e.g. municipality population, transfer links, job opportunities, tourist attractiveness. On the basis of these parameters, railway stations and stops will be classified into several categories, which will be used to specify the conclusions for station equipment concerning ticket offices, commercial services, waiting rooms and other accessories. Research results can be used as a support for infrastructure managers and railway operators to optimise the scale of their services.

  15. ISSUES OF ORGANIZING THE PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION ON US RAILWAYS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. H. Korobiova

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. The paper focuses on a study of the US railway transport organization management during passenger transportation. Methodology. Studies were carried out on the basis of the analysis of literature sources and reporting data on passenger transportation in the USA. Findings. Negative trends in the work of the passenger complex of the Ukrainian railways are the slowdown in the volumes of transportation, the progressive aging of the rolling stock and the overall activity running at a loss for Ukrzaliznytsia. In this regard, the actual task for domestic rail transport is the implementation of industry reforms. Therefore, the paper presented the study of the experience of organizing the passenger transportation on US railways, whose peculiarity is the extremely high degree of competition between modes of transport. As a result of the conducted analysis for working conditions of the US and Ukrainian railways, the general conditions for the functioning of the railways in both countries connected with passenger transportation securing have been established. It was found that general condition for execution of railway passenger transportation for the United States and Ukraine is the subsidization of this activity and combined use of infrastructure for the freight and passengers’ transportations. In this connection, when developing approaches to reforming the passenger economy of Ukraine's railways, it is advisable to use the experience of the United States in assessing the social effectiveness of rail transport, the impact of passenger transportation on the conditions of freight trains handling, and combined use of railway infrastructure by freight and passenger companies. Originality. The author determined the general trends in the development of passenger railway transportation in the US and Ukraine. Practical value. The resulted methods of organizing the operation of the US railway passenger transportation complex can be adapted to solve

  16. The keys to Europe : regulating railways

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    2012-01-01

    The expansion of the railways in Europe in the middle of the nineteenth century quickly raised new questions about harmonizing standards to allow them to travel over national borders. Negotiations regarding how to run international railways involved entrepreneurs, engineers, and politicians from

  17. Dynamic response of railway tracks in tunnel

    OpenAIRE

    Hoang , T; Duhamel , Denis; Forêt , Gilles; Yin , H.P.; Joyez , P; Caby , R

    2014-01-01

    International audience; Periodically supported beams subjected to a moving load are often used for modelling the railway dynamics and analytical solutions have been developed for such modelling [3, 4]. More complex models can be constructed by including supports with damping or non-linear stiffness elements. This study deals with the dynamical modelling of non-ballasted railways, especially railways in tunnels. The model is developed as a dynamical system of multi-degree of freedom. Under the...

  18. Annoyance and activity disturbance induced by high-speed railway and conventional railway noise: a contrastive case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di, Guo-Qing; Lin, Qi-Li; Li, Zheng-Guang; Kang, Jian

    2014-03-07

    High-speed railway (HR, Electrified railway with service speed above 200 km/h.) noise and conventional railway (CR, Electrified railway with service speed under 200 km/h.) noise are different in both time and frequency domain. There is an urgent need to study the influence of HR noise and consequently, develop appropriate noise evaluation index and limits for the total railway noise including HR and CR noise. Based on binaural recording of HR and CR noises in a approximate semi-free field, noise annoyance and activity disturbance induced by maximal train pass-by events in China were investigated through laboratory subjective evaluation. 80 students within recruited 102 students, 40 males and 40 females, 23.9 ± 2.1 years old, were finally selected as the subjects. After receiving noise stimulus via headphone of a binaural audio playback system, subjects were asked to express the annoyance or activity disturbance due to railway noise at a 0-100 numerical scale. The results show that with the same annoyance rating (A) or activity disturbance rating (D), the A-weighted equivalent sound pressure level (LAeq) of CR noise is approximately 7 dB higher than that of HR noise. Linear regression analysis between some acoustical parameters and A (or D) suggests that the coefficient of determination (R2) is higher with the instantaneous fast A-weighted sound pressure level (LAFmax) than that with LAeq. A combined acoustical parameter, LHC = 1.74LAFmax + 0.008LAFmax(Lp-LAeq), where Lp is the sound pressure level, was derived consequently, which could better evaluate the total railway noise, including HR and CR noise. More importantly, with a given LHC, the noise annoyance of HR and CR noise is the same. Among various acoustical parameters including LHC and LAeq, A and D have the highest correlation with LHC. LHC has been proved to be an appropriate index to evaluate the total railway noise, including both HR and CR. However, it should be pointed out that this study provides

  19. Railway timetabling from an operations research

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    L.G. Kroon (Leo); D. Huisman (Dennis); G. Maróti (Gábor)

    2007-01-01

    textabstractIn this paper we describe Operations Research (OR) models and techniques that can be used for determining (cyclic) railway timetables. We discuss the two aspects of railway timetabling: ($i$) the determination of arrival and departure times of the trains at the stations and other

  20. Trunk imbalance in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fortin, Carole; Grunstein, Erin; Labelle, Hubert; Parent, Stefan; Ehrmann Feldman, Debbie

    2016-06-01

    Trunk imbalance (ie, frontal trunk shift measured with a plumb line from C7 to S1) is part of the clinical evaluation in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), but its prevalence and relationship with scoliosis, back pain, and health-related factors are not well documented. The principal objectives are to document trunk imbalance prevalence and to explore the association between trunk imbalance and the following factors: Cobb angle, type of scoliosis, back pain, function, mental health, and self-image. The secondary objective is to determine back pain prevalence and the relationship between back pain and each of the following: Cobb angle, function, mental health, and self-image. This is a cross-sectional study in a scoliosis clinic of a tertiary university hospital center. The sample includes youth with AIS (N=55). The outcome measures were trunk imbalance prevalence and magnitude, and back pain prevalence and intensity using the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) and the Scoliosis Research Society-22 (SRS-22) pain score, and the function, self-image, and mental health domains of the SRS-22. Trunk imbalance and back pain were assessed in 55 patients with AIS (Cobb angle: 10-60°). Patients completed the SRS-22 questionnaire and the NPRS. Correlations were done between trunk imbalance and scoliosis (Cobb angle, type of scoliosis), back pain (NPRS and SRS-22 pain score), and health-related factors using Pearson correlation coefficients (r) and logistic regression models. Trunk imbalance prevalence is 85% and back pain prevalence is 73%. We found fair to moderate significant positive correlation between trunk imbalance and Cobb angle (r=0.32-0.66, pself-image, or type of scoliosis. Lower self-reported pain significantly correlated with lower Cobb angles (r=0.29, p=.03), higher function (r=0.55, p=.000), higher self-image (r=0.44, p=.001), and better mental health (r=0.48, p=.000). There was a trend for trunk imbalance to be related with lower pain in logistic regression

  1. [Emergency response management near the tracks of the public railway network: special aspects of missions connected with the German national railway system].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krämer, P; Aul, A; Vock, B; Frank, C

    2010-11-01

    Emergency response management and rescue operations concerning the railway network in Germany need special attention and implementation in several ways. The emergency response concerning the German national railway network managed by Deutsche Bahn AG is subject to various rules and regulations which have to be followed precisely. Only by following these rules and procedures is the safety of all emergency staff at the scene ensured. The German national railway network (Deutsche Bahn AG) provides its own emergency response control center, which specializes in managing its response to emergencies and dispatches an emergency response manager to the scene. This person serves as the primary Deutsche Bahn AG representative at the scene and is the only person who is allowed to earth the railway electrical power lines. This article will discuss different emergency situations concerning railway accidents and the emergency medical response to them based on a near collision with a high speed train during a rescue mission close to the railway track. Injury to personnel could only be avoided by chance and luck. The dangers and risks for rescue staff are specified. Furthermore, the article details practical guidelines for rescue operations around the German national railway track system.

  2. DC Cable for Railway

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomita, Masaru

    The development of a superconducting cable for railways has commenced, assuming that a DC transmission cable will be used for electric trains. The cable has been fabricated based on the results of current testing of a superconducting wire, and various evaluation tests have been performed to determine the characteristics of the cable. A superconducting transmission cable having zero electrical resistance and suitable for railway use is expected to enhance regeneration efficiency, reduce power losses, achieve load leveling and integration of sub-stations, and reduce rail potential.

  3. Passenger Perspectives in Railway Timetabling: A Literature Review

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jens Parbo; Nielsen, Otto Anker; Prato, Carlo Giacomo

    2016-01-01

    When looking at railway planning, a discrepancy exists between planners who focus on the train operations and publish fixed railway schedules, and passengers who look not only at the schedules but also at the entirety of their trip, from access to waiting to on-board travel and egress. Looking...... with fluctuating passenger demand. A key aspect is the robustness of railway timetables. Empirical evidence indicates that passengers give more importance to travel time certainty than travel time reductions, as passengers associate an inherent disutility with travel time uncertainty. This disutility may...... be broadly interpreted as an anxiety cost for the need for having contingency plans in case of disruptions, and may be looked at as the motivator for the need for delay-robust railway timetables. Interestingly, passenger-oriented optimisation studies considering robustness in railway planning typically limit...

  4. The Network effects of Railway Investments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Sten; Landex, Alex; Kaas, Anders H.

    2006-01-01

    Network effects is when a change at one place in the railway network results in changes elsewhere in the network – maybe even far away from the original change. Railway investments have network effects, and therefore, this paper describes the network effects and how these network effects can...

  5. Operating a railway system within a challenging environment: Economic history and experiences of Zimbabwe’s national railways

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charles Mbohwa

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a historical background to the development of the railways in Zimbabwe and then discusses their current state. Besides being a landlocked country in Southern Africa, Zimbabwe has since 2000 been saddled with socio-economic and political challenges which have seen a decline in all economic indices, hence posing some challenges to its railways. This article discusses the challenges faced by the railways as a result of high inflation, unstable currency exchange rate, brain drain, poor management, government interference in management, customs border delays, and energy shortage. The problems have been addressed in unique ways and unusual solutions are proposed. These include customer financing for maintenance and spares and the resuscitation of steam locomotives. The presented solutions, lessons and issues from this experience contribute to discussions and study of railway logistics in challenging environments. Finally, current and future research issues, which have a global appeal, are presented.

  6. Characteristics of suicide hotspots on the Belgian railway network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Debbaut, Kevin; Krysinska, Karolina; Andriessen, Karl

    2014-01-01

    In 2004, railway suicide accounted for 5.3% of all suicides in Belgium. In 2008, Infrabel (Manager of the Belgian Railway Infrastructure) introduced a railway suicide prevention programme, including identification of suicide hotspots, i.e., areas of the railway network with an elevated incidence of suicide. The study presents an analysis of 43 suicide hotspots based on Infrabel data collected during field visits and semi-structured interviews conducted in mental health facilities in the vicinity of the hotspots. Three major characteristics of the hotspots were accessibility, anonymity, and vicinity of a mental health institution. The interviews identified several risk and protective factors for railway suicide, including the training of staff, introduction of a suicide prevention policy, and the role of the media. In conclusion, a comprehensive railway suicide prevention programme should continuously safeguard and monitor hotspots, and should be embedded in a comprehensive suicide prevention programme in the community.

  7. Trunk Robot Rehabilitation Training with Active Stepping Reorganizes and Enriches Trunk Motor Cortex Representations in Spinal Transected Rats

    OpenAIRE

    Oza, Chintan S.; Giszter, Simon F.

    2015-01-01

    Trunk motor control is crucial for postural stability and propulsion after low thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI) in animals and humans. Robotic rehabilitation aimed at trunk shows promise in SCI animal models and patients. However, little is known about the effect of SCI and robot rehabilitation of trunk on cortical motor representations. We previously showed reorganization of trunk motor cortex after adult SCI. Non-stepping training also exacerbated some SCI-driven plastic changes. Here we e...

  8. A three-level framework for performance-based railway timetabling

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goverde, R.M.P.; Besinovic, N.; Binder, A.; Cacchiani, V.; Quaglietta, E.; Roberti, R.; Toth, P.

    2015-01-01

    The performance of railway operations depends highly on the quality of the railway timetable. In particular for dense railway networks it can be a challenge to obtain a stable robust conflict-free and energy-efficient timetable with acceptable infrastructure occupation and short travel times. This

  9. High-speed railways in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kyotani, Y.

    1974-01-01

    This paper reviews the development of conventional railways in Japan, leading up to the Shinkansen line, which at present runs at speeds up to 210km/h, and will in the future be speeded up to 260km/h. It then goes on to review the development of a superconductive, magnetically levitated train, which will constitute the next generation of railways, running at speeds of up to 500km/h. (author)

  10. Human migration, railways and the geographic distribution of leprosy in Rio Grande do Norte State – Brazil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nobre, Mauricio Lisboa; Dupnik, Kathryn Margaret; Nobre, Paulo José Lisboa; De Souza, Márcia Célia Freitas; Dűppre, Nádia Cristina; Sarno, Euzenir Nunes; Jerŏnimo, Selma Maria Bezerra

    2016-01-01

    Summary Introduction Leprosy is a public health problem in Brazil where 31,044 new cases were detected in 2013. Rio Grande do Norte is a small Brazilian state with a rate of leprosy lower than other areas in the same region, for unknown reasons. Objectives We present here a review based on the analysis of a database of registered leprosy cases in Rio Grande do Norte state, comparing leprosy's geographic distribution among municipalities with local socio-economic and public health indicators and with historical documents about human migration in this Brazilian region. Results The current distribution of leprosy in Rio Grande do Norte did not show correlation with socio-economic or public health indicators at the municipal level, but it appears related to economically emerging municipalities 100 years ago, with spread facilitated by railroads and train stations. Drought-related migratory movements which occurred from this state to leprosy endemic areas within the same period may be involved in the introduction of leprosy and with its present distribution within Rio Grande do Norte. Conclusions Leprosy may disseminate slowly, over many decades in certain circumstances, such as in small cities with few cases. This is a very unusual situation currently and a unique opportunity for epidemiologic studies of leprosy as an emerging disease. PMID:26964429

  11. Trunk Muscle Function Deficit in Youth Baseball Pitchers With Excessive Contralateral Trunk Tilt During Pitching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oyama, Sakiko; Waldhelm, Andrew G; Sosa, Araceli R; Patel, Ravina R; Kalinowski, Derick L

    2017-09-01

    Pitching technique is one of many factors that affect injury risk. Exhibiting excessive contralateral trunk tilt (CLT) during pitching has been linked to higher ball speed but also to increased joint loading. Deficit in trunk muscle strength has been suggested as an underlying cause of this movement pattern. The purpose of the study was to compare trunk muscle strength between youth baseball pitchers with varying degree of CLT during pitching. Cross-sectional study. Baseball practice fields. Twenty-eight youth baseball pitchers. Pitching technique was captured using a video camera. Based on the 2-dimensional trunk contralateral flexion angle, pitchers were categorized into low (30 degrees) CLT groups. Maximum isometric strength tests for trunk flexion, extension, and bilateral rotation, measured using a dynamometer. The pitchers with high CLT (n = 10) had longer pitching experience (P = 0.014), produced higher ball speed (P = 0.003) compared with the pitchers with moderate (n = 10) and low (n = 8) CLT, but demonstrated greater asymmetry in trunk rotation strength (relative weakness in rotation strength toward dominant side) compared with the pitchers with low CLT (P = 0.015). Excessive CLT may be a strategy that young pitchers learn to achieve higher ball velocity but also may be associated with imbalance between the oblique muscles on dominant and nondominant side, which may be acquired from repetitive pitching. Strengthening and emphasizing the use of dominant side oblique muscles may keep pitchers from leaning excessively during pitching and thus decrease joint loading.

  12. A Polynomial Estimate of Railway Line Delay

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cerreto, Fabrizio; Harrod, Steven; Nielsen, Otto Anker

    2017-01-01

    Railway service may be measured by the aggregate delay over a time horizon or due to an event. Timetables for railway service may dampen aggregate delay by addition of additional process time, either supplement time or buffer time. The evaluation of these variables has previously been performed...... by numerical analysis with simulation. This paper proposes an analytical estimate of aggregate delay with a polynomial form. The function returns the aggregate delay of a railway line resulting from an initial, primary, delay. Analysis of the function demonstrates that there should be a balance between the two...

  13. Modeling thermal effects in braking systems of railway vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milošević Miloš S.

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The modeling of thermal effects has become increasingly important in product design in different transport means, road vehicles, airplanes, railway vehicles, and so forth. The thermal analysis is a very important stage in the study of braking systems, especially of railway vehicles, where it is necessary to brake huge masses, because the thermal load of a braked railway wheel prevails compared to other types of loads. In the braking phase, kinetic energy transforms into thermal energy resulting in intense heating and high temperature states of railway wheels. Thus induced thermal loads determine thermomechanical behavior of the structure of railway wheels. In cases of thermal overloads, which mainly occur as a result of long-term braking on down-grade railroads, the generation of stresses and deformations occurs, whose consequences are the appearance of cracks on the rim of a wheel and the final total wheel defect. The importance to precisely determine the temperature distribution caused by the transfer process of the heat generated during braking due to the friction on contact surfaces of the braking system makes it a challenging research task. Therefore, the thermal analysis of a block-braked solid railway wheel of a 444 class locomotive of the national railway operator Serbian Railways is processed in detail in this paper, using analytical and numerical modeling of thermal effects during long-term braking for maintaining a constant speed on a down-grade railroad.

  14. Systematic review of research on railway and urban transit system suicides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mishara, Brian L; Bardon, Cécile

    2016-03-15

    We critically review research on railway suicides to inform suicide prevention initiatives and future studies, including who is at risk and why, and behaviours at track locations. Literature was identified from Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and our documentation centre, and contacting 71 railway companies, resulting in 716 articles and eight unpublished reports, with 94 having empirical data on 55 unique studies. Research quality was critically assessed. The quality of studies varies greatly with frequent shortcomings: no justification of sample size, lacking information on the reliability and validity of measures, no explanation nor theoretical understanding of findings. Railway suicides resemble closely people who use other methods, although they tend to be younger. As with other suicide methods, mental health problems are likely to be present. Railway suicide attempters usually die, but most urban transportation systems attempters survive. Railway suicides are rarely impulsive; people usually go to the railway for the purpose of killing themselves. Hotspots have been the focus of some prevention measures. We know little about why people choose railway suicide, but studies of survivors suggest they often thought they would have an immediate, certain and painless death. Media reports on railway suicides can increase their incidence. Most research focuses on the incidence and characteristics of events and attempters. Research has not shown that railway suicides are different from suicides by other means. Better quality research is needed, particularly studies that investigate why people use railways to kill themselves and how railway suicides can be effectively prevented, as well as more evaluations of prevention programmes. Because of significant variations by country and region in characteristics of railway suicides, prevention programmes should conduct a local assessment of the characteristics of attempters and incidents. We need more research on

  15. Guideline for load and resistance assessment of existing european railway bridges

    OpenAIRE

    JENSEN, Jens S; CASAS, Joan R; KAROUMI, Raid; PLOS, Mario; CREMONA, Christian; MELBOURNE, Clive

    2008-01-01

    Many of the European railway bridges are getting close to the end of their service life. At the same time the railway operators demand higher axle loads for freight trains and higher speeds for passenger trains. This requires new and better approaches for assessing both the railway loads and the resistance of railway bridges. The main objective of the "Guideline for Load and Resistance Assessment of Existing European Railway Bridges", developed within EU founded project "Sustainable Bridge...

  16. An Anomalous Branching of Coeliac Trunk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jadhav Surekha D

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Anatomical variations of the coeliac trunk arevery common. A variation of coeliac trunk oc-curs due to the developmental abnormalities inthe ventral splanchnic arteries. Present paperhighlights a rare variation of branching patternof coeliac trunk which was observed during rou-tine dissection. In a 63 year old male cadaver,we observed a bifurcation of coeliac trunk intoshort hepato-splenic and longer hepato-gastrictrunks. The hepato-splenic trunk divided intocommon hepatic artery and splenic artery. Cys-tic artery originated from proper hepatic arteryand then proper hepatic artery divided into rightand left hepatic arteries. Hepato-gastric trunkran laterally and upward, and then it divided intotwo branches: a left gastric artery and left ac-cessory hepatic artery. Knowledge of this rarevariation is clinically very important for sur-geons, especially while performing liver trans-plantation, gastric, gallbladder surgeries andtransarterial chemoembolization for hepatictumor and during invasive procedures like an-giography and also other radiological studies.

  17. Evaluation of railway transportation efficiency based on super-cross efficiency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuang, Xiuyuan

    2018-01-01

    The efficiency of railway transportation is an important index. It can measure the development of railway transportation enterprises, and the efficiency of railway transportation has become a hot issue in the study of railway development. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been widely applied to railway efficiency analysis. In this paper, BBC model and super-cross efficiency model are constructed by using DEA theory, taking the 18 Railway Bureau as the research object, with the mileage, the number of employees, locomotive number, average daily loading number as input indicators, the passenger turnover, freight turnover and transport income as output indicators, then calculated and evaluated comprehensive efficiency, pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency. We get that the super-cross efficiency is more in line with the actual situation. Getting the super-cross efficiency is more in line with the actual situation.

  18. Vulnerability assessment and mitigation for the Chinese railway system under floods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hong, Liu; Ouyang, Min; Peeta, Srinivas; He, Xiaozheng; Yan, Yongze

    2015-01-01

    The economy of China and the travel needs of its citizens depend significantly on the continuous and reliable services provided by its railway system. However, this system is subject to frequent natural hazards, such as floods, earthquakes, and debris flow. A mechanism to assess the railway system vulnerability under these hazards and the design of effective vulnerability mitigation strategies are essential to the reliable functioning of the railway system. This article proposes a comprehensive methodology to quantitatively assess the railway system vulnerability under floods using historical data and GIS technology. The proposed methodology includes a network representation of the railway system, the generation of flood event scenarios, a method to estimate railway link vulnerability, and a quantitative vulnerability value computation approach. The railway system vulnerability is evaluated in terms of its service disruption related to the number of interrupted trains and the durations of interruption. A maintenance strategy to mitigate vulnerability is proposed that simultaneously considers link vulnerability and number of trains using it. Numerical experiments show that the flood-induced vulnerability of the proposed representation of the Chinese railway system reaches its maximum monthly value in July, and the proposed vulnerability mitigation strategy is more effective compared to other strategies. - Highlights: • We propose a methodology to assess flood-induced railway system vulnerability. • Railway system vulnerability is evaluated in terms of its service disruption. • Chinese railway system reaches its maximum monthly vulnerability in July. • We propose an effective maintenance strategy considering link vulnerability and burden

  19. SURVEY RESULTS AND TESTING OF RAILWAY BRIDGES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. H. Haniiev

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available The article is devoted to the survey and testing of railway bridges by the State Joint-Stock Railway Company «Uzbekiston Temir Yollari» («Uzbekistan Railways». It is stated that in the existing rules on determination of the capacity of bridges the recommendations on taking into account the cumulative deflection to the moment of technical diagnostics of spans on the bridge capacity are absent. The author states on the need to develop a method for determining the wear of spans on restriction of the residual deflection in the bridge floor slabs.

  20. Age-related reduction of trunk muscle torque and prevalence of trunk sarcopenia in community-dwelling elderly: Validity of a portable trunk muscle torque measurement instrument and its application to a large sample cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sasaki, Eiji; Sasaki, Shizuka; Chiba, Daisuke; Yamamoto, Yuji; Nawata, Atsushi; Tsuda, Eiichi; Nakaji, Shigeyuki; Ishibashi, Yasuyuki

    2018-01-01

    Trunk muscle weakness and imbalance are risk factors for postural instability, low back pain, and poor postoperative outcomes. The association between trunk muscle strength and aging is poorly understood, and establishing normal reference values is difficult. We aimed to establish the validity of a novel portable trunk muscle torque measurement instrument (PTMI). We then estimated reference data for healthy young adults and elucidated age-related weakness in trunk muscle strength. Twenty-four university students were enrolled to validate values for PTMI, and 816 volunteers from the general population who were recruited to the Iwaki Health Promotion Project were included to estimate reference data for trunk muscle strength. Trunk flexion and extension torque were measured with PTMI and KinCom, and interclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were estimated to evaluate the reliability of PTMI values. Furthermore, from the young adult reference, the age-related reduction in trunk muscle torque and the prevalence of sarcopenia among age-sex groups were estimated. The ICC in flexion and extension torque were 0.807 (psarcopenia increased with age, and the prevalence due to flexion torque was double that of extension torque. Flexion torque decreased significantly after 60 years of age, and extension torque decreased after 70 years of age. In males over age 80, trunk muscle torque decreased to 49.1% in flexion and 63.5% in extension. In females over age 80, trunk muscle torque decreased to 60.7% in flexion and 68.4% in extension. The validity of PTMI was confirmed by correlation with KinCom. PTMI produced reference data for healthy young adults, and demonstrated age-related reduction in trunk muscle torque. Trunk sarcopenia progressed with aging, and the loss of flexion torque began earlier than extension torque. At age 80, trunk muscle torque had decreased 60% compared with healthy young adults.

  1. Future Emissions from Railway Traffic

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sorenson, Spencer C.

    1998-01-01

    In investigation of the expected development in factors which influence railway energy consumption and emissions. Traffic factors such as train speed, load, an occupancy were considered. Tehcnical factors such an emissions factors, fleet composition and train weight were also considered. An estim......In investigation of the expected development in factors which influence railway energy consumption and emissions. Traffic factors such as train speed, load, an occupancy were considered. Tehcnical factors such an emissions factors, fleet composition and train weight were also considered...

  2. Power-Electronics Issues of Modern Electric Railway Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    STEIMEL, A.

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available After de-regulation of the former state-owned railways and severe restructuring of the railway industry in the last 15 years, more innovative vehicle concepts saw the light of the day. Power electronics, already formerly being a pacemaker for progress of traction vehicles, brought forth an utmost standardization of the main drive by means of the IGBT-converter-fed induction motor drive. This is independent of the railway supply voltage system or of a diesel prime mover, for locomotives, high-speed and mass-transit trains as well as for tramways. Vehicles able to operate on all four European railway voltage systems have become feasible and are used now widely. New trends as Permanent-Magnet Synchronous Motors or Medium-Frequency Transformers are discussed, and a short overlook over actual field-oriented high-performance motor control systems - including a speed-sensorless variant - is given. Power electronics dominates the field of conversion of the 16.7-Hz railway supply power, typical for Central Europe, from the 50-Hz three-phase utility grid.

  3. A Polynomial Estimate of Railway Line Delay

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cerreto, Fabrizio; Harrod, Steven; Nielsen, Otto Anker

    2017-01-01

    Railway service may be measured by the aggregate delay over a time horizon or due to an event. Timetables for railway service may dampen aggregate delay by addition of additional process time, either supplement time or buffer time. The evaluation of these variables has previously been performed...

  4. Developing noise control strategies for entire railway networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oertli, Jakob

    2006-06-01

    The EU Environmental Noise Directive (2002/49) requires member states to deliver noise maps to the commission by 2007 and action plans by 2008 both for agglomerations as well as for major roads, railways and airports. Noise mitigation projects resulting from action plans are usually very expensive and therefore may threaten the economic viability of the railways in the current harsh competitive transport market, thus hindering sustainable transport policies. It is therefore of vital interest that the action plans and the resulting projects are designed in the most cost-effective way possible. The EU and Union of Railways (UIC) sponsored project Strategies and Tools to Assess and Implement noise Reducing measures for Railway Systems (STAIRRS) recognized this need and developed a tool, with which such optimal solutions can be obtained for entire railway networks. Since data collection is the most expensive part of the analysis, noise mapping data is ideally collected in such a way that it can be used for the calculation of the different scenarios, from which the most cost-effective action plans are chosen. The paper shows how the STAIRRS tool is used for this purpose and how cost-effectiveness considerations have led to optimal railway noise mitigation strategies in Switzerland and have given a basis for noise related decision making in Luxembourg.

  5. Acoustic energy propagation around railways

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cizkova, Petra

    2017-09-01

    The article deals with the issues of acoustic energy propagation around railways. The research subject was noise emission spreading into the surroundings during the passage of trains over a directly travelled steel bridge construction. Noise emissions were measured using direct measurements in the field. The measurements were performed in two measurement profiles. The noise exposures A LAE measured near the steel bridge construction were compared against the noise exposures A LAE captured on an open track. From the difference of these data, the noise level of the steel bridge structure was determined. Part of the research was to evaluate the effect of the reconstruction of the railway track superstructure on the acoustic situation in the given section of the railway track. The article describes the methodology of measurements, including the processing and evaluation of measured data. The article points out the noise levels of the steel bridge construction and assesses changes in the acoustic situation after the reconstruction.

  6. Routing trains through railway junctions: A new set-packing approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lusby, Richard Martin; Larsen, Jesper; Ryan, David

    2011-01-01

    The problem of routing trains through railway junctions is an integral part of railway operations. Large junctions are highly interconnected networks of track where multiple railway lines merge, intersect, and split. The number of possible routings makes this a very complicated problem. We show h...

  7. THE RAILWAYS THE

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Sout'h Africa's armed forces were small, and their material resources ... scheme, contingency planning proceeded. On the outbreak of ... hannesburg); a Railway Operating Company; a Mechanical .... ded his verdict that from the points of view.

  8. A tutorial on fundamental model structures for railway timetable optimization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Harrod, Steven

    2012-01-01

    This guide explains the role of railway timetables relative to all other railway scheduling activities, and then presents four fundamental timetable formulations suitable for optimization. Timetabling models may be classified according to whether they explicitly model the track structure, and whe......This guide explains the role of railway timetables relative to all other railway scheduling activities, and then presents four fundamental timetable formulations suitable for optimization. Timetabling models may be classified according to whether they explicitly model the track structure...

  9. Reliability analysis of maintenance operations for railway tracks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rhayma, N.; Bressolette, Ph.; Breul, P.; Fogli, M.; Saussine, G.

    2013-01-01

    Railway engineering is confronted with problems due to degradation of the railway network that requires important and costly maintenance work. However, because of the lack of knowledge on the geometrical and mechanical parameters of the track, it is difficult to optimize the maintenance management. In this context, this paper presents a new methodology to analyze the behavior of railway tracks. It combines new diagnostic devices which permit to obtain an important amount of data and thus to make statistics on the geometric and mechanical parameters and a non-intrusive stochastic approach which can be coupled with any mechanical model. Numerical results show the possibilities of this methodology for reliability analysis of different maintenance operations. In the future this approach will give important informations to railway managers to optimize maintenance operations using a reliability analysis

  10. Vegetation attached to the elephant trunk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanaka, Akiko; Sakamoto, Toshihito; Okada, Kenji; Okita, Yutaka

    2013-09-01

    The elephant trunk technique is used as a standard method in the approach to staged repair of extensive thoracic aneurysms. Here, we present a rare case of a graft infection, in which vegetation was attached to the distal end of the elephant trunk. A 36-year old male who had undergone total arch replacement with elephant trunk installation for type A aortic dissection was readmitted for high-grade fever. At the time of admission, Osler's nodules were present and brain magnetic resonance imaging showed multiple small emboli and haemorrhages. Transoesophageal echocardiography could not locate any sign of infection within the cardiac chambers, but disclosed vegetation attached to the elephant trunk. He underwent successful emergent graft replacement of the lesion, and no recurrence of the infection has been observed.

  11. Age-related reduction of trunk muscle torque and prevalence of trunk sarcopenia in community-dwelling elderly: Validity of a portable trunk muscle torque measurement instrument and its application to a large sample cohort study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eiji Sasaki

    Full Text Available Trunk muscle weakness and imbalance are risk factors for postural instability, low back pain, and poor postoperative outcomes. The association between trunk muscle strength and aging is poorly understood, and establishing normal reference values is difficult. We aimed to establish the validity of a novel portable trunk muscle torque measurement instrument (PTMI. We then estimated reference data for healthy young adults and elucidated age-related weakness in trunk muscle strength. Twenty-four university students were enrolled to validate values for PTMI, and 816 volunteers from the general population who were recruited to the Iwaki Health Promotion Project were included to estimate reference data for trunk muscle strength. Trunk flexion and extension torque were measured with PTMI and KinCom, and interclass correlation coefficients (ICC were estimated to evaluate the reliability of PTMI values. Furthermore, from the young adult reference, the age-related reduction in trunk muscle torque and the prevalence of sarcopenia among age-sex groups were estimated. The ICC in flexion and extension torque were 0.807 (p<0.001 and 0.789 (p<0.001, respectively. The prevalence of sarcopenia increased with age, and the prevalence due to flexion torque was double that of extension torque. Flexion torque decreased significantly after 60 years of age, and extension torque decreased after 70 years of age. In males over age 80, trunk muscle torque decreased to 49.1% in flexion and 63.5% in extension. In females over age 80, trunk muscle torque decreased to 60.7% in flexion and 68.4% in extension. The validity of PTMI was confirmed by correlation with KinCom. PTMI produced reference data for healthy young adults, and demonstrated age-related reduction in trunk muscle torque. Trunk sarcopenia progressed with aging, and the loss of flexion torque began earlier than extension torque. At age 80, trunk muscle torque had decreased 60% compared with healthy young adults.

  12. Trunk biomechanics during hemiplegic gait after stroke: A systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Criekinge, Tamaya; Saeys, Wim; Hallemans, Ann; Velghe, Silke; Viskens, Pieter-Jan; Vereeck, Luc; De Hertogh, Willem; Truijen, Steven

    2017-05-01

    Stroke commonly results in trunk impairments that are associated with decreased trunk coordination and limited trunk muscle strength. These impairments often result in biomechanical changes during walking. Additionally, the so-called pelvic step might be influenced by these impairments. Therefore, the aim of this review was twofold. First, to gain more insight into trunk biomechanics during walking in stroke patients compared to healthy individuals. Second, to investigate the influence of walking speed on trunk biomechanics. The search strategy was performed by the PRISMA guidelines and registered in the PROSPERO database (no. CRD42016035797). Databases MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, and Rehabdata were systematically searched until December 2016. Sixteen of the 1099 studies met the eligibility criteria and were included in this review. Risk of bias was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The majority of studies reported on trunk kinematics during walking, data on trunk kinetics and muscle activity is lacking. Following stroke, patients walk with increased mediolateral trunk sway and larger sagittal motion of the lower trunk. Although rotation of the upper trunk is increased, the trunk shows a more in-phase coordination. Acceleration of the trunk diminishes while instability and asymmetry increase as there are less movement towards the paretic side. However, it is of great importance to differentiate between compensatory trunk movements and intrinsic trunk control deficits. Specific exercise programs, assistive devices and orthoses might be of help in controlling these deficits. Importantly, studies suggested that more natural trunk movements were observed when walking speed was increased. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Maintenance management of railway infrastructures based on reliability analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Macchi, Marco; Garetti, Marco; Centrone, Domenico; Fumagalli, Luca; Piero Pavirani, Gian

    2012-01-01

    Railway infrastructure maintenance plays a crucial role for rail transport. It aims at guaranteeing safety of operations and availability of railway tracks and related equipment for traffic regulation. Moreover, it is one major cost for rail transport operations. Thus, the increased competition in traffic market is asking for maintenance improvement, aiming at the reduction of maintenance expenditures while keeping the safety of operations. This issue is addressed by the methodology presented in the paper. The first step of the methodology consists of a family-based approach for the equipment reliability analysis; its purpose is the identification of families of railway items which can be given the same reliability targets. The second step builds the reliability model of the railway system for identifying the most critical items, given a required service level for the transportation system. The two methods have been implemented and tested in practical case studies, in the context of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, the Italian public limited company for railway transportation.

  14. Integrity Evaluation of Railway Bogie Using Infrared Thermography Technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jeong Guk

    2011-01-01

    The lock-in thermography was employed to evaluate the integrity of railway bogies. Prior to the actual application on railway bogies, in order to assess the detectability of known flaws, the calibration reference panel was prepared with various dimensions of artificial flaws. The panel was composed of structural steel, which was the same material with actual bogies. Through lock-in thermography evaluation, the optimal frequency of heat source was determined for the best flaw detection. Based on the defects information, the actual defect assessments on railway bogie were conducted with different types of railway bogies, which were used for the current operation. In summary, the defect assessment results with thermography method showed a good agreement as compared with the conventional inspection techniques. Moreover, it was found that the novel infrared thermography technique could be an effective way for the inspection and the detection of surface defects on bogies since the infrared thermography method provided rapid and non-contact mode for the investigation of railway bogies

  15. Innovative Railway Stations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rzepnicka, Sylwia; Załuski, Daniel

    2017-10-01

    In relation to modern demographic trends, evolving technologies and environment-friendly solutions increases the potential of rail considered as sustainable form of public transport. Contemporary tendencies of designing railway stations in Europe are focused on lowering energy consumption and reducing carbon emission. The main goal of the designers is to create a friendly and intuitive space for its users and at the same time a building that uses renewable energy sources and minimizes negative impact on the environment by the increase of biologically active areas, reuse of rainwater and greywater, innovative heating and cooling solutions and reduction of energy losses. The optimisation of a life circle in railway architecture introduces new approach to passenger service. Examples mentioned in the content of this article help to synthesize changes in approach to the design within the context of sustainability.

  16. Effect of Different Structure Type Traffic On Railway Line Capacity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gleba Radosław

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The article points to methods of analyzing railway traffic conditions based on two parameters: capacity and delay of trains. The impact of the differentiated railway type structure on the capacity of the railway line was presented. Particular attention has been paid to the assessment of commonly used simplifications in analyzes.

  17. Comparison of Annoyance from Railway Noise and Railway Vibration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ögren, Mikael; Gidlöf-Gunnarsson, Anita; Smith, Michael; Gustavsson, Sara; Persson Waye, Kerstin

    2017-07-19

    The aim of this study is to compare vibration exposure to noise exposure from railway traffic in terms of equal annoyance, i.e., to determine when a certain noise level is equally annoying as a corresponding vibration velocity. Based on questionnaire data from the Train Vibration and Noise Effects (TVANE) research project from residential areas exposed to railway noise and vibration, the dose response relationship for annoyance was estimated. By comparing the relationships between exposure and annoyance for areas both with and without significant vibration exposure, the noise levels and vibration velocities that had an equal probability of causing annoyance was determined using logistic regression. The comparison gives a continuous mapping between vibration velocity in the ground and a corresponding noise level at the facade that are equally annoying. For equivalent noise level at the facade compared to maximum weighted vibration velocity in the ground the probability of annoyance is approximately 20% for 59 dB or 0.48 mm/s, and about 40% for 63 dB or 0.98 mm/s.

  18. Estimating national exhaust emissions from railway vehicles in Turkey

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dincer, Faruk; Elbir, Tolga

    2007-01-01

    The estimated exhaust emissions from railway vehicles in Turkey were presented. The emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO x ), hydrocarbon compounds (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from the diesel locomotives and railcars were calculated using the railway traffic data recorded by Turkish State Railways (TSR) for the period of 2000-2005. EPA emission factors were used for different vehicle types and operation modes such as shunting and line-hauling. Total emissions from railway vehicles in Turkey were estimated as 384 t y - 1 for HC, 1016 t y - 1 for CO, 6799 t y - 1 for NO X , 256 t y - 1 for PM, 357 t y - 1 for SO 2 and 383 537 t y - 1 for CO 2 for the year 2005. The distribution of emissions with respect to type of railway vehicles shows that the mainline locomotives contribute ∝ 91% to the total emissions. The increases of 22%, 39% and 49% in the current numbers of mainline locomotives, shunting locomotives and diesel railcars, respectively corresponding to the full capacity of railway network in Turkey will increase the annual emissions to 431 t y - 1 for HC, 1121 t y - 1 for CO, 7399 t y - 1 for NO X , 342 t y - 1 for PM, 552 t y - 1 for SO 2 and 420 256 t y - 1 for CO 2 . Total railway emissions constitute 0.15%, 0.08% and 4.21% of total Turkish traffic emissions for HC, CO and NO X , respectively. (author)

  19. Aprovechamiento de Salto Grande Argentina – Uruguay

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bongiovanni, M.

    1979-12-01

    Full Text Available The power harnessing of Salto Grande will be the first common project carried out by two South American Countries and this will foster greater integration of both countries. The project involves the following: — One 39 m-high dam — Two hydroelectric power plants — One international bridge — One shipping canal The benefits to be obtained from the project include: increase and improvement of the waterway network; increase of electricity production; railways and highway tie-ups between both countries; industrial development; increased availability of irrigation water; new tourist resorts; increase of fishing resources.

    El aprovechamiento hidroeléctrico de Salto Grande será el primer aprovechamiento común a dos países sudamericanos, lo que permitirá una mayor integración entre ellos. Consta de las siguientes obras: _ una presa de 39 m de altura; _ dos centrales hidroeléctricas; _ un puente internacional; _ un canal de navegación, etc. Entre los beneficios que se obtendrán destacan: aumento y mejora de la red de navegación; aumento de la producción eléctrica; enlace de las vías de ferrocarril y carreteras entre los dos países; desarrollo industrial; aumento de la disponibilidad de agua de riego; creación de zonas de turismo, e incremento de la riqueza piscícola.

  20. Opportunity to Save Historical Railway Infrastructure - Adaptation and Functional Conversion of Facilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Podwojewska, Magdalena

    2017-10-01

    After years of neglect and underinvestment, the Polish railways are now witnessing a rapid modernization of both their technical facilities and rolling stock. However, this is true only of the main railway lines connecting major urban complexes. It is worth pointing out that a great number of secondary lines, railway stations and halts still has not been covered by the transformation process. Railway facilities, warehouses and service features are in decay. Rapid technological developments have caused numerous architectural structures of historical interest and service features to fall out of use. There are historical railway facilities dating back to the late 19th or early 20th centuries, whose condition is constantly deteriorating. The only way to save these structures is to change the manner, in which they are being used, and attract new investors and operators. The adaptation of buildings may be carried out in a number of ways by following different strategies. The process depends on the structure’s current condition and significance for the railway network. The facilities which are disused as a result of technological changes in the rolling stock and infrastructure include workshops, steam locomotive bays, turntables and warehouses. Their size and location within a city make them a perfect place for commercial services, exhibitions, heritage sites, concerts and other events attracting great numbers of people. Other strategies may be used for constructions located next to railways lines, whose role has declined. Such constructions include small railway stations, warehouses, reloading and forwarding facilities, railway ramps, railway staff buildings as well as residences for railway employees. Railway stations located at large junctions can handle passenger traffic or freight loading operations. As well as acting as the only window to the world, railway stations in small towns housed all the services available in the place. At the same time, they served as

  1. Current and future flood risk to railway infrastructure in Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bubeck, Philip; Kellermann, Patric; Alfieri, Lorenzo; Feyen, Luc; Dillenardt, Lisa; Thieken, Annegret H.

    2017-04-01

    Railway infrastructure plays an important role in the transportation of freight and passengers across the European Union. According to Eurostat, more than four billion passenger-kilometres were travelled on national and international railway lines of the EU28 in 2014. To further strengthen transport infrastructure in Europe, the European Commission will invest another € 24.05 billion in the transnational transport network until 2020 as part of its new transport infrastructure policy (TEN-T), including railway infrastructure. Floods pose a significant risk to infrastructure elements. Damage data of recent flood events in Europe show that infrastructure losses can make up a considerable share of overall losses. For example, damage to state and municipal infrastructure in the federal state of Saxony (Germany) accounted for nearly 60% of overall losses during the large-scale event in June 2013. Especially in mountainous areas with little usable space available, roads and railway lines often follow floodplains or are located along steep and unsteady slopes. In Austria, for instance, the flood of 2013 caused € 75 million of direct damage to railway infrastructure. Despite the importance of railway infrastructure and its exposure to flooding, assessments of potential damage and risk (i.e. probability * damage) are still in its infancy compared with other sectors, such as the residential or industrial sector. Infrastructure-specific assessments at the regional scale are largely lacking. Regional assessment of potential damage to railway infrastructure has been hampered by a lack of infrastructure-specific damage models and data availability. The few available regional approaches have used damage models that assess damage to various infrastructure elements (e.g. roads, railway, airports and harbours) using one aggregated damage function and cost estimate. Moreover, infrastructure elements are often considerably underrepresented in regional land cover data, such as

  2. Synergies of the Liberalization of the Railway Transport Market

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Panák Michal

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The liberalization of transport market brings various effects, which in the context of the assessment of synergies can affect in different ways the company, a customer as such, and transport undertakings operating on the railway transport market as well. This paper provides an innovative perspective on the relationship between liberalization and synergy, defining new types of synergies that have not yet been monitored in the conditions of railway transport. This approach is interesting because of the possibility of assessing the operation of railway undertakings in the open transport market. The eminent is characteristic of integration type synergies and emergence type synergies in relation to railway transport, as well as the breakdown of synergies in relation to the customer and carrier.

  3. The Spontaneous Combustion of Railway Ties and Asphalt Shingles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leslie, Geoffrey

    Many Low Carbon Fuels (LCFs) present unknown spontaneous combustion risks, which must be quantified before their use as fossil fuel replacements. Wood and coal spontaneous combustion is well understood; however, LCFs weather, and subsequent chemical changes could affect their spontaneous combustion properties. LCF spontaneous combustion could lead to accidental fires with possible loss of life, limb and property. The spontaneous combustion risks of two LCFs, discarded creosote-treated wooden railway ties and roofing asphalt shingles, were investigated with calorimetry and heat transfer experiments. Chemical changes due to weathering were studied with pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (py-GC/MS). Creosote-treated wooden railway tie dust, roofing asphalt shingle particles, poplar wood pellets, and petroleum coke self-heating were studied with isothermal calorimetry. Railway tie dust and asphalt shingle heat transfer were characterized with a guarded hot plate. Petroleum coke self-heating was consistent with coal, while both poplar pellets and railway tie dust were found to be more reactive compared to oven test results of similar materials. The observed increase in reactivity was probably a result of significant moisture contenint in the pellet and railway tie dust. Critical conditions for spontaneous combustion were evaluated with the Frank-Kamenetskii parameter, assuming an ambient temperature of 40°C and constant moisture content. Kamenetskii calculations indicate that a 1.6 m cube of railway tie dust, or a 58 m cube of asphalt particles, would be unstable and combust. LCF chemistry may have been affected by weathering, which would cause chemical changes that affect their spontaneous combustion properties. Therefore, railway tie wood and roofing asphalt shingle chemistry were investigated by identifying products of 250° and 550°C pyrolysis with py-GC/MS. Railway tie wood pyrolyzates did not show signs of weathering; in contrast, asphalt pyrolysis

  4. Mine railway equipments management information system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, X.; Han, K.; Duan, T.; Liu, Z.; Lu, H. [China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou (China)

    2007-06-15

    Based on client/server and browser/server models, the management information system described realized the entire life-cycle management of mine railway equipment which included universal equipment and special equipment in the locomotive depot, track maintenance division, electrical depot and car depot. The system has other online functions such as transmitting reports, graphics management, statistics, searches, graphics wizard and web propaganda. It was applied in Pingdingshan Coal Co. Ltd.'s Railway Transport Department. 5 refs., 4 figs.

  5. Analyzing the causation of a railway accident based on a complex network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Xin; Li, Ke-Ping; Luo, Zi-Yan; Zhou, Jin

    2014-02-01

    In this paper, a new model is constructed for the causation analysis of railway accident based on the complex network theory. In the model, the nodes are defined as various manifest or latent accident causal factors. By employing the complex network theory, especially its statistical indicators, the railway accident as well as its key causations can be analyzed from the overall perspective. As a case, the “7.23” China—Yongwen railway accident is illustrated based on this model. The results show that the inspection of signals and the checking of line conditions before trains run played an important role in this railway accident. In conclusion, the constructed model gives a theoretical clue for railway accident prediction and, hence, greatly reduces the occurrence of railway accidents.

  6. Alignment analysis of urban railways based on passenger travel demand

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Jonas Lohmann Elkjær; Landex, Alex

    2010-01-01

    Planning of urban railways like Metro and especially Light Rail Transit often result in multiple alignment alternatives from where it can be difficult to select the best one. Travel demand is a good foundation for evaluating a railway alignment for its ability to attract passengers. Therefore...... and can be applied as decision support in different stages of the urban railway alignment planning....

  7. Seismic Performance of Multi-Span RC Railway Bridges

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Georgakis, Christos; Barrau, Xavier

    2008-01-01

    Presently, there is no clear method for determining the optimal railway bridge design for a particular ground type and expected seismic intensity. Four main types of RC bridge dominate the current multi-span railway bridge design trends – the Simply Supported Beam, Continuous Box-Girder (CBG), CBG...

  8. Railway Endowment in Italy’s Provinces, 1839-1913

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Groote, Peter D.; Ciccarelli, Carlo

    This paper presents new annual estimates of railway extension in Italian provinces at 1913 borders for the period 1839-1913. The main operator of the Italian railway network (Ferrovie dello Stato) published in 1911 a unique set of homogeneous historical five year maps illustrating the routes of

  9. Trunk Flexibility Improvement in Response to Powered Assisted Exercise

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B.S. Bains

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Background study: Flexibility in human spine has always plays an important role in dexterity and seamless ambulatory activities. When optimum range is not maintained by the trunk column, due to lack of flexibility, the posture gets affected resulting in reduce trunk rotation flexibility and mobility hence loss of complete trunk rotation. Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of Shapemaster Power Assisted Exercise Equipment (SPAEE on trunk flexibility. Methodology: Twenty healthy individual ages between 40 to 60 years were randomly divided into control and exercise groups. Shapemaster exercise program performed two times per week for 5 weeks and 45 minutes per session. Before and after 10 sessions of Shapemaster exercise protocol, Seated trunk rotation test was used to measure trunk flexibility. Results: Repeated measurement ANOVA were used to analysis data between groups. The results of this study illustrated that after 10th sessions trunk flexibility significantly improved (F (1.0, 18 = 11.732, p < 0.003. Conclusion: In conclusion results were determined that SPAEE is safe and it did effectively enhance flexibility among individual healthy adults. Keyword: Shapemaster Power Assisted Exercise Equipment (SPAEE, Trunk Flexibility, Healthy individual

  10. The empty wagons adjustment algorithm of Chinese heavy-haul railway

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Jinchuan; Yang, Hao; Wei, Yuguang; Shang, Pan

    2016-01-01

    The paper studied the problem of empty wagons adjustment of Chinese heavy-haul railway. Firstly, based on the existing study of the empty wagons adjustment of heavy-haul railway in the world, Chinese heavy-haul railway was analyzed, especially the mode of transportation organization and characteristics of empty wagons adjustment. Secondly, the optimization model was set up to solve the empty wagons adjustment of heavy-haul railway and the model took the minimum idling period as the function goal. Finally, through application and solution of one case, validity and practicability of model and algorithm had been proved. So, the model could offer decision support to transport enterprises on adjusting empty wagons.

  11. PERSPECTIVES OF UKRAINIAN RAILWAY TOURISM DEVELOPMENT ON NARROW-GAUGE LINES OF ZAKARPATTIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. G. Kuznetsov

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Purpose.The purpose of the paper is: (1 the definition of perspectives development of Ukrainian railway tourism on the narrow gauge lines of Zakarpattia; 2 technical condition analysis of Borzhava narrow gauge railway for the project to restore the effective functioning of mountain railways track, width 750 mm in the Carpathian region, with the possibility of their accession to the distributed travel network; 3 the study of the modern state and tendencies of development of tourist industry of Ukraine and the passenger economy of national railways; 4 clarification of the role and place of the railway tourism in the transportation system. Methodology. The expert group has carried out field inspections and field investigations of facilities track facilities and passenger infrastructure, rolling stock and ancillary industries involved in the functioning narrow-gauge railway. It was estimated the overall technical condition of the railway track and engineering structures section of narrow-gauge Railways in the Carpathian region. Findings. In the framework of on-site examinations of the expert group found that the objects of tracks, passenger and freight infrastructure, rolling stock and ancillary industries involved in the operation of narrow-gauge Railways are in poor condition and require significant updates and major repairs. But the routes of passenger trains remain fit for participation in the project of development of railway tourism of Ukraine Originality. For the first time the state of the narrow-gauge railway for further implementation of the project on the development of rail tourism in Ukraine was realized. The analysis of foreign experience of organization of railway tourism has been carried out. The modern state and tendencies of development of tourist industry of Ukraine was studied, the factors of competitiveness of rail transport for providing tourist transport in Ukraine were identified and systematized.Practical value. The recovery

  12. Causal Analysis of Railway Running Delays

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cerreto, Fabrizio; Nielsen, Otto Anker; Harrod, Steven

    Operating delays and network propagation are inherent characteristics of railway operations. These are traditionally reduced by provision of time supplements or “slack” in railway timetables and operating plans. Supplement allocation policies must trade off reliability in the service commitments...... Denmark (the Danish infrastructure manager). The statistical analysis of the data identifies the minimum running times and the scheduled running time supplements and investigates the evolution of train delays along given train paths. An improved allocation of time supplements would result in smaller...

  13. Performance of LTE in High Speed Railway Scenarios

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sniady, Aleksander; Soler, José

    2013-01-01

    GSM-Railways (GSM-R) is an obsolete mobile technology with a number of shortcomings in terms of capacity and capability. These shortcomings become a major issue for railways as GSM-R may limit the number of running trains in some areas and it cannot support advanced data services. Hence...

  14. In search of a railway Europe : transnational railway developments in interwar Europe

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Anastasiadou, E.

    2009-01-01

    Most conventional histories that address the creation and development of railway networks start from national developments. Recent scholarship on this topic, however, has stressed the importance of formulating a transnational perspective on technological developments and infrastructural developments

  15. Subcontracting Railway Maintenance

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thommesen, Jacob

    2010-01-01

    railway infrastructure manager (InfraMan), whichis subcontracting maintenance tasks to other companies. InfraMan has implemented various central elements in managing their subcontractors. The latter are required to present a safety plan as part of their bid, they must be approved if they are to be awarded...

  16. NEW POSSIBILITIES OF RAILWAY TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lionginas LIUDVINAVIČIUS

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This article analyses the train traffic control systems in 1435 mm and 1520 mm gauge railways. The article analyses the aspects of train traffic control and locomotive energy saving by using the coordinates of track profile change that have been received from GPS. In the article, achievements of Lithuanian railways (LG in the area of train traffic control optimisation are presented.

  17. Develop railway engineering modules in UTK civil engineering undergraduate and graduate courses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-05-31

    The importance of railway transport has long been recognized. However, no railway : engineering courses have been provided in the UTK civil engineering curricula. The : objective of this education project is to develop some railway engineering module...

  18. Auction pricing of network access for North American railways

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Harrod, Steven

    2013-01-01

    The question of pricing train paths for "open access" railway networks in North America is discussed. An auction process is suggested as necessary to maintain transparency in the contracting process. Multiple random samples of auction pricing for a single track railway line demonstrate...... that the infrastructure entity will receive approximately 15.6% less than the true value of the contracted train paths. This loss of revenue threatens the objective of reducing government subsidy for the railway network. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved....

  19. Dynamic Response of Railway Bridges Subjected to Passing Vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moravčík Milan

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses some issues related to dynamic effects in railway bridges focussed on the dynamic behaviour of the small and medium span simply supported railway bridges subjected to a series of moving vehicle. Presented parametric study is focused on the dynamic deflection of the simply supported railway bridge of the span Lb = 38 m, due to the series moving loads representing a conventional train with the IC-coaches, with the impact to the speed up to 160 km/h applied in Slovakia.

  20. ECONOMIC EFFECT OF INTRODUCTION OF MODULAR TECHNOLOGY IN RAILWAY INDUSTRY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Artem Bilous

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the paper is to explore the current state of the railway engineering industry in the world, the problems of its development prospects, especially the introduction of the modular process technology and economic impact of its introduction. Methodology. The research is based on statistical information from public sources, which is used to confirm the veracity of the thesis put forward about the feasibility of further implementation of the principle of modularity in the railway engineering sector. Data was also obtained from the websites of manufacturers of railway equipment. Also, in the study of the issue, analytical articles on the economic development of the sector of railway engineering in the world were used. Results of the research showed that today, in transport engineering industry, in particular – in the railway engineering, there is a problem of inefficient implementation and use of technological developments, which are used in the manufacture of railway rolling stock. Many technical solutions are duplicated, leading to more time and financial costs. At the same time, there is no free access to information about existing technical solutions, which significantly slows down the development of rail transport. One of the main solutions to the problem is the use of modular technology in the design and manufacture of rolling stock. Leading global manufacturers have already begun to use the modules in the production of their rolling stock, but the technology is not yet sufficiently developed and finds its realization only in reducing the costs of production of rolling stock by specific manufacturers. The full benefits of the new technology have not yet been obtained by producers and operators. Thus, there is a considerable margin for the implementation of modular technology in the production of railway vehicles, which will result in further reducing both production costs and the costs of maintenance, operation and repair of

  1. Arthropods vector grapevine trunk disease pathogens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moyo, P; Allsopp, E; Roets, F; Mostert, L; Halleen, F

    2014-10-01

    Arthropod-mediated dispersal of pathogens is known in many cropping systems but has never been demonstrated for grapevine trunk disease pathogens. Arthropods from vineyards were screened for the presence of pathogens associated with Petri disease and esca using cultural and molecular techniques. The ability of the most abundant pathogen-carrying species to inoculate healthy grapevine vascular tissues was also determined. Millipedes and ants were allowed to associate with a DsRed- Express-transformed Phaeomoniella chlamydospora, after which they were exposed to freshly pruned healthy grapevines under controlled conditions and wounds were monitored for subsequent infection. In addition, the possibility of millipede excreta, commonly found on pruning wounds in the field, to act as inoculum source was determined. A diverse arthropod fauna was associated with declining grapevines and many of these carried trunk disease pathogens. However, spiders, the ant Crematogaster peringueyi, and the millipede Ommattoiulus moreleti were the most abundant pathogen carriers. The ant and millipede species fed on pruning wound sap and effectively transmitted trunk disease pathogens. Millipede excreta contained viable spores of Phaeomoniella chlamydospora and may serve as an inoculum source. Numerous arthropods, including beneficial predators, are potential vectors of grapevine trunk disease pathogens. Our results highlight the need for an integrated approach, including targeted management of ants and millipedes at the time of pruning, to limit the spread of grapevine trunk diseases.

  2. Research on the Special Railway Intelligence Transportation Hierarchy and System Integration Methodology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meng-Jie WANG

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Following the rapid development of information technology in the field of railway transportation, the problems of establishing a digital, integrated and intelligent special railway system need to be solved immediately. This paper designs and implements the intelligent transportation information system based on the unique pattern of transportation organization, the characteristics of transportation operations and the workflow of special railway. Through the detailed analysis of system architecture and framework design, the main subsystems and the internal comprehensive integrated principle, business system from a system integration perspective of the special railway is optimized, which can be able to realize the integration of all kinds of information resources. The implementation of integration and the special railway intelligent system is a great change in terms of maximizing transportation capacity, improving efficiency and guaranteeing the safety of special railway transportation.

  3. Analyzing the causation of a railway accident based on a complex network

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma Xin; Li Ke-Ping; Luo Zi-Yan; Zhou Jin

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, a new model is constructed for the causation analysis of railway accident based on the complex network theory. In the model, the nodes are defined as various manifest or latent accident causal factors. By employing the complex network theory, especially its statistical indicators, the railway accident as well as its key causations can be analyzed from the overall perspective. As a case, the “7.23” China—Yongwen railway accident is illustrated based on this model. The results show that the inspection of signals and the checking of line conditions before trains run played an important role in this railway accident. In conclusion, the constructed model gives a theoretical clue for railway accident prediction and, hence, greatly reduces the occurrence of railway accidents. (interdisciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

  4. Railway clearance intrusion detection method with binocular stereo vision

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Xingfang; Guo, Baoqing; Wei, Wei

    2018-03-01

    In the stage of railway construction and operation, objects intruding railway clearance greatly threaten the safety of railway operation. Real-time intrusion detection is of great importance. For the shortcomings of depth insensitive and shadow interference of single image method, an intrusion detection method with binocular stereo vision is proposed to reconstruct the 3D scene for locating the objects and judging clearance intrusion. The binocular cameras are calibrated with Zhang Zhengyou's method. In order to improve the 3D reconstruction speed, a suspicious region is firstly determined by background difference method of a single camera's image sequences. The image rectification, stereo matching and 3D reconstruction process are only executed when there is a suspicious region. A transformation matrix from Camera Coordinate System(CCS) to Track Coordinate System(TCS) is computed with gauge constant and used to transfer the 3D point clouds into the TCS, then the 3D point clouds are used to calculate the object position and intrusion in TCS. The experiments in railway scene show that the position precision is better than 10mm. It is an effective way for clearance intrusion detection and can satisfy the requirement of railway application.

  5. Storage Space Allocation of Inbound Container in Railway Container Terminal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Wang

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Efficient storage strategy of railway container terminals is important in balancing resource utilization, reducing waiting time, and improving handling efficiency. In this paper, we consider the formulation and solution algorithm for storage space allocation problem of inbound containers in railway container terminal. The problem is formulated as two-stage optimization models, whose objectives are balancing the workload of inbound containers and reducing the overlapping amounts. An algorithm implement process based on rolling horizon approach is designed to solve the proposed models. Computational experiments on an actual railway container terminal show that the proposed approach is effective to solve space allocation problem of inbound container and is significant for the operation and organization of railway container terminals.

  6. An Improved Walk Model for Train Movement on Railway Network

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Keping; Mao Bohua; Gao Ziyou

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, we propose an improved walk model for simulating the train movement on railway network. In the proposed method, walkers represent trains. The improved walk model is a kind of the network-based simulation analysis model. Using some management rules for walker movement, walker can dynamically determine its departure and arrival times at stations. In order to test the proposed method, we simulate the train movement on a part of railway network. The numerical simulation and analytical results demonstrate that the improved model is an effective tool for simulating the train movement on railway network. Moreover, it can well capture the characteristic behaviors of train scheduling in railway traffic. (general)

  7. DOMAINS OF RAILWAY TRAFFIC IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC, WHICH NEED THE SAFETY IMPROVEMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dana Procházková

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The paper analyses the railway accidents sources in the Czech Republic on the basis of knowledge on complex system behaviour. It derives seven categories of sources of railway accidents. The individual categories include the accident sources from the same field domain. These domains are: technical related to rail traffic vehicles; technical related to rail infrastructure and railway station; railway operation control – organizational causes; railway operation control – cyber causes; control of rail traffic vehicles; attack on the train; domain legislative and other. The results show that for railway traffic safety improvement, it is necessary to pay attention to all categories, and especially to these that lead to organizational accidents origination.

  8. Application of lap laser welding technology on stainless steel railway vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Hongxiao; Wang, Chunsheng; He, Guangzhong; Li, Wei; Liu, Liguo

    2016-10-01

    Stainless steel railway vehicles with so many advantages, such as lightweight, antirust, low cost of maintenance and simple manufacturing process, so the production of high level stainless steel railway vehicles has become the development strategy of European, American and other developed nations. The current stainless steel railway vehicles body and structure are usually assembled by resistance spot welding process. The weak points of this process are the poor surface quality and bad airtight due to the pressure of electrodes. In this study, the partial penetration lap laser welding process was investigated to resolve the problems, by controlling the laser to stop at the second plate in the appropriate penetration. The lap laser welding joint of stainless steel railway vehicle car body with partial penetration has higher strength and surface quality than those of resistance spot welding joint. The biggest problem of lap laser welding technology is to find the balance of the strength and surface quality with different penetrations. The mechanism of overlap laser welding of stainless steel, mechanical tests, microstructure analysis, the optimization of welding parameters, analysis of fatigue performance, the design of laser welding stainless steel railway vehicles structure and the development of non-destructive testing technology were systematically studied before lap laser welding process to be applied in manufacture of railway vehicles. The results of the experiments and study show that high-quality surface state and higher fatigue strength can be achieved by the partial penetration overlap laser welding of the side panel structure, and the structure strength of the car body can be higher than the requirements of En12663, the standard of structural requirements of railway vehicles bodies. Our company has produced the stainless steel subway and high way railway vehicles by using overlap laser welding technology. The application of lap laser welding will be a big

  9. Development of the urban space surrounding selected railway stations in Poland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dragan Weronika

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available At present, many railway stations, in spite of being architecturally valuable, are subject to de-capitalization and degradation, which increasingly leads to demolition including elements or even entire railway stations of historical importance. Therefore, there arises a need to transform these facilities – as well as their nearby surroundings – into service areas not only for railway passengers but also for the consumer or tourist. This article presents an overview of the types of development of functional and spatial areas around a railway station, as well as the building itself, on selected examples in cities of Poland. In past historical periods, the surroundings of railway stations often became the new core of the studied centres, creating new urban structures. Train station forecourts, as well as access roads leading to railway stations, became specific links of railway infrastructure, the main points of which were railway stations, with the original urban layout. Unfortunately, the decline in the importance of rail transport has contributed to the recession and degradation of these spaces, and often to changes in their functions. This article refers to the concept of redevelopment of the railway station area, which emphasizes the creation of hubs integrating various modes of transport on the one hand, and transforming the area around the stations into an area of development of new business activities, on the other. Some of the discussed train stations have undergone a thorough renovation (e.g. Kraków Główny, Katowice and Poznań Główny, frequently in an attempt to allude to global trends in the commercialization of space and transport integration within station squares. However, this poses a problem and a challenge for decision-makers attempting to redevelop such facilities and the spaces associated with them.

  10. Railway capacity and expansion analysis using time discretized paths

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Reinhardt, Line Blander; Pisinger, David; Lusby, Richard Martin

    2017-01-01

    of railway freight transportation on a long term strategic level. The model uses an hourly time discretization and analyses the impact of railway network expansions based on future demand forecasts. It provides an optimal macroscopic freight train schedule and can indicate the time and place of any...... variable penalties for the different passenger busy time slots. As part of a European Union project, all models are applied to a realistic case study that focuses on analyzing the capacity of railway network, in Denmark and Southern Sweden using demand forecasts for 2030. Results suggest that informative...

  11. Research on Price of Railway Freight Based on Low-Carbon Economy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fenling Feng

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Transportation is one of the major energy consumption and carbon emission industries. Railway transport is a typical low-carbon transport. To accelerate the green low-carbon transportation development and improve the railway market share, this paper defines the concept of carbon saving profit to study the price of railway freight after the government functions were separated from railway enterprise management. First, taking full account of market factors and on the principle of utility maximization and maximum likelihood method, the sharing ratio model of transportation modes is established. Then consideration is given to both the profit of railway enterprises and social benefits, and income maximization model of railway freight based on low-carbon economy is established. The model can scientifically guide the transportation users who prefer to use resource-saving and environmental-friendly transportation modes, optimize transportation structure, and comprehensively improve the efficiency of transportation system. Finally, case analysis is conducted to verify the rationality and validity of the model, and reference for the rail freight pricing is provided.

  12. Studi Perencanaan Migrasi Sistem Digital Oleh Penyelenggara Radio Trunking di Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Awangga Febian Surya Admaja

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Sistem Radio Trunking merupakan sistem radio yang berbasis repeater untuk satu atau lebih menara dengan menggunakan lebih dari satu frekuensi, dimana pengguna secara semi-privat dapat memiliki kanal tersendiri untuk melakukan pembicaraan secara grup. Di Indonesia, alokasi pada pita frekuensi radio trunking analog direncanakan akan digunakan untuk trunking digital, dimana aplikasi sistem radio trunking  yang baru harus menggunakan teknologi trunking digital dan sistem analog yang ada disyaratkan untuk beralih ke teknologi digital. Studi ini bertujuan untuk melihat seberapa besar kesiapan dari penyelenggara radio trunking di Indonesia dalam melakukan migrasi radio trunking digital. Studi ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif melalui wawancara mendalam dan didukung dengan data kuantitatif untuk menunjukkan nilai indeks kesiapan dari penyelenggara radio trunking. Studi ini menghasilkan nilai indeks kesiapan dari sampel penyelenggara radio trunking dengan skema perencanaan migrasi sesuai dengan nilai indeks kesiapan.

  13. Development of a Comprehensive Programme to Prevent and Reduce the Negative Impact of Railway Fatalities, Injuries and Close Calls on Railway Employees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bardon, Cécile; Mishara, Brian L

    2015-09-01

    This article presents a strategy to prevent trauma, support and care for railway personnel who experience critical incidents (CI) on the job, usually fatalities by accident or suicide. We reviewed all publications on CI management, support and care practices in the railway industry, as well as practices in place in Canada (unpublished protocols). Semi structured interviews were conducted with 40 train engineers and conductors involved in CIs and the content was coded and analysed quantitatively. Employees' satisfaction with the help received after the incident varies according to the behaviour of the local manager, company officers and police, the level of compliance with existing company protocols to help them, the presence of unmet expectations for support and care, their perceived competency of clinicians they consulted and the level of trust toward their employers. On the basis of the interview results, the review of existing railway practices and discussions with railway stakeholders, a model protocol was developed for a comprehensive workplace prevention, support and care protocol to reduce the negative impact of railway critical incidents on employees. This protocol includes preventive actions before traumatic events occur, immediate responses at the site of incident, interventions within the first few days after the incident and longer term support and interventions provided by the company and by outsourced experts.

  14. Disruption Management of Rolling Stock in Passenger Railway Transportation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    L.K. Nielsen (Lars Kjaer); G. Maróti (Gábor)

    2009-01-01

    textabstractThis paper deals with real-time disruption management of rolling stock in passenger railway transportation. We present a generic framework for modeling disruptions in railway rolling stock schedules. The framework is presented as an online combinatorial decision problem where the

  15. Efficient Development and Verification of Safe Railway Control Software

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haxthausen, Anne Elisabeth; Peleska, Jan

    2013-01-01

    the monitoring process; hydraulic absorbers as dampers to dissipate the energy of oscillations in railway electric equipment; development of train fare calculation and adjustment systems using VDM++; efficient development and verification of safe railway control software; and evolution of the connectivity...

  16. Passenger oriented railway disruption management by adapting timetables and rolling stock schedules

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Veelenturf, L.P.; Kroon, L.G.; Maróti, G.

    2017-01-01

    In passenger railway operations, unforeseen events require railway operators to adjust their timetable and their resource schedules. The passengers will also adapt their routes to their destinations. When determining the new timetable and rolling stock schedule, the railway operator has to take

  17. Electromagnetic compatibility in railways. Analysis and management

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ogunsola, Ade [Parsons Group International, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates); Mariscotti, Andrea [Genoa Univ. (Italy)

    2013-07-01

    Recent research on electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) applied to railway systems. Focuses on the principles and application of EMC concepts to railway signalling, communications, power/traction and rolling stocks. Written by leading experts in the field. A railway is a complex distributed engineering system: the construction of a new railway or the modernisation of a existing one requires a deep understanding of the constitutive components and their interaction, inside the system itself and towards the outside world. The former covers the various subsystems (featuring a complex mix of high power sources, sensitive safety critical systems, intentional transmitters, etc.) and their interaction, including the specific functions and their relevance to safety. The latter represents all the additional possible external victims and sources of electromagnetic interaction. EMC thus starts from a comprehension of the emissions and immunity characteristics and the interactions between sources and victims, with a strong relationship to electromagnetics and to system modeling. On the other hand, the said functions are achieved and preserved and their relevance for safety is adequately handled, if the related requirements are well posed and managed throughout the process from the beginning. The link is represented by standards and their correct application, as a support to analysis, testing and demonstration.

  18. Lateral dynamic features of a railway vehicle

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gao, Xue-jun; True, Hans; Li, Ying-hui

    2016-01-01

    The lateral dynamic features of a railway vehicle are investigated using two similar wheel/rail contact models: the Vermeulen-Johnson and the Shen-Hedrick-Elkins models. The symmetric/asymmetric bifurcation behaviour and chaotic motions of the railway vehicle are investigated in great detail......, resulting in problems for safe operation of the vehicle. Therefore, it should be avoided in everyday operation. Furthermore, the creation of multiple solution branches suggests that the critical speed of a vehicle should be determined from a comprehensive analysis of the various kinds of possible...... by varying the speed and using the resultant bifurcation diagram' method. It is found that multiple solution branches exist and they can lead to more steady states in the dynamic behaviour of the railway vehicle. The coexistence of multiple steady states can lead to jumps in the amplitude of oscillations...

  19. Composition and structure of the flora in intra-urban railway areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Małgorzta Wrzesień

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Railway areas are considered as large greenspaces and are recognized important in improving the biodiversity and dynamic of urban flora. In this study, we examined the flora composition and diversity along intra-city railway lines in Lublin, SE Poland and Lviv, W Ukraine. The flora has been analyzed in terms of species composition (multivariate ordination techniques, life span, life form, type of pollination mode, seed dispersal, life strategy sensu Grime, hemerophoby, urbanity degree, and in terms of habitat preferences using ecological indicator values. The multivariate analysis (CCA clearly revealed that abiotic factors (topographical, weather elements (annual precipitation and air temperature, and soil attributes (moisture, trophy, pH, salinity differed between two cities and impacted on the differences in railway flora composition. Plants growing on the intra-urban railway areas are mainly hemicryptophytes/perennials, C, CR, CRS-strategists, insect-, self-, or wind-pollinated, reproducing by seeds and mainly dispersed by wind. Intra-urban railway areas are predominated by native species, however the participation of invasive alien species is higher than their proportion in domestic floras. The share of invasive species is greater in railway areas of Lviv, ca. 12% (45 species compared to 8% in Lublin (36 species. Spontaneous flora in intra-urban railway areas represent distinct adaptations to unique urban-industrial ecosystems with different degree of anthropogenic disturbance.

  20. High speed railway track dynamics models, algorithms and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Lei, Xiaoyan

    2017-01-01

    This book systematically summarizes the latest research findings on high-speed railway track dynamics, made by the author and his research team over the past decade. It explores cutting-edge issues concerning the basic theory of high-speed railways, covering the dynamic theories, models, algorithms and engineering applications of the high-speed train and track coupling system. Presenting original concepts, systematic theories and advanced algorithms, the book places great emphasis on the precision and completeness of its content. The chapters are interrelated yet largely self-contained, allowing readers to either read through the book as a whole or focus on specific topics. It also combines theories with practice to effectively introduce readers to the latest research findings and developments in high-speed railway track dynamics. It offers a valuable resource for researchers, postgraduates and engineers in the fields of civil engineering, transportation, highway & railway engineering.

  1. Energy efficient solutions for the complete railway system; Energieeffiziente Loesungen fuer das Gesamtsystem Bahn

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Meinert, M.; Rechenberg, K.; Hein, G. [Siemens AG, Erlangen (Germany)

    2007-07-01

    Innovative technologies for the power supply of electric railway vehicles by stationary and mobile devices allow to operate the complete railway system in an energy efficient manner and therefore reduce the energy consumption considerably. So it is necessary to examine the power supply of the railway network as well as the railway vehicles and their own operational behaviour within the railway network. A complete tramway system was choosen as one example. (orig.)

  2. Digital Model of Railway Electric Traction Lines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garg, Rachana; Mahajan, Priya; Kumar, Parmod

    2017-08-01

    The characteristic impedance and propagation constant define the behavior of signal propagation over the transmission lines. The digital model for railway traction lines which includes railway tracks is developed, using curve fitting technique in MATLAB. The sensitivity of this model has been computed with respect to frequency. The digital sensitivity values are compared with the values of analog sensitivity. The developed model is useful for digital protection, integrated operation, control and planning of the system.

  3. Investigating High-Speed Railways In Terms Of The Economy For Our Country and The Region

    OpenAIRE

    Şahin, Onur; Altan, Mehmet Fatih

    2018-01-01

    High-speed railways have a history of more than 40 years. Railways continued to be popular especially in variousparts of Eastern Europe and Asia until the end of the 1980s. As of today, we can talk about a high-speed railway thatcontinues to develop in the continents of Africa, Asia and the Americas around the world. At this point, one of themost significant factors in railways, in particular high-speed railways, is planning. Planning determines the effect ofthe railway on the economy, as wel...

  4. Application of data clustering to railway delay pattern recognition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cerreto, Fabrizio; Nielsen, Bo Friis; Nielsen, Otto Anker

    2018-01-01

    K-means clustering is employed to identify recurrent delay patterns on a high traffic railway line north of Copenhagen, Denmark. The clusters identify behavioral patterns in the very large (“big data”) data sets generated automatically and continuously by the railway signal system. The results re...

  5. Railway track circuit fault diagnosis using recurrent neural networks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Bruin, T.D.; Verbert, K.A.J.; Babuska, R.

    2017-01-01

    Timely detection and identification of faults in railway track circuits are crucial for the safety and availability of railway networks. In this paper, the use of the long-short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network is proposed to accomplish these tasks based on the commonly available

  6. Improving Punctuality and Transfer Reliability by Railway Timetable Optimization

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goverde, R.M.P.

    1999-01-01

    The Dutch railway network is operated close to capacity with the current safety system. This leaves little space for control by process operators by which a delayed train can cause severe delay propagation. The NS currently invest a large amount in punctuality improvement of the railway operations.

  7. A Domain-Specific Language for Railway Interlocking Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vu, Linh Hong; Haxthausen, Anne Elisabeth; Peleska, Jan

    2014-01-01

    ). Furthermore, the paper describes an interlocking table generator (ITG) that generates automatically a well-formed interlocking table from a well-formed railway network layout. Experiments with the DSL and ITG using the RAISE tools and the C++ implementation show that the use of the DSL and ITG can increase...... the productivity and significantly reduce errors in the specifications of railway interlocking systems....

  8. Modeling track access charge to enhance railway industry performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berawi, Mohammed Ali; Miraj, Perdana; Berawi, Abdur Rohim Boy; Susantono, Bambang; Leviakangas, Pekka; Radiansyah, Hendra

    2017-11-01

    Indonesia attempts to improve nation's competitiveness by increasing the quality and the availability of railway network. However, the infrastructure improperly managed by the operator in terms of the technical issue. One of the reasons for this problem is an unbalanced value of infrastructure charge. In 2000's track access charge and infrastructure maintenance and operation for Indonesia railways are equal and despite current formula of the infrastructure charge, issues of transparency and accountability still in question. This research aims to produce an alternative scheme of track access charge by considering marginal cost plus markup (MC+) approach. The research combines qualitative and quantitative method through an in-depth interview and financial analysis. The result will generate alternative formula of infrastructure charge in Indonesia's railway industry. The simulation also conducted to estimate track access charge for the operator and to forecast government support in terms of subsidy. The result is expected to enhance railway industry performance and competitiveness.

  9. The liberalisation of the railways in Europe

    OpenAIRE

    Trampus, Francesca

    2000-01-01

    It is certainly high time to talk about policy for the railways not only in the Russian Federation but also in Europe, where the railways are vital part of the Community transport sector and need to be promoted and revitalized, especially considering the increasing air-traffic and railroad congestion, the environmental problems, the traffic noise, the accidents and the growing opposition to the unchecked development of the new road infrastructure. Railtrack’s business is supported by state-fu...

  10. 11th International Workshop on Railway Noise

    CERN Document Server

    Anderson, David; Gautier, Pierre-Etienne; Iida, Masanobu; Nelson, James; Thompson, David; Tielkes, Thorsten; Towers, David; Vos, Paul

    2015-01-01

    The book reports on the 11th International Workshop on Railway Noise, held on 9 – 13 September, 2013, in Uddevalla, Sweden. The event, which was jointly organized by the Competence Centre Chalmers Railway Mechanics (CHARMEC) and the Departments of Applied Mechanics and Applied Acoustics at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, covered a broad range of topics in the field of railway noise and vibration, including: prospects, legal regulations and perceptions; wheel and rail noise; prediction, measurements and monitoring; ground-borne vibration; squeal noise and structure-borne noise; and aerodynamic noise generated by high-speed trains. Further topics included: resilient track forms; grinding, corrugation and roughness; and interior noise and sound barriers. This book, which consists of a collection of peer-reviewed papers originally submitted to the workshop, not only provides readers with an overview of the latest developments in the field, but also offers scientists and engineers essent...

  11. Assemblages of saproxylic beetles on large downed trunks of oak.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milberg, Per; Bergman, Karl-Olof; Sancak, Kerem; Jansson, Nicklas

    2016-03-01

    Old living oaks (Quercus robur) are known as a very species-rich habitat for saproxylic beetles, but it is less clear to what extent such veteran trees differ from an even rarer feature: downed trunks of large oaks. In this study, we set out to sample this habitat, using window traps, with two aims: (1) to describe the variation of assemblages among downed trunks of different type and (2) to compare beetles on downed oaks with data from veteran standing trees. The results showed that trunk volume and sun exposure better explained assemblages as well as species numbers on downed trunks than did decay stage. Furthermore, species classified as facultative saproxylic species showed weak or no differentiation among downed trunks. Species with different feeding habits showed no apparent differentiation among downed trunks. Furthermore, species composition on dead, downed oak trunks differed sharply from that of living, veteran oaks. Wood or bark feeders were more common on veterans than downed trunks, but there was no difference for those species feeding on fungi or those feeding on insects and their remains. In conclusion, for a successful conservation of the saproxylic beetle fauna it is important to keep downed oak trunks, and particularly large ones, in forest and pastures as they constitute a saproxylic habitat that differs from that of living trees.

  12. Traffic control on a railway crossing with elements of utility theory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abramova L.S.

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available An approach to the management of vehicles at a railway crossing in order to improve the road safety is considered. To do this, it is suggested to introduce the dynamic motion control modes on the road, which consist in reducing the speed at a certain distance from the railway crossing and depends on its condition. The value of the recommended speed is displayed on the managed road signs and is calculated in real-time traffic controller at the railway crossing control point. The mark location is determined based on traffic intensity equalization that affects both the traffic intensity of the railway crossing and the road section on the approach to it. To analyze such events directed to improve the traffic on level crossings it is suggested to use the elements of utility theory to further develop the traffic control algorithm. For this purpose there was built a decision tree for the existing conditions at the railway crossing and at the introduction of the dynamic management, which indicates the result of decision taken by the change in the selected criteria of efficiency of traffic management at the railway crossing. Such an approach can reduce the number of road accidents and to increase the capacity of vehicular traffic at a particular road section to the technical means of attracting the driver's attention to the complex road by forced reduction in speed not only before the railway crossing, but also in at the approach to it.

  13. Comparison of trunk activity during gait initiation and walking in humans.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jean-Charles Ceccato

    Full Text Available To understand the role of trunk muscles in maintenance of dynamic postural equilibrium we investigate trunk movements during gait initiation and walking, performing trunk kinematics analysis, Erector spinae muscle (ES recordings and dynamic analysis. ES muscle expressed a metachronal descending pattern of activity during walking and gait initiation. In the frontal and horizontal planes, lateroflexion and rotation occur before in the upper trunk and after in the lower trunk. Comparison of ES muscle EMGs and trunk kinematics showed that trunk muscle activity precedes corresponding kinematics activity, indicating that the ES drive trunk movement during locomotion and thereby allowing a better pelvis mobilization. EMG data showed that ES activity anticipates propulsive phases in walking with a repetitive pattern, suggesting a programmed control by a central pattern generator. Our findings also suggest that the programs for gait initiation and walking overlap with the latter beginning before the first has ended.

  14. Railway station structures designed for densely populated urban areas

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vákár, L.I.; Snijder, H.H.

    2001-01-01

    Recently, the interest in public transit increased because of its contribution in solving the problem in mobility. This resulted in a worldwide need for building new railway stations and expanding existing ones. A railway station forms no longer a building on its own, but part of a larger complex.

  15. [Scale effect of Li-Xiang Railway construction impact on landscape pattern and its ecological risk].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, De-zhi; Qiu, Peng-hua; Fang, Yuan-min

    2015-08-01

    As a large corridor project, plateau railway has multiple points and passes various sensitive environments along the railway. The determination of the scope of impact on ecological environment from railway construction is often controversial in ecological impact assessment work. Taking the Tangbu-Jiantang section of Li-Xiang Railway as study object, and using present land use map (1:10000) in 2012 and DEM as data sources, corridor cutting degree index ( CCI) and cumulative effect index of corridor (CCEI) were established by topology, buffer zone and landscape metrics methods. Besides, the ecological risk index used for railway construction was improved. By quantitative analysis of characteristics of the spatio-temporal change of landscape pattern and its evolution style at different spatial scales before and after railway construction, the most appropriate evaluation scale of the railway was obtained. Then the characteristics of the spatio-temporal variation of ecological risk within this scale before and after railway construction were analyzed. The results indicated that the cutting model and degree of railway corridor to various landscape types could be effectively reflected by CCI, and the exposure and harm relations between risk sources and risk receptors of railway can be measured by CCEI. After the railway construction, the railway corridor would cause a great deal of middle cutting effect on the landscape along the railroad, which would influence wood land and grassland landscape most greatly, while would cause less effect of edge cutting and internal cutting. Landscape indices within the 600 m buffer zone demonstrated the most obvious scale effect, therefore, the 600 m zone of the railway was set as the most suitable range of ecological impact assessment. Before railway construction, the low ecological risk level covered the biggest part of the 600 m assessment zone. However, after the railway construction, the ecological risk increased significantly, and

  16. CONTROL OF APERTURE CLOSURE INITIATION DURING TRUNK-ASSISTED REACH-TO-GRASP MOVEMENTS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rand, Miya K.; Van Gemmert, Arend W. A.; Hossain, Abul B.M.I.; Shimansky, Yury P.; Stelmach, George E.

    2012-01-01

    The present study investigated how the involvement and direction of trunk movement during reach-to-grasp movements affect the coordination between the transport and grasping components. Seated young adults made prehensile movements in which the involvement of the trunk was varied; the trunk was not involved, moved forward (flexion), or moved backward (extension) in the sagittal plane during the reach to the object. Each of the trunk movements was combined with an extension or flexion motion of the arm during the reach. Regarding the relation between the trunk and arm motion for arm transport, the onset of wrist motion relative to that of the trunk was delayed to a greater extent for the trunk extension than for the trunk flexion. The variability of the time period from the peak of wrist velocity to the peak of trunk velocity was also significantly greater for trunk extension compared to trunk flexion. These findings indicate that trunk flexion was better integrated into the control of wrist transport than trunk extension. In terms of the temporal relationship between wrist transport and grip aperture, the relation between the time of peak wrist velocity and the time of peak grip aperture did not change or became less steady across conditions. Therefore, the stability of temporal coordination between wrist transport and grip aperture was maintained despite the variation of the pattern of intersegmental coordination between the arm and the trunk during arm transport. The transport-aperture coordination was further assessed in terms of the control law according to which the initiation of aperture closure during the reach occurs when the hand crosses a hand-to-target distance threshold for grasp initiation that is a function of peak aperture, wrist velocity and acceleration, trunk velocity and acceleration, and trunk-to-target distance at the time of aperture closure initiation. The participants increased the hand-to-target distance threshold for grasp initiation in

  17. Control of aperture closure initiation during trunk-assisted reach-to-grasp movements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rand, Miya K; Van Gemmert, Arend W A; Hossain, Abul B M I; Shimansky, Yury P; Stelmach, George E

    2012-06-01

    The present study investigated how the involvement and direction of trunk movement during reach-to-grasp movements affect the coordination between the transport and grasping components. Seated young adults made prehensile movements in which the involvement of the trunk was varied; the trunk was not involved, moved forward (flexion), or moved backward (extension) in the sagittal plane during the reach to the object. Each of the trunk movements was combined with an extension or flexion motion of the arm during the reach. Regarding the relationship between the trunk and arm motion for arm transport, the onset of wrist motion relative to that of the trunk was delayed to a greater extent for the trunk extension than for the trunk flexion. The variability of the time period from the peak of wrist velocity to the peak of trunk velocity was also significantly greater for trunk extension compared to trunk flexion. These findings indicate that trunk flexion was better integrated into the control of wrist transport than trunk extension. In terms of the temporal relationship between wrist transport and grip aperture, the relationship between the time of peak wrist velocity and the time of peak grip aperture did not change or become less steady across conditions. Therefore, the stability of temporal coordination between wrist transport and grip aperture was maintained despite the variation of the pattern of intersegmental coordination between the arm and the trunk during arm transport. The transport-aperture coordination was further assessed in terms of the control law according to which the initiation of aperture closure during the reach occurs when the hand crosses a hand-to-target distance threshold for grasp initiation, which is a function of peak aperture, wrist velocity and acceleration, trunk velocity and acceleration, and trunk-to-target distance at the time of aperture closure initiation. The participants increased the hand-to-target distance threshold for grasp

  18. Traffic and transport technology-road, railway, and water-borne transportation

    Science.gov (United States)

    1990-01-01

    This is "Part 2: Case Studies - Chapter 9" of the book, "The Japanese Experience in Technology", and includes the following subsections: Modernization and the railway; The transportation network; Issues in railway policy; Original design and producti...

  19. A Bayesian Network methodology for railway risk, safety and decision support

    OpenAIRE

    Mahboob, Qamar

    2014-01-01

    For railways, risk analysis is carried out to identify hazardous situations and their consequences. Until recently, classical methods such as Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and Event Tree Analysis (ETA) were applied in modelling the linear and logically deterministic aspects of railway risks, safety and reliability. However, it has been proven that modern railway systems are rather complex, involving multi-dependencies between system variables and uncertainties about these dependencies. For train ...

  20. ANALYSIS OF RAILWAY USER TRAVEL BEHAVIOUR PATTERNS OF DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takamasa AKIYAMA

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, there have been requirments for a transport environment that will foster the development of safe, comfortable townships. The study of urban activities amid an aging society and effective use of public transport modes in addressing environmental problems have become particularly important issues. This study analyzes travel behaviour patterns of varying age groups using urban railways in order to examine the relationship between urban public transport use and urban activities. specifically, it analyzes the composition of urban activity and travel behaviour patterns among urban railway users in the Keihanshin (Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe metropolitan area. This paper looks at urban activities within aging societies and identifies the differences in travel behaviour of railway users by separating them into young, middle aged and senior citizen age groups. Analysis makes particular use of the Railway station Database, which is a compilation of existing studies into attributes of railway stations and their surroundings, and results of person trip surveys. Rail use behaviour characteristics have been sorted by age group because mobility via urban railway systems is varied by age group. As a result, differences in railway usage patterns (travel objectives, distance and time, and number of transfers, etc. have been identified and so too have differences in urban activity patterns related to free activities (shopping, recreation. Furthermore, the study developed a travel behaviour pattern estimation model which is capable of categorizing specific transport behaviour patterns and estimating rail users and transport behaviour patterns from the relationship with areas surrounding railway stations to ensure future mobility by public transport for older age groups. The results make it possible to put forward proposals for urban rail services that will facilitate urban activities for the different age groups. Eventually, it will be possible to understand

  1. Network effects in railways

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Landex, Alex

    2012-01-01

    Railway operation is often affected by network effects as a change in one part of the network can influence other parts of the network. Network effects occur because the train runs may be quite long and since the railway system has a high degree of interdependencies as trains cannot cross....../overtake each other everywhere in the network. First this paper describes network effects in general (section 1). In section 2 the network effects for trains and how they can be measured by scheduled waiting time is described. When the trains are affected by network effects the passengers are also affected....... Therefore, sections 3 and 4 describe the network effects for passengers and how they can be measured using passenger delay models. Before the concluding remarks in section 6, section 5 discusses how the operation can be improved by examining network effects in the planning process. © 2012 WIT Press....

  2. Enrichment and Bioavailability of Trace Elements in Soil in Vicinity of Railways in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhen; Watanabe, Izumi; Ozaki, Hirozaku; Zhang, Jianqiang

    2018-01-01

    This study focuses on the concentrations, distribution, pollution levels, and bioavailability of 12 trace elements in soils along 6 different railways in Japan. Three diesel powered railways and three electricity powered railways were chosen as target. Surface soils (railways for analysis. Digestion and extraction were performed before concentration and bioavailability analysis. Enrichment factor was applied to investigate contamination levels of selected elements. The mean concentrations of Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sn, and Pb in soil samples were higher than soil background value in Japan. Concentrations of trace elements in soils along different railway had different characteristics. Horizontal distribution of Cu, Zn, Cd, Sn, and Pb in soil samples showed obviously downtrend with distance along railways with high frequency. Concentrations of V, Mn, Fe, and Co were higher in soils along railways which pass through city center. According to principal component analysis and cluster analysis, concentrations of Cu, Zn, Sn, and Pb could be considered as the indicators of soil contamination level along electricity powered trains, whereas indicators along diesel powered trains were not clear. Enrichment factor analysis proved that operation of freight trains had impact on pollution level of Cr, Ni, and Cd. Bioavailability of Mn, Co, Zn, and Cd in soil along electricity-powered railways were higher, and bioavailability of Pb in railways located in countryside was lower. Thus, enrichment and bioavailability of trace elements can be indicators of railway-originated trace elements pollution in soil.

  3. Combined Effects of High-Speed Railway Noise and Ground Vibrations on Annoyance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yokoshima, Shigenori; Morihara, Takashi; Sato, Tetsumi; Yano, Takashi

    2017-07-27

    The Shinkansen super-express railway system in Japan has greatly increased its capacity and has expanded nationwide. However, many inhabitants in areas along the railways have been disturbed by noise and ground vibration from the trains. Additionally, the Shinkansen railway emits a higher level of ground vibration than conventional railways at the same noise level. These findings imply that building vibrations affect living environments as significantly as the associated noise. Therefore, it is imperative to quantify the effects of noise and vibration exposures on each annoyance under simultaneous exposure. We performed a secondary analysis using individual datasets of exposure and community response associated with Shinkansen railway noise and vibration. The data consisted of six socio-acoustic surveys, which were conducted separately over the last 20 years in Japan. Applying a logistic regression analysis to the datasets, we confirmed the combined effects of vibration/noise exposure on noise/vibration annoyance. Moreover, we proposed a representative relationship between noise and vibration exposures, and the prevalence of each annoyance associated with the Shinkansen railway.

  4. Existing Steel Railway Bridges Evaluation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vičan, Josef; Gocál, Jozef; Odrobiňák, Jaroslav; Koteš, Peter

    2016-12-01

    The article describes general principles and basis of evaluation of existing railway bridges based on the concept of load-carrying capacity determination. Compared to the design of a new bridge, the modified reliability level for existing bridges evaluation should be considered due to implementation of the additional data related to bridge condition and behaviour obtained from regular inspections. Based on those data respecting the bridge remaining lifetime, a modification of partial safety factors for actions and materials could be respected in the bridge evaluation process. A great attention is also paid to the specific problems of determination of load-caring capacity of steel railway bridges in service. Recommendation for global analysis and methodology for existing steel bridge superstructure load-carrying capacity determination are described too.

  5. Environmental life cycle assessment of railway bridge materials using UHPFRC

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bizjak, Karmen Fifer; Šajna, Aljoša; Slanc, Katja; Knez, Friderik

    2016-10-01

    The railway infrastructure is a very important component of the world's total transportation network. Investment in its construction and maintenance is significant on a global scale. Previously published life cycle assessment (LCA) studies performed on road and rail systems very seldom included infrastructures in detail, mainly choosing to focus on vehicle manufacturing and fuel consumption. This article presents results from an environmental study for railway steel bridge materials for the demonstration case of the Buna Bridge in Croatia. The goal of these analyses was to compare two different types of remediation works for railway bridges with different materials and construction types. In the first part, the environmental impact of the classical concrete bridge construction was calculated, whereas in the second one, an alternative new solution, namely, the strengthening of the old steel bridge with ultra-high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) deck, was studied. The results of the LCA show that the new solution with UHPFRC deck gives much better environmental performance. Up to now, results of LCA of railway open lines, railway bridges and tunnels have been published, but detailed analyses of the new solution with UHPFRC deck above the old bridge have not previously been performed.

  6. Management of low adhesion on railway tracks in European countries

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thommesen, Jacob; Duijm, Nijs Jan; Andersen, Henning Boje

    with purely technical aspects of e.g. braking and WSP systems, but focus on the implied requirements for organisations and drivers. The report is largely based on literature describing measures taken by existing railway organisations, comprising, besides a few journal article, largely reports by railway...... incident in 2011 in Denmark and the braking ability of a specific type of train (Havarikommissionen 2012), but since expanded to encompass general problems with low adhesion (Nielsen et al. 2012). This report thus addresses problems that are already well‐known to Danish railway organisations...

  7. The Ginghai-Tibet railway and Tibet tourism: travelers' perspectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ming Ming Su; Geoffrey Wall

    2009-01-01

    The Qinghai-Tibet railway opened in July 2006 and boosted Tibetan tourism markedly by increasing the accessibility and affordability of travel from China to Tibet. This study evaluates the railway's impacts on tourists' travel decisions and experiences in Tibet. The relative importance of the train journey in comparison with the destination experience in...

  8. The Penarroya mining railway; El Ferrocaril minero de Penarroya

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grado Contreras, J. I. de

    2009-07-01

    The French Society Miniere et Metallurgique de Panarroya mining railway, 241 km long, was the second largest private narrow gauge railway in Spain. Located in the inland. linked the coal and galena mines with foundries and also with the national railroads grid, to transport the minerals to national and foreign markets. (Author)

  9. Continuous Static Gait with Twisting Trunk of a Metamorphic Quadruped Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Zhang

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The natural quadrupeds, such as geckos and lizards, often twist their trunks when moving. Conventional quadruped robots cannot perform the same motion due to equipping with a trunk which is a rigid body or at most consists of two blocks connected by passive joints. This paper proposes a metamorphic quadruped robot with a reconfigurable trunk which can implement active trunk motions, called MetaRobot I. The robot can imitate the natural quadrupeds to execute motion of trunk twisting. Benefiting from the twisting trunk, the stride length of this quadruped is increased comparing to that of conventional quadruped robots.In this paper a continuous static gait benefited from the twisting trunk performing the increased stride length is introduced. After that, the increased stride length relative to the trunk twisting will be analysed mathematically. Other points impacting the implementation of the increased stride length in the gait are investigated such as the upper limit of the stride length and the kinematic margin. The increased stride length in the gait will lead the increase of locomotion speed comparing with conventional quadruped robots, giving the extent that natural quadrupeds twisting their trunks when moving. The simulation and an experiment on the prototype are then carried out to illustrate the benefits on the stride length and locomotion speed brought by the twisting trunk to the quadruped robot.

  10. Historical flora of Moscow’s Railway Junction (until 2012

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vinogradova Yulia Konstantinovna

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The article touches upon the biodiversity at the railways. The list of species found within the Moscow Railways (≈300 km from 1851 until today has been compiled based on herbarium data [MHA, MW, LE] and personal observations conducted in 1980-2016. The list of “railways’ flora” includes 1087 taxa from 447 genera of 94 families – this is significantly higher than what is known for the railroads of other regions. A brief comparative analysis with the “railways’ flora” in other regions of the world in respect of the species number, taxonomy and life form spectrum has been performed. The therophytes absolutely prevail in the life-form spectrum (46 percent. The role of the railways as a pathway for alien species has been confirmed. Around 54 percent of all alien plants recorded for the Moscow Region (Moscow and Moscow Region grow along the railways. Several species new for the former USSR territory was found there, as well as many species new for the Moscow Region. The Railways are not only “donors/sources” of alien species, they also act as a refugee area for “the escapees”: over 30 years, Asclepias syriaca has been growing within the section of the Kursk-Moscow railway located near the All-Russian Research Institute of Medical and Aromatic Plants. Galega officinalis, a specie that forms a 200 m2 area of tangled vegetation, was found there, too. A trend when plants fall out of cultivation was established, this is how Sedum hispanicum and S. album emerged. The article also marks the role of the rail slopes as a refugium of rare and endangered plants of the natural flora: some 35 species included in the Red Book of Moscow were found within the area.

  11. Evaluation of ETCS performance with LTE as alternative railway communication network using OPNET

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sniady, Aleksander; Soler, José

    2013-01-01

    GSM-Railways (GSM-R) is a communication mobile network designed to fulfill specific communication needs of railways. GSM-R is being widely deployed across Europe and other countries around the world for providing railway voice and train control services (ETCS). Despite that, GSM-R already shows...

  12. Sweden goes in for railways - an example to Norway

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Killingland, Tore

    2004-01-01

    It is a sad fact that in their 150th anniversary, with very few exceptions, the Norwegian railways still use the first generation network, which dates back to the late 1800s. Off course, this puts the train at a serious disadvantage in the competition with cars and buses, which run on a third or four generation network of roads. The Norwegian Parliament has cut down on the fuel tax for the road traffic. They might have used this tax to provide much more environmentally friendly transport facilities. Green taxes are a proper means of adapting society to a sustainable way of using energy. The article contrasts the Norwegian policy with the Swedish one. The Swedes are preparing to invest twice as much in railways as in roads for the period of 2004 - 2015, while in Norway three times as much money will be spent on roads as on railways. Politicians in Norway essentially agree to concentrate on the railway, but they do not do it. Conservationists expect a clear change of course in the communications policy, with Sweden as a model

  13. The Railway Transport Cabinet of the Kyiv Commercial Institute: educational activities and library

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Afanasievа Z.

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In the article the history of foundation and activities of the Railway Transport Cabinet of the Kyiv Commercial Institute are recreated and an attempt is made to trace the way of its library book fonds which "has been lost" during the institute numerous transformations.The Railway Transport Cabinet was established as a supportive educational subdivision of the Merchandising Museum of the Kyiv Commercial Institute. Its purpose was to gather materials on railway science from the improved models of railway transport to the rich collection of specialized literature in foreign languages. In this regard a library was organized in a cabinet; it consisted of professional books and documents covering the railway science, railroads organization and operation, various manuals, diagrams etc. The novelty of the publication lies in the disclosure of the history of the Kyiv Commercial Institute Railway Transport Cabinet library, which has not yet been an object of a special book science research.

  14. Railway Crossing Risk Area Detection Using Linear Regression and Terrain Drop Compensation Techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Wen-Yuan; Wang, Mei; Fu, Zhou-Xing

    2014-01-01

    Most railway accidents happen at railway crossings. Therefore, how to detect humans or objects present in the risk area of a railway crossing and thus prevent accidents are important tasks. In this paper, three strategies are used to detect the risk area of a railway crossing: (1) we use a terrain drop compensation (TDC) technique to solve the problem of the concavity of railway crossings; (2) we use a linear regression technique to predict the position and length of an object from image processing; (3) we have developed a novel strategy called calculating local maximum Y-coordinate object points (CLMYOP) to obtain the ground points of the object. In addition, image preprocessing is also applied to filter out the noise and successfully improve the object detection. From the experimental results, it is demonstrated that our scheme is an effective and corrective method for the detection of railway crossing risk areas. PMID:24936948

  15. Railway Crossing Risk Area Detection Using Linear Regression and Terrain Drop Compensation Techniques

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wen-Yuan Chen

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Most railway accidents happen at railway crossings. Therefore, how to detect humans or objects present in the risk area of a railway crossing and thus prevent accidents are important tasks. In this paper, three strategies are used to detect the risk area of a railway crossing: (1 we use a terrain drop compensation (TDC technique to solve the problem of the concavity of railway crossings; (2 we use a linear regression technique to predict the position and length of an object from image processing; (3 we have developed a novel strategy called calculating local maximum Y-coordinate object points (CLMYOP to obtain the ground points of the object. In addition, image preprocessing is also applied to filter out the noise and successfully improve the object detection. From the experimental results, it is demonstrated that our scheme is an effective and corrective method for the detection of railway crossing risk areas.

  16. Developing a Service Improvement System for the National Dutch Railways

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verhoef, Peter C.; Heijnsbroek, Martin; Bosma, Joost

    2017-01-01

    Customer satisfaction is essential for public and railway services, because firms in these industries have contracts with governments requiring them to achieve specific customer satisfaction targets. In this paper, we describe a National Dutch Railways project in which we identify the major

  17. WAYS OF IMPROVEMENT RAILWAY TRANSPORT IN OVERPASS ECONOMIC CRISIS CONDITIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. H. Deineka

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available In the article a problem of adapting the railway transport to market requirements is presented and the ways of improving its competitiveness are investigated. Some measures and reserves of improving the operation efficiency for the railway transport are offered.

  18. Impact of high-speed railway accessibility on the location choices of office establishments

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Willigers, J.

    2006-01-01

    High-speed railways are becoming increasingly common in Europe. In the Netherlands soon the HSL-South will be opened. This high-speed railway line connects the Randstad to Brussels and Paris. A prominent aim of this new railway is to improve international competitiveness of the Netherlands. As a

  19. An overview of natural hazard impacts to railways and urban transportation systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bíl, Michal; Nezval, Vojtěch; Bílová, Martina; Andrášik, Richard; Kubeček, Jan

    2017-04-01

    We present an overview and two case studies of natural hazard impacts on rail transportation systems in the Czech Republic. Flooding, landsliding, heavy snowfall, windstorms and glaze (black ice) are the most common natural processes which occur in this region. Whereas flooding and landsliding usually cause direct damage to the transportation infrastructure, other hazards predominantly cause indirect losses. Railway and urban tramline networks are almost fully dependent on electricity which is provided by a system of overhead lines (electric lines above the tracks). These lines are extremely susceptible to formation of glaze which blocks conduction of electric current. A December 2014 glaze event caused significant indirect losses in the largest Czech cities and railways due to the above-mentioned process. Details of this event will be provided during the presentation. Windstorms usually cause tree falls which can affect overhead lines and physically block railway tracks. Approximately 30 % of the Czech railway network is closer than 50 m from the nearest forest. This presents significant potential for transport interruption due to falling trees. Complicated legal relations among the owners of the plots of land along railways, the environment (full-grown trees and related habitat), and the railway administrator are behind many traffic interruptions due to falling trees. We have registered 2040 tree falls between 2012 and 2015 on the railway network. A model of the fallen tree hazard was created for the entire Czech railway network. Both above-mentioned case studies provide illustrative examples of the increased fragility of the modern transportation systems which fully rely on electricity. Natural processes with a low destructive power are thereby able to cause network wide service cut-offs.

  20. Big data for risk analysis: The future of safe railways

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Figueres Esteban, M.

    2016-07-01

    New technology brings ever more data to support decision-making for intelligent transport systems. Big Data is no longer a futuristic challenge, it is happening right now: modern railway systems have countless sources of data providing a massive quantity of diverse information on every aspect of operations such as train position and speed, brake applications, passenger numbers, status of the signaling system or reported incidents.The traditional approaches to safety management on the railways have relied on static data sources to populate traditional safety tools such as bow-tie models and fault trees. The Big Data Risk Analysis (BDRA) program for Railways at the University of Huddersfield is investigating how the many Big Data sources from the railway can be combined in a meaningful way to provide a better understanding about the GB railway systems and the environment within which they operate.Moving to BDRA is not simply a matter of scaling-up existing analysis techniques. BDRA has to coordinate and combine a wide range of sources with different types of data and accuracy, and that is not straight-forward. BDRA is structured around three components: data, ontology and visualisation. Each of these components is critical to support the overall framework. This paper describes how these three components are used to get safety knowledge from two data sources by means of ontologies from text documents. This is a part of the ongoing BDRA research that is looking at integrating many large and varied data sources to support railway safety and decision-makers. (Author)

  1. The effects of 10 years Railway investment in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Sten A.

    1998-01-01

    The paper retrives the impacts of the last 10 years of investment in railway infrastructure in Denmark and ooncludes, that traveltimes and frequency is large unchanged during that period.......The paper retrives the impacts of the last 10 years of investment in railway infrastructure in Denmark and ooncludes, that traveltimes and frequency is large unchanged during that period....

  2. Subsidence Evaluation of High-Speed Railway in Shenyang Based on Time-Series Insar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yun; Wei, Lianhuan; Li, Jiayu; Liu, Shanjun; Mao, Yachun; Wu, Lixin

    2018-04-01

    More and more high-speed railway are under construction in China. The slow settlement along high-speed railway tracks and newly-built stations would lead to inhomogeneous deformation of local area, and the accumulation may be a threat to the safe operation of high-speed rail system. In this paper, surface deformation of the newly-built high-speed railway station as well as the railway lines in Shenyang region will be retrieved by time series InSAR analysis using multi-orbit COSMO-SkyMed images. This paper focuses on the non-uniform subsidence caused by the changing of local environment along the railway. The accuracy of the settlement results can be verified by cross validation of the results obtained from two different orbits during the same period.

  3. Railway bogie vibration analysis by mathematical simulation model and a scaled four-wheel railway bogie set

    Science.gov (United States)

    Visayataksin, Noppharat; Sooklamai, Manon

    2018-01-01

    The bogie is the part that connects and transfers all the load from the vehicle body onto the railway track; interestingly the interaction between wheels and rails is the critical point for derailment of the rail vehicles. However, observing or experimenting with real bogies on rail vehicles is impossible due to the operational rules and safety concerns. Therefore, this research aimed to develop a vibration analysis set for a four-wheel railway bogie by constructing a four-wheel bogie with scale of 1:4.5. The bogie structures, including wheels and axles, were made from an aluminium alloy, equipped with springs and dampers. The bogie was driven by an electric motor using 4 round wheels instead of 2 straight rails, with linear velocity between 0 to 11.22 m/s. The data collected from the vibration analysis set was compared to the mathematical simulation model to investigate the vibration behavior of the bogie, especially the hunting motion. The results showed that vibration behavior from a scaled four-wheel railway bogie set significantly agreed with the mathematical simulation model in terms of displacement and hunting frequency. The critical speed of the wheelset was found by executing the mathematical simulation model at 13 m/s.

  4. Existing Steel Railway Bridges Evaluation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vičan Josef

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The article describes general principles and basis of evaluation of existing railway bridges based on the concept of load-carrying capacity determination. Compared to the design of a new bridge, the modified reliability level for existing bridges evaluation should be considered due to implementation of the additional data related to bridge condition and behaviour obtained from regular inspections. Based on those data respecting the bridge remaining lifetime, a modification of partial safety factors for actions and materials could be respected in the bridge evaluation process. A great attention is also paid to the specific problems of determination of load-caring capacity of steel railway bridges in service. Recommendation for global analysis and methodology for existing steel bridge superstructure load-carrying capacity determination are described too.

  5. GIS-Based Railway Route Selection for the Proposed Kenya-Sudan ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This paper describes a procedure developed for automated railway feasibility analysis based on GIS and Multi-Criteria analysis. Good engineering railway alignment requirements are assessed and suitable factors and constraints for feasibility analysis derived. Relevant digital map layers are then prepared and reclassified ...

  6. Power System Unbalance due to Railway Electrification

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stamatopoulos, Athanasios; Vikelgaard, Henrik; Silva, Filipe Miguel Faria da

    2016-01-01

    The decision to electrify the main part of the Danish railway at the same time where the supply and generation of electrical power in Denmark moves to a more decentralized structure, raises concerns regarding the balanced and secure operation of the power grid. Adverse effects include, among others......, the lifetime reduction of rotating machines and the malfunction of HVDC converters. Toward this direction, this paper aims to review the challenges and mitigation solutions with respect to voltage unbalance, focusing on the conditions relevant to the electrification of the Danish railway....

  7. Environmental life cycle assessment of railway bridge materials using UHPFRC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bizjak Karmen Fifer

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The railway infrastructure is a very important component of the world’s total transportation network. Investment in its construction and maintenance is significant on a global scale. Previously published life cycle assessment (LCA studies performed on road and rail systems very seldom included infrastructures in detail, mainly choosing to focus on vehicle manufacturing and fuel consumption. This article presents results from an environmental study for railway steel bridge materials for the demonstration case of the Buna Bridge in Croatia. The goal of these analyses was to compare two different types of remediation works for railway bridges with different materials and construction types. In the first part, the environmental impact of the classical concrete bridge construction was calculated, whereas in the second one, an alternative new solution, namely, the strengthening of the old steel bridge with ultra-high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC deck, was studied. The results of the LCA show that the new solution with UHPFRC deck gives much better environmental performance. Up to now, results of LCA of railway open lines, railway bridges and tunnels have been published, but detailed analyses of the new solution with UHPFRC deck above the old bridge have not previously been performed.

  8. 78 FR 41993 - Ann Arbor Railroad, Inc.-Lease Exemption-Norfolk Southern Railway Company

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-12

    ... number of carloads interchanged with NSR in a given year.\\1\\ AARR states that the interchange commitment..., Canadian National Railway Company (CN), CSX Transportation, Inc., and Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway in Toledo; the Indiana and Ohio Railway and CN in Diann, Mich.; NSR in Milan, Mich.; and Great Lakes Central...

  9. SOLUTION FOR AN EQUIPMENT OF RAILWAY BRIDGE MONITORING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liviu Mihai SIMA

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a solution for the railway bridges monitoring based on the use of already existing equipments in the railway installations and some new equipments based on photo-elements, as well. This kind of equipments can function in continue and discontinuous regime, means of them tracking down if the bridge piles suffered movements by different reasons. This aspect can put in danger the safety of the circulation on that bridge.

  10. Railway line capacity consumption of different railway signalling systems under scheduled and disturbed conditions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goverde, R.M.P.; Corman, F.; D'Ariano, A.

    2013-01-01

    This paper evaluates the capacity consumption on a Dutch railway line both under scheduled and disturbed traffic conditions. For the scheduled condition the standard UIC compression method is used, while the computation of capacity consumption under disturbed conditions requires multiple simulation

  11. Dataset Documentation for the ERTMS-Oriented Signalling Maintenance in the Danish Railway System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    M. Pour, Shahrzad

    2017-01-01

    This documentation provides information about the dataset generated as part of a PhD thesis (Towards Signalling Maintenance Scheduling Problem for European Railway Traffic Management System ) for the signaling maintenance of the Danish railway system . The data instances (M.Pour 2018a; M.Pour 2018b......) have been created for the purpose of adaptation to the newest railway signalling standard which is so called European Railway Traffic Management System(ERTMS). The chapter provides explanation of the different types of maintenance tasks in the ERTMS, followed by data definition. Furthermore...

  12. Research of noise emission sources in railway transport and effective ways of their reduction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zvolenský Peter

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In the EU conditions attention is systematically paid to noise reduction on the railways. Because TSI rules systematically tighten limits for noise emissions from railway vehicles, noise research must be addressed by all Member States, as the main technical solutions for railway vehicles and construction technological aspects of railway operations can result in lower noise exposure of affected areas or objects. The paper focuses on theoretical investigation of sources and paths of sound propagation, possibilities of noise reduction both on vehicles and by infrastructure and experimental measurements of the situation in transport practice. Methodology for reducing railway noise around tracks has been presented, too.

  13. 49 CFR 571.401 - Standard No. 401; Interior trunk release.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    .... Requirements. S4.1 Each passenger car with a trunk compartment must have an automatic or manual release... possible for a person trapped inside the trunk compartment of a passenger car to escape from the compartment. S2. Application. This standard applies to passenger cars that have a trunk compartment. This...

  14. Automatic Verification of Railway Interlocking Systems: A Case Study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Jakob Lyng

    1998-01-01

    This paper presents experiences in applying formal verification to a large industrial piece of software. The are of application is railway interlocking systems. We try to prove requirements of the program controlling the Swedish railway Station Alingsås by using the decision procedure which...... express thoughts on what is needed in order to be able to successfully verify large real-life systems....

  15. APPRAISAL OF USED WOODEN RAILWAY SLEEPER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SITI HAWA HAMZAH

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Replacement of wooden sleepers to prestressed concrete sleepers has marked as advancement in the railway sleepers industry in Malaysia. Despite superiority of these man-made composite sleepers, wooden sleepers still lead in terms of track performance qualities in particular on its natural elasticity. An initiative to investigate the degree of degradation of used wooden sleepers and the possibility of reusing them on low capacity railway track in Malaysia as a means of reducing the overall track rehabilitation cost was undertaken. Used wooden sleepers were tested according to Australian Standard, Railway Track Material, Prestressed Concrete Sleepers (AS 1085:14:2003 on Rail Seat Vertical Load Test and Centre Positive Bending Moment Test. Six wooden sleeper samples were tested under the static load until failure. Benchmarking was carried on high strength prestressed concrete sleeper, tested according to AS 1085:14:2003: Rail Seat - Positive Moment Test. The results obtained showed the maximum load that the used wooden sleepers can carry surpassed the design load of KTMB specifications and it is about 58% of high strength prestressed concrete sleeper.The maximum deflection produced by all used wooden sleepers is 20 mm showing that the sleepers maintained their elastic behaviour. Modulus of Elasticity ranging from 21 to 27 kN/mm2 of which within the standard value, indicating weathering process does not so much affect their stiffness. Most sleepers showed crack patterns propagated in the longitudinal direction. Toughness value is almost one half of the high strength prestressed concrete sleeper. This study indicates that there is a potential of reusing the wooden sleepers for light loading of the railway track. Hence, an extensive study is recommended to be carried out under fatigue loading condition.

  16. Observing of tree trunks and other cylindrical objects using GPR

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jezova, Jana; Lambot, Sebastien

    2016-04-01

    Trees are a part of our everyday life, hence it is important to prevent their collapse to protect people and urban infrastructures. It is also important to characterize tree wood properties for usages in construction. In order to investigate internal parts of tree trunks non-invasively, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), or in this case, ultra-wideband microwave radar as a general tool, appears to be a very promising technology. Nevertheless, tree trunk tomography using microwave radar is a complicated task due to the circular shape of the trunk and the very complex (heterogeneous and anisotropic) internal structures of the trunk. Microwave sensing of tree trunks is also complicated due to the electromagnetic properties of living wood, which strongly depend on water content, density and temperature of wood. The objective of this study is to describe tree trunk radar cross sections including specific features originating from the particular circumferential data acquisition geometry. In that respect, three experiments were performed: (1) numerical simulations using a finite-difference time-domain software, namely, gprMax 2D, (2) measurements on a simplified laboratory trunk model including plastic and cardboard pipes, sand and air, and (3) measurements over a real tree trunk. The analysis was further deepened by considering: (1) common zero-offset reflection imaging, (2) imaging with a planar perfect electrical conductor (PEC) at the opposite side of the trunk, and (3) imaging with a PEC arc at the opposite side of the trunk. Furthermore, the shape of the reflection curve of a cylindrical target was analytically derived based on the straight-ray propagation approximation. Subsequently, the total internal reflection (TIR) phenomenon occurring in cylindrical objects was observed and analytically described. Both the straight-ray reflection curve and TIR were well observed on the simulated and laboratory radar data. A comparison between all experiments and radar

  17. DETERMINATION OF THE OPTIMAL CAPITAL INVESTMENTS TO ENSURE THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE RAILWAY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. I. Kharchenko

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. Every year more attention is paid for the theoretical and practical issue of sustainable development of railway transport. But today the mechanisms of financial support of this development are poorly understood. Therefore, the aim of this article is to determine the optimal investment allocation to ensure sustainable development of the railway transport on the example of State Enterprise «Prydniprovsk Railway» and the creation of preconditions for the mathematical model development. Methodology. The ensuring task for sustainable development of railway transport is solved on the basis of the integral indicator of sustainable development effectiveness and defined as the maximization of this criterion. The optimization of measures technological and technical characters are proposed to carry out for increasing values of the integral performance measure components. To the optimization activities of technological nature that enhance the performance criteria belongs: optimization of the number of train and shunting locomotives, optimization of power handling mechanisms at the stations, optimization of routes of train flows. The activities related to the technical nature include: modernization of railways in the direction of their electrification and modernization of the running gear and coupler drawbars of rolling stock, as well as means of separators mechanization at stations to reduce noise impacts on the environment. Findings. The work resulted in the optimal allocation of investments to ensure the sustainable development of railway transportation of State Enterprise «Prydniprovsk Railway». This allows providing such kind of railway development when functioning of State Enterprise «Prydniprovsk Railway» is characterized by a maximum value of the integral indicator of efficiency. Originality. The work was reviewed and the new approach was proposed to determine the optimal allocation of capital investments to ensure sustainable

  18. The political economy of railway construction in Nigeria: the Bornu ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The political economy of railway construction in Nigeria: the Bornu railway extension. ... One key strategy employed was to side with the faction of the Nigerian petty bourgeoisie whose political, economic and class interests were in agreement with ... The 400-mile extension was eventually constructed and opened in 1964.

  19. FORMATION OF ESTIMATED CONDITIONS FOR LIFE CYCLE OF DEFORMATION WORK OF THE RAILWAY TRACK

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. O. Bondarenko

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Purpose.The purpose of this research is to substantiate the technical limits of the railway track (under reliability status for the formation the regulatory framework for reliability and functional safety of the railway track in Ukraine. Methodology.In order to achieve the goal of research analysis methods of the technical states of elements and trackforms that are typical of operation conditions of the railways in Ukraine were used. Findings.Technical states accordance of elements and trackforms to reliability status under existing regulations was defined. These conditions are based on the track assessments in accordance with the dimensional tape results. The status of each element of the track design affects its deformation work, but the rules are still absent that would connect state of track elements with the state of the track by estimation of the dimensional tape. The reasons on which the limits are not set were established. It was found out which researches are necessary to conduct for their installation. Originality. The classification of the reliability state of a railway track for permitted deviation at the track laying and maintenance was developed. The regulation importance the technical states of ballast section and subgrade for the developed classification was established. Practical value. Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ is a founding member of the Council for Railway Transport of the Commonwealth. This body issued interstate standard State Standard 32192-2013 «Reliability of railway equipment. Basic concepts, terms and definitions». On this basis developed a new interstate standard «Security functional of railway equipment. Terms and definitions». At the same time UZ is a member of the cooperation of railways in International Union of Railway Transport where rules with reliable and safe operation of railways are established in all transport branches. This study will help implement these standards on the railways of Ukraine, improve the

  20. Kronecker Algebra-based Deadlock Analysis for Railway Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert Mittermayr

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Deadlock analysis for railway systems differs in several aspects from deadlock analysis in computer science. While the problem of deadlock analysis for standard computer systems is well-understood, multi-threaded embedded computer systems pose new challenges. A novel approach in this area can easily be applied to deadlock analysis in the domain of railway systems. The approach is based on Kronecker algebra. A lazy implementation of the matrix operations even allows analysing exponentially sized systems in a very efficient manner. The running time of the algorithm does not depend on the problem size but on the size of the solution. While other approaches suffer from the fact that additional constraints make the problem and its solution harder, our approach delivers its results faster if constraints are added. In addition, our approach is complete and sound for railway systems, i.e., it generates neither false positives nor false negatives.

  1. Microwave sensing of tree trunks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jezova, Jana; Mertens, Laurence; Lambot, Sebastien

    2015-04-01

    The main subject of this research is the observation of the inner part of living tree trunks using ground-penetrating radar (GPR). Trees are everyday part of human life and therefore it is important to pay attention to the tree conditions. The most obvious consequence of the poor tree condition is dead or injury caused by falling tree. The trunk internal structure is divided into three main parts: heartwood, sapwood and bark, which make this medium highly anisotropic and heterogeneous. Furthermore, the properties of the wood are not only specie-dependent but also depend on genetic and on environmental conditions. In urban areas the main problem for the stability of the trees relies in the apparition of decays provoked by fungi, insect or birds. This results in cavities or decreasing of the support capacity of the tree. GPR has proved itself to be a very powerful electromagnetic tool for non-destructive detection of buried objects. Since the beginning of the 20th century it has been used in several different areas (archaeology, landmine detection, civil engineering, ...). GPR uses the principle of the scattering of the electromagnetic waves that are radiated from a transmitting antenna. Then the waves propagate through the medium and are reflected from the object and then they are received by a receiving antenna. The velocity of the scattered signal is determined primarily by the permittivity of the material. The optimal functionality of the GPR was investigated using the numerical simulation tool gprMax2D. This tool is based on a Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) numerical model. Subsequently, the GPR functionality was tested using the laboratory model of a decayed tree trunk. Afterwards, the results and lessons learnt in the simplified tests will be used in the processing of the real data and will help to achieve deeper understanding of them. The laboratory model of the tree trunk was made by plastic or carton pipes and filled by sand. Space inside the model

  2. Estimating Emissions from Railway Traffic

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Morten W.; Sorenson, Spencer C.

    1998-01-01

    Several parameters of importance for estimating emissions from railway traffic are discussed, and typical results presented. Typical emissions factors from diesel engines and electrical power generation are presented, and the effect of differences in national electrical generation sources...

  3. Nutcracker syndrome associated with celiacomesentric trunk anomaly: case report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Al-Zoubi NA

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Nabil A Al-Zoubi,1 Ibrahim F Al-Ghalayini,1,2 Radwan Al-Okour1,2 1Department of Surgery, 2Division of Urology, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan Introduction: Nutcracker syndrome is a rare disease entity that is caused by entrapment of the left renal vein between the aorta and superior mesenteric artery, usually due to abnormal branching of the superior mesenteric artery from the aorta causing renal venous hypertension. The symptoms vary from asymptomatic hematuria to severe pelvic congestion. Celiacomesenteric trunk anomaly is a rare variation of splanchnic artery anomaly that occurs when the celiac trunk and superior mesenteric arteries have a common origin from the aorta. A disease involving the rarely encountered celiacomesenteric trunk anomaly is extremely uncommon. To our knowledge, association between nutcracker syndrome and celiacomesentric trunk anomaly has not been reported in the literature.Case presentation: A 14-year-old boy with no significant past medical history presented with a 3-year painless hematuria. CT-angiogram revealed anterior nutcracker syndrome with celiacomesenteric trunk anomaly. The patient was managed conservatively with close follow-up.Conclusion: Nutcracker syndrome associated with celiacomesenteric trunk anomaly is extremely uncommon and is a rare cause of hematuria in children. Whether this abnormal anatomy is the cause of nutcracker syndrome or just an association should be investigated. Moreover, awareness of this anatomical variation may help in planning therapeutic options and reducing the chance of surgical iatrogenic injuries. Keywords: nutcracker syndrome, celiacomesenteric trunk, hematuria in children

  4. Anomalous Posterior Intercostal Arterial Trunk Arising From the Abdominal Aorta

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jie, Bing, E-mail: jbshh@163.com; Yu, Dong, E-mail: yudong-mail@126.com; Jiang, Sen, E-mail: jasfly77@vip.163.com [Tongji University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital (China)

    2016-04-15

    A common trunk of the ipsilateral posterior intercostal artery (PIA) arising from the thoracic aorta is usually an anatomical variation. However, a common trunk of bilateral posterior intercostal arterial trunk (PIAT) arising from the abdominal aorta is rare. It is important to recognize this anatomical variation of PIA when performing interventional radiological procedures. We present a rare case of an anomalous PIAT that originated from the abdominal aorta in a patient with hemoptysis caused by tuberculosis sequelae. Bilateral 4th to 11th PIAs arose from a common trunk and the trunk arising from the posterior aspect of the abdominal aorta at the level of T12/L1 intervertebral space. The pathological right 4th and 5th PIAs and bronchial arteries were embolized. Hemoptysis has been controlled for 3 months.

  5. Safety motion increase of trains by improvement diagnostics process devices of railway automation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B.M.Bondarenko

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The complex use of methods of nondestructive check for the automated diagnostics electromagnetic relays of railway automation the first class reliability is offered. The methods determination of their mechanical parameters are resulted, that allows to exclude a human factor from the control, promote reliability of devices railway automation and safety motion of railway transport.

  6. The effects of the Qinghai–Tibet railway on heavy metals enrichment in soils

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Hua; Wang, Zhaofeng; Zhang, Yili; Hu, Zhongjun

    2012-01-01

    The impact of land transportation on local soil environments is an important topic in environmental and ecological sciences. The rapid development of transportation infrastructure lends increasing importance to studies that identify and evaluate related heavy metal pollution. This paper discusses the effects of railways on soil heavy metal enrichments in the Tibetan plateau. At a representative area along the Haergai–Delingha railway, lead, cadmium, copper, zinc, chromium, nickel, cobalt, and vanadium were measured in 127 topsoil samples (0–10 cm depth). The results indicate that railway transport has a significant effect on the concentration of Zn, Cd and Pb in the soil, with levels of enrichment ranging from no pollution to significant pollution. The affected area was within 20 m of the railway. The soil at Delingha was the most contaminated soil with heavy metals, and the enrichment level of Cd in the soil was the highest along the Qinghai–Tibet railway. The horizontal distributions of the three heavy metals present different characteristics at different sampling sites, which may be due to discrepancies in terrain and vegetation types. Alkaline soils and guardrails along the railway might reduce the effect of soil pollution on local people and animals. -- Highlights: ► Levels of Zn, Cd and Pb in soils are affected by railway transportation. ► Cadmium enrichment is especially high. ► The affected area for these pollutants was within 20 m of the railway. ► The distributions of metal presented different characteristics in different sites.

  7. The effects of the Qinghai-Tibet railway on heavy metals enrichment in soils

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Hua [Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resource Research (IGSNRR), CAS, Beijing 100101 (China); Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049 Beijing (China); Wang, Zhaofeng [Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resource Research (IGSNRR), CAS, Beijing 100101 (China); Zhang, Yili, E-mail: zhangyl@igsnrr.ac.cn [Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resource Research (IGSNRR), CAS, Beijing 100101 (China); Hu, Zhongjun [Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resource Research (IGSNRR), CAS, Beijing 100101 (China); Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049 Beijing (China)

    2012-11-15

    The impact of land transportation on local soil environments is an important topic in environmental and ecological sciences. The rapid development of transportation infrastructure lends increasing importance to studies that identify and evaluate related heavy metal pollution. This paper discusses the effects of railways on soil heavy metal enrichments in the Tibetan plateau. At a representative area along the Haergai-Delingha railway, lead, cadmium, copper, zinc, chromium, nickel, cobalt, and vanadium were measured in 127 topsoil samples (0-10 cm depth). The results indicate that railway transport has a significant effect on the concentration of Zn, Cd and Pb in the soil, with levels of enrichment ranging from no pollution to significant pollution. The affected area was within 20 m of the railway. The soil at Delingha was the most contaminated soil with heavy metals, and the enrichment level of Cd in the soil was the highest along the Qinghai-Tibet railway. The horizontal distributions of the three heavy metals present different characteristics at different sampling sites, which may be due to discrepancies in terrain and vegetation types. Alkaline soils and guardrails along the railway might reduce the effect of soil pollution on local people and animals. -- Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Levels of Zn, Cd and Pb in soils are affected by railway transportation. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Cadmium enrichment is especially high. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The affected area for these pollutants was within 20 m of the railway. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The distributions of metal presented different characteristics in different sites.

  8. Interactive Trunk Extraction from Forest Point Cloud

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Mizoguchi

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available For forest management or monitoring, it is required to constantly measure several parameters of each tree, such as height, diameter at breast height, and trunk volume. Terrestrial laser scanner has been used for this purpose instead of human workers to reduce time and cost for the measurement. In order to use point cloud captured by terrestrial laser scanner in the above applications, it is an important step to extract all trees or their trunks separately. For this purpose, we propose an interactive system in which a user can intuitively and efficiently extract each trunk by a simple editing on the distance image created from the point cloud. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed system from various experiments.

  9. Price Analysis of Railway Freight Transport under Marketing Mechanism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Ying; Fang, Xiaoping; Chen, Zhiya

    Regarding the problems in the reform of the railway tariff system and the pricing of the transport, by means of assaying the influence of the price elasticity on the artifice used for price, this article proposed multiple regressive model which analyzed price elasticity quantitatively. This model conclude multi-factors which influences on the price elasticity, such as the averagely railway freight charge, the averagely freight haulage of proximate supersede transportation mode, the GDP per capita in the point of origin, and a series of dummy variable which can reflect the features of some productive and consume demesne. It can calculate the price elasticity of different classes in different domains, and predict the freight traffic volume on different rate levels. It can calculate confidence-level, and evaluate the relevance of each parameter to get rid of irrelevant or little relevant variables. It supplied a good theoretical basis for directing the pricing of transport enterprises in market economic conditions, which is suitable for railway freight, passenger traffic and other transportation manner as well. SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science) software was used to calculate and analysis the example. This article realized the calculation by HYFX system(Ministry of Railways fund).

  10. Trunk repositioning errors are increased in balance-impaired older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldberg, Allon; Hernandez, Manuel Enrique; Alexander, Neil B

    2005-10-01

    Controlling the flexing trunk is critical in recovering from a loss of balance and avoiding a fall. To investigate the relationship between trunk control and balance in older adults, we measured trunk repositioning accuracy in young and balance-impaired and unimpaired older adults. Young adults (N = 8, mean age 24.3 years) and two groups of community-dwelling older adults defined by unipedal stance time (UST)-a balance-unimpaired group (UST > 30 seconds, N = 7, mean age 73.9 years) and a balance-impaired group (UST tested in standing trunk control ability by reproducing a approximately 30 degrees trunk flexion angle under three visual-surface conditions: eyes opened and closed on the floor, and eyes opened on foam. Errors in reproducing the angle were defined as trunk repositioning errors (TREs). Clinical measures related to balance, trunk extensor strength, and self-reported disability were obtained. TREs were significantly greater in the balance-impaired group than in the other groups, even when controlling for trunk extensor strength and body mass. In older adults, there were significant correlations between TREs and three clinical measures of balance and fall risk, UST and maximum step length (-0.65 to -0.75), and Timed Up & Go score (0.55), and between TREs and age (0.63-0.76). In each group TREs were similar under the three visual-surface conditions. Test-retest reliability for TREs was good to excellent (intraclass correlation coefficients > or =0.74). Older balance-impaired adults have larger TREs, and thus poorer trunk control, than do balance-unimpaired older individuals. TREs are reliable and valid measures of underlying balance impairment in older adults, and may eventually prove to be useful in predicting the ability to recover from losses of balance and to avoid falls.

  11. Statistical modelling of railway track geometry degradation using Hierarchical Bayesian models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andrade, A.R.; Teixeira, P.F.

    2015-01-01

    Railway maintenance planners require a predictive model that can assess the railway track geometry degradation. The present paper uses a Hierarchical Bayesian model as a tool to model the main two quality indicators related to railway track geometry degradation: the standard deviation of longitudinal level defects and the standard deviation of horizontal alignment defects. Hierarchical Bayesian Models (HBM) are flexible statistical models that allow specifying different spatially correlated components between consecutive track sections, namely for the deterioration rates and the initial qualities parameters. HBM are developed for both quality indicators, conducting an extensive comparison between candidate models and a sensitivity analysis on prior distributions. HBM is applied to provide an overall assessment of the degradation of railway track geometry, for the main Portuguese railway line Lisbon–Oporto. - Highlights: • Rail track geometry degradation is analysed using Hierarchical Bayesian models. • A Gibbs sampling strategy is put forward to estimate the HBM. • Model comparison and sensitivity analysis find the most suitable model. • We applied the most suitable model to all the segments of the main Portuguese line. • Tackling spatial correlations using CAR structures lead to a better model fit

  12. A Statistical Approach to Planning Reserved Electric Power for Railway Infrastructure Administration

    OpenAIRE

    Brabec, M. (Marek); Pelikán, E. (Emil); Konár, O. (Ondřej); Kasanický, I. (Ivan); Juruš, P. (Pavel); Sadil, J.; Blažek, P.

    2013-01-01

    One of the requirements on railway infrastructure administration is to provide electricity for day-to-day operation of railways. We propose a statistically based approach for the estimation of maximum 15-minute power within a calendar month for a given region. This quantity serves as a basis of contracts between railway infrastructure administration and electricity distribution system operator. We show that optimization of the prediction is possible, based on underlying loss function deriv...

  13. Evaluation of non-invasive trunk sprays and trunk-injected emamectic benzoate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deborah G. McCullough; D.L. Cappaert; T.M. Poland; A.C. Anulewicz; P. Lewis; J. Molongoski

    2008-01-01

    In 2007, we continued to evaluate two neo-nicotinoid insecticides, imidacloprid and dinotefuron, applied as non-invasive trunk sprays to control emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire. Neo-nicotinoid products are widely used to protect landscape ash trees because they are relatively safe for humans and non-target species. These...

  14. An innovative localisation algorithm for railway vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allotta, B.; D'Adamio, P.; Malvezzi, M.; Pugi, L.; Ridolfi, A.; Rindi, A.; Vettori, G.

    2014-11-01

    In modern railway automatic train protection and automatic train control systems, odometry is a safety relevant on-board subsystem which estimates the instantaneous speed and the travelled distance of the train; a high reliability of the odometry estimate is fundamental, since an error on the train position may lead to a potentially dangerous overestimation of the distance available for braking. To improve the odometry estimate accuracy, data fusion of different inputs coming from a redundant sensor layout may be used. The aim of this work has been developing an innovative localisation algorithm for railway vehicles able to enhance the performances, in terms of speed and position estimation accuracy, of the classical odometry algorithms, such as the Italian Sistema Controllo Marcia Treno (SCMT). The proposed strategy consists of a sensor fusion between the information coming from a tachometer and an Inertial Measurements Unit (IMU). The sensor outputs have been simulated through a 3D multibody model of a railway vehicle. The work has provided the development of a custom IMU, designed by ECM S.p.a, in order to meet their industrial and business requirements. The industrial requirements have to be compliant with the European Train Control System (ETCS) standards: the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), a project developed by the European Union to improve the interoperability among different countries, in particular as regards the train control and command systems, fixes some standard values for the odometric (ODO) performance, in terms of speed and travelled distance estimation. The reliability of the ODO estimation has to be taken into account basing on the allowed speed profiles. The results of the currently used ODO algorithms can be improved, especially in case of degraded adhesion conditions; it has been verified in the simulation environment that the results of the proposed localisation algorithm are always compliant with the ERTMS requirements

  15. Reconstruction of railway energy lines; Rekonstruktion von Bahnenergieleitungen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rothe, Matthias [DB Energie Gmbh, Berlin (Germany); Wahlen, Manfred [DB Energie Gmbh, Koeln (Germany)

    2013-06-15

    As is the case for other overhead lines, 110 kV railway energy lines are assumed to have a service life of 80 years. When this service life ends or the lines are adapted to the state of the art as necessary, all components of the overhead line are renewed. For the reconstruction of railway energy lines, the specifications laid down in planning and environmental laws, operational management aspects and the local ambient and development situation are decisive project planning parameters. (orig.)

  16. Finance-economical indexes of efficiency of development of railway transport

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Chekhovska

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Because of formation of public joint-stock company of railway transport of the common use, by an author it is suggested to carry out the analysis of efficiency of subsequent development of railway transport, leaning against indexes which represent the finance-economical constituent of results of activity of corporate enterprises.

  17. A cascading failure model for analyzing railway accident causation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jin-Tao; Li, Ke-Ping

    2018-01-01

    In this paper, a new cascading failure model is proposed for quantitatively analyzing the railway accident causation. In the model, the loads of nodes are redistributed according to the strength of the causal relationships between the nodes. By analyzing the actual situation of the existing prevention measures, a critical threshold of the load parameter in the model is obtained. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed cascading model, simulation experiments of a train collision accident are performed. The results show that the cascading failure model can describe the cascading process of the railway accident more accurately than the previous models, and can quantitatively analyze the sensitivities and the influence of the causes. In conclusion, this model can assist us to reveal the latent rules of accident causation to reduce the occurrence of railway accidents.

  18. 77 FR 47922 - BNSF Railway Company-Trackage Rights Exemption-Northern Lines Railway, Inc.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-10

    ... includes: (a) Track 204 between 33rd Avenue North and Rice Junction, Minn.; and (b) Track 203 between milepost 0.0, at Rice Junction, and milepost 5.71, just west of the Highway I-94 overpass (the Lines). \\1....C.C. 605 (1978), as modified in Mendocino Coast Railway--Lease & Operate--California Western...

  19. The effects of Bobath-based trunk exercises on trunk control, functional capacity, balance, and gait: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kılınç, Muhammed; Avcu, Fatma; Onursal, Ozge; Ayvat, Ender; Savcun Demirci, Cevher; Aksu Yildirim, Sibel

    2016-02-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Bobath-based individually designed trunk exercises on trunk control, upper and lower extremity function, and walking and balance in stroke patients. The main aim of treatment was to eliminate individual trunk impairments during various patient functions. The study was planned as an assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial. A total of 22 patients volunteered to participate in the study. Trunk function, functional capacity, and gait were assessed with the Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS), stroke rehabilitation assessment of movement (STREAM), and a 10-m walking test, respectively. The Berg Balance Test (BBT), functional reach (FR), and timed up-and-go (TUG) tests were used to evaluate balance. After the initial assessment, the patients were divided randomly into two groups, the study group (12 patients) and the control group (10 patients). The mean age of the patients in the study group was 55.91 years (duration of stroke 58.66 months) and that of the control group was 54.00 years (duration of stroke 67.20 months). Individual training programs were determined for the patients in the study group, taking into consideration their evaluation results; and strengthening, stretching, range of motion, and mat exercises were determined for the control group according to their functional level. The participants in both groups were taken into the physiotherapy program for 12 weeks, 3 days a week for 1 hour a day. In group analyses, both groups showed improvement in STREAM, TIS, and TUG tests. Only the study group produced significant gains in the BBT, FR, and 10 m walking tests (P 0.05). Individually developed exercise programs in the Bobath concept improve trunk performance, balance, and walking ability in stroke patients more than do conventional exercises.

  20. 77 FR 74739 - Norfolk Southern Railway Company-Petition for Declaratory Order

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-12-17

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. FD 35701] Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Petition for Declaratory Order Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS) filed a petition for..., APCO began removing trees and erecting electrical transmission towers and lines on its land. Thereafter...

  1. RISK MANAGEMENT IN A LARGE-SCALE NEW RAILWAY TRANSPORT SYSTEM PROJECT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sunduck D. SUH, Ph.D., P.E.

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available Risk management experiences of the Korean Seoul-Pusan high-speed railway (KTX project since the planning stage are evaluated. One can clearly see the interplay of engineering and construction risks, financial risks and political risks in the development of the KTX project, which is the peculiarity of large-scale new railway system projects. A brief description on evaluation methodology and overview of the project is followed by detailed evaluations on key differences in risks between conventional railway system and high-speed railway system, social and political risks, engineering and construction risks, and financial risks. Risks involved in system procurement process, such as proposal solicitation, evaluation, selection, and scope of solicitation are separated out and evaluated in depth. Detailed events resulting from these issues are discussed along with their possible impact on system risk. Lessons learned and further possible refinements are also discussed.

  2. Waiting experience in railway environments

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Hagen, M.; Galetzka, Mirjam; Pruyn, Adriaan T.H.

    2014-01-01

    At railway stations, waiting time is usually an unavoidable aspect of the journey for train passengers. According to the attentional model of time, pleasant surroundings and other forms of distraction reduce perceived waiting time. Not every individual reacts identically in the same surroundings.

  3. The Preventive Signaling Maintenance Crew Scheduling Problem for European Railway Traffic Management system (ERTMS)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    M. Pour, Shahrzad; Stidsen, Thomas Jacob Riis; Rasmussen, Kourosh Marjani

    , the western part of Denmark. This case is particularly interesting, since the entire railway signalling system is currently being upgraded to the new European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS) standard. The new signals need continuous maintenance and in this article we plan the distribution of crew......A railway system is a large and complex infrastructure, which requires continuous maintenance in order to function correctly. Proper maintenance is critical but can also be costly. In this paper we consider the practical case of planning the preventive maintenance of railway signals in Jutland...

  4. Risk Evaluation of Railway Coal Transportation Network Based on Multi Level Grey Evaluation Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Niu, Wei; Wang, Xifu

    2018-01-01

    The railway transport mode is currently the most important way of coal transportation, and now China’s railway coal transportation network has become increasingly perfect, but there is still insufficient capacity, some lines close to saturation and other issues. In this paper, the theory and method of risk assessment, analytic hierarchy process and multi-level gray evaluation model are applied to the risk evaluation of coal railway transportation network in China. Based on the example analysis of Shanxi railway coal transportation network, to improve the internal structure and the competitiveness of the market.

  5. Synthesis of railway-signaling plans using reachability games

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kasting, Patrick Frederik Soelmark; Hansen, Michael Reichhardt; Vester, Steen

    2016-01-01

    (the control system) controls signals and points and the universal player (the antagonistic environment) controls movement of trains. A winning strategy for the existential player provides a signaling plan that will safely guide trains through the network. The concepts from the railway network model......In this work, we show the feasibility of using functional programming (more specifically F#) in connection with gamebased methods for synthesis of correct-by-construction controllers (also called signaling plans) for railway networks. This is a massively resource-demanding application. A model...

  6. Robustness indicators and capacity models for railway networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Lars Wittrup

    In a world continuous striving for higher mobility and the use of more sustainable modes of transport, there is a constant pressure on utilising railway capacity better and, at the same time, obtaining a high robustness against delays. During the planning of railway operations and infrastructure ....... This has motivated the research conducted and described in this thesis, where the objective has been to develop and improve existing methods to achieve timetable and infrastructure plans with robust capacity utilisation aimed at the strategic and early tactical planning phases....

  7. Muscular condition and trunk stability in judoka of national and international level

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Casto Juan-Recio

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: It is theorized that the development of the ability to stabilize the trunk may improve the performance of a judoka because it improves body balance control and optimizes force transmission from the lower extremities to the upper limbs. However, there is a lack of scientific evidence to establish a clear relationship between trunk stability and performance in judo.Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the quantification of trunk stability and muscular strength and endurance allowed differentiation between national level (n = 7 and international level judoka (n = 6. In addition, the relationship between trunk stability and muscular strength and endurance of the muscles involved in trunk stability control was analyzed.Method: To assess trunk stability, trunk responses to sudden loads applied by a pneumatic mechanism were analyzed, as well as trunk postural control through an unstable sitting paradigm. Muscular strength and endurance were assessed via a flexion and extension trunk test using an isokinetic dynamometer.Results/Conclusions: International level judokas showed lower CoP displacement in the most complex task in unstable seat (7.00 ± 1.19 vs 8.93 ± 1.45 mm, T = .025 and higher absolute and relative peak torque in extensor muscles (7.05 ± 0.87 vs 5.74 ± 0.72 Nm, T = .013 than national level judoka. According to these results, core stability and trunk muscular condition are important qualities in the physical training of elite judoka. Correlational analysis found no relation between the analyzed variables, thus muscular strength and endurance appear to have a non-significant effect on performance in the trunk stability tests.

  8. Formal Methods and Safety Certification: Challenges in the Railways Domain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fantechi, Alessandro; Ferrari, Alessio; Gnesi, Stefania

    2016-01-01

    The railway signalling sector has historically been a source of success stories about the adoption of formal methods in the certification of software safety of computer-based control equipment.......The railway signalling sector has historically been a source of success stories about the adoption of formal methods in the certification of software safety of computer-based control equipment....

  9. Public relations work for major railway projects; Oeffentlichkeitsarbeit fuer grosse Bahnprojekte

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guertner, R. [Tram Zuerich West, Verkehrsbetriebe Zuerich (Switzerland); Braun, D.; Steiner, R. [Basler und Hofmann Ingenieure und Planer AG, Zuerich (Switzerland)

    2005-07-01

    Major railway construction projects attract a lot of public attention. They involve heavy investment, and cause local residents a good deal of inconvenience. This tends to obscure the fact that new railway lines and new railway tunnels bring significant improvements for the majority of citizens: better connections, more comfortable travel and frequently also less local noise. Furthermore, only a few people in the know are aware of how much technical and human effort lies behind the new structures. All the more reason therefore to make a serious public relations effort - on the part of the clients as well as the contractors involved. (orig.)

  10. Energetic optimization of regenerative braking for high speed railway systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frilli, Amedeo; Meli, Enrico; Nocciolini, Daniele; Pugi, Luca; Rindi, Andrea

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • A model of longitudinal dynamics of the High-speed train ETR1000 is presented. • The model includes on board traction and braking subsystems. • Interactions between overhead line and power line are modelled. • The model is validated on real experimental data. • An energy storage strategy for a high-speed line is proposed. - Abstract: The current development trend in the railway field has led to an ever increasing interest for the energetic optimization of railway systems (especially considering the braking phases), with a strong attention to the mutual interactions between the loads represented by railway vehicles and the electrical infrastructure, including all the sub-systems related to distribution and smart energy management such as energy storage systems. In this research work, the authors developed an innovative coupled modelling approach suitable for the analysis of the energetic optimization of railway systems and based on the use of the new object oriented language Matlab-Simscape™, which presents several advantages with respect to conventional modelling tools. The proposed model has been validated considering an Italian Direct Current High-speed line and the High-speed train ETR 1000. Furthermore, the model has been used to perform an efficiency analysis, considering the use of energy storage devices. The results obtained with the developed model show that the use of energy recovery systems in high-speed railway can provide great opportunities of energy savings.

  11. H∞ control of railway vehicle suspension with MR damper using scaled roller rig

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shin, Yu-Jeong; You, Won-Hee; Hur, Hyun-Moo; Park, Joon-Hyuk

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, a magneto-rheological (MR) damper was applied to the secondary suspension to reduce the vibration of a car body. The control performance of the MR damper was verified by numerical analysis with a 1/5 scale railway vehicle model in accordance with the similarity law. The analysis results were then validated in tests. In particular, the objective of the study was to understand how the control performance affected the dynamic characteristics of a railway vehicle and to systematically analyze the relationship between control performance and dynamic characteristics depending on various running speeds. To achieve this, experimental results for the dynamic characteristics of the scaled MR damper designed for the 1/5 scale railway vehicle model were applied to the railway vehicle model. The H ∞ control method was applied to the controller. The means of designing the railway vehicle body vibration controller and the effectiveness of its results were studied. (paper)

  12. Influence of vertical holes on creep and shrinkage of railway prestressed concrete sleepers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Dan; Ngamkhanong, Chayut; Kaewunruen, Sakdirat

    2017-09-01

    Railway prestressed concrete sleepers (or railroad ties) must successfully perform two critical duties: first, to carry wheel loads from the rails to the ground; and second, to secure rail gauge for dynamic safe movements of trains. The second duty is often fouled by inappropriate design of the time-dependent behaviors due to their creep, shrinkage and elastic shortening responses of the materials. In addition, the concrete sleepers are often modified on construction sites to fit in other systems such as cables, signalling gears, drainage pipes, etc. Accordingly, this study is the world first to investigate creep and shrinkage effects on the railway prestressed concrete sleepers with vertical holes. This paper will highlight constitutive models of concrete materials within the railway sleepers under different environmental conditions over time. It will present a comparative investigation using a variety of methods to evaluate shortening effects in railway prestressed concrete sleepers. The outcome of this study will improve material design, which is very critical to the durability of railway track components.

  13. The Railway and the River: Conduits of Dickens’s Imaginary City

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Moore, B.; Murail, E.; Thornton, S.

    2017-01-01

    This chapter analyses the railway and the river as two key conduits of Dickens’ imaginary city, arguing that each simultaneously connects and fractures the modern urban world that he depicts. Focusing on Dombey and Son and Our Mutual Friend, the chapter explores how railway and river combine

  14. Railway projects prioritisation for investment : application of goal programming

    OpenAIRE

    Ahern, Aoife; Anandarajah, Gabrial

    2007-01-01

    This research develops a weighted integer goal-programming model for prioritising railway projects for investment. The goal of the model is to prioritise the identified projects for investment while maximising the objectives and meeting the budget limit for capital investment. The model minimises the goal deviations of the objectives. The objectives of the model include quantitative and qualitative attributes. The model is applied to prioritise the new railway projects, which have a total cos...

  15. Study on high reliability safety valve for railway vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xuan; Chen, Ruikun; Zhang, Shixi; Xu, BuDu

    2017-09-01

    Now, the realization of most of the functions of the railway vehicles rely on compressed air, so the demand for compressed air is growing higher and higher. This safety valve is a protection device for pressure limitation and pressure relief in an air supply system of railway vehicles. I am going to introduce the structure, operating principle, research and development process of the safety valve designed by our company in this document.

  16. Carbon Dioxide Mitigation Benefit of High-Speed Railway in Terms of Carbon Tax

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fu Yanbing

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper calculates the carbon dioxide mitigation benefit of high-speed railway based on the carbon dioxide tax policy. We define the carbon dioxide emission system boundary for high-speed railway in its whole life cycle and estimate the life cycle carbon dioxide inventories during its construction, application, and recovery stages. And then we establish a theoretical model to calculate the life cycle carbon dioxide mitigation quantity for high-speed railway when compared with road transport and then calculate its carbon dioxide mitigation benefit. The numerical example shows that the carbon dioxide mitigation benefit of high-speed railway is better than that of road transport from the whole life cycle perspective.

  17. Intelligent control for braking-induced longitudinal vibration responses of floating-type railway bridges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qu, Wei-Lian; Qin, Shun-Quan; Tu, Jian-Weia; Liu, Jia; Zhou, Qiang; Cheng, Haibin; Pi, Yong-Lin

    2009-12-01

    This paper presents an intelligent control method and its engineering application in the control of braking-induced longitudinal vibration of floating-type railway bridges. Equations of motion for the controlled floating-type railway bridges have been established based on the analysis of the longitudinal vibration responses of floating-type railway bridges to train braking and axle-loads of moving trains. For engineering applications of the developed theory, a full-scale 500 kN smart magnetorheologic (MR) damper has been designed, fabricated and used to carry out experiments on the intelligent control of braking-induced longitudinal vibration. The procedure for using the developed intelligent method in conjunction with the full-scale 500 kN MR dampers has been proposed and used to control the longitudinal vibration responses of the deck of floating-type railway bridges induced by train braking and axle-loads of moving trains. This procedure has been applied to the longitudinal vibration control of the Tian Xingzhou highway and railway cable-stayed bridge over the Yangtze River in China. The simulated results have shown that the intelligent control system using the smart MR dampers can effectively control the longitudinal response of the floating-type railway bridge under excitations of braking and axle-loads of moving trains.

  18. Intelligent control for braking-induced longitudinal vibration responses of floating-type railway bridges

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qu, Wei-Lian; Tu, Jian-Weia; Liu, Jia; Zhou, Qiang; Qin, Shun-Quan; Cheng, Haibin; Pi, Yong-Lin

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents an intelligent control method and its engineering application in the control of braking-induced longitudinal vibration of floating-type railway bridges. Equations of motion for the controlled floating-type railway bridges have been established based on the analysis of the longitudinal vibration responses of floating-type railway bridges to train braking and axle-loads of moving trains. For engineering applications of the developed theory, a full-scale 500 kN smart magnetorheologic (MR) damper has been designed, fabricated and used to carry out experiments on the intelligent control of braking-induced longitudinal vibration. The procedure for using the developed intelligent method in conjunction with the full-scale 500 kN MR dampers has been proposed and used to control the longitudinal vibration responses of the deck of floating-type railway bridges induced by train braking and axle-loads of moving trains. This procedure has been applied to the longitudinal vibration control of the Tian Xingzhou highway and railway cable-stayed bridge over the Yangtze River in China. The simulated results have shown that the intelligent control system using the smart MR dampers can effectively control the longitudinal response of the floating-type railway bridge under excitations of braking and axle-loads of moving trains

  19. The role of the railways in the future of air transport

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Givoni, M.; Banister, D.

    2007-01-01

    The role of the railways in the air transport industry is usually limited to provision of access to airports. However, the development of high-speed rail networks and the congestion and environmental problems faced by the air transport industry suggest the railways could have a greater role in

  20. Impact Capacity Reduction in Railway Prestressed Concrete Sleepers with Surface Abrasions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ngamkhanong, Chayut; Li, Dan; Kaewunruen, Sakdirat

    2017-10-01

    Railway sleepers (also called ‘railroad tie’ in North America) embedded in ballasted railway tracks are a main part of railway track structures. Its important role is to transfer the loads evenly from the rails to a wider area of ballast bed and to secure rail gauge and enable safe passages of rolling stocks. By nature, railway infrastructure is nonlinear, evidenced by its behaviours, geometry and alignment, wheel-rail contact and operational parameters such as tractive efforts. Based on our critical review, the dynamic behaviour of railway sleepers has not been fully investigated, especially when the sleepers are deteriorated by excessive wears. In fact, the ballast angularity causes differential abrasions on the soffit or bottom surface of sleepers (especially at railseat zone). Furthermore, in sharp curves and rapid gradient change, longitudinal and lateral dynamics of rails increase the likelihood of railseat abrasions in concrete sleepers due to the unbalanced loading conditions. This paper presents a structural capacity of concrete sleepers under dynamic transient loading. The modified compression field theory for ultimate strength design of concrete sleepers under impact loading will be highlighted in this study. The influences of surface abrasions, including surface abrasion and soffit abrasion, on the dynamic behaviour of prestressed concrete sleepers, are firstly highlighted. The outcome of this study will improve the rail maintenance and inspection criteria in order to establish appropriate and sensible remote track condition monitoring network in practice. Moreover, this study will also improve the understanding of the fundamental dynamic behaviour of prestressed concrete sleepers with surface abrasions. The insight into these behaviours will not only improve safety and reliability of railway infrastructure but will enhance the structural safety of other concrete structures.

  1. DEVELOPMENT OF RAILWAY TOURISM IN UKRAINE AS MEANS OF AVAILABLE REST ORGANIZATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. V. Martseniuk

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. In highly developed countries, railway tourism is very popular, through it the tourists can comfortably and within their financial capacity to travel all around the world. Ukraine has faced with the problem of significant reduction of the tourist volume flows, aging of fixed assets, lack of investments on their renewal, reduction in passenger traffic and a sharp drop in people income. The purpose of the article is to justify the development of railway tourism in Ukraine. Methodology. Theoretical and methodological basis of the research is built on analysis of problems to ensure the competitiveness of the tourism industry in the area of passenger transportation, theoretical principles of economic science in the field of railway tourism efficiency and management of tourist flows. The authors suggest the development of railway tourism in Ukraine. In particular it concerns the introduction of new services in the field of tourism, management of tourist flows and others. The attention is focused on the development of the internal railway tourism. Findings. As a result of the assigned tasks the following results should be achieved: improving the image of Ukrainian railways; creation of an attractive investment climate for the greater involvement of investments into the tourism, engineering, transport and municipal infrastructures; improving the safety of tourists; ensuring effective protection of their rights, legitimate interests and property maintenance. Originality. The authors justified the need and potential of rail tourism on the territory of Ukraine taking into account the experience of foreign developed countries. Рractical value. Researchers presented theoretical generalization and new solution of scientific tasks. It manifests itself in the development of theoretical and methodological approaches to the development of railway tourism. Rationally applied measures of proposed by the authors ways of tourist flow management will

  2. Trunk lean gait decreases multi-segmental coordination in the vertical direction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tokuda, Kazuki; Anan, Masaya; Sawada, Tomonori; Tanimoto, Kenji; Takeda, Takuya; Ogata, Yuta; Takahashi, Makoto; Kito, Nobuhiro; Shinkoda, Koichi

    2017-11-01

    [Purpose] The strategy of trunk lean gait to reduce external knee adduction moment (KAM) may affect multi-segmental synergy control of center of mass (COM) displacement. Uncontrolled manifold (UCM) analysis is an evaluation index to understand motor variability. The purpose of this study was to investigate how motor variability is affected by using UCM analysis on adjustment of the trunk lean angle. [Subjects and Methods] Fifteen healthy young adults walked at their preferred speed under two conditions: normal and trunk lean gait. UCM analysis was performed with respect to the COM displacement during the stance phase. The KAM data were analyzed at the points of the first KAM peak during the stance phase. [Results] The KAM during trunk lean gait was smaller than during normal gait. Despite a greater segmental configuration variance with respect to mediolateral COM displacement during trunk lean gait, the synergy index was not significantly different between the two conditions. The synergy index with respect to vertical COM displacement during trunk lean gait was smaller than that during normal gait. [Conclusion] These results suggest that trunk lean gait is effective in reducing KAM; however, it may decrease multi-segmental movement coordination of COM control in the vertical direction.

  3. Efficiency and Robustness in Railway Operations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bull, Simon Henry; Pisinger, David

    reliability. Offering these services presents a challenging sequence of planning problems for operators. These range from problems considered on a daily basis to planning for years in the future, with different problems interacting and influencing each other. Operations research methods can be used...... to effectively model, investigate, and solve railway planning problems. Despite advances in computational power these large problems are still challenging to solve, especially as more modelling detail is sought. Within a Danish context this thesis seeks to apply operations research methods to different planning...... problems beyond past approaches, and where applicable, investigate solution methods that place more focus on the passenger and passenger experience. To cater to the growing demand for rail transport, and compete with different modes of transport, Danish railway operators must offer a consistent, reliable...

  4. Trunk stabilization exercises for healthy individuals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco J Vera-Garcia

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1980-0037.2014v16n2p200   The aim of this study was to analyze the trunk muscular response during different variations of some of the most popular stabilization exercises: front-bridge, back-bridge, side-bridge, and bird-dog. Surface electromyography was bilaterally re-corded from rectus abdominis, external and internal oblique and erector spinae during 25 variations of the aforementioned exercises. Compared to the conventional form of the front- and side-bridge, performing these exercises kneeling on a bench or with elbows extended reduced the muscular challenge. Conversely, performing the back-bridge with elbows extended elicited higher muscular activation than the conventional exercise. While bridge exercises with double leg support produced the highest activation levels in those muscles that counteracted gravity, single leg support while bridging increased the activation of the trunk rotators, especially internal oblique. The highest activation levels were found in three exercises: sagittal walkout in a front-bridge position, rolling from right side-bridge into front-bridge position, and side-bridge with single leg support on a BOSUTMbalance trainer. Although the exercises performed on unstable surfaces usu-ally enhanced the muscle activation, performing the exercises on the BOSUTMbalance trainer did not always increase the trunk muscle activity. Overall, this information may be useful to guide fitness instructors and clinicians when establishing stabilization exercise progressions for the trunk musculature.

  5. Surface Analysis of Railway Buffers Heads Covered with Bronze Using Laser Cladding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sitarz M.

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Railway buffers during the operation are staying in almost permanent contact with each other, creating friction node in the point of contact of two railway buffer heads. In consequence of overcoming track curves, turnouts and unevenness of track, the railway buffer heads moves relative to each other causing friction, which results in its wear. When the wear is excessive, it might be a reason to withdrawn vehicle from service, it causes flattening of buffer head, and in consequence its abnormal cooperation. To avoid this phenomenon the buffer heads should be covered with graphitized grease, but this method has many disadvantages. Accordingly, it was found that it would be beneficial to cover the buffer head with bronze using laser cladding. In this article the metallographic and mechanical analysis of the newly created top layer of railway buffer head are presented. In article the results from tribological tests conducted on Amsler test bench are also presented. Based on test results described in article concluded that the layer of bronze coat on working surface of railway buffer head can be beneficial from operational point of view.

  6. Past and future of a regional railway network in Mezohegyes (Hungary area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brigitta ZSOTER

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The role of railway network in the internal passenger and heavy traffic is continuously decreasing. Regarding the number of passengers, proportion of the railway out of the internal passenger transport was more than 20% less in 2000. The railway passenger transportation suffered a setback in shorter distances in the last decades. In case of railway transportation of goods both the carriage distance and the quantity of goods have decreased. Content of the load has changed, too. Comparing to the previous one, quantity of the transported building materials, metal waste, ores and coal etc. lessened. In contrast with it proportion of agricultural products, machines has increased. It is worth examining the changes in connection with the passenger and heavy traffic in the last few years not only in country level but in the level of several settlements, as well. In settlements’ life a transportation route of the infrastructural sphere plays an important role. In this essay it is aiming to examine the changes in railway traffic of town Mezohegyes, a settlement on the Southern part of the Hungarian Plain, between 1990 and 2006. Research work of this kind has been carried out about town Mezohegyes earlier.

  7. File list: DNS.Emb.20.AllAg.Embryonic_trunk [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available DNS.Emb.20.AllAg.Embryonic_trunk mm9 DNase-seq Embryo Embryonic trunk SRX191030 htt...p://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/DNS.Emb.20.AllAg.Embryonic_trunk.bed ...

  8. Evaluation of the Favourable Ecological Impact of the Railway on the Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jasna Golubić

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available The railway has advantages over other branches of longdistancetransportation from the ecological, economic, safety,and technological point of view.The paper gives an evaluation of the favourable influenceof railway traffic on the environment reflected in the rationalenergy consumption, significantly reduced need of physicalspace, and reduced air pollution.Having these data in mind, the railway is considered tohave a negligible influence on environmental pollution. However,studying even such small amounts plays a significant rolein the traffic safety and in the lives of people and nature itself

  9. Railway noise reduction by the application of CHFC material on the rail

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brigita ALTENBAHER

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Traffic is the most widespread source of environmental noise. Railway noise has become increasingly common in urban areas in the past few decades. Therefore environmental requirements for railway operations regarding noise are becoming very strict and will become even tighter in future. In the present paper we present actual track-based field test performed on Slovenian Railways. The significant noise reduction (up to 30dBA was achieved by the application of CHFC material on the rail using CL-E1 top anti noise system.

  10. Perspectives of transport logistics in the railway transport enterprises

    OpenAIRE

    Elagin, Yu; Obruch, A.

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, the authors study the main directions of development of transport logistics. Identified as the main types of general transport logistics, as well as the rail sector, in which logistics acquires a dominant role in terms of reform. Also highlights the main features of transport logistics for railway transport enterprises and proved the importance of integrating function in modern conditions of development. The authors noted that to ensure the effective development of railway tran...

  11. Capacity gain with an alternative LTE railway communication network

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sniady, Aleksander; Soler, José

    2014-01-01

    , such as 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE). T his paper describe s how to adapt the reversible multi - chain/channel queuing system to model an LTE cell serving ETCS - equipped trains . It is proposed to use the multiple user chains available in the model to represent varying bitrate in LTE radio access network....... Usin g this model , LTE and GSM - R are compare d in terms of capacity on an example at Copenhagen Main Train Station . The purpose of this work is to demonstrate the benefits that railway operators and infrastructure managers can expect from the introduc tion of LTE , as a telecommunication technology...... Control System (ETCS) signaling , the capacity of GSM - R turns out to be insufficient . GSM - R cannot ful fill the railway requirements , in terms of the number of simultaneous ETCS connections . This is why , alternative , more efficient communication technologies should be considered by railways...

  12. Study of Drivers’ Behaviour at a Passive Railway Crossing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandra Kasalica

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Problem: The number of killed and injured persons in incidents at railway level crossings is generally increasing on the Serbian Railways, particularly at passive crossings. In this paper we researched the direct behaviour of road traffic participants at a conventional railway passive crossing. Method: Direct observational study of drivers’ behaviour at a level crossing. Results: Sixty-one road vehicle drivers were observed in the moments of train approach. The probability of crossing varies depending on the train distance and the time the driver has to cross the crossing. The drivers who have limited visibility cannot estimate the speed of the approaching train well and make more risky decisions. Conclusion: This study shows that the number of “risky crossings” is worrying as the result of such crossings is a large number of accidents with fatal consequences at the passive crossings in Serbia.

  13. Seismic impact of the railway on the geotechnical constructions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stolárik, Martin; Pinka, Miroslav

    2017-09-01

    Nowadays, the focus on more ecological means of material and persons transport is still higher. Big loads can be transported on railways more effectively and with lower environment impact than on roads. The geotechnical structures are inherent parts of railway infrastructure, such as embankments, sides of notches and, of course, tunnels, foundation constructions of buildings or pillars of bridges and the others geotechnical constructions (e.g. retaining walls, culverts, transition area of bridges). By train pass, vibrations are caused and these vibrations are relayed to the soil. These vibrations can make adverse impact to surrounding objects and to technologies placed in. This so far uncared-for influence gets into the foreground by current trend of everyday life technical equipment increasing. The article introduces different kinds of geotechnical structures and the influence of by-passing railway transport on their constructions and surroundings. The data are evaluated in the amplitude and frequency domain.

  14. File list: His.Emb.10.AllAg.Embryonic_trunk [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available His.Emb.10.AllAg.Embryonic_trunk mm9 Histone Embryo Embryonic trunk SRX093317,SRX09...3316 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/His.Emb.10.AllAg.Embryonic_trunk.bed ...

  15. File list: His.Emb.50.AllAg.Embryonic_trunk [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available His.Emb.50.AllAg.Embryonic_trunk mm9 Histone Embryo Embryonic trunk SRX093317,SRX09...3316 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/His.Emb.50.AllAg.Embryonic_trunk.bed ...

  16. Lumbopelvic flexibility modulates neuromuscular responses during trunk flexion-extension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sánchez-Zuriaga, Daniel; Artacho-Pérez, Carla; Biviá-Roig, Gemma

    2016-06-01

    Various stimuli such as the flexibility of lumbopelvic structures influence the neuromuscular responses of the trunk musculature, leading to different load sharing strategies and reflex muscle responses from the afferents of lumbopelvic mechanoreceptors. This link between flexibility and neuromuscular response has been poorly studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between lumbopelvic flexibility and neuromuscular responses of the erector spinae, hamstring and abdominal muscles during trunk flexion-extension. Lumbopelvic movement patterns were measured in 29 healthy women, who were separated into two groups according to their flexibility during trunk flexion-extension. The electromyographic responses of erector spinae, rectus abdominis and biceps femoris were also recorded. Subjects with greater lumbar flexibility had significantly less pelvic flexibility and vice versa. Subjects with greater pelvic flexibility had a higher rate of relaxation and lower levels of hamstring activation during maximal trunk flexion. The neuromuscular response patterns of the hamstrings seem partially modulated by pelvic flexibility. Not so with the lumbar erector spinae and lumbar flexibility, despite the assertions of some previous studies. The results of this study improve our knowledge of the relationships between trunk joint flexibility and neuromuscular responses, a relationship which may play a role in low back pain. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Functional and morphological variety in trunk muscles of Urodela.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Omura, Ayano; Anzai, Wataru; Endo, Hideki

    2014-03-01

    Trunk musculature in Urodela species varies by habitat. In this study, trunk musculature was examined in five species of adult salamanders representing three different habitats: aquatic species, Amphiuma tridactylum and Necturus maculosus; semi-aquatic species, Cynops pyrrhogaster; terrestrial species, Hynobius nigrescens and Ambystoma tigrinum. More terrestrial species have heavier dorsal and ventral trunk muscles than more aquatic forms. By contrast, the lateral hypaxial musculature was stronger in more aquatic species. The number of layers of lateral hypaxial musculature varied among Urodela species and did not clearly correlate with their habitats. The M. rectus abdominis was separated from the lateral hypaxial musculature in both terrestrial and semi-aquatic species. In aquatic species, M. rectus abdominis was not separated from lateral hypaxial musculature. Lateral hypaxial musculature differed in thickness among species and was relatively thinner in terrestrial species. In more terrestrial species, dorsal muscles may be used for stabilization and ventral flexing against gravity. Ventral muscle may be used in preventing dorsally concave curvature of the trunk by dorsal muscles and by weight. The lengthy trunk supported by limbs needs muscular forces along the ventral contour line in more terrestrial species. And, the locomotion on well-developed limbs seems to lead to a decrease of the lateral hypaxial musculature.

  18. Optimal Path Choice in Railway Passenger Travel Network Based on Residual Train Capacity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fei Dou

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Passenger’s optimal path choice is one of the prominent research topics in the field of railway passenger transport organization. More and more different train types are available, increasing path choices from departure to destination for travelers are unstoppable. However, travelers cannot avoid being confused when they hope to choose a perfect travel plan based on various travel time and cost constraints before departure. In this study, railway passenger travel network is constructed based on train timetable. Both the generalized cost function we developed and the residual train capacity are considered to be the foundation of path searching procedure. The railway passenger travel network topology is analyzed based on residual train capacity. Considering the total travel time, the total travel cost, and the total number of passengers, we propose an optimal path searching algorithm based on residual train capacity in railway passenger travel network. Finally, the rationale of the railway passenger travel network and the optimal path generation algorithm are verified positively by case study.

  19. Life cycle assessment of a railway bridge: comparison of two superstructure designs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Du, Guangli; Karoumi, Raid

    2013-01-01

    Railway bridges currently encounter the challenges of increasing the load capacity while the environmental sustainability should be achieved. However, it has been realised that the environmental assessment of railway bridges has not been integrated into the decision-making process, the standard g...

  20. Road Traffic and Railway Noise Exposures and Adiposity in Adults

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Jeppe S; Raaschou-Nielsen, Ole; Tjønneland, Anne

    2016-01-01

    and railway noise and adiposity. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study of 57,053 middle-aged people, height, weight, waist circumference, and bioelectrical impedance were measured at enrollment (1993-1997). Body mass index (BMI), body fat mass index (BFMI), and lean body mass index (LBMI) were calculated....... Residential exposure to road and railway traffic noise exposure was calculated using the Nordic prediction method. Associations between traffic noise and anthropometric measures at enrollment were analyzed using general linear models and logistic regression adjusted for demographic and lifestyle factors......, significant increases were also found for BFMI and LBMI. All associations followed linear exposure-response relationships. Exposure to railway noise was not linearly associated with adiposity measures. However, exposure > 60 dB was associated with a 0.71-cm wider waist circumference (95% CI: 0.23, 1...

  1. The present condition and projection of construction of railway net of the Danube-Morava corridor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vemić Mirčeta

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available The railway net of the Danube-Morava corridor, together with the road net represent the central section of the Pan-European transport corridor X. According to the traffic and economic standards, the railway net represents the second main traffic direction of this corridor as the area-functioning system of the territory of Serbia. Main railway lines have favourable positions as they are located along prominent geographical features, namely river valleys thus enabling considerable flow of goods, passengers and information. The paper presents some characteristics of the present condition of the railway net, its functioning and safety, with certain ideas of its future construction and expected exploitation till 2015. Traffic infrastructure represents the initial factor of overall development of a state and its connection with the surrounding countries. It is considered to be of strategic importance for a country to built railway net. Improvement and additional construction of railway lines is of the greatest priority for the purpose of enlargement of overall mobility and quality of life of population, to make urban areas closer, to improve connections, functions efficiency and level of services of railway system, reduction of negative influence on other economic systems and human environment, better safety etc.

  2. Trace element concentrations in the fruit peels and trunks of Musa paradisiaca.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Selema, M D; Farago, M E

    1996-08-01

    Chemical analyses for the elementary compositions of the ashes of the fruit peels and trunks of the tropical plantain Musa paradisiaca have been undertaken. The elements, categorized as trace elements, generally are found to have higher mean concentrations in the fruit peels than in the trunks (except in the case of Zn). Their peel-trunk uptake ratios have been calculated and range between 1 and 4, showing normal levels of accumulations in the fruit peels over the trunks.

  3. An assistance device to help people with trunk impairment maintain posture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogura, Tomoka; Itami, Taku; Yano, Ken'ichi; Mori, Ichidai; Kameda, Kazuhiro

    2017-07-01

    People with trunk impairment cannot lean forward because of the dysfunction of the trunk resulting from events such as cervical cord injury (CCI). It is therefore difficult for such people to work at a table because they may easily fall from their wheelchair, and it is also hard for them to return to their original position. This limits the activities of daily living (ADLs) of people with trunk impairment. These problems can be solved to some extent with equipment such as a wheelchair belt or a spinal orthosis that can help the person to maintain his or her posture. However, people cannot move freely with this equipment. Furthermore, if this equipment is used for a long time, there is a risk of physical pain and skin issues. In this study, we developed a device that assists the trunk of people with trunk impairment when they lean forward. This device supports people with trunk impairment so that they may take their meals at the table and prevents them from falling over their wheelchair without hindering their daily performance when they are sitting normally. The effectiveness of our proposed device was verified by experiments involving having a meal, operating a wheelchair, and colliding with a curb. Our device can help people with trunk impairment by improving their ADLs and quality of life (QOL).

  4. High Speed Railway Environment Safety Evaluation Based on Measurement Attribute Recognition Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qizhou Hu

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In order to rationally evaluate the high speed railway operation safety level, the environmental safety evaluation index system of high speed railway should be well established by means of analyzing the impact mechanism of severe weather such as raining, thundering, lightning, earthquake, winding, and snowing. In addition to that, the attribute recognition will be identified to determine the similarity between samples and their corresponding attribute classes on the multidimensional space, which is on the basis of the Mahalanobis distance measurement function in terms of Mahalanobis distance with the characteristics of noncorrelation and nondimensionless influence. On top of the assumption, the high speed railway of China environment safety situation will be well elaborated by the suggested methods. The results from the detailed analysis show that the evaluation is basically matched up with the actual situation and could lay a scientific foundation for the high speed railway operation safety.

  5. Assessing delay and lag in sagittal trunk control using a tracking task.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reeves, N Peter; Luis, Abraham; Chan, Elizabeth C; Sal Y Rosas, Victor G; Tanaka, Martin L

    2018-05-17

    Slower trunk muscle responses are linked to back pain and injury. Unfortunately, clinical assessments of spine function do not objectively evaluate this important attribute, which reflects speed of trunk control. Speed of trunk control can be parsed into two components: (1) delay, the time it takes to initiate a movement, and (2) lag, the time it takes to execute a movement once initiated. The goal of this study is to demonstrate a new approach to assess delay and lag in trunk control using a simple tracking task. Ten healthy subjects performed four blocks of six trials of trunk tracking in the sagittal plane. Delay and lag were estimated by modeling trunk control for predictable and unpredictable (control mode) trunk movements in flexion and extension (control direction) at movement amplitudes of 2°, 4°, and 6° (control amplitude). The main effect of control mode, direction, and amplitude of movement were compared between trial blocks to assess secondary influencers (e.g., fatigue). Only control mode was consistent across trial blocks with predictable movements being faster than unpredictable for both delay and lag. Control direction and amplitude effects on delay and lag were consistent across the first two trial blocks and less consistent in later blocks. Given the heterogeneity in the presentation of back pain, clinical assessment of trunk control should include different control modes, directions, and amplitudes. To reduce testing time and the influence of fatigue, we recommend six trials to assess trunk control. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Towards the Internet of Smart Trains: A Review on Industrial IoT-Connected Railways.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraga-Lamas, Paula; Fernández-Caramés, Tiago M; Castedo, Luis

    2017-06-21

    Nowadays, the railway industry is in a position where it is able to exploit the opportunities created by the IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) and enabling communication technologies under the paradigm of Internet of Trains. This review details the evolution of communication technologies since the deployment of GSM-R, describing the main alternatives and how railway requirements, specifications and recommendations have evolved over time. The advantages of the latest generation of broadband communication systems (e.g., LTE, 5G, IEEE 802.11ad) and the emergence of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) for the railway environment are also explained together with the strategic roadmap to ensure a smooth migration from GSM-R. Furthermore, this survey focuses on providing a holistic approach, identifying scenarios and architectures where railways could leverage better commercial IIoT capabilities. After reviewing the main industrial developments, short and medium-term IIoT-enabled services for smart railways are evaluated. Then, it is analyzed the latest research on predictive maintenance, smart infrastructure, advanced monitoring of assets, video surveillance systems, railway operations, Passenger and Freight Information Systems (PIS/FIS), train control systems, safety assurance, signaling systems, cyber security and energy efficiency. Overall, it can be stated that the aim of this article is to provide a detailed examination of the state-of-the-art of different technologies and services that will revolutionize the railway industry and will allow for confronting today challenges.

  7. Towards the Internet of Smart Trains: A Review on Industrial IoT-Connected Railways

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fraga-Lamas, Paula; Fernández-Caramés, Tiago M.; Castedo, Luis

    2017-01-01

    Nowadays, the railway industry is in a position where it is able to exploit the opportunities created by the IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) and enabling communication technologies under the paradigm of Internet of Trains. This review details the evolution of communication technologies since the deployment of GSM-R, describing the main alternatives and how railway requirements, specifications and recommendations have evolved over time. The advantages of the latest generation of broadband communication systems (e.g., LTE, 5G, IEEE 802.11ad) and the emergence of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) for the railway environment are also explained together with the strategic roadmap to ensure a smooth migration from GSM-R. Furthermore, this survey focuses on providing a holistic approach, identifying scenarios and architectures where railways could leverage better commercial IIoT capabilities. After reviewing the main industrial developments, short and medium-term IIoT-enabled services for smart railways are evaluated. Then, it is analyzed the latest research on predictive maintenance, smart infrastructure, advanced monitoring of assets, video surveillance systems, railway operations, Passenger and Freight Information Systems (PIS/FIS), train control systems, safety assurance, signaling systems, cyber security and energy efficiency. Overall, it can be stated that the aim of this article is to provide a detailed examination of the state-of-the-art of different technologies and services that will revolutionize the railway industry and will allow for confronting today challenges. PMID:28635672

  8. Effects of heavy metal pollution on enzyme activities in railway cut slope soils.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meng, Xiaoyi; Ai, Yingwei; Li, Ruirui; Zhang, Wenjuan

    2018-03-07

    Railway transportation is an important transportation mode. However, railway transportation causes heavy metal pollution in surrounding soils. Heavy metal pollution has a serious negative impact on the natural environment, including a decrease of enzyme activities in soil and degradation of sensitive ecosystems. Some studies investigated the heavy metal pollution at railway stations or certain transportation hubs. However, the pollution accumulated in artificial cut slope soil all along the rails is still questioned. The interest on non-point source pollution from railways is increasing in an effort to protect the soil quality along the line. In this study, we studied spatial distributions of heavy metals and five enzyme activities, i.e., urease (UA), saccharase (SAC), protease (PRO), catalase (CAT), and polyphenol oxidase (POA) in the soil, and the correlation among them beside three different railways in Sichuan Province, China, as well. Soil samples were respectively collected from 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 150 m away from the rails (depth of 0-8 cm). Results showed that Mn, Cd, Cu, and Zn were influenced by railway transportation in different degrees while Pb was not. Heavy metal pollution was due to the abrasion of the gravel bed as well as the tracks and freight transportation which caused more heavy metal pollution than passenger transportation. Enzymatic activities were significantly negatively correlated with heavy metals in soils, especially Zn and Cu. Finally, it is proposed that combined use of PRO and POA activities could be an indicator of the heavy metal pollution in cut slope soils. The protective measures aimed at heavy metal pollution caused by railway transportation in cut slope soils are urgent.

  9. A methodology for evaluating environmental impacts of railway freight transportation policies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lopez, Ignacio; Rodriguez, Javier; Buron, Jose Manuel; Garcia, Alberto

    2009-01-01

    Railway freight transportation presents a degree of complexity which frequently makes impossible to model it with sufficient precision. Currently, energetic and environmental impacts of freight transportation are usually modelled following average data, which do not reflect the characteristics of specific lines. These models allow qualitative approximations which may be used as criteria for designing high-level transportation policies: road-train modal shift, regional energetic planning or environmental policies. This paper proposes a methodology for estimating railway consumption associated to a specific railway line which yields a new degree of precision. It is based on estimating different contributions to railway consumption by a collection of factors, mobility, operation, or infrastructure-related. This procedure also allows applying the methodology for designing transportation policies in detail: evaluating impact of modal shift, consumption and pollutant emissions on a specific line, as well as the effect of building tunnels, reducing slopes, improving traffic control, etc. A comparison of the estimations given by the conventional approach and the proposed methodology is offered, as well as further comments on the results.

  10. 77 FR 69929 - Western Carolina Railway Service Corporation, Steven C. Hawkins and Cheryl R. Hawkins-Continuance...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-21

    ... Railway Service Corporation, Steven C. Hawkins and Cheryl R. Hawkins--Continuance in Control Exemption--Aiken Railway Company, LLC Western Carolina Railway Service Corporation (WCRS) and Steven C. Hawkins and Cheryl R. Hawkins (the Hawkins) (collectively, Applicants) have filed a verified notice of exemption...

  11. Examining nocturnal railway noise and aircraft noise in the field: sleep, psychomotor performance, and annoyance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elmenhorst, Eva-Maria; Pennig, Sibylle; Rolny, Vinzent; Quehl, Julia; Mueller, Uwe; Maaß, Hartmut; Basner, Mathias

    2012-05-01

    Traffic noise is interfering during day- and nighttime causing distress and adverse physiological reactions in large parts of the population. Railway noise proved less annoying than aircraft noise in surveys which were the bases for a so called 5 dB railway bonus regarding noise protection in many European countries. The present field study investigated railway noise-induced awakenings during sleep, nighttime annoyance and the impact on performance the following day. Comparing these results with those from a field study on aircraft noise allowed for a ranking of traffic modes concerning physiological and psychological reactions. 33 participants (mean age 36.2 years ± 10.3 (SD); 22 females) living alongside railway tracks around Cologne/Bonn (Germany) were polysomnographically investigated. These data were pooled with data from a field study on aircraft noise (61 subjects) directly comparing the effects of railway and aircraft noise in one random subject effects logistic regression model. Annoyance was rated in the morning evaluating the previous night. Probability of sleep stage changes to wake/S1 from railway noise increased significantly from 6.5% at 35 dB(A) to 20.5% at 80 dB(A) LAFmax. Rise time of noise events had a significant impact on awakening probability. Nocturnal railway noise led to significantly higher awakening probabilities than aircraft noise, partly explained by the different rise times, whereas the order was inversed for annoyance. Freight train noise compared to passenger train noise proved to have the most impact on awakening probability. Nocturnal railway noise had no effect on psychomotor vigilance. Nocturnal freight train noise exposure in Germany was associated with increased awakening probabilities exceeding those for aircraft noise and contrasting the findings of many annoyance surveys and annoyance ratings of our study. During nighttime a bonus for railway noise seems not appropriate. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Distributed optical fiber sensors for integrated monitoring of railway infrastructures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minardo, Aldo; Coscetta, Agnese; Porcaro, Giuseppe; Giannetta, Daniele; Bernini, Romeo; Zeni, Luigi

    2014-05-01

    We propose the application of a distributed optical fiber sensor based on stimulated Brillouin scattering, as an integrated system for safety monitoring of railway infrastructures. The strain distribution was measured dynamically along a 60 meters length of rail track, as well as along a 3-m stone arch bridge. The results indicate that distributed sensing technology is able to provide useful information in railway traffic and safety monitoring.

  13. Noise-induced hearing loss in a longitudinal study of Norwegian railway workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lie, Arve; Skogstad, Marit; Johnsen, Torstein Seip; Engdahl, Bo; Tambs, Kristian

    2016-09-02

    The aim of this study was to analyse longitudinal data to assess the risk of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) in Norwegian railway workers. Longitudinal. A major Norwegian railway company. We examined data from the first and last audiograms for the period 1991-2014, from 9640 railway workers with varying occupational noise exposure and with an average observation period of 10 years. The course of hearing acuity in seven groups of railway workers (train drivers, conductors, bus drivers, traffic controllers, train maintenance workers, track maintenance workers and others) were compared with each other and with ISO standards (ISO 1999). The change in hearing threshold during the observation period was 2-3 dB in the 0.5-4 kHz range and 6-7 dB in the 3-6 kHz range adjusted for age and sex, for all occupational groups, which is slightly less than expected (8 dB) according to ISO 1999. The risk of NIHL in Norwegian railway workers during the period 1991-2014 has been negligible. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  14. Potential applications for energy from renewable sources in the railway sector; Anwendungsmoeglichkeiten erneuerbarer Energiequellen im Bahnsektor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goldenberg, Philipp; Goldenberg, Vladimir; Reppich, Marcus [Hochschule Augsburg (Germany)

    2012-07-01

    Making use of energy from renewable sources has strategic and security-policy relevance. Since DB AG is a major energy consumer, the use of energy from renewable sources in railway operations will make economic sense in the long run. The railways depend on a very high security of energy supply nationwide. Efficient energy management can help enhance the security of supply to the railways. In addition, there are large potential energy savings to be made in railway operations. Major efforts are required to reach this objective. Using energy from renewable sources and increasing energy efficiency are two indispensable prerequisites for a sustainable energy supply to the railways as well as for increasing their attractiveness. (orig.)

  15. Advantages of low frequencies in converter-supplied railway traction power systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schuette, Thorsten [Atkins Sverige AB, Vaesteras (Sweden); Behmann, Uwe

    2013-05-15

    As soon as a railway will be supplied from the public 50 Hz grid by means of static converters and no longer by direct transformers, you are free to choose its frequency. With the standardised railway frequency of 16 (2)/(3) Hz considerable advantages in line infrastructure can be utilised and thus energy and capital expenditures can be saved.

  16. Fatal accidents at railway level crossings in Great Britain 1946-2009.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Andrew W

    2011-09-01

    This paper investigates fatal accidents and fatalities at level crossings in Great Britain over the 64-year period 1946-2009. The numbers of fatal accidents and fatalities per year fell by about 65% in the first half of that period, but since then have remained more or less constant at about 11 fatal accidents and 12 fatalities per year. At the same time other types of railway fatalities have fallen, so level crossings represent a growing proportion of the total. Nevertheless, Britain's level crossing safety performance remains good by international standards. The paper classifies level crossings into three types: railway-controlled, automatic, and passive. The safety performance of the three types of crossings has been very different. Railway-controlled crossings are the best-performing crossing type, with falling fatal accident rates. Automatic crossings have higher accident rates per crossing than railway controlled or passive crossings, and the accident rates have not decreased. Passive crossings are by far the most numerous, but many have low usage by road users. Their fatal accident rate has remained remarkably constant over the whole period at about 0.9 fatal accidents per 1000 crossings per year. A principal reason why fatal accidents and fatalities have not fallen in the second half of the period as they did in the first half is the increase in the number of automatic crossings, replacing the safer railway controlled crossings on some public roads. However, it does not follow that this replacement was a mistake, because automatic crossings have advantages over controlled crossings in reducing delays to road users and in not needing staff. Based on the trends for each type of crossing and for pedestrian and non-pedestrian accidents separately, in 2009 a mean of about 5% of fatal accidents were at railway controlled crossings, 52% were at automatic crossings, and 43% were at passive crossings. Fatalities had similar proportions. About 60% of fatalities were

  17. A Case of an Aortic Abscess around the Elephant Trunk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujii, Takeshiro; Kawasaki, Muneyasu; Katayanagi, Tomoyuki; Okuma, Shinnosuke; Masuhara, Hiroshi; Shiono, Noritsugu; Watanabe, Yoshinori

    2015-01-01

    A 52-year-old male patient with a history of total arch replacement using the elephant trunk technique for acute aortic dissection 4 years before visited our hospital with the chief complaint of persistent fever. Chest computed tomography (CT) suggested prosthetic vascular graft infection, which was treated surgically after chemotherapy. The first surgery consisted of debridement of an abscess around the vascular graft and in the aorta around the elephant trunk, and thoracic descending aorta replacement and vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) in view of the risk of bleeding from the peripheral region of the elephant trunk. One week later, omental filling was performed as the second step. This is a very rare case of aortic abscess around the elephant trunk that could successfully be managed by graft-conserving treatment.

  18. AN AUTOMATED RAILWAY STATION TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    AN AUTOMATED RAILWAY STATION TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM. ... involve collision with automobiles or other vehicles and collision with other trains. ... the processed signals to control electromagnetic devices through motor drivers.

  19. Efficient Circulation of Railway Rolling Stock

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Alfieri, A.; Groot, R.; Kroon, L.G.; Schrijver, A.

    2006-01-01

    Railway rolling stock (locomotives, carriages, and train units) is one of the most significant cost sources for operatorsof passenger trains, both public and private. Rolling stock costsare due to material acquisition, power supply, and material maintenance. The efficient circulation of rolling

  20. Efficient Circulation of Railway Rolling Stock

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    A. Alfieri (Arianna); R. Groot (Rutger); L.G. Kroon (Leo); A. Schrijver (Lex)

    2002-01-01

    textabstractRailway rolling stock (locomotives, carriages, and train units) is one of the most significant cost sources for operatorsof passenger trains, both public and private. Rolling stock costsare due to material acquisition, power supply, and material maintenance. The efficient circulation of

  1. Relationships between trunk performance, gait and postural control in persons with multiple sclerosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freund, Jane E; Stetts, Deborah M; Vallabhajosula, Srikant

    2016-06-30

    Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic progressive disease of the central nervous system. Compared to healthy individuals, persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) have increased postural sway in quiet stance, decreased gait speed and increased fall incidence. Trunk performance has been implicated in postural control, gait dysfunction, and fall prevention in older adults. However, the relationship of trunk performance to postural control and gait has not been adequately studied in PwMS. To compare trunk muscle structure and performance in PwMS to healthy age and gendered-matched controls (HC); to determine the effects of isometric trunk endurance testing on postural control in both populations; and to determine the relationship of trunk performance with postural control, gait and step activity in PwMS. Fifteen PwMS and HC completed ultrasound imaging of trunk muscles, 10 m walk test, isometric trunk endurance tests, and postural sway test. Participants wore a step activity monitor for 7 days. PwMS had worse isometric trunk endurance compared to HC. PwMS trunk flexion endurance negatively correlated to several postural control measures and positively correlated to gait speed and step activity. Clinicians should consider evaluation and interventions directed at impaired trunk endurance in PwMS.

  2. A codimension two bifurcation in a railway bogie system

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhang, Tingting; True, Hans; Dai, Huanyun

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, a comprehensive analysis is presented to investigate a codimension two bifurcation that exists in a nonlinear railway bogie dynamic system combining theoretical analysis with numerical investigation. By using the running velocity V and the primary longitudinal stiffness (Formula...... coexist in a range of the bifurcation parameters which can lead to jumps in the lateral oscillation amplitude of the railway bogie system. Furthermore, reduce the values of the bifurcation parameters gradually. Firstly, the supercritical Hopf bifurcation turns into a subcritical one with multiple limit...

  3. Development of prototype DC superconducting cable for railway system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tomita, Masaru; Fukumoto, Yusuke; Suzuki, Kenji; Miryala, Muralidhar

    2010-01-01

    High Temperature Superconducting (HTSC) wire has significant potential for railway system applications. HTSC wire is currently a promising candidate for various engineering applications such as transformers and motors for railway system. HTSC direct current (DC) cable is ideal for a feeder of the overhead contact line system between the substation and the electric train. We completed a prototype Bi-2223 tape based direct current cable for trial purposes of several meters length. In the energizing experiment the current of 1720 A successfully constantly flew.

  4. Mitigation of landslide area around railway tunnel, South Sumatra Province, Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toha, M. Taufik; Setiabudidaya, Dedi; Komar, Syamsul; Bochori, Ghadafi, Moamar A.; Adiwarman, Mirza; Rahim, S. E.

    2017-09-01

    Adequate and safe railway line infrastructures as well as facilities are required to support the rail transport system in South Sumatra. The slope stability along railway line of Lahat-Lubuk Linggau South Sumatra were studied during landslide that occured on January 23th, 2016. The landslide occurred on the mouth of railway tunnel in Gunung Gajah Village, Lahat District that causing the railway transportation system had to be stopped for a few days. A comprehensive research was conducted to analyze the causes of the landslide and to identify other landslide risky areas along the railway line Lahat-Lubuk Linggau. The research activities included surveying, sampling, laboratory testing, investigating condition of geology, geotechnics, hydrogeology/hydrology, morphology and land use. The factors that cause landslide in the past studies were found to be morphology, structural geology, physical and mechanical characteristics, hydrogeology, hydrology, external forces (train vibration, earthquake). Results back analysis of slope stability when the landslide occurred showed that the value Safety Factor (SF) = 1, angle of friction = 0°, and cohesion = 0.49 kg/cm2 (49 kPa). Based on the observation and analysis of the condition of the morphology and orientation of the structure of the rock layers, there was a location prone to landslide (labile) in the surrounding area of the landslide. Mitigations to potential landslide in adjacent area were building a retaining wall, draining channels, and shortcrete at the rock wall after landslides and maintaining the land use around the slopes.

  5. Geographic distribution of suicide and railway suicide in Belgium, 2008-2013: a principal component analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strale, Mathieu; Krysinska, Karolina; Overmeiren, Gaëtan Van; Andriessen, Karl

    2017-06-01

    This study investigated the geographic distribution of suicide and railway suicide in Belgium over 2008--2013 on local (i.e., district or arrondissement) level. There were differences in the regional distribution of suicide and railway suicides in Belgium over the study period. Principal component analysis identified three groups of correlations among population variables and socio-economic indicators, such as population density, unemployment, and age group distribution, on two components that helped explaining the variance of railway suicide at a local (arrondissement) level. This information is of particular importance to prevent suicides in high-risk areas on the Belgian railway network.

  6. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRUNK MUSCLES ENDURANCE AND NORMAL BMI AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WITH SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karthikeyan Selvaganapathy

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: The most important trunk stabilizers are the trunk flexors and extensors. The isometric endurance of the trunk muscles is an essential element for mechanical support of the spine in all positions. The study objectives were to find out the trunk flexors and extensors endurance, its relationship with normal BMI and to find out the ratio of trunk flexors to extensors endurance. Methods: In this correlation study, 50 subjects were selected by convenience sampling method on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria from Asia metropolitan university, Malaysia. The trunk flexors and extensors endurance were assessed by Kraus- Weber and Sorenson test respectively. Paired 't' test and Spearman correlation test were used for data analysis. Results: There was a significant difference (p 0.01 and TEE, rs (50 = -0.162, p >0.01 but there was a significant strong positive relationship between TFE and TEE, rs (50 = 0.68, p < 0.01. The ratio of trunk flexors to extensors was 0.61. Conclusion: The trunk extensors endurance is higher than trunk flexors endurance and BMI has no relationship with trunk flexors and extensors muscle endurance. The ratio of trunk flexors to extensors endurance value is low

  7. Control of trunk motion following sudden stop perturbations during cart pushing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Yun-Ju; Hoozemans, Marco J M; van Dieën, Jaap H

    2011-01-04

    External perturbations during pushing tasks have been suggested to be a risk factor for low-back symptoms. An experiment was designed to investigate whether self-induced and externally induced sudden stops while pushing a high inertia cart influence trunk motions, and how flexor and extensor muscles counteract these perturbations. Twelve healthy male participants pushed a 200 kg cart at shoulder height and hip height. Pushing while walking was compared to situations in which participants had to stop the cart suddenly (self-induced stop) or in which the wheels of the cart were unexpectedly blocked (externally induced stop). For the perturbed conditions, the peak values and the maximum changes from the reference condition (pushing while walking) of the external moment at L5/S1, trunk inclination and electromyographic amplitudes of trunk muscles were determined. In the self-induced stop, a voluntary trunk extension occurred. Initial responses in both stops consisted of flexor and extensor muscle cocontraction. In self-induced stops this was followed by sustained extensor activity. In the externally induced stops, an external extension moment caused a decrease in trunk inclination. The opposite directions of the internal moment and trunk motion in the externally induced stop while pushing at shoulder height may indicate insufficient active control of trunk posture. Consequently, sudden blocking of the wheels in pushing at shoulder height may put the low back at risk of mechanical injury. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Creosote released from railway-ties recycled and the sanitary risks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zicari, Giuseppe; Allegro, Giuseppe; Russo, Domenico; Rivetti, Daniela; Soardo, Vincenzo; Cerrato, Elena

    2013-01-01

    Through the history of railways, wooden crossties impregnated with potentially hazardous creosote tar, have been used for years. There are six major classes of compounds in the creosote: aromatic hydrocarbons; tar acids/phenolics; tar bases/nitrogen-containing heterocycles; aromatic amines; sulfur-containing heterocycles; and oxygen-containing heterocycles. The creosote molecules applied in railway crossties can be released in the environment and they can bioaccumulate in animals and vegetables. Some constituents (benzo(a)pyrene and phenolics like benzene) are considered as being carcinogenic which renders the entire complex of creosote to be classified as potentially carcinogenic. After several decades of use the railway-ties are been recycled for varies uses like fences, stakes for agriculture and fruit production or bank protection. In this paper are examined some environmental and sanitary risks from wood impregnated with creosote reported in the literature.

  9. Development of a guide for prioritization of railway bridges for repair and replacement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-01

    The objective of this study was to develop evaluation bases for the repair, rehabilitation, and replacement of existing : railway bridges. Considering the importance of bridges to the railway network, the research involved the review and : analysis o...

  10. Trunk and hip biomechanics influence anterior cruciate loading mechanisms in physically active participants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frank, Barnett; Bell, David R; Norcross, Marc F; Blackburn, J Troy; Goerger, Benjamin M; Padua, Darin A

    2013-11-01

    Excessive trunk motion and deficits in neuromuscular control (NMC) of the lumbopelvic hip complex are risk factors for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. However, the relationship between trunk motion, NMC of the lumbopelvic hip complex, and triplanar knee loads during a sidestep cutting task has not been examined. To determine if there is an association between multiplanar trunk motion, NMC of the lumbopelvic hip complex, and triplanar knee loads with ACL injury during a sidestep cutting task. Descriptive laboratory study. The hip and knee biomechanics and trunk motion of 30 participants (15 male, 15 female) were analyzed during a sidestep cutting task using an optoelectric camera system interfaced to a force plate. Trunk and lower extremity biomechanics were calculated from the kinematic and ground-reaction force data during the first 50% of the stance time during the cutting task. Pearson product moment correlation coefficients were calculated between trunk and lower extremity biomechanics. Multiple linear regression analyses were carried out to determine the amount of variance in triplanar knee loading explained by trunk motion and hip moments. A greater internal knee varus moment (mean, 0.11 ± 0.12 N·m/kg*m) was associated with less transverse-plane trunk rotation away from the stance limb (mean, 20.25° ± 4.42°; r = -0.46, P = .011) and a greater internal hip adduction moment (mean, 0.33 ± 0.25 N·m/kg*m; r = 0.83, P < .05). A greater internal knee external rotation moment (mean, 0.11 ± 0.08 N·m/kg*m) was associated with a greater forward trunk flexion (mean, 7.62° ± 5.28°; r = 0.42, P = .020) and a greater hip internal rotation moment (mean, 0.15 ± 0.16 N·m/kg*m; r = 0.59, P = .001). Trunk rotation and hip adduction moment explained 81% (P < .05) of the variance in knee varus moment. Trunk flexion and hip internal rotation moment explained 48% (P < .05) of the variance in knee external rotation moment. Limited trunk rotation displacement

  11. An investigation of employee motivation at Botswana railways / John Latolang

    OpenAIRE

    Latolang, John

    2011-01-01

    Botswana Railways has been facing low employee motivation and productivity for some time. Companies such as Air Botswana which had been experiencing similar issues decided to privatise to increase its efficiency and, as a result, turned things around. Hence, using both quantitative and qualitative investigation at the Headquarters of the Botswana Railways, this study sought to determine the extent of employee motivation and how to enhance it in order to increase employee produc...

  12. Detection of failures of axle-bearings of railway vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bižić Milan B.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The failure of axle-bearing is one of the most common causes of derailments of railway vehicles which are usually accompanied by huge material damage and human casualties. Modern railways are working intensively on the development and implementation of appropriate systems for early detection of axlebearing malfunctions, which are typically manifested by increasing of its temperature. The most common approach is based on the use of wayside systems or checkpoints located in certain places along the track. There is also an innovative approach that involves using the system for continuous measuring and online monitoring of axle-boxes temperature. The main aim is to provide early detection of malfunctions of the axle-bearing and prevention of the potential derailment. This paper analyses the existing solutions for the detection of axle-bearings malfunctions with special emphasis on the working principle and the main advantages and disadvantages. The paper presents the basics of the one newly developed wireless measuring system for on-line monitoring of axle-boxes temperature. The measuring system was tested in real conditions and can be successfully applied to the commercial railway vehicles. The main conclusion is that systems for on-line monitoring of axle-bearings temperatures are far more efficient than wayside systems. Obtained results may be important for those who deal with these and similar problems, problems of development, exploitation and maintenance of railway vehicles, strategies, regulations, etc.

  13. Behavioral and cognitive evaluation of FireWorks education trunk

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linda R. Thomas; James A. Walsh; Jane Kapler Smith

    2000-01-01

    This study assessed the effectiveness of FireWorks, an educational trunk about wildland fire, in increasing student understanding, enabling students to apply classroom learning in a field setting, and improving the learning environment. Students who were in classrooms using the FireWorks educational trunk demonstrated more knowledge in both classroom and field-based...

  14. Leukemia and brain tumors in Norwegian railway workers, a nested case-control study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tynes, T; Jynge, H; Vistnes, A I

    1994-04-01

    In an attempt to assess whether exposure to electromagnetic fields on Norwegian railways induces brain tumors or leukemia, the authors conducted a nested case-control study of railway workers based on incident cases from the Cancer Registry of Norway in a cohort of 13,030 male Norwegian railway workers who had worked on either electric or non-electric railways. The cohort comprised railway line, outdoor station, and electricity workers. The case series comprised 39 men with brain tumors and 52 men with leukemia (follow-up, 1958-1990). Each case was matched on age with four or five controls selected from the same cohort. The exposure of each study subject to electric and magnetic fields was evaluated from cumulative exposure measures based on present measurements and historical data. Limited information on potential confounders such as creosote, solvents, and herbicides was also collected; information on whether the subject had smoked was obtained by interviews with the subjects or work colleagues. The case-control analysis showed that men employed on electric railways, compared with non-electric ones, had an odds ratio for leukemia of 0.70 (adjusted for smoking) and an odds ratio for brain tumor of 0.87. No significant trend was shown for exposure to either magnetic or electric fields. These results do not support an association between exposure to 16 2/3-Hertz electric or magnetic fields and the risk for leukemia or brain tumors.

  15. Common Arterial Trunk in a 3-Day-Old Alpaca Cria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tsumugi Anne Kurosawa

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available A 3-day-old alpaca cria presented for progressive weakness and dyspnea since birth. Complete bloodwork, thoracic radiographs, and endoscopic examination of the nasal passages and distal trachea revealed no significant findings. Echocardiogram and contrast study revealed a single artery overriding a large ventricular septal defect (VSD. A small atrial septal defect or patent foramen ovale was also noted. Color flow Doppler and an agitated saline contrast study revealed bidirectional but primarily right to left flow through the VSD and bidirectional shunting through the atrial defect. Differential diagnosis based on echocardiographic findings included common arterial trunk, Tetralogy of Fallot, and pulmonary atresia with a VSD. Postmortem examination revealed a large common arterial trunk with a quadricuspid valve overriding a VSD. Additionally, defect in the atrial septum was determined to be a patent foramen ovale. A single pulmonary trunk arose from the common arterial trunk and bifurcated to the left and right pulmonary artery, consistent with a Collet and Edwards’ type I common arterial trunk with aortic predominance. Although uncommon, congenital cardiac defects should be considered in animals presenting with clinical signs of hypoxemia, dyspnea, or failure to thrive.

  16. Life cycle assessment of railways and rail transports - Application in environmental product declarations (EPDs) for the Bothnia Line

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stripple, Haakan; Uppenberg, Stefan

    2010-09-15

    Environmental aspects are today highly important issues in the transport sector especially from a society perspective. Most likely, our society is facing considerable changes in the transport sector due to changes in the energy/environmental situation in the future. Strategic decisions concerning the development of the transport sector must be based on solid facts concerning both the transport infrastructure and the transport traffic on the infrastructure. The transport infrastructure is often complex and difficult to analyse but of great interest in a society perspective. In this project, we have performed a comprehensive view of a modern railway infrastructure system including the traffic on the infrastructure. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology has been used for the study and several LCA models of the railway system have been designed. Due to the complexity of the models, several general railway component models have been developed. The component models can then be integrated to form a large model of an entire railway system. The component models (sub-models) are: 'Railway track foundation model', 'Railway track model', 'Railway electric power and control system model', 'Railway tunnel model', 'Railway bridge model', 'Railway passenger station and freight terminal model', 'Passenger and freight train model including train operation'. The LCA models have then been used to analyse the environmental performance of the Bothnia Line and to develop Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for the Bothnia Line

  17. [Mental health status in railway female workers and its occupational influencing factors].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ji, F L; Liu, Z M; Liu, Z S; Zou, J F; Yu, W L; Li, H M; Li, J; Kong, L M; Jiang, Q

    2018-02-20

    Objective: To investigate the mental health status of railway female workers and related influencing factors, and to provide a scientific strategy for labor protection regulations in railway female workers. Methods: Cluster sampling was used to select 5033 female workers from Jinan, Nanning, Qinghai-Tibet, and Wuhan railway systems in China from January to August, 2016. A uniform reproductive health questionnaire, as well as the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) , was used to investigate their general information (age, marital status, education level, and family income) , work type (day shift, night shift, or work on shift) , work position, and the presence or absence of exposure to occupational hazardous factors. The score on each factor of SCL-90 and the positive rate of mental health status were calculated. Results: The positive rate of mental health status was 10.6% in railway female workers. The workers exposed to occupational hazardous factors had a significantly higher positive rate of mental health status than those not exposed to occupational hazardous factors (14.20% vs 8.02%, P mental health status between workers with different ages, marital status, education levels, histories of abortion, or annual family income levels ( P mental health problems ( OR =1.797, 95% CI : 1.393-2.318; OR =0.641, 95% CI : 0.498-0.827; OR =0.586, 95% CI : 0.439-0.783; OR =0.580, 95% CI : 0.378-0.890) . Conclusion: Railway female workers have lower levels of mental health than the general population and are under significant occupational stress. Exposure to occupational hazardous factors, night shift, overwork, and carrying heavy objects are associated with the development of mental health problems in railway female workers.

  18. Monitoring of transition zones in railways

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Coelho, B.; Priest, J.; Holscher, P.; Powrie, W.

    2009-01-01

    Transitions between railway track on embankments or natural ground and fixed structures such as bridges and culverts often require substantial additional maintenance to preserve line, level and ride quality. This extra maintenance not only increases costs but also causes delays. Despite its

  19. Disruption Management in Passenger Railway Transportation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Groth, Julie Jespersen; Potthoff, Daniel; Clausen, Jens

    2009-01-01

    This paper deals with disruption management in passenger railway transportation. In the disruption management process, many actors belonging to different organizations play a role. In this paper we therefore describe the process itself and the roles of the different actors. Furthermore, we discuss...

  20. Assess the feasibility of the high-speed railway construction in China by measuring the traffic demand elastic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Nan; Cao, Yu

    2017-05-01

    The traffic demand elastic is proposed as a new indicator in this study to measure the feasibility of the high-speed railway construction in a more intuitive way. The Matrix Completion (MC) and Semi-Supervised Support Vector Machine (S3VM) are used to realize the measurement and prediction of this index on the basis of the satisfaction investigation on the 326 inter-city railways in china. It is demonstrated that instead of calculating the economic benefits brought by the construction of high-speed railway, this indicator can find the most urgent railways to be improved by directly evaluate the existing railway facilities from the perspective of transportation service improvement requirements.

  1. The influence of artificially increased trunk stiffness on the balance recovery after a trip.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Burg, J C E; Pijnappels, M; van Dieën, J H

    2007-07-01

    Falls occur frequently in the growing population of elderly. Since trunk control is critical for maintaining balance, the higher trunk stiffness in elderly people compared to the general population has been associated with their increased fall-risk. Theoretically, trunk stiffness may be beneficial for balance recovery in walking, i.e. after a trip. A stiff joint may provide a torque that restricts the perturbation effects and thereby reduces the probability of a fall. The aim of this study was to test whether trunk stiffness impaired or assisted balance recovery after a trip during walking. An orthopedic corset was used to simulate trunk stiffness in 11 young male adults. Subjects walked over a platform, with or without the corset on, and were occasionally tripped over a hidden obstacle. Kinematics of the tripping reaction were measured. Initial trunk accelerations were significantly attenuated by the corset, which indicates a positive effect of the stiffening corset. However, no subsequent effects on peak trunk inclination and on the peak moment arm of gravity on the trunk were found. The pattern of trunk motion allowed ample time for triggered or voluntary muscle responses to be generated, before a substantial inclination occurred. It appears that such active responses were sufficient in the young subjects tested to obtain a similar net effect with or without the increased trunk stiffness induced by the corset.

  2. Diagnosis diagrams for passing signals on an automatic block signaling railway section

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spunei, E.; Piroi, I.; Chioncel, C. P.; Piroi, F.

    2018-01-01

    This work presents a diagnosis method for railway traffic security installations. More specifically, the authors present a series of diagnosis charts for passing signals on a railway block equipped with an automatic block signaling installation. These charts are based on the exploitation electric schemes, and are subsequently used to develop a diagnosis software package. The thus developed software package contributes substantially to a reduction of failure detection and remedy for these types of installation faults. The use of the software package eliminates making wrong decisions in the fault detection process, decisions that may result in longer remedy times and, sometimes, to railway traffic events.

  3. The Subfossil Trunk of Chiarano (TV

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tiziana Urso

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper reports the results of the characterization of a subfossil trunk found buried in the mud of the Piavon canal, at Chiarano (TV, when dredging took place in 2008. The trunk, of imposing dimensions, lacking branches and bark, has a black, deeply cracked and strongly deteriorated outer surface with a carbonized appearance, while internally it has the typical blackish colour of the so-called drowned oak. The studies have demonstrated that it is a tree belonging to the genus Quercus, common oak or sessile oak, that may have been felled between the end of the 12 th and early 14 th century A.D.. Determination of the MWC and residual basic density indicate that the deterioration decreases from the outside inwards; the ash content is high externally and diminishes moving toward the centre. Nowadays, the Piavon is an irrigation canal, but in Venetian times it was navigable and was used for the transport of goods and timber. There were extensive woodlands of common oak and sessile oak all along the Piavon, the size and composition of which is documented in the Venetian cadastres, which also report the distances between the woodlands and the nearest water courses, proof of the importance of river transport for the timber. In particular, an 18 hectare oak woodland is recorded in the Surian cadastre (1569-70 for the villa at Chiarano. The oaks were used by the Republic of Venice mainly for the construction and maintenance of the shipping fleet. The Chiarano trunk, given its age and the area where it was found, may therefore be a trunk felled in Venetian times, perhaps destined for naval use, which was lost during its transport by floating.

  4. On the Development of Intelligent Railway Information and Safety Systems: An Overview of Current Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dániel Tokody

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The present article focuses on the research and development planning for innovative railway systems. Within such a general framework, the specific objectives of the research have been defined within the framework of a large Intelligent Railway System project in Hungary. Our theoretical research work at the university is combined with practical experience gained at the Hungarian State Railways. In the course of this research work, the development of an intelligent railway system has been investigated by leveraging on the fruitful cooperation between academic and industrial partners, in order to promote the application and integration possibilities of the development results, as well as the introduction of innovative components in the railway system. In such a context, this article discusses the research plan, preliminary and long-term expected results, sharing objectives and experiences with the aim of providing novel views in an extremely current and challenging field of research.

  5. Load management potentials for the railway power system; Potenziale fuer das Lastmanagement im Bahnenergiesystem

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bosch, Julius; Aniceto, Josep M. [SBB AG Infrastruktur Energie, Zollikofen (Switzerland)

    2013-02-15

    The railway power supply system of the Schweizerische Bundesbahnen (SBB) is characterised by major load fluctuations that are expected to increase in the future. The available power that is generated must be kept at absolute load peak level which causes high costs. Simulations show that a load management is a practicable way of noticeably reducing load peaks in the SBB railway power supply system without having an adverse effect on railway operations or the energy demand.

  6. A PROPOSAL FOR MAKING A RISK MAP OF ROCKFALL BY EVALUATING THE INFLUENCE TO RAILWAY TRACK

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fukata, Takahiro; Mori, Taiki; Shibuya, Satoru

    An incident of rockfall may trigger serious damage to the safety as well as the after-the-event maintenance of railway transportation. In an attempt to minimize such damage caused by rockfall incident, the railway companies regularly in spect the concerned slopes along the railway, and take necessary measures. In the current practice, however, it is very difficult to make a full control of slopes in danger spreading over the wide area due to the limited human and financial resources. Accordingly, it is urgently needed for the railway firms to establish cost-effective as well as reliable system for the slope management. A risk map based on the impact statement of rockfall to railway track is of great use for not only enhancing the efficiency of slope inspection, but also planning the disaster prevention of railway. In this paper, a methodology for establishing a risk map by considering the impact statement to railway truck in a quantitative manner is proposed. In so doing, the rockfall movement on a slope was numerically simulated in match with each categorized type of slopes. The applicability of this proposed method for the slope management practice is examined based on a number of case histories.

  7. Design of railway obstacle detection prototype

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Xungu, Sipho A

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Survey Inspection Device (SID) test prototype platform to serve as an early warning system for locomotives and was to travel 2km ahead of a locomotive in order to inspect the railway for possible obstacles such as human beings, livestock and collisions...

  8. 20 CFR 202.13 - Electric railways.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Electric railways. 202.13 Section 202.13 Employees' Benefits RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD REGULATIONS UNDER THE RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACT EMPLOYERS UNDER... conclusion reached the question will be submitted to the Interstate Commerce Commission for determination...

  9. Resolving instability in railway timetabling problems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Besinovic, Nikola; Quaglietta, E.; Goverde, R.M.P.

    A growth of the railway transportation demand is forecasted in the next decades which needs an increase of network capacity. Where possible, infrastructure upgrading can release extra capacity, although in some cases this is not enough to satisfy the entire transportation demand unless optimised

  10. Three-dimensional trunk kinematics in golf: between-club differences and relationships to clubhead speed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joyce, Christopher; Burnett, Angus; Cochrane, Jodie; Ball, Kevin

    2013-06-01

    The aims of this study were (i) to determine whether significant three-dimensional (3D) trunk kinematic differences existed between a driver and a five-iron during a golf swing; and (ii) to determine the anthropometric, physiological, and trunk kinematic variables associated with clubhead speed. Trunk range of motion and golf swing kinematic data were collected from 15 low-handicap male golfers (handicap = 2.5 +/- 1.9). Data were collected using a 10-camera motion capture system operating at 250 Hz. Data on clubhead speed and ball velocity were collected using a real-time launch monitor. Paired t-tests revealed nine significant (p golf swing kinematics, namely trunk and lower trunk flexion/extension and lower trunk axial rotation. Multiple regression analyses explained 33.7-66.7% of the variance in clubhead speed for the driver and five-iron, respectively, with both trunk and lower trunk variables showing associations with clubhead speed. Future studies should consider the role of the upper limbs and modifiable features of the golf club in developing clubhead speed for the driver in particular.

  11. File list: NoD.Emb.20.AllAg.Embryonic_trunk [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.Emb.20.AllAg.Embryonic_trunk mm9 No description Embryo Embryonic trunk ERX40226...7,ERX402264 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/NoD.Emb.20.AllAg.Embryonic_trunk.bed ...

  12. A modelling approach for railway overhead line equipment asset management

    OpenAIRE

    Kilsby, Paul; Remenyte-Prescott, Rasa; Andrews, John

    2017-01-01

    The Overhead Line Equipment (OLE) is a critical sub-system of the 25kV AC overhead railway electrification system. If OLE asset management strategies can be evaluated using a whole lifecycle cost analysis that considers degradation processes and maintenance activities of the OLE components, the investment required to deliver the level of performance desired by railway customers and regulators can be based on evidence from the analysis results. A High Level Petri Net (HLPN) model, proposed in ...

  13. Development of a super high speed railway and ML 100

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Usami, Y

    1973-07-01

    A history of the development progress is given, followed by a discussion of the propulsion system for a super high speed railway-structure. Induction linear motors and synchronous linear motors are discussed in some detail. The maintenance system is then described (basic test apparatus-rotary type superconductive magnetic force maintenance system, etc.). Experiments using a linear running superconductive magnetic test car are discussed. Developments of super high speed railways in America, France, England, West Germany, etc. are described.

  14. The Place of Railway Transport in Romania’s Transport System

    OpenAIRE

    Dãneci-Pãtrãu Daniel; Coca Carmen Elena

    2012-01-01

    The transport activity in all its forms represents one of the most complex sections of an economy, but also an important factor of influence over the quality of life, that is why current preoccupations of international organisms are oriented towards measures meant to develop performing transport systems and compatible with the environment. In the article the main activities and resources of Romania’s railway transport system are presented , the place of the railway transport in the transport ...

  15. Recent advances in the fundamental understanding of railway vehicle dynamics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    True, Hans

    2006-01-01

    The topic of this article is the calculation of the critical speed for railway vehicles. It is emphasised that it is misleading to formulate the mathematical problem as a stability problem. It must correctly be formulated as a problem of existence of coexisting solutions to the full non-linear dy......The topic of this article is the calculation of the critical speed for railway vehicles. It is emphasised that it is misleading to formulate the mathematical problem as a stability problem. It must correctly be formulated as a problem of existence of coexisting solutions to the full non......-linear dynamical problem. The lowest speed at which there exist more critical speed in road tests. A couple of examples show applications of the method to various dynamical models of railway vehicles. Freight wagons are treated in the end of the article because the dry friction damping with stick-slip and end...

  16. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY POWER LINE EXTRACTION USING MOBILE LASER SCANNING DATA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Zhang

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Research on power line extraction technology using mobile laser point clouds has important practical significance on railway power lines patrol work. In this paper, we presents a new method for automatic extracting railway power line from MLS (Mobile Laser Scanning data. Firstly, according to the spatial structure characteristics of power-line and trajectory, the significant data is segmented piecewise. Then, use the self-adaptive space region growing method to extract power lines parallel with rails. Finally use PCA (Principal Components Analysis combine with information entropy theory method to judge a section of the power line whether is junction or not and which type of junction it belongs to. The least squares fitting algorithm is introduced to model the power line. An evaluation of the proposed method over a complicated railway point clouds acquired by a RIEGL VMX450 MLS system shows that the proposed method is promising.

  17. A comparative study of performance measurement standards of railway operator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pongjirawut Siripong

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The European standard (EN 13816, is one of the widely accepted standards for measuring the quality of public passenger transport (PPT service. EN 13816 indicates 8 measurement criteria, 29 sub-criteria and 193 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs to be used to measure the performance of railway operators. Nowadays, there are other addition criteria beyond EN13816, developed by various organisations. This research firstly aims to explore the service performance measurement of railway operators used by actual railway operators at international level and in Thailand. After an intensive review of performance measurement standards, 9 standards are compiled and compared in terms of criteria, sub-criteria and KPIs using a cluster analysis methodology. The result found additional performance measurement aspects at 2 sub-criteria and 91 KPIs in addition to EN 13816. This research summarized and compared different performance measurement standards to measure service quality of metro rail line.

  18. Delay estimation on a railway-line with smart use of micro-simulation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cerreto, Fabrizio; Harrod, Steven; Nielsen, Otto Anker

    2017-01-01

    This paper formulates a delay propagation model that estimates total railway line delay as a polynomial function of a single primary delay. The estimate is derived from a finite series of delays over a horizon that spans two dimensions: the length of the railway line and the number of trains in t...

  19. Nonlinear Dynamic Characteristics of the Railway Vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uyulan, Çağlar; Gokasan, Metin

    2017-06-01

    The nonlinear dynamic characteristics of a railway vehicle are checked into thoroughly by applying two different wheel-rail contact model: a heuristic nonlinear friction creepage model derived by using Kalker 's theory and Polach model including dead-zone clearance. This two models are matched with the quasi-static form of the LuGre model to obtain more realistic wheel-rail contact model. LuGre model parameters are determined using nonlinear optimization method, which it's objective is to minimize the error between the output of the Polach and Kalker model and quasi-static LuGre model for specific operating conditions. The symmetric/asymmetric bifurcation attitude and stable/unstable motion of the railway vehicle in the presence of nonlinearities which are yaw damping forces in the longitudinal suspension system are analyzed in great detail by changing the vehicle speed. Phase portraits of the lateral displacement of the leading wheelset of the railway vehicle are drawn below and on the critical speeds, where sub-critical Hopf bifurcation take place, for two wheel-rail contact model. Asymmetric periodic motions have been observed during the simulation in the lateral displacement of the wheelset under different vehicle speed range. The coexistence of multiple steady states cause bounces in the amplitude of vibrations, resulting instability problems of the railway vehicle. By using Lyapunov's indirect method, the critical hunting speeds are calculated with respect to the radius of the curved track parameter changes. Hunting, which is defined as the oscillation of the lateral displacement of wheelset with a large domain, is described by a limit cycle-type oscillation nature. The evaluated accuracy of the LuGre model adopted from Kalker's model results for prediction of critical speed is higher than the results of the LuGre model adopted from Polach's model. From the results of the analysis, the critical hunting speed must be resolved by investigating the track tests

  20. Methodology for quantification of waste generated in Spanish railway construction works

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guzmán Báez, Ana de; Villoria Sáez, Paola; Río Merino, Mercedes del; García Navarro, Justo

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Two equations for C and D waste estimation in railway construction works are developed. ► Mixed C and D waste is the most generated category during railway construction works. ► Tunnel construction is essential to quantify the waste generated during the works. ► There is a relationship between C and D waste generated and railway functional units. ► The methodology proposed can be used to obtain new constants for other areas. - Abstract: In the last years, the European Union (EU) has been focused on the reduction of construction and demolition (C and D) waste. Specifically, in 2006, Spain generated roughly 47 million tons of C and D waste, of which only 13.6% was recycled. This situation has lead to the drawing up of many regulations on C and D waste during the past years forcing EU countries to include new measures for waste prevention and recycling. Among these measures, the mandatory obligation to quantify the C and D waste expected to be originated during a construction project is mandated. However, limited data is available on civil engineering projects. Therefore, the aim of this research study is to improve C and D waste management in railway projects, by developing a model for C and D waste quantification. For this purpose, we develop two equations which estimate in advance the amount, both in weight and volume, of the C and D waste likely to be generated in railway construction projects, including the category of C and D waste generated for the entire project.

  1. Conventional versus frozen elephant trunk surgery for extensive disease of the thoracic aorta.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Eusanio, Marco; Borger, Michael; Petridis, Francesco D; Leontyev, Sergey; Pantaleo, Antonio; Moz, Monica; Mohr, Friedrich; Di Bartolomeo, Roberto

    2014-11-01

    To compare early and mid-term outcomes after repair of extensive aneurysm of the thoracic aorta using the conventional elephant trunk or frozen elephant trunk (FET) procedures. Fifty-seven patients with extensive thoracic aneurysmal disease were treated using elephant trunk (n = 36) or FET (n = 21) procedures. Patients with aortic dissection, descending thoracic aorta (DTA) diameter less than 40 mm, and thoracoabdominal aneurysms were excluded from the analysis, as were those who did not undergo antegrade selective cerebral perfusion during circulatory arrest. Short-term and mid-term outcomes were compared according to elephant trunk/FET surgical management. Preoperative and intraoperative variables were similar in the two groups, except for a higher incidence of female sex, coronary artery disease and associated procedures in elephant trunk patients. Hospital mortality (elephant trunk: 13.9% versus FET: 4.8%; P = 0.2), permanent neurologic dysfunction (elephant trunk: 5.7% versus FET: 9.5%; P = 0.4) and paraplegia (elephant trunk: 2.9% versus FET: 4.8%; P = 0.6) rates were similar in the two groups. Follow-up was 100% complete. In the elephant trunk group, 68.4% of patients did not undergo a second-stage procedure during follow-up for a variety of reasons. Of these patients, the DTA diameter was greater than 51 mm in 72.2% and two (6.7%) died due to aortic rupture while awaiting stage-two intervention. Endovascular second-stage procedures were successfully performed in all FET patients with residual DTA aneurysmal disease (n = 3), whereas nine of 11 elephant trunk patients who returned for second-stage procedures required conventional surgical replacement through a lateral thoracotomy. Kaplan-Meier estimate of 4-year survival was 75.8 ± 7.6 and 72.8 ± 10.6 in elephant trunk and FET patients, respectively (log-rank P = 0.8). In patients with extensive aneurysmal disease of thoracic aorta, elephant trunk and FET procedures

  2. 77 FR 25229 - Adams-Warnock Railway, Inc.-Lease and Operation Exemption-Norfolk Southern Railway Company

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-04-27

    ....31 to lease from Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR), and to operate, a line of railroad referred to as the Brampton Lead, beginning just beyond the northernmost turnout switch at NSR milepost FL 5.5... revoke the exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) may be filed at any time. The filing of a petition to...

  3. Trunk muscle attributes are associated with balance and mobility in older adults: a pilot study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suri, Pradeep; Kiely, Dan K; Leveille, Suzanne G; Frontera, Walter R; Bean, Jonathan F

    2009-10-01

    To determine whether trunk muscle attributes are associated with balance and mobility performance among mobility-limited older adults. Cross-sectional analysis of data from a randomized clinical trial. Outpatient rehabilitation research center. Community-dwelling older adults (N = 70; mean age 75.9 years) with mobility limitations as defined by the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Independent variables included physiologic measures of trunk extension strength, trunk flexion strength, trunk extension endurance, trunk extension endurance, and leg press strength. All measures were well tolerated by the study subjects without the occurrence of any associated injuries or adverse events. The association of each physiologic measure with each outcome was examined by the use of separate multivariate models to calculate the partial variance (R(2)) of each trunk and extremity measure. Balance measured by the Berg Balance Scale and Unipedal Stance Test and mobility performance as measured by the SPPB. Trunk extension endurance (partial R(2) = .14, P = .02), and leg press strength (partial R(2) = .14, P = .003) accounted for the greatest amount of the variance in SPPB performance. Trunk extension endurance (partial R(2) = .17, P = .007), accounted for the greatest amount of the variance in BBS performance. Trunk extension strength (R(2) = .09, P = .03), accounted for the greatest amount of the variance in UST performance. The variance explained by trunk extension endurance equaled or exceeded the variance explained by limb strength across all three performance outcomes. Trunk endurance and strength can be safely measured in mobility-limited older adults and are associated with both balance and mobility performance. Trunk endurance and trunk strength are physiologic attributes worthy of targeting in the rehabilitative care of mobility-limited older adults.

  4. 77 FR 68886 - Aiken Railway Company, LLC-Lease and Operation Exemption-Lines of Norfolk Southern Railway...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-16

    ... Carolina Railway Service Corporation (WCRS), and Steven C. Hawkins and Cheryl R. Hawkins (collectively, the Hawkins) seek Board approval to continue in control of AIKR upon AIKR's becoming a Class III rail carrier... 5, 2012. WCRS and the Hawkins are reminded that they are not authorized to control AIKR until the...

  5. Probabilistic Fatigue Life Updating for Railway Bridges Based on Local Inspection and Repair.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Young-Joo; Kim, Robin E; Suh, Wonho; Park, Kiwon

    2017-04-24

    Railway bridges are exposed to repeated train loads, which may cause fatigue failure. As critical links in a transportation network, railway bridges are expected to survive for a target period of time, but sometimes they fail earlier than expected. To guarantee the target bridge life, bridge maintenance activities such as local inspection and repair should be undertaken properly. However, this is a challenging task because there are various sources of uncertainty associated with aging bridges, train loads, environmental conditions, and maintenance work. Therefore, to perform optimal risk-based maintenance of railway bridges, it is essential to estimate the probabilistic fatigue life of a railway bridge and update the life information based on the results of local inspections and repair. Recently, a system reliability approach was proposed to evaluate the fatigue failure risk of structural systems and update the prior risk information in various inspection scenarios. However, this approach can handle only a constant-amplitude load and has limitations in considering a cyclic load with varying amplitude levels, which is the major loading pattern generated by train traffic. In addition, it is not feasible to update the prior risk information after bridges are repaired. In this research, the system reliability approach is further developed so that it can handle a varying-amplitude load and update the system-level risk of fatigue failure for railway bridges after inspection and repair. The proposed method is applied to a numerical example of an in-service railway bridge, and the effects of inspection and repair on the probabilistic fatigue life are discussed.

  6. Damage Detection in Railway Prestressed Concrete Sleepers using Acoustic Emission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, A.; Kaewunruen, S.; Janeliukstis, R.; Papaelias, M.

    2017-10-01

    Prestressed concrete sleepers (or railroad ties) are safety-critical elements in railway tracks that distribute the wheel loads from the rails to the track support system. Over a period of time, the concrete sleepers age and deteriorate in addition to experiencing various types of static and dynamic loading conditions, which are attributable to train operations. In many cases, structural cracks can develop within the sleepers due to high intensity impact loads or due to poor track maintenance. Often, cracks of sleepers develop and present at the midspan due to excessive negative bending. These cracks can cause broken sleepers and sometimes called ‘center bound’ problem in railway lines. This paper is the world first to present an application of non-destructive acoustic emission technology for damage detection in railway concrete sleepers. It presents experimental investigations in order to detect center-bound cracks in railway prestressed concrete sleepers. Experimental laboratory testing involves three-point bending tests of four concrete sleepers. Three-point bending tests correspond to a real failure mode, when the loads are not transferred uniformly to the ballast support. It is observed that AE sensing provides an accurate means for detecting the location and magnitude of cracks in sleepers. Sensor location criticality is also highlighted in the paper to demonstrate the reliability-based damage detection of the sleepers.

  7. Mathematical model of optimal empty rail car distribution at railway transport nodes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aleksandr RAKHMANGULOV

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available At present there are two trends in the market of rail freight transportation in Russia: freight owners put forward higher demands to the transportation quality (promptness of delivery in an effort to reduce storage costs by means of reducing the size of freight shipment; the structure of railcar traffic volume of the railways of Russia is getting more complex due to the reduction of the average shipment size and due to the transfer of railcar fleet ownership to a large number of operating companies. These trends significantly complicate operational management supervision of railway stations and transport nodes. Application of typical data from the information system about the railcar location at the transportation node is not enough for the dispatchers to make the best decision concerning the car traffic management. The dispatcher traffic control service needs some software-based models of efficient railcar distribution. The article is concerned with the description and development of the mathematical model of empty railcar distribution for loading at the railway transport node; this model will take into account the requirements of railcar owners in terms of their cars application, the operating work level of railroad stations of the transportation node and the possibility of adding the groups of empty railcars to the transfer trains, clean-up trains and industrial railway trains operating on a tight schedule. The developed model and the software package were implemented in the information system of the industrial railway of the major metallurgical enterprise - OJSC «Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Works», which processes up to two thousand of railcars belonging to different owners. This model made it possible to reduce the labour intensity of dispatcher operation planning the empty railcar distribution for loading and reduce the total time the railcars spend in the enterprise railway system.

  8. RISK VIP: Evaluation of Flood Risk on the French Railway Network Using an Innovative GIS Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cheetham Mark

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Flooding can have significant direct and indirect negative effects on a railway network affecting both infrastructure and rail operations. Such impacts include the delaying or cancelling of train services, damage to railway structures or the implementation of costly maintenance and monitoring programs to ensure the safety and performance of the railway system. Identifying sections of railway line at risk from flooding allows appropriate actions to be targeted at specific areas and contributes to an effective asset management plan. Flooding of railway infrastructure can have numerous sources including surface water run-off, insufficient capacity of hydraulic structures or the inundation of embankments located in floodplains. Consequences of flooding include the destabilisation of structures (surface erosion of embankments or the undermining of bridge foundations, differential settlement of structures and damage to the track structure. This paper details an innovative approach developed at the SNCF using a Geographic Information System (GIS model to identify zones of the railway network at risk of different types of flooding. The GIS model RiskVIP has been constructed through the assessment of three distinct components of risk: “Vulnerability” (assessment of the susceptibility of the railway infrastructure to flood conditions, Intensity’ (capacity of a catchment to generate a flood flow, Probability’ (probability of a rainfall event.Through the application of decision trees, the component ‘Intensity’ has been characterised in the model by the physical properties of the catchment intercepted by the railway line (surface area of the catchment, slope and land cover characteristics and “Vulnerability” by the infrastructure itself (type, geometry and the presence of hydraulic structures. In order to evaluate its efficiency at identifying sites at risk of flooding, the model has been tested in the region of Languedoc-Roussillon in France

  9. Performance communication of the Belgian railway

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gelders, Dave; Verckens, Jan Pieter; Galetzka, Mirjam; Seydel, E.R.

    2007-01-01

    Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into performance communication from an important public service, i.e. the Belgian Railway, towards its employees (internal) and stakeholders (external). Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research approach was taken in the form of

  10. Reorganized trunk muscle activity during multidirectional floor perturbations after experimental low back pain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Lars Henrik; Hirata, Rogerio Pessoto; Graven-Nielsen, Thomas

    2016-01-01

    Low back pain changes the trunk muscle activity after external perturbations but the relationship between pain intensities and distributions and their effect on the trunk muscle activity remains unclear. The effects of unilateral and bilateral experimental low back pain on trunk muscle activity w...

  11. Assessment of railway wagon suspension characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soukup, Josef; Skočilas, Jan; Skočilasová, Blanka

    2017-05-01

    The article deals with assessment of railway wagon suspension characteristics. The essential characteristics of a suspension are represented by the stiffness constants of the equivalent springs and the eigen frequencies of the oscillating movements in reference to the main central inertia axes of a vehicle. The premise of the experimental determination of these characteristic is the knowledge of the gravity center position and the knowledge of the main central inertia moments of the vehicle frame. The vehicle frame performs the general spatial movement when the vehicle moves. An analysis of the frame movement generally arises from Euler's equations which are commonly used for the description of the spherical movement. This solution is difficult and it can be simplified by applying the specific assumptions. The eigen frequencies solutions and solutions of the suspension stiffness are presented in the article. The solutions are applied on the railway and road vehicles with the simplifying conditions. A new method which assessed the characteristics is described in the article.

  12. The noise factor in railway locomotives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rotter, T

    1982-09-01

    This article concerns the problem of acoustic work conditions on railway locomotives. The objective results of sonometric surveys in locomotive cabins are compared with subject data received from locomotive crews obtained by means of a specific questionnaire 'The Subjective Estimation of Noise'. The analysis touched 9 type of locomotives; steam, diesel and electric engines. We asked drivers of different age groups and with varying lengths of professional service for their opinions The aim of the investigation was to determine the following points: 1. to analyse the drivers' subjective estimation of the noise in the locomotive cabins; 2. to define length of time for which the driver remains under the influence of the noise after finishing work; 3. to investigate the question of perception and understanding of sounds and vocal signals used in the locomotive. These problems are a small part of the general plan to improve work conditions on the Polish National Railways.

  13. A határon túli vasútállomások neve a vasúti utastájékoztatásban. [Names for railway stations beyond the borders of Hungary in information services for railway passengers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Perger, Imre

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the problems in identifying the contemporary Hungarian names for railway stations in the Carpathian Basin that formerly were known only by their Hungarian names. The author describes the changes of the names for the relevant settlements as well as those of the names for their railway stations from the time of the official settlement names standardization up to the present (i.e. between 1898 and 2013, which have led to misunderstandings in everyday communication and, especially, in information services for railway passengers. The paper presents the international rules and requirements for naming railway stations, and discusses the relevant regulations by the Hungarian Railways. The author explains why the Hungarian names cannot be used in timetables and why the exclusive use of Hungarian names for railway stations beyond the borders of the present-day Hungary cannot be claimed in information services. The author also discusses the queries on name use posed by the Hungarian Railways to the Hungarian Committee on Geographical Names; and based on the decisions involving an accepted list of railway station names, summarizes the principles to be followed in name use, exploring the professional background of the actual decisions. Because of the lack of unified practice concerning the use of the Hungarian names for settlements beyond the borders of the present-day Hungary, the author initiates the compilation of a standardized historical and administrative gazetteer.

  14. Research on development characteristics of railway logistics specialty under “the Belt and Road” strategy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhifeng Zhao

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available With the proposed “the Belt and Road” strategy in China, the railway logistics specialty becomes one of the important links which draws more attention. Based on this, the paper studies transport route of railway logistics and sets up its model of the optimal route combining with ant colony algorithm. It carries out simulation analysis of each parameter of ant colony algorithm and chooses the optimal region of corresponding parameter. By taking railway logistics in Hubei Province as an example, the optimal transport route plan and its schematic drawing are required through calculation, which provides the important guidance on railway logistics transportation under “the Belt and Road” strategy in China

  15. A nonlinear dynamics of trunk kinematics during manual lifting tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khalaf, Tamer; Karwowski, Waldemar; Sapkota, Nabin

    2015-01-01

    Human responses at work may exhibit nonlinear properties where small changes in the initial task conditions can lead to large changes in system behavior. Therefore, it is important to study such nonlinearity to gain a better understanding of human performance under a variety of physical, perceptual, and cognitive tasks conditions. The main objective of this study was to investigate whether the human trunk kinematics data during a manual lifting task exhibits nonlinear behavior in terms of determinist chaos. Data related to kinematics of the trunk with respect to the pelvis were collected using Industrial Lumbar Motion Monitor (ILMM), and analyzed applying the nonlinear dynamical systems methodology. Nonlinear dynamics quantifiers of Lyapunov exponents and Kaplan-Yorke dimensions were calculated and analyzed under different task conditions. The study showed that human trunk kinematics during manual lifting exhibits chaotic behavior in terms of trunk sagittal angular displacement, velocity and acceleration. The findings support the importance of accounting for nonlinear dynamical properties of biomechanical responses to lifting tasks.

  16. Real chimney technique for total debranching of supra-aortic trunks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kato, Masaaki; Kagaya, Hideo; Kubo, Yoji; Banno, Hiroshi; Ohkubo, Nobukazu

    2015-02-01

    Side-clamping of the ascending aorta is an indispensable technique for proximal anastomosis in total debranching of supra-aortic trunks and in endovascular aneurysm repair for arch aneurysm. However, this procedure may lead to the dislodging of multiple plaques and to clamp injury of the ascending aorta. We developed a clampless technique to achieve proximal anastomosis between the ascending aorta and an artificial graft used for total debranching of supra-aortic trunks. We applied this method in six patients with arch aneurysm and a plaque-rich ascending aorta and were able to achieve total debranching of the supra-aortic trunks in all of the patients without side-clamping the ascending aorta and no procedurally related complications. This clampless anastomosis technique ("real chimney technique") in the ascending aorta is a valuable option for total debranching of supra-aortic trunks in the hybrid repair of arch aneurysms. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. DESEMPENHO DO Pinus echinata NA REGIÃO CENTRAL DO ESTADO DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL, BRASIL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulo Renato Schneider

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available In this work, the growth and the yield of a Pinus echinata Mill. stand were studied. The stand was implanted in 1996 in spacing of 3,0 x 2,0 meters, at Boqueirão do Leão, in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. For the study, 6 sample units were installed, and 6 trees of average diameter and dominant height were cut down for trunk analysis. Results indicated that the species presents a good growth in diameter, height and volume. At 12 years-old, the stand presented an average diameter of 18.4 cm, an average height of 12.6 m, a dominant height of 14.1 m, a basal area of 42.3 m2.ha-1, total volume with rind of 248.2 m3.ha-1 and an average annual increment of 20.7 m3.ha-1.yr-1. These initial findings indicate that the species bears a great potential for growth, what enables it to thrive in some regions of Rio Grande do Sul.

  18. IMMEDIATE EFFECTS OF DEEP TRUNK MUSCLE TRAINING ON SWIMMING START PERFORMANCE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iizuka, Satoshi; Imai, Atsushi; Koizumi, Keisuke; Okuno, Keisuke; Kaneoka, Koji

    2016-12-01

    In recent years, deep trunk muscle training has been adopted in various sports, including swimming. This is performed both in everyday training and as part of the warm-up routine before competitive races. It is suggested that trunk stabilization exercises are effective in preventing injury, and aid in improving performance. However, conclusive evidence of the same is yet to be obtained. The time of start phase of swimming is a factor that can significantly influence competition performance in a swimming race. If trunk stabilization exercises can provide instantaneous trunk stability, it is expected that they will lead to performance improvements in the start phase of swimming. The purpose of this study was to investigate the immediate effect of trunk stabilization exercises on the start phase in swimming. Intervention study. Nine elite male swimmers (mean age 20.2 ± 1.0 years; height 174.4 ± 3.5 cm; weight 68.9 ± 4.1 kg) performed the swimming start movement. The measurement variables studied included flying distance, and the time and velocity of subjects at hands' entry and on reaching five meters. Measurements were taken in trials immediately before and after the trunk stabilization exercises. A comparison between pre- and post-exercise measurements was assessed. The time to reach five meters (T 5m ) decreased significantly after trunk stabilization exercises, by 0.019 s (p = 0.02). Velocity at entry (V entry ) did not demonstrate significant change, while velocity at five meters (V 5m ) increased significantly after the exercises (p = 0.023). In addition, the speed reduction rate calculated from V entry and V 5m significantly decreased by 5.17% after the intervention (p = 0.036). Trunk stabilization exercises may help reduce the time from start to five meters in the start phase in swimming. The results support the hypothesis that these exercises may improve swimming performance. Level 3b.

  19. Environmental risks of high-speed railway in China: Public participation, perception and trust

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    He, G.; Mol, A.P.J.; Zhang, L.; Lu, Y.

    2015-01-01

    Two decades ago China entered an era with rapid expansion of transport infrastructure. In an ambitious plan on high-speed railway development, China plans to have the longest high-speed railway network by 2020. Social concerns and anxiety with the adverse environmental and social risks and impacts

  20. 78 FR 2483 - Ohio Terminal Railway Company-Operation Exemption-Hannibal Real Estate, LLC

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-11

    ... Railway Company--Operation Exemption--Hannibal Real Estate, LLC Ohio Terminal Railway Company (OTRC),\\1\\ a... near Hannibal, in Monroe County, Ohio (the Line), pursuant to an operating agreement with Hannibal Real Estate, LLC (Hannibal). \\1\\ OTRC is a wholly owned, corporate subsidiary of Carload Express, Inc. (CEI...

  1. Approaches for reducing structural vibration of the carbody railway vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dumitriu Mădălina

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Reducing the weight of the railway vehicles stands as a decisive rule in their design, entailed by higher velocities, the need to consume less energy and lower the manufacturing costs, along with the maximization of the use of loads on the axle. Once complied with this rule, the vehicle flexibility increases and leads to an easy excitation of the structural vibrations in the carbody, with an impact upon the ride comfort in the railway vehicle. For a better ride comfort in lightweight railway vehicles, both vibration isolation approaches and structural damping approaches have been introduced. The paper herein submits a brief review of the main structural damping approaches aiming to reduce the amplitude in the carbody structural vibrations, based on the use of the piezoelectric elements in passive control schemes. The paper outcomes show the potential of the presented methods concerning the reduction of the flexible vibrations in the carbody and the ride comfort improvement.

  2. Hip and trunk muscles activity during nordic hamstring exercise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narouei, Shideh; Imai, Atsushi; Akuzawa, Hiroshi; Hasebe, Kiyotaka; Kaneoka, Koji

    2018-01-01

    The nordic hamstring exercise (NHE) is a dynamic lengthening hamstring exercise that requires trunk and hip muscles activation. Thigh muscles activation, specifically hamstring/quadriceps contractions has been previously examined during NHE. Trunk and hip muscles activity have not been enough studied. The aim of this study was to analyze of hip and trunk muscles activity during NHE. Surface electromyography (EMG) and kinematic data were collected during NHE. Ten healthy men with the age range of 21–36 years performed two sets of two repetitions with downward and upward motions each of NHE. EMG activity of fifteen trunk and hip muscles and knee kinematic data were collected. Muscle activity levels were calculated through repeated measure analysis of variance in downward and upward motions, through Paired t-test between downward and upward motions and gluteus maximus to erector spine activity ratio (Gmax/ES ratio) using Pearson correlation analyses were evaluated. Semitendinosus and biceps femoris muscles activity levels were the greatest in both motions and back extensors and internal oblique muscles activity were greater than other muscles (Phamstrings contractions. It could be important for early assessment of subjects with hamstring injury risk. PMID:29740557

  3. Hip and trunk muscles activity during nordic hamstring exercise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narouei, Shideh; Imai, Atsushi; Akuzawa, Hiroshi; Hasebe, Kiyotaka; Kaneoka, Koji

    2018-04-01

    The nordic hamstring exercise (NHE) is a dynamic lengthening hamstring exercise that requires trunk and hip muscles activation. Thigh muscles activation, specifically hamstring/quadriceps contractions has been previously examined during NHE. Trunk and hip muscles activity have not been enough studied. The aim of this study was to analyze of hip and trunk muscles activity during NHE. Surface electromyography (EMG) and kinematic data were collected during NHE. Ten healthy men with the age range of 21-36 years performed two sets of two repetitions with downward and upward motions each of NHE. EMG activity of fifteen trunk and hip muscles and knee kinematic data were collected. Muscle activity levels were calculated through repeated measure analysis of variance in downward and upward motions, through Paired t -test between downward and upward motions and gluteus maximus to erector spine activity ratio (Gmax/ES ratio) using Pearson correlation analyses were evaluated. Semitendinosus and biceps femoris muscles activity levels were the greatest in both motions and back extensors and internal oblique muscles activity were greater than other muscles ( P hamstrings contractions. It could be important for early assessment of subjects with hamstring injury risk.

  4. The effects of railway noise on sleep medication intake: Results from the ALPNAP-study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P Lercher

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available In the 1980s/90s, a number of socio-acoustic surveys and laboratory studies on railway noise effects have observed less reported disturbance/interference with sleep at the same exposure level compared with other modes of transportation. This lower grade of disturbance has received the label "railway bonus", was implemented in noise legislation in a number of European countries and was applied in planning and environmental impact assessments. However, majority of the studies investigating physiological outcomes did not find the bespoke difference. In a telephone survey (N=1643 we investigated the relationship between railway noise and sleep medication intake and the impact of railway noise events on motility parameters during night was assessed with contact-free high resolution actimetry devices. Multiple logistic regression analysis with cubic splines was applied to assess the probability of sleep medication use based on railway sound level and nine covariates. The non-linear exposure-response curve showed a statistically significant leveling off around 60 dB (A, Lden. Age, health status and trauma history were the most important covariates. The results were supported also by a similar analysis based on the indicator "night time noise annoyance". No railway bonus could be observed above 55 dB(A, Lden. In the actimetry study, the slope of rise of train noise events proved to be almost as important a predictor for motility reactions as was the maximum sound pressure level - an observation which confirms similar findings from laboratory experiments and field studies on aircraft noise and sleep disturbance. Legislation using a railway bonus will underestimate the noise impact by about 10 dB (A, Lden under the conditions comparable with those in the survey study. The choice of the noise calculation method may influence the threshold for guideline setting.

  5. The effects of railway noise on sleep medication intake: results from the ALPNAP-study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lercher, P; Brink, M; Rudisser, J; Van Renterghem, T; Botteldooren, D; Baulac, M; Defrance, J

    2010-01-01

    In the 1980s/90s, a number of socio-acoustic surveys and laboratory studies on railway noise effects have observed less reported disturbance/interference with sleep at the same exposure level compared with other modes of transportation. This lower grade of disturbance has received the label "railway bonus", was implemented in noise legislation in a number of European countries and was applied in planning and environmental impact assessments. However, majority of the studies investigating physiological outcomes did not find the bespoke difference. In a telephone survey (N=1643) we investigated the relationship between railway noise and sleep medication intake and the impact of railway noise events on motility parameters during night was assessed with contact-free high resolution actimetry devices. Multiple logistic regression analysis with cubic splines was applied to assess the probability of sleep medication use based on railway sound level and nine covariates. The non-linear exposure-response curve showed a statistically significant leveling off around 60 dB (A), Lden. Age, health status and trauma history were the most important covariates. The results were supported also by a similar analysis based on the indicator "night time noise annoyance". No railway bonus could be observed above 55 dB(A), Lden. In the actimetry study, the slope of rise of train noise events proved to be almost as important a predictor for motility reactions as was the maximum sound pressure level - an observation which confirms similar findings from laboratory experiments and field studies on aircraft noise and sleep disturbance. Legislation using a railway bonus will underestimate the noise impact by about 10 dB (A), Lden under the conditions comparable with those in the survey study. The choice of the noise calculation method may influence the threshold for guideline setting.

  6. Finding the neck-trunk boundary in snakes: anteroposterior dissociation of myological characteristics in snakes and its implications for their neck and trunk body regionalization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsuihiji, Takanobu; Kearney, Maureen; Rieppel, Olivier

    2012-09-01

    The neck and trunk regionalization of the presacral musculoskeletal system in snakes and other limb-reduced squamates was assessed based on observations on craniovertebral and body wall muscles. It was confirmed that myological features characterizing the neck in quadrupedal squamates (i.e., squamates with well-developed limbs) are retained in all examined snakes, contradicting the complete lack of the neck in snakes hypothesized in previous studies. However, the posterior-most origins of the craniovertebral muscles and the anterior-most bony attachments of the body wall muscles that are located at around the neck-trunk boundary in quadrupedal squamates were found to be dissociated anteroposteriorly in snakes. Together with results of a recent study that the anterior expression boundaries of Hox genes coinciding with the neck-trunk boundary in quadrupedal amniotes were dissociated anteroposteriorly in a colubrid snake, these observations support the hypothesis that structures usually associated with the neck-trunk boundary in quadrupedal squamates are displaced relative to one another in snakes. Whereas certain craniovertebral muscles are elongated in some snakes, results of optimization on an ophidian cladogram show that the most recent common ancestor of extant snakes would have had the longest craniovertebral muscle, M. rectus capitis anterior, that is elongated only by several segments compared with that of quadrupedal squamates. Therefore, even such a posteriorly displaced "cervical" characteristic plesiomorphically lies fairly anteriorly in the greatly elongated precloacal region of snakes, suggesting that the trunk, not the neck, would have contributed most to the elongation of the snake precloacal region. A similar dissociation of structures usually associated with the neck-trunk boundary in quadrupedal squamates is observed in limb-reduced squamates, suggesting that these forms and snakes may share a developmental mechanism producing modifications in the

  7. Impact of the traffic load on performance of an alternative LTE railway communication network

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sniady, Aleksander; Soler, José

    2013-01-01

    communication infrastructure supporting railway signaling. This work is based on OPNET realistic network simulations, which show the relation between the traffic load (the number of trains transmitting and receiving data in an LTE cell) and the delay performance of the European Train Control System (ETCS......Although many countries only now begin to invest in deployment of GSM-Railways (GSM-R) networks, this technology is already obsolete and reveals its significant shortcomings. The most troublesome one is the insufficient number of communication channels offered by GSM-R. This is a major problem...... obstructing railway operations at big train stations and junctions. Hence, other technologies, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), need to be considered as an alternative to GSM-R. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the capacity increase that railways can expect, from the introduction of LTE as internal...

  8. Fault Detection and Diagnosis of Railway Point Machines by Sound Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jonguk; Choi, Heesu; Park, Daihee; Chung, Yongwha; Kim, Hee-Young; Yoon, Sukhan

    2016-01-01

    Railway point devices act as actuators that provide different routes to trains by driving switchblades from the current position to the opposite one. Point failure can significantly affect railway operations, with potentially disastrous consequences. Therefore, early detection of anomalies is critical for monitoring and managing the condition of rail infrastructure. We present a data mining solution that utilizes audio data to efficiently detect and diagnose faults in railway condition monitoring systems. The system enables extracting mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients (MFCCs) from audio data with reduced feature dimensions using attribute subset selection, and employs support vector machines (SVMs) for early detection and classification of anomalies. Experimental results show that the system enables cost-effective detection and diagnosis of faults using a cheap microphone, with accuracy exceeding 94.1% whether used alone or in combination with other known methods. PMID:27092509

  9. Phase-based Planning for Railway Infrastructure Projects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Li, Rui

    2017-01-01

    is important in terms of economy and rail operations. This study presents two types of Phase-based Decision Support System (PDSS), i.e. Functional Phase-Based Planning Approach (F-PBPA) and Process-Oriented Phase-Based Planning Approach (PO-PBPA). They are used for decision support for the planning...... of the railway infrastructure maintenance activities at the strategic planning level. The objective is to achieve better economy, as well as improve cost efficiency. F-PBPA consists of ve main phases: Data Collection, Technical Optimization (TeO), Economic Optimization (EcO), Constrained Optimization (Co...... the costs. Finally, constrained optimization (CoO) includes additional constraints and it allows the railway expert to adjust input parameters, thereby to obtain alternative maintenance plans. PO-PBPA contains another systematic phase based process. With a focus on Life Cycle Cost (LCC), PO-PBPA can guide...

  10. A Survey on Robustness in Railway Planning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lusby, Richard Martin; Larsen, Jesper; Bull, Simon Henry

    2018-01-01

    Planning problems in passenger railway range from long term strategic decision making to the detailed planning of operations.Operations research methods have played an increasing role in this planning process. However, recently more attention has been given to considerations of robustness...... in the quality of solutions to individual planning problems, and of operations in general. Robustness in general is the capacity for some system to absorb or resist changes. In the context of railway robustness it is often taken to be the capacity for operations to continue at some level when faced...... with a disruption such as delay or failure. This has resulted in more attention given to the inclusion of robustness measures and objectives in individual planning problems, and to the providing of tools to ensure operations continue under disrupted situations. In this paper we survey the literature on robustness...

  11. Nondestructive diagnosis of rotation components of a railway vehicle using infrared thermography and pattern recognitions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kwon, Seok Jin; Kim, Min Su; Seo, Jung Won; Kang, Bu Beong

    2016-01-01

    The faults in railway vehicle components may result in either the stoppage of the service and the derailment of the vehicle. Therefore, it is important to diagnose and monitor the main components of a railway vehicle. The use of temperature is one of the basic methods for the diagnosis of abnormal conditions in the rotational components of a railway vehicle, such as bearings, reduction gears, brake discs, wheels and traction motors. In the present study, the diagnose of the rotational components using infrared thermography and a pattern recognition technique was carried out and a field test was performed. The results show that this method of diagnosis using infrared thermography can be used to identify abnormal conditions in rotational components of a railway vehicle

  12. Nondestructive diagnosis of rotation components of a railway vehicle using infrared thermography and pattern recognitions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kwon, Seok Jin; Kim, Min Su; Seo, Jung Won [New Transportation Research Center, Korea Railroad Research Institute, Uiwang (Korea, Republic of); Kang, Bu Beong [Dept. of of Railway Vehicle System Engineering, Woosong University, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-08-15

    The faults in railway vehicle components may result in either the stoppage of the service and the derailment of the vehicle. Therefore, it is important to diagnose and monitor the main components of a railway vehicle. The use of temperature is one of the basic methods for the diagnosis of abnormal conditions in the rotational components of a railway vehicle, such as bearings, reduction gears, brake discs, wheels and traction motors. In the present study, the diagnose of the rotational components using infrared thermography and a pattern recognition technique was carried out and a field test was performed. The results show that this method of diagnosis using infrared thermography can be used to identify abnormal conditions in rotational components of a railway vehicle.

  13. Muscle function and fatigability of trunk flexors in males and females.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deering, Rita E; Senefeld, Jonathon W; Pashibin, Tatyana; Neumann, Donald A; Hunter, Sandra K

    2017-01-01

    Optimal function of the abdominal muscles is necessary for several life functions including lifting and carrying tasks. Sex differences in strength and fatigability are established for many limb muscles and back extensor muscles, but it is unknown if sex differences exist for the abdominal muscles despite their functional importance. Eighteen females (24.3 ± 4.8 years) and 15 males (24.1 ± 6.6 years) performed (1) isometric trunk flexion maximal voluntary contractions (MVCs) in a range of trunk positions to establish a torque-angle curve and (2) submaximal (50% MVC), intermittent isometric contraction (6 s on, 4 s off) until task failure to determine fatigability of the trunk flexor muscles. Dual X-ray absorptiometry quantified body fat and lean mass. Physical activity levels were quantified with a questionnaire. Torque-angle curves, electromyography (EMG), MVC torque, and torque steadiness were compared with repeated measures ANOVA with sex as a between-subjects factor. For the torque-angle curve, MVC torque was reduced as the trunk angle increased toward flexion ( p    0.05). Time-to-task failure for the submaximal fatigability task in upright sitting was similar between males and females (12.4 ± 7 vs 10.5 ± 6 min). Time-to-task failure was positively associated with strength ( r  = 0.473, p  = 0.005) and self-reported physical activity ( r  = 0.456, p  = 0.030). Lean mass in the trunk was positively associated with trunk flexor strength ( r  = 0.378, p  = 0.011) and self-reported physical activity ( r  = 0.486, p  = 0.007). Finally, torque steadiness [coefficient of variation of torque (CV)] during submaximal isometric contractions decreased with contraction intensity and was similar for males and females across all intensities. Unlike many limb muscle groups, males and females had similar fatigability and torque steadiness of the trunk flexor muscles during isometric contractions. Stronger individuals

  14. FEATURES OF THE RESEARCH WORK ELEMENTS DEFORMABILITY OF RAILWAY TRACK

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. O. Bondarenko

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. The scientific paper is supposed the determination of basic physical and structural conditions in modeling life cycle of the elements of the railway line for the study of deformation processes as the basis of normative base of the track at the condition of railway safety. Methodology. To achieve the aim principles of the elasticity theory and wave propagation process in the description of the interaction between the track and rolling stock were used. Findings. The basic physical and structural conditions under which it is necessary to carry out the simulation of the life cycle of the elements of the railway line for the study of deformation processes were determined. The basic physical and structural principles of drawing the design schemes of railway track elements for the process assessment of the track deformation work were formulated. The decision correctness and the possibility of the problem solution are proved. Originality. The study of the track reliability questions motivates the development of new models, allow considering it for some developments. There is a need to identify the main physical and structural conditions for assembly design schemes based on assessment and prediction of possible track state changes during its operation. The paper presents the basic principles of physical and structural drafting design schemes of railway line items for which Huygens’ principle is implemented. This principle can be performed only when the four dimensional space: the volume changing over time is considered. Practical value. Analytical models applied in determining the parameters of strength and resistance lines, fully satisfy the task, but can not be used to determine the parameters of track reliability. One of the main impossibility factors of these models is quasidynamic approach. Therefore, as a rule, receive and examine not only dynamic process of a railway track, but also its consequences. Besides, these models are related to

  15. DEVELOPMENT OF ATTENTION CONCENTRATION AND STABILITY OF RAILWAY STUDENTS IN THE PROCESS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOPHYSICAL TRAINING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. V. Pichurin

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. Some railway professions impose exceptionally high demands on such characteristics of railway students as concentration and stability. One should find out the conditions for effective development of these characteristics in the process of physical training. Methodology. Pedagogical experiment is the main method of research. During this experiment the content of psychological and psychophysical training foundations developed by the author was an independent value. A dependent value was the dynamics performance of the level of development of concentration and stability of railway students’ attention. Findings. It was established, that realization of measure complex (included by the author to the content of foundations of psychological and psychophysical training of railway students during the lessons is the effective direction of the development of the attention concentration and stability. Originality. The effectiveness of using the psychological and psychophysical training of students for development of attention concentration and stability during the lessons was confirmed. Practical value. Realization of the proposed approach during the training of specialists for the railway branch will increase the productivity and safety of railway transportations.

  16. Numerical analysis to determine the impact of land subsidence on high-speed railway routes in Beijing, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, C.; Yang, Y.; Tian, F.; Luo, Y.; Zhou, Y.

    2015-11-01

    More than 10 high-speed railway routes with top speeds of 300 km h-1 are expected to be operational from Beijing by the year 2020. However, the safety of these routes is affected by the occurrence of land subsidence. This paper focuses on the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity High-Speed Railway (BTR), the first high-speed railway in China, to analyze the operational safety of high-speed railway routes by analyzing both regional land subsidence and local differential subsidence caused by groundwater drawing. The Beijing construction stratum is mainly composed of cohesive soil, and the BTR has a maximum accumulative subsidence of > 800 mm and a maximum subsidence rate of > 80 mm a-1. In this paper, finite-element software ABAQUS is used to analyze groundwater drawdown and land subsidence caused by local water drawing, and its effect on the bearing capacity of railway bridge pile foundations and the orbit concrete supporting course. The analysis provides a technical basis for developing prevention and control engineering measures against land subsidence so as to guarantee the safe operation of these high-speed railway routes.

  17. Robustness in Railway Operations (RobustRailS)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jens Parbo; Nielsen, Otto Anker

    This study considers the problem of enhancing railway timetable robustness without adding slack time, hence increasing the travel time. The approach integrates a transit assignment model to assess how passengers adapt their behaviour whenever operations are changed. First, the approach considers...

  18. Demand prediction model for regional railway services considering spatial effects between stations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cordera Piñera, R.; Sañudo, R.; Olio, L. Dell' ; Ibeas, A.

    2016-07-01

    The railways are a priority transport mode for the European Union given their safety record and environmental sustainability. Therefore it is important to have quantitative models available which allow passenger demand for rail travel to be simulated for planning purposes and to evaluate different policies. The aim of this article is to specify and estimate trip distribution models between railway stations by considering the most influential demand variables. Two types of models were estimated: Poisson regression and gravity. The input data were the ticket sales on a regional line in Cantabria (Spain) which were provided by the Spanish railway infrastructure administrator (ADIF – RAM). The models have also considered the possible existence of spatial effects between train stations. The results show that the models have a good fit to the available data, especial the gravity models constrained by origins and destinations. Furthermore, the gravity models which considered the existence of spatial effects between stations had a significantly better fit than the Poisson models and the gravity models that did not consider this phenomenon. The proposed models have therefore been shown to be good support tools for decision making in the field of railway planning. (Author)

  19. Competitiveness of the railway transportation in the conditions of functioning of the infrastructure new organizational-economic mechanism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M.I. Mishchenko

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available The transport infrastructure of railways of the countries of EU-27 in the conditions of functioning new organizational-economic mechanism, and also dynamics of level of competitiveness of a railway transportation as result of reforming of railways of the countries of EU-27, in the conditions of realisation of the European transport legislation is investigated.

  20. Lifecycle Assessments of Railway Bridge Transitions Exposed to Extreme Climate Events

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sadudee Setsobhonkul

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Railway track components located at bridge transition zones or approach areas suffer from impact load and vibrations caused by abrupt changes in track stiffness on the bridge and the subgrade. The numerous strategies that can be used to mitigate these abrupt track stiffness changes rely on one of two concepts. The first concept is that of providing a gradual stiffness change, and the second is that of equalizing the track stiffness. A number of such mitigation methods have been developed and implemented over recent decades. Construction activities associated with these methods require various materials, processes, and uses of time, costs, and carbon emissions. In this study, eight of the most common techniques for railway bridge transition mitigation, including under ballast mats (UBMs, soft baseplates, under sleeper pads (USPs, rail pads, embankment treatments, transition slabs, ballast bonding, and wide sleepers, are compared. This study benchmarks the costs and carbon emissions of these eight mitigation techniques over the 50-year lifespan of a railway system subject to identical probabilities of four environmental scenarios: a control case, extremely high temperatures, extremely low temperatures, and flash flooding. This unprecedented study systemically investigates the effectiveness of the mitigation methods while considering the effects of 30 and 100 m bridge span lengths. Our results indicate that railway engineers should adopt different mitigation methods for different scenarios. The soft baseplate is the most appropriate method for a short-span bridge in the control case and the case of flash flooding, while ballast bonding is better for long-span railway bridges. Embankment treatment is recommended for both high- and low-extreme temperatures. However, its applicability is limited when the differential track stiffness is extremely high. Hence, alternatives that are 5–25% more expensive are proposed in parallel. The alternative

  1. Trunk muscle recruitment patterns in simulated precrash events.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ólafsdóttir, Jóna Marín; Fice, Jason B; Mang, Daniel W H; Brolin, Karin; Davidsson, Johan; Blouin, Jean-Sébastien; Siegmund, Gunter P

    2018-02-28

    To quantify trunk muscle activation levels during whole body accelerations that simulate precrash events in multiple directions and to identify recruitment patterns for the development of active human body models. Four subjects (1 female, 3 males) were accelerated at 0.55 g (net Δv = 4.0 m/s) in 8 directions while seated on a sled-mounted car seat to simulate a precrash pulse. Electromyographic (EMG) activity in 4 trunk muscles was measured using wire electrodes inserted into the left rectus abdominis, internal oblique, iliocostalis, and multifidus muscles at the L2-L3 level. Muscle activity evoked by the perturbations was normalized by each muscle's isometric maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) activity. Spatial tuning curves were plotted at 150, 300, and 600 ms after acceleration onset. EMG activity remained below 40% MVC for the three time points for most directions. At the 150- and 300 ms time points, the highest EMG amplitudes were observed during perturbations to the left (-90°) and left rearward (-135°). EMG activity diminished by 600 ms for the anterior muscles, but not for the posterior muscles. These preliminary results suggest that trunk muscle activity may be directionally tuned at the acceleration level tested here. Although data from more subjects are needed, these preliminary data support the development of modeled trunk muscle recruitment strategies in active human body models that predict occupant responses in precrash scenarios.

  2. Anatomical variability of the trunk wood and root tissues of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The aim of this study was to investigate the anatomical structure of the trunk wood and the roots of A. nitida and R. racemosa, two mangrove trees from Gabon. The anatomical differences between the trunks and the roots were used to understand their bio-remediating differences through heavy metals. It was found that the ...

  3. The influence of artificially increased trunk stiffness on the balance recovery after a trip

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Burg, J.C.E.; Pijnappels, M.A.G.M.; van Dieen, J.H.

    2007-01-01

    Falls occur frequently in the growing population of elderly. Since trunk control is critical for maintaining balance, the higher trunk stiffness in elderly people compared to the general population has been associated with their increased fall-risk. Theoretically, trunk stiffness may be beneficial

  4. Occupational Stress and Hypertension among Railway Loco Pilots and Section Controllers

    OpenAIRE

    Jayakumar, Devasigamoney

    2017-01-01

    Introduction: A cross-sectional study on occupational stress was conducted on loco pilots in 2008, in view of loco pilots being one of the high strain jobs in Indian Railways. Subsequently, a comparative cross-sectional study on occupational stress was conducted among section controllers in 2011, which is another high strain job of Indian Railways. Objective: The studies were conducted to analyze and compare occupational stress and hypertension. Setting and Design: A cross-sectional study on ...

  5. Advanced Fade Countermeasures for DVB-S2 Systems in Railway Scenarios

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Niebla CristinaPárraga

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with the analysis of advanced fade countermeasures for supporting DVB-S2 reception by mobile terminals mounted on high-speed trains. Recent market studies indicate this as a potential profitable market for satellite communications, provided that integration with wireless terrestrial networks can be implemented to bridge the satellite connectivity inside railway tunnels and large train stations. In turn, the satellite can typically offer the coverage of around 80% of the railway path with existing space infrastructure. This piece of work, representing the first step of a wider study, is focusing on the modifications which may be required in the DVB-S2 standard (to be employed in the forward link in order to achieve reliable reception in a challenging environment such as the railway one. Modifications have been devised trying to minimize the impact on the existing air interface, standardized for fixed terminals.

  6. Advanced Fade Countermeasures for DVB-S2 Systems in Railway Scenarios

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina Párraga Niebla

    2007-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with the analysis of advanced fade countermeasures for supporting DVB-S2 reception by mobile terminals mounted on high-speed trains. Recent market studies indicate this as a potential profitable market for satellite communications, provided that integration with wireless terrestrial networks can be implemented to bridge the satellite connectivity inside railway tunnels and large train stations. In turn, the satellite can typically offer the coverage of around 80% of the railway path with existing space infrastructure. This piece of work, representing the first step of a wider study, is focusing on the modifications which may be required in the DVB-S2 standard (to be employed in the forward link in order to achieve reliable reception in a challenging environment such as the railway one. Modifications have been devised trying to minimize the impact on the existing air interface, standardized for fixed terminals.

  7. Review of experience of major reform of railways of the world

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L.V.Martsenyuk

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. To evaluate the possibility of the foreign countries experience in the reforming of railway transport of Ukraine. Methodology. On the basis of comparative analysis the suitability of foreign experience of infrastructure branches reformation, dividing the range of problems to the questions of ideological and methodological character, and of course, taking into account the peculiarities of the situation in Ukraine is estimated. As for the first range of problems, it is, first of all, the choice of the form of ownership. Findings. Experience shows that both types of property have not only the beneficial but also the negative impacts. On the one hand, it is the state railways have the conditions for development and implementation of the new technologies such as high-speed trains, construction of which, as well as construction of specialized lines would be impossible without appropriate research base, and without public funding. On the other – private companies. operating on a concession basis, usually provide a higher level of services at affordable rates. Originality. It can be concluded that there is no direct correlation between the ownership form of railroads and economic or qualitative characteristics of their work. The necessity of various forms of technical and economic relationships, the existence of separate railways at the regional and local levels, which offers a great opportunity to overcome the monotony of operation, in the development of railways towards greater differentiation of service levels is proved. This however does not mean that the only alternative is to sell concessions to private enterprises, especially if the transfer of ownership is not supplemented by commitments to support public transport at a certain level. Practical value. Examples of positive governance are opposed to the equal examples of private management and vice versa. Deep analysis of reforming experience of world leading railways will prevent from

  8. Transformation of power generated in railways dispossession belt by solar energy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ю. П. Гончаров

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The arising deficiency of traditional energy sources necessitates the use of renewable energetics. One of the advantages of the sources of renewable energy is the possibility of constructing a system of distributed generation. For conditions of Ukraine distributed generators placed along the existing facilities with a linear arrangement are the most promising. The railways with their land dispossession belt can be used for these purposes. The distributed generation systems in railway transport can also be used in the regions with an unstable electricity supply, improving power quality, feeding autonomous objects of railway infrastructure. Distributed generation equipment can be used to reduce bias and voltage unbalance in power systems of stationary consumers. The projects using solar energy for the needs of railway transport show their high adaptability and efficiency. The article is devoted to the development of the DC power supply system. The railway contains additional longitudinal DC line with an operating voltage of about 1 kV and a system of semiconductor converters for connecting the longitudinal line and the main contact system through matching modules. Sequential positioning of the longitudinal line and the photo module is consistent with their properties as a current source that is proportional to the intensity of solar radiation. Semiconductor converters should be made using the same "a forward" topology, which simplifies the electrical circuit. Amorphous magnetic alloy is the most promising material for the existing isolation transformers in the system. Proper value of the operating frequency of the AC intermediaries is about 1 kHz. Traction power supply system with distributed PV generation, discussed in this article, will make it possible to put into practice the concept of intellectual traction power supply, optimizing the process of electric energy consumption in the traction network

  9. Introducing gaming simulation in the Dutch railways

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meijer, S.

    2012-01-01

    Innovation in the Dutch railways in the domain of capacity management and traffic control is increasingly difficult to implement because of the large interconnectedness of all processes and separation into different institutions and organizations. Meanwhile there is a push for quality improvements

  10. Classification of the railway accident in accordance with the requirement of the safety analysis of transporting spent fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu Tao

    1993-01-01

    Based on the analysis of the difference between the accident severity categorization used in the Ministry of Railway and that used in the safety analysis of the transporting spent fuel, a method used for the classification of the railway accident in accordance with the requirement of the safety analysis of transporting spent fuel is suggested. The method classifies the railway accidents into 10 scenarios and make it possible to scale the accident through directly using the data documented by the Ministry of Railway without any additional effort

  11. Studies on oil palm trunks as sources of infection in the field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flood, J; Keenan, L; Wayne, S; Hasan, Y

    2005-01-01

    Diseases of oil palm caused by Ganoderma boninense are of major economic importance in much of South-East Asia. This paper describes results from an ongoing field trial concerning the spread of the pathogen from artificially inoculated trunks used to simulate spread from windrowed trunks. Three planting distances for bait seedlings revealed that the closer the seedling was planted to the source of inoculum the sooner it succumbed to the disease. However, infection only occurred when the trunks were mounded (covered with soil), and seedlings planted around uncovered trunks (at any distance) have showed no symptoms of disease to date. Isolates are being collected from infected plants and molecular analysis is being undertaken to give more information on the spread of the pathogen.

  12. Diagnosis of celiac trunk compression stenosis in ischemic gastric and duodenal ulcer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Potashov, L.V.; Morozov, V.P.; Chekhuta, S.M.; Rodionov, K.K.

    1986-01-01

    Chronic gastric and duodenal ulcers may result from ischemia determined by celiac trunk compression stenosis (CTCS). In such cases angiography is necessary to specify diagnosis, to bring to light the causes of ulceration and to define therapeutic tactics. An analysis of angiograms of 75 patients with gastric and duodenal mucosa ulcers in CTCS and its characteristics have presented. The opening and proximal part of the celiac trunk are more frequently subjected to compression. The length of a narrow part of the celiac trunk is on an average of 6.62±0.31 mm. Enlargement in the diameter of the gastroduodenal artery was noted. Simultaneous narrowing of the celaic trunk and the upper mesenteric artery was found in 18 patients

  13. Electromagnetic Compatibility in Railways Analysis and Management

    CERN Document Server

    Ogunsola, Ade

    2013-01-01

    A railway is a complex distributed engineering system: the construction of a new railway or the modernisation of a existing one requires a deep understanding of the constitutive components and their interaction, inside the system itself and towards the outside world. The former covers the various subsystems (featuring a complex mix of high power sources, sensitive safety critical systems, intentional transmitters, etc.) and their interaction, including the specific functions and their relevance to safety. The latter represents all the additional possible external victims and sources of electromagnetic interaction. EMC thus starts from a comprehension of the emissions and immunity characteristics and the interactions between sources and victims, with a strong relationship to electromagnetics and to system modeling. On the other hand, the said functions are achieved and preserved and their relevance for safety is adequately handled, if the related requirements are well posed and managed throughout the process f...

  14. Bottom to Top Approach for Railway KPI Generation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Villarejo, Roberto; Johansson, Carl-Anders; Leturiondo, Urko; Simon, Victor; Seneviratne, Dammika; Galar, Diego

    2017-09-01

    Railway maintenance especially on infrastructure produces a vast amount of data. However, having data is not synonymous with having information; rather, data must be processed to extract information. In railway maintenance, the development of key performance indicators (KPIs) linked to punctuality or capacity can help planned and scheduled maintenance, thus aligning the maintenance department with corporate objectives. There is a need for an improved method to analyse railway data to find the relevant KPIs. The system should support maintainers, answering such questions as what maintenance should be done, where and when. The system should equip the user with the knowledge of the infrastructure's condition and configuration, and the traffic situation so maintenance resources can be targeted to only those areas needing work. The amount of information is vast, so it must be hierarchized and aggregated; users must filter out the useless indicators. Data are fused by compiling several individual indicators into a single index; the resulting composite indicators measure multidimensional concepts which cannot be captured by a single index. The paper describes a method of monitoring a complex entity. In this scenario, a plurality of use indices and weighting values are used to create a composite and aggregated use index from a combination of lower level use indices and weighting values. The resulting composite and aggregated indicators can be a decision-making tool for asset managers at different hierarchical levels.

  15. Analysis of the distribution of temperature fields in the braked railway wheel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suchánek Andrej

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with detection of reduced stress in a braked railway wheel, based on thermal transient analysis on virtual models, which influence the characteristics of the railway wheels. Structural analysis was performed by means of the ANSYS Multiphysics program system package. Thermal transient analysis deals with detection of temperature fields which are a result of braking by brake block. The applied heat flux represents the heat generated by friction of brake block. It is applied to a quarter model of the wheel to speed up the calculation. This analysis simulates two braking processes with subsequent cooling. Distribution of the equivalent stress was detected in the railway wheel cross section, at selected points. The input parameters were taken from the thermal transient analysis. These equivalent stresses result from thermal load.

  16. PULSim: User-Based Adaptable Simulation Tool for Railway Planning and Operations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yong Cui

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Simulation methods are widely used in the field of railway planning and operations. Currently, several commercial software tools are available that not only provide functionality for railway simulation but also enable further evaluation and optimisation of the network for scheduling, dispatching, and capacity research. However, the various tools are all lacking with respect to the standards they utilise as well as their published interfaces. For an end-user, the basic mechanism and the assumptions built into a simulation tool are unknown, which means that the true potential of these software tools is limited. One of the most critical issues is the lack of the ability of users to define a sophisticated workflow, integrated in several rounds of simulation with adjustable parameters and settings. This paper develops and describes a user-based, customisable platform. As the preconditions of the platform, the design aspects for modelling the components of a railway system and building the workflow of railway simulation are elaborated in detail. Based on the model and the workflow, an integrated simulation platform with open interfaces is developed. Users and researchers gain the ability to rapidly develop their own algorithms, supported by the tailored simulation process in a flexible manner. The productivity of using simulation tools for further evaluation and optimisation will be significantly improved through the user-adaptable open interfaces.

  17. A model to quantify the resilience of mass railway transportation systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adjetey-Bahun, Kpotissan; Birregah, Babiga; Châtelet, Eric; Planchet, Jean-Luc

    2016-01-01

    Traditional risk management approaches focus on perturbation events' likelihood and their consequences. However, recent events show that not all perturbation events can be foreseen. The concept of resilience has been introduced to measure not only the system's ability to absorb perturbations, but also its ability to rapidly recover from perturbations. In this work, we propose a simulation-based model for quantifying resilience in mass railway transportation systems by quantifying passenger delay and passenger load as the system's performance indicators. We integrate all subsystems that make up mass railway transportation systems (transportation, power, telecommunication and organisation subsystems) and their interdependencies. The model is applied to the Paris mass railway transportation system. The model's results show that since trains continue running within the system even by decreasing their speed, the system remains resilient. During the normal operation of the system as well as during perturbation, the model shows similarities with reality. The perturbation management plan that consists of setting up temporary train services on part of the impacted line while repairing the failed system's component is considered in this work. We also assess the extent to which some resilient system's capacities (i.e. absorption, adaptation and recovery) can increase the resilience of the system. - Highlights: • The need of resilience quantification models in sociotechnical systems. • We propose a simulation-based model. • This model is applied to Paris mass railway transportation system.

  18. Design of a bimorph piezoelectric energy harvester for railway monitoring

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Jingcheng; Jang, Shinae; Tang, Jiong [Univ. of Connecticut, Connecticut (United States)

    2012-12-15

    Wireless sensor network is one of prospective methods for railway monitoring due to the long term operation and low maintenance performances. How to supply power to the wireless sensor nodes has drawn much attention recently. In railway monitoring, the idea of converting ambient vibration energy from vibration of railway track induced by passing trains to electric energy has made it a potential way for powering the wireless sensor nodes. In this paper, a bimorph cantilever piezoelectric energy harvester was designed based on a single degree of freedom model. Experimental test was also performed to validate the design. The first natural frequency of the bimorph piezoelectric energy harvester was decreased from 117.1 Hz to 65.2 Hz by adding 4 gram tip mass to the free end of the 8.6 gram energy harvester. In addition, the power generation of the piezoelectric energy harvester with 4 gram tip mass at resonant frequency was increased from 0.14 mW to 0.74 mW from 2.06 m/s{sup 2} base excitation compared to stand alone piezoelectric energy harvester without tip mass.

  19. Risk-informed optimisation of railway tracks inspection and maintenance procedures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Podofillini, Luca; Zio, Enrico; Vatn, Jorn

    2006-01-01

    Nowadays, efforts are being made by the railway industry for the application of reliability-based and risk-informed approaches to maintenance optimisation of railway infrastructures, with the aim of reducing the operation and maintenance expenditures while still assuring high safety standards. In particular, in this paper, we address the use of ultrasonic inspection cars and develop a methodology for the determination of an optimal strategy for their use. A model is developed to calculate the risks and costs associated with an inspection strategy, giving credit to the realistic issues of the rail failure process and including the actual inspection and maintenance procedures followed by the railway company. A multi-objective optimisation viewpoint is adopted in an effort to optimise inspection and maintenance procedures with respect to both economical and safety-related aspects. More precisely, the objective functions here considered are such to drive the search towards solutions characterized by low expenditures and low derailment probability. The optimisation is performed by means of a genetic algorithm. The work has been carried out within a study of the Norwegian National Rail Administration (Jernbaneverket)

  20. Design of a bimorph piezoelectric energy harvester for railway monitoring

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Jingcheng; Jang, Shinae; Tang, Jiong

    2012-01-01

    Wireless sensor network is one of prospective methods for railway monitoring due to the long term operation and low maintenance performances. How to supply power to the wireless sensor nodes has drawn much attention recently. In railway monitoring, the idea of converting ambient vibration energy from vibration of railway track induced by passing trains to electric energy has made it a potential way for powering the wireless sensor nodes. In this paper, a bimorph cantilever piezoelectric energy harvester was designed based on a single degree of freedom model. Experimental test was also performed to validate the design. The first natural frequency of the bimorph piezoelectric energy harvester was decreased from 117.1 Hz to 65.2 Hz by adding 4 gram tip mass to the free end of the 8.6 gram energy harvester. In addition, the power generation of the piezoelectric energy harvester with 4 gram tip mass at resonant frequency was increased from 0.14 mW to 0.74 mW from 2.06 m/s 2 base excitation compared to stand alone piezoelectric energy harvester without tip mass

  1. Migrations to Ankara by Railway and Settlement Policy (1890-1910

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    İhsan Seddar Kaynar

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The Anatolian Railway began running between Ankara and Haydarpaşa in Istanbul via İzmit and Eskişehir in early 1893, making transportation from Istanbul to the interior of Anatolia very easy. In late 1892, before the railroad was opened, policymakers prepared official reports on the resettlement of migrants along the rail route from Eskişehir to Ankara; and made regulations accordingly. This studyexamines the route of this migration, which first run to the port of İzmit by sea and then reached Ankara by rail. This article discusses the politics of resettlement and the conditions of migrants settled on the railway route during the twenty-year period between 1890 and 1910, when the Balkan Wars provoked mass migration to Anatolia from the Balkans. It analyzes the locations of the new settlements, the conditions in newly founded villages, and the habitability of the wasteland along the railway route. Daily rations, state aid for housing, types of production, agricultural styles, and the position of artisans will also be considered.

  2. Porta-enxertos para a tangerineira 'Michal' no Rio Grande do Sul Rootstocks for 'Michal' tangerine in Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduardo Cesar Brugnara

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available A tangerineira 'Michal' (Citrus clementina x C. tangerina poderá ser uma boa alternativa ao Rio Grande do Sul como cultivar copa para produção de frutos em época precoce. No entanto, há falta de informações sobre seu comportamento em cultivo nas condições ambientais desse Estado. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o desenvolvimento das plantas, a produção e a qualidade dos frutos da tangerineira 'Michal' enxertada sobre cinco porta-enxertos: citrangeiro 'Troyer', citrumeleiro 'Swingle', limoeiro 'Cravo', tangerineira 'Sunki' e trifoliata 'Flying Dragon', na Depressão Central do Rio Grande do Sul. Foram avaliados os seguintes parâmetros: a altura das plantas, a circunferência do tronco, a área de projeção da copa (APC, o número e a massa (MF de frutos produzidos, a relação MF/APC (IP, o teor de sólidos solúveis totais (SST, a acidez total titulável (ATT e a relação SST/ATT do suco, além do tamanho dos frutos e do rendimento de suco. O citrumeleiro 'Swingle' promoveu bom vigor, boa produção, bom IP, bons níveis de SST e de ATT da 'Michal', enquanto o limoeiro 'Cravo' conferiu bom vigor, boa produção, bom IP e bom tamanho dos frutos, ambos podendo ser indicados como porta-enxertos em pomares de tangerineira 'Michal'.'Michal' tangerine (Citrus clementina x C. tangerina can be a good choice as canopy for early maturing fruit production in Rio Grande do Sul. The limitation is the lack of information about its performance and management. The aim of this research was to evaluate the development, production and fruit quality of 'Michal' tangerine grafted on five rootstocks: 'Troyer' citrange, 'Swingle' citrumelo, 'Cravo' lemon, 'Sunki' tangerine and 'Flying Dragon' trifoliate orange, in the Depressão Central of Rio Grande do Sul. The following variables were evaluated: plant height; trunk circumference; canopy projection area (APC; produced fruit number and weight (MF; MF/APC relation (IP; juice total soluble solids

  3. Dynamic trunk stabilization: a conceptual back injury prevention program for volleyball athletes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Chad E; Nyland, John; Caudill, Paul; Brosky, Joseph; Caborn, David N M

    2008-11-01

    The sport of volleyball creates considerable dynamic trunk stability demands. Back injury occurs all too frequently in volleyball, particularly among female athletes. The purpose of this clinical commentary is to review functional anatomy, muscle coactivation strategies, assessment of trunk muscle performance, and the characteristics of effective exercises for the trunk or core. From this information, a conceptual progressive 3-phase volleyball-specific training program is presented to improve dynamic trunk stability and to potentially reduce the incidence of back injury among volleyball athletes. Phase 1 addresses low-velocity motor control, kinesthetic awareness, and endurance, with the clinician providing cues to teach achievement of biomechanically neutral spine alignment. Phase 2 focuses on progressively higher velocity dynamic multiplanar endurance, coordination, and strength-power challenges integrating upper and lower extremity movements, while maintaining neutral spine alignment. Phase 3 integrates volleyball-specific skill simulations by breaking down composite movement patterns into their component parts, with differing dynamic trunk stability requirements, while maintaining neutral spine alignment. Prospective research is needed to validate the efficacy of this program.

  4. Screen time viewing behaviors and isometric trunk muscle strength in youth

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grøntved, Anders; Ried-Larsen, Mathias; Froberg, Karsten

    2013-01-01

    The objective of this study was to examine the association of screen time viewing behavior with isometric trunk muscle strength in youth.......The objective of this study was to examine the association of screen time viewing behavior with isometric trunk muscle strength in youth....

  5. Neocosmospora perseae sp. nov., causing trunk cankers on avocado in Italy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Guarnaccia, Vladimiro; Sandoval-Denis, Marcelo; Aiello, Dalia; Polizzi, Giancarlo; Crous, P.W.

    2018-01-01

    Trunk and branch cankers are among the most important diseases compromising avocado production worldwide. A novel species, Neocosmospora perseae sp. nov. is described isolated from trunk lesions on Persea americana in the main avocado producing area of Sicily, Italy. The new species is characterised

  6. The potential cost from passengers and how it impacts railway maintenance and renewal decisions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Li, Rui; Landex, Alex; Nielsen, Otto Anker

    To plan Maintenance and Renewals (M&R) for the heavy railway lines, scheduling work possession time and deciding the closure of railway line are quite challenging for Infrastructure Manager (IM) at tactical planning level. As usual, the direct costs such as the materials costs, man power price...

  7. 49 CFR Appendix to Subtitle A - United States Railway Association-Employee Responsibilities and Conduct

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... accident insurance plan or other employee welfare or benefit plan that is maintained by a business or... 49 Transportation 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false United States Railway Association-Employee... Subtitle A, App. Appendix to Subtitle A—United States Railway Association—Employee Responsibilities and...

  8. A Complex Network Model for Analyzing Railway Accidents Based on the Maximal Information Coefficient

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shao Fu-Bo; Li Ke-Ping

    2016-01-01

    It is an important issue to identify important influencing factors in railway accident analysis. In this paper, employing the good measure of dependence for two-variable relationships, the maximal information coefficient (MIC), which can capture a wide range of associations, a complex network model for railway accident analysis is designed in which nodes denote factors of railway accidents and edges are generated between two factors of which MIC values are larger than or equal to the dependent criterion. The variety of network structure is studied. As the increasing of the dependent criterion, the network becomes to an approximate scale-free network. Moreover, employing the proposed network, important influencing factors are identified. And we find that the annual track density-gross tonnage factor is an important factor which is a cut vertex when the dependent criterion is equal to 0.3. From the network, it is found that the railway development is unbalanced for different states which is consistent with the fact. (paper)

  9. Do cities deserve more railway stations? The choice of a departure railway station in a multiple-station region

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Givoni, M.; Rietveld, P.

    2014-01-01

    Promoting the use of rail is an important element in sustainable transport policy. One of the most important decisions to make in planning the railway network is on the number of stations to provide. Stations are the access points to rail services and while each additional station increases rail's

  10. The State of the Railways in SA

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    the railways at many key points in Natal and the ... feking to a point just north of the Orange River on the Cape Main Line ... occupied to a point some three miles north of .... All photographs supplied by the Publicity and Travel Department of the.

  11. Trunk muscle activation in a person with clinically complete thoracic spinal cord injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bjerkefors, Anna; Carpenter, Mark G; Cresswell, Andrew G; Thorstensson, Alf

    2009-04-01

    The aim of this study was to assess if, and how, upper body muscles are activated in a person with high thoracic spinal cord injury, clinically classified as complete, during maximal voluntary contractions and in response to balance perturbations. Data from one person with spinal cord injury (T3 level) and one able-bodied person were recorded with electromyography from 4 abdominal muscles using indwelling fine-wire electrodes and from erector spinae and 3 upper trunk muscles with surface electrodes. Balance perturbations were carried out as forward or backward support surface translations. The person with spinal cord injury was able to activate all trunk muscles, even those below the injury level, both in voluntary efforts and in reaction to balance perturbations. Trunk movements were qualitatively similar in both participants, but the pattern and timing of muscle responses differed: upper trunk muscle involvement and occurrence of co-activation of ventral and dorsal muscles were more frequent in the person with spinal cord injury. These findings prompt further investigation into trunk muscle function in paraplegics, and highlight the importance of including motor tests for trunk muscles in persons with thoracic spinal cord injury, in relation to injury classification, prognosis and rehabilitation.

  12. EXPANSION OF OBJECTIVES OF THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF TECHNICAL AUDIT AT RAILWAY TRANSPORT ENTERPRISES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. M. Okorokov

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. The work is aimed to study, compare and summarize information on the current state and peculiarities of conducting technical audit in various branches of business in order to obtain the possibility of developing proposals for expanding the objectives of this procedure in railway enterprises. Methodology. In the course of the research there were used the methods of analysis and synthesis to study the content and basic provisions of scientific publications, normative legal acts of Ukraine, and other data on conducting technical audit in the field of industry, construction, gas extraction, electricity, marine and rail transport, followed by their comparison and generalization. Findings. Taking into account the positive experience of the audit carrying out in other sectors the article expands the goals of practical application of technical audit in railway transport enterprises. This envisages assessment of the current technical condition and the residual life of exploited vehicles and equipment of PJSC "Ukrzaliznytsia". As a result, there is an opportunity to detect and activate the reserves for improving the efficiency of railway transport enterprises, estimating and forecasting the costs for repair cycles and modernization, as well as for increasing the train safety level and improving investment attractiveness of the industry. Originality. The obtained results make it possible to broaden the concept of "technical audit" in railway transport, to define the purpose of its carrying out and the list of tasks. Application of the extended technical audit will provide an opportunity to receive objective information on the actual technical condition of the objects of the railway infrastructure, means of transport and equipment, and to use it for the formation of development programs as individual enterprises and the railway as a whole. Practical value. Expanding the goals of practical application of the technical audit at railway enterprises

  13. Trunk- and head-centred spatial coordinates do not affect free-viewing perceptual asymmetries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicholls, Michael E R; Mattingley, Jason B; Bradshaw, John L; Krins, Phillip W

    2003-11-01

    Turning the trunk or head to the left can reduce the severity of leftward neglect. This study sought to determine whether turning the trunk or head to the right would reduce pseudoneglect: A phenomenon where normal participants underestimate the rightward features of a stimulus. Participants made luminance judgements of two mirror-reversed greyscales stimuli. A preference for selecting the stimulus dark on the left was found. The effect of trunk-centred coordinates was examined in Expt. 1 by facing the head toward the display and turning the trunk to the left, right or toward the display. Head-centred coordinates were examined in Expt. 2 by directing the eyes toward the display and then turning the head and trunk. No effect of rotation was observed. It was concluded that the leftward bias for the greyscales task could be based on an object-centred attentional bias or left-to-right eye scanning habits.

  14. Privatization policies or degradation policies?. The case of spanish railways

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    López Peláez, Antonio

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available One of the key strategies in the process to modernize the European economy is the privatization of railway transport; separating infrastructure maintenance from transport management. Privatization has led to farreaching changes with respect to organizations, professional careers, and the very culture of railway work. The opinions held by those most closely involved in and affected by these changes can contribute to the analysis of occupational health and safety with a view to preventing failures that have occurred in previous railway privatization processes. In this article, we analyze the effects of this privatization model on the safety and health of railway workers as well as on the safety of passengers and freight.

    Una estrategia clave en el proceso de modernización de la economía europea es la liberalización del transporte ferroviario, separando el mantenimiento de las infraestructuras de la gestión del transporte. Nos encontramos en un momento de transformación de las organizaciones, de la carrera profesional y de la propia cultura de trabajo ferroviaria. La percepción que trabajadores y directivos tienen sobre las tendencias de cambio en el ámbito de la seguridad y salud pueden contribuir a un diagnóstico acertado que permita no repetir anteriores fracasos en procesos liberalizadores del transporte ferroviario. En este artículo, analizamos las consecuencias, en un sector estratégico, de este modelo liberalizador sobre las condiciones de seguridad y salud de los trabajadores, y su efecto sobre la seguridad de los pasajeros y mercancías.

  15. Growth of Railway Network in China (1988-2002

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Serguei Tarkhov

    2003-05-01

    Full Text Available 20. 000 km of new railways were built in China in1988-2002. The railway network has increased its topologicalcomplexity from 75 to 112 circuits and the new 3nt topologicallayer appeared in 1993 and the 4'h will emerge in 2004 after the opening of the rail ferry Dalian - Yan-tai. The main features ofthe recent Chinese rail network are: 1 the predominance ofmeridional-ity, 2 the spatial disproportion between the easterncoastal area (with dense network and the empty western part,3 the low level of electrification (20% and the low share ofdouble-track sections (30%, 4 the land-lock orientation ofthe whole network and a small number of lines along the seacoasts. These disproportions are the main obstacles for a harmonicspatial devel-opment of the economic structure.

  16. Fiber Bragg grating sensors for structural and railway applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tam, H. Y.; Liu, S. Y.; Guan, B. O.; Chung, W. H.; Chan, T. H.; Cheng, L. K.

    2005-02-01

    Historically, due to the high cost of optical devices, fiber-optics sensor systems were only employed in niche areas where conventional electrical sensors are not suitable. This scenario changed dramatically in the last few years following the explosion of the Internet which caused the rapid expansion of the optical fiber telecommunication industry and substantially driven down the cost of optical components. In recent years, fiber-optic sensors and particularly fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors have attracted a lot of interests and are being used in numerous applications. We have conducted several field trials of FBG sensors for railway applications and structural monitoring. About 30 FBG sensors were installed on the rail tracks of Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp. for train identification and speed measurements and the results obtained show that FBG sensors exhibit very good performance and could play a major role in the realization of "Smart Railway". FBG sensors were also installed on Hong Kong's landmark TsingMa Bridge, which is the world longest suspension bridge (2.2 km) that carries both trains and regular road traffic. The trials were carried out with a high-speed (up to 20 kHz) interrogation system based on CCD and also with a interrogation unit that based on scanning optical filter (up to 70 Hz). Forty FBGs sensors were divided into 3 arrays and installed on different parts of the bridge (suspension cable, rocker bearing and truss girders). The objectives of the field trial on the TsingMa Bridge are to monitor the strain of different parts of the bridge under railway load and highway load, and to compare the FBG sensors' performance with conventional resistive strain gauges already installed on the bridge. The measured results show that excellent agreement was obtained between the 2 types of sensors.

  17. Real-Time Track Reallocation for Emergency Incidents at Large Railway Stations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Liu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available After track capacity breakdowns at a railway station, train dispatchers need to generate appropriate track reallocation plans to recover the impacted train schedule and minimize the expected total train delay time under stochastic scenarios. This paper focuses on the real-time track reallocation problem when tracks break down at large railway stations. To represent these cases, virtual trains are introduced and activated to occupy the accident tracks. A mathematical programming model is developed, which aims at minimizing the total occupation time of station bottleneck sections to avoid train delays. In addition, a hybrid algorithm between the genetic algorithm and the simulated annealing algorithm is designed. The case study from the Baoji railway station in China verifies the efficiency of the proposed model and the algorithm. Numerical results indicate that, during a daily and shift transport plan from 8:00 to 8:30, if five tracks break down simultaneously, this will disturb train schedules (result in train arrival and departure delays.

  18. Approach to Issues in Planning and Operation of Railway BOT Projects

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Zhao Xianghong; Chen Min

    2009-01-01

    As an internationally popular mode of public infrastructures' investment,construction and operation,BOT (build-operate-transfer) has been successfully applied in some countries and regions of the world for their infrastructures' construction and playing an important role in promoting the construction of public infrastructures.The Ministry of Railways clearly proposed in its Suggestions for Implementation of Encouraging,Supporting and Guiding Participation of Non-public-owned Economy in Railway Construction and Operation that it was necessary to study and take for reference multiple modes of public infrastructures'investment,construction and operation including BOT.It is more complicated and risky for the process of planning and operation of BOT projects.The paper takes for reference the domestic and foreign experiences in the operation of BOT projects,analyzes the issues that will arise such as risk control in implementing railway BOT projects,employment of professional consultants,financing coordination,tariff making,non-commercial subsidy,as well as operation and management,and puts forward corresponding suggestions for these issues.

  19. Dynamics of a railway vehicle on a laterally disturbed track

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Lasse Engbo; True, Hans

    2017-01-01

    In this article a theoretical investigation of the dynamics of a railway bogie running on a tangent track with a periodic disturbance of the lateral track geometry is presented. The dynamics is computed for two values of the speed of the vehicle in combination with different values of the wavelen......In this article a theoretical investigation of the dynamics of a railway bogie running on a tangent track with a periodic disturbance of the lateral track geometry is presented. The dynamics is computed for two values of the speed of the vehicle in combination with different values...

  20. A Branch-and-Price algorithm for railway rolling stock rescheduling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lusby, Richard Martin; Haahr, Jørgen Thorlund; Larsen, Jesper

    2017-01-01

    How to best reschedule their fleet of rolling stock units during a disruption is an optimization problem regularly faced by railway operators. Despite the problem’s high complexity, it is still usually solved manually. In this paper we propose a path based mathematical formulation and solve...... by the suburban railway operator in Copenhagen, DSB S-tog. When used in combination with a lower bound method taken from the literature we show that near-optimal solutions to this rescheduling problem can be found within a few seconds. Furthermore, we show that the proposed methodology can be used, with minor...

  1. Dynamics of railway bridges, analysis and verification by field tests

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andersson Andreas

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The following paper discusses different aspects of railway bridge dynamics, comprising analysis, modelling procedures and experimental testing. The importance of realistic models is discussed, especially regarding boundary conditions, load distribution and soil-structure interaction. Two theoretical case studies are presented, involving both deterministic and probabilistic assessment of a large number of railway bridges using simplified and computationally efficient models. A total of four experimental case studies are also introduced, illustrating different aspects and phenomena in bridge dynamics. The excitation consists of both ambient vibrations, train induced vibrations, free vibrations after train passages and controlled forced excitation.

  2. Surgical treatment of celiomesenteric trunk aneurysm-7 case report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Chunxi; Cai, Xiangjun; Liang, Faqi; Chu, Futao; Chen, Gang; Duan, Zhiquan

    2014-01-01

    The celiomesenteric trunk is a rare anomaly characterized by a common origin of the celiac axis and superior mesenteric artery from the aorta, which accounts for less than 1% of all celiac artery anomalies, so the aneurysm occurred in such trunk is even rarer. There have been few reports on how to diagnose and deal with such malformed celiomesenteric trunk aneurysms till now. This paper tries to summarize the experience of how to expose and excise such kind of aneurysm according to the seven cases' data. The clinic data were collected retrospectively. There were seven cases with celiomesenteric trunk aneurysm from February 2000 to February 2013, including 5 males and 2 females aged 35~62. The operations were done including aneurysm resection and vascular reconstruction under general anesthesia. The operated patients were followed-up at the sixth month and each year post operation. The vascular stomas were detected or examined by Color Doppler Sonography, spiral Computed Tomography angiography (SCTA). The seven operated patients were cured and discharged from hospital, and they were followed up for 3~10 years (mean time 5 years), with four patients being followed up longer than 5 years. No sign of intestinal ischemia or hepatic ischemia or splenic ischemia was found, and no image of anastomosis stricture or stenosis was found during the follow-up. Five patients are alive now while two patients were dead, with one dying of large area myocardial infarction unexpectedly at 6 years post operation and the other dying of cerebral infarction abruptly at 4 years post operation. It is an effective and safe method to treat the celiomesenteric trunk aneurysm by using by-pass operation with artificial blood vessels, originating from inferior kidney aorta to visceral arteries including hepatic artery, splenic artery and superior mesenteric artery. Its short-term and middle-term effects are relatively better.

  3. High-speed railway signal trackside equipment patrol inspection system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Nan

    2018-03-01

    High-speed railway signal trackside equipment patrol inspection system comprehensively applies TDI (time delay integration), high-speed and highly responsive CMOS architecture, low illumination photosensitive technique, image data compression technique, machine vision technique and so on, installed on high-speed railway inspection train, and achieves the collection, management and analysis of the images of signal trackside equipment appearance while the train is running. The system will automatically filter out the signal trackside equipment images from a large number of the background image, and identify of the equipment changes by comparing the original image data. Combining with ledger data and train location information, the system accurately locate the trackside equipment, conscientiously guiding maintenance.

  4. Derailment-based Fault Tree Analysis on Risk Management of Railway Turnout Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dindar, Serdar; Kaewunruen, Sakdirat; An, Min; Gigante-Barrera, Ángel

    2017-10-01

    Railway turnouts are fundamental mechanical infrastructures, which allow a rolling stock to divert one direction to another. As those are of a large number of engineering subsystems, e.g. track, signalling, earthworks, these particular sub-systems are expected to induce high potential through various kind of failure mechanisms. This could be a cause of any catastrophic event. A derailment, one of undesirable events in railway operation, often results, albeit rare occurs, in damaging to rolling stock, railway infrastructure and disrupt service, and has the potential to cause casualties and even loss of lives. As a result, it is quite significant that a well-designed risk analysis is performed to create awareness of hazards and to identify what parts of the systems may be at risk. This study will focus on all types of environment based failures as a result of numerous contributing factors noted officially as accident reports. This risk analysis is designed to help industry to minimise the occurrence of accidents at railway turnouts. The methodology of the study relies on accurate assessment of derailment likelihood, and is based on statistical multiple factors-integrated accident rate analysis. The study is prepared in the way of establishing product risks and faults, and showing the impact of potential process by Boolean algebra.

  5. Second Best Decision Making of Railway Operators: How to fix Fares, Frequency and Vehicle Size

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rietveld, Piet; Woudenberg, van Stefan

    2007-01-01

    Railway networks are characterised by variations in demand on different links. Optimal strategies therefore call for a differentiated treatment of fares, frequencies and vehicle sizes in various links. However, for several reasons, railway operators may apply uniform levels for these decision

  6. 75 FR 28673 - Carolina Coastal Railway, Inc.-Acquisition and Operation Exemption-Morehead & South Fork Railroad...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-05-21

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. FD 35339] Carolina Coastal... ``Carolina Coastal Railway, Inc.--Acquisition and Operation Exemption--North Carolina State Ports Authority'' to reflect a correction submitted by Carolina Coastal Railway, Inc. (CLNA). CLNA filed a verified...

  7. Value for railway capacity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sameni, Melody Khadem; Preston, John M.

    2012-01-01

    to analyze the efficiency of operators in transforming inputs of allocated capacity of infrastructure and franchise payments into valuable passenger service outputs while avoiding delays. By addressing operational and economic aspects of capacity utilization simultaneously, the paper deviates from existing...... DEA work on the economic efficiency of railways by considering a new combination of input-output that also incorporates quality of service. The constant and variable returns to scale models are applied to the case study of franchised passenger operators in Great Britain. The follow-up Tobit regression...

  8. Fatigue Properties of Orthotropic Decks on Railway Bridges

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Frýba, Ladislav; Gajdoš, Lubomír

    1999-01-01

    Roč. 21, č. 7 (1999), s. 639-652 ISSN 0141-0296 Grant - others:XX(CZ) ERRI D 191 Keywords : railway bridges * orthotropic decks * fatigue Subject RIV: JM - Building Engineering Impact factor: 0.364, year: 1999

  9. [Railway use of asbestos-containing rubble: environmental hygienic aspects].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaptsov, V A; Kashanskiĭ, S V; Domnin, S G; Tikhova, T S; Trofimova, E V; Novoselova, T A; Bogdanov, G B

    2003-01-01

    The paper presents the results of a study of the gravimetric and counting concentrations of respirable asbestos fibers while working with sand-and-crushed stone mixtures, obtained from the concentration of chrysotile asbestos, at distances of 25, 50, and 100 m from the working place, as well as in a car saloon when the electric train passes along the area of these operations following an hour, a day, and a year after the completion of work, in warm and colds seasons of a year. It is concluded that the use of asbestos-containing sand-and-crushed stone mixtures on the railway leads to a higher anthropogenic asbestos load on the population living in the railway right-of-way, on railway workers and passengers. In this connection, it is necessary to evaluate risk factors of asbestos-induced diseases among the above contingents. The authors consider that due to the fact that asbestos-containing sand-and-crushed stone mixtures are well wetted with water, followed by the formation of a firm surface crust that prevents dust formation, as well as the short duration and rare frequency of operations relating their change, it is necessary to irrigate the repair areas with water or surfactant liquids after work termination.

  10. Salmonella outbreak among railway and airline passengers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatakka, M

    1992-01-01

    A widespread outbreak by Salmonella infantis, infecting a total of 226 people, occurred in Finland at the beginning of August 1986. Of those infected, 107 were railway passengers, 91 were airline passengers and 28 were employed in a food processing establishment. The outbreak among the railway passengers was caused by egg sandwiches, the airline passengers were infected by a meal served on board and the catering employees by the breakfast served in the establishment. The outbreak was caused by food prepared in the establishment's kitchen. The employees' breakfasts had probably been contaminated by an employee who was a symptom-free Salmonella infantis carrier, and a number of the employees subsequently became infected, leading to widespread contamination of the food prepared in the establishment. The spread of the outbreak was further influenced by a heatwave at the time and by shortcomings in the cold storage facilities. The kitchen's hygiene supervision and the quality control of its output were reorganized after the outbreak.

  11. Optimal Risk Reduction in the Railway Industry by Using Dynamic Programming

    OpenAIRE

    Michael Todinov; Eberechi Weli

    2013-01-01

    The paper suggests for the first time the use of dynamic programming techniques for optimal risk reduction in the railway industry. It is shown that by using the concept ‘amount of removed risk by a risk reduction option’, the problem related to optimal allocation of a fixed budget to achieve a maximum risk reduction in the railway industry can be reduced to an optimisation problem from dynamic programming. For n risk reduction options and size of the available risk reduction budget B (expres...

  12. Positive well-being and work-life balance among UK railway staff

    OpenAIRE

    Fan, Jialin; Smith, Andrew

    2017-01-01

    Failure to manage the well-being and work-life balance of railway workers\\ud may result in an increased risk to train safety and employees’ health. This article\\ud reports the findings of a study that measured positive well-being and\\ud work-life balance, and identified the factors affecting these among UK railway\\ud staff. On the whole, staff who perceived high levels of control and support had\\ud a better work-life balance and an increased sense of well-being. A positive\\ud personality was ...

  13. INVESTIGATION OF INNER SHEAR RESISTANCE OF GEOGRIDS BUILT UNDER GRANULAR PROTECTION LAYERS AND RAILWAY BALLAST

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sz. Fischer

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. Using adequate granular materials and layer structures in the railway super- and substructure is able to stabilise railway track geometry. For this purpose special behaviour of above materials has to be determined, e.g. inner shear resistance. Inner shear resistance of granular media with and without geogrid reinforcement in different depths is not known yet. Methodology. The author developed a special laboratory method to measure and define inner shear resistance of granular materials, it is called «multi-level shear box test». This method is adequate to determine inner shear resistance (pushing force vs. depth (distance from the «zero» surface. Two different granular materials: andesite railway ballast (31.5/63 mm and andesite railway protection layer material (0/56 mm, and seven different types of geogrids (GG1…GG7 were used during the tests. Findings. Values of inner shear resistance functions of andesite railway ballast without geogrid reinforcement and reinforced with different types of geogrids and andesite granular protection layer in function of the vertical distance from the geogrid plane were determined with multi-layer shear box tests when the material aggregation is uncompacted and compacted. Only the compacted sample was tested in case of the 0/56 mm protection layer. Cubic polynomial regression functions fitted on the mean values of the measurements are described graphically. Determination coefficients with values of R2>0.97 were resulted in all the cases of regression functions. Based on the polynomial regression functions fitted on the mean values of the test results, three increasing factors were determined in function of the distance measured from the geogrid. Increasing factor «A», «B» and «D». Originality. Multi-level shear box test, developed by the author, is certified unequivocally adequate for determining inner shear resistance of reinforced and unreinforced granular materials, e.g. railway ballast

  14. Anticipation of direction and time of perturbation modulates the onset latency of trunk muscle responses during sitting perturbations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milosevic, Matija; Shinya, Masahiro; Masani, Kei; Patel, Kramay; McConville, Kristiina M V; Nakazawa, Kimitaka; Popovic, Milos R

    2016-02-01

    Trunk muscles are responsible for maintaining trunk stability during sitting. However, the effects of anticipation of perturbation on trunk muscle responses are not well understood. The objectives of this study were to identify the responses of trunk muscles to sudden support surface translations and quantify the effects of anticipation of direction and time of perturbation on the trunk neuromuscular responses. Twelve able-bodied individuals participated in the study. Participants were seated on a kneeling chair and support surface translations were applied in the forward and backward directions with and without direction and time of perturbation cues. The trunk started moving on average approximately 40ms after the perturbation. During unanticipated perturbations, average latencies of the trunk muscle contractions were in the range between 103.4 and 117.4ms. When participants anticipated the perturbations, trunk muscle latencies were reduced by 16.8±10.0ms and the time it took the trunk to reach maximum velocity was also reduced, suggesting a biomechanical advantage caused by faster muscle responses. These results suggested that trunk muscles have medium latency responses and use reflexive mechanisms. Moreover, anticipation of perturbation decreased trunk muscles latencies, suggesting that the central nervous system modulated readiness of the trunk based on anticipatory information. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Rolling Stock Rescheduling in Passenger Railways: Applications in short-term planning and in disruption management

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    L.K. Nielsen (Lars Kjaer)

    2011-01-01

    textabstractModern society is highly dependent on a reliable railway system for workforce mobility and easy access to the cities. However, the daily operations of a large passenger railway system are subject to unexpected disruptions such as rolling stock breakdowns or malfunctioning infrastructure.

  16. Ultrasound-guided drainage of subcutaneous abscesses on the trunk is feasible

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjær, Søren; Rud, Bo; Bay-Nielsen, Morten

    2013-01-01

    Subcutaneous trunk abscesses are frequent, and current treatment options generally involve incision. By contrast, the standard care for breast abcesses is ultrasound-guided drainage. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of ultrasound-guided drainage combined with antibiotics...... in the treatment of subcutaneous abscesses on the trunk....

  17. Study of Railway Track Irregularity Standard Deviation Time Series Based on Data Mining and Linear Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jia Chaolong

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Good track geometry state ensures the safe operation of the railway passenger service and freight service. Railway transportation plays an important role in the Chinese economic and social development. This paper studies track irregularity standard deviation time series data and focuses on the characteristics and trend changes of track state by applying clustering analysis. Linear recursive model and linear-ARMA model based on wavelet decomposition reconstruction are proposed, and all they offer supports for the safe management of railway transportation.

  18. An analysis of trunk kinematics and gait parameters in people with stroke

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adnil W. Titus

    2018-03-01

    Conclusion: This pilot study found significant asymmetry in trunk motion between the affected and unaffected sides that varied across the gait cycle. This suggests the trunk may need to be targeted in clinical gait retraining post-stroke.

  19. Richness and epiphytic mosses cover variation on ironwood trees (Parrotia persica Pojark trunks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seyedeh Rahimeh Yavarynik

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This research was conducted to determination and assess changes in richness and cover of epiphytic mosses on ironwood trees(Parrotia persica Pojark trunks along trunk elevation and slope aspect gradients, in lowland and protected forest of Natural Resource College of Tarbiat Modares University (Parts of western limit of Noor forest reserved. To do this, a number of 20 individual of ironwood trees with a diamerter higher than 40 cm were selected randomly in the study area. A rectangle with 40*30 cm in two geographical directions (Northern and Southern, in 4 height classes (from 0 to 160cm on the trunks was sampled and related characteristics were recorded. Results of floristic study showed that presence of 17 epiphytic mosses species and the endemic species Palamocladium euchloron among the species with highest presence and Brachytheciaceae family with 7 species were the most important taxa and family in the forest. Richness and cover percentage of epiphytic mosses had the highest averages in northern and lower parts of the trees trunk, this could be due to higher moisture in northern direction and lower parts of the trunk. Result of the study, well clarified the changes of distribution and abundance of the most important forest elements in relationship changes of geographical situation of Parrotia persica trunks.

  20. BOTTOM TO TOP APPROACH FOR RAILWAY KPI GENERATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto VILLAREJO

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Railway maintenance especially on infrastructure produces a vast amount of data. However, having data is not synony-mous with having information; rather, data must be processed to extract information. In railway maintenance, the de-velopment of key performance indicators (KPIs linked to punctuality or capacity can help planned and scheduled maintenance, thus aligning the maintenance department with corporate objectives. There is a need for an improved method to analyse railway data to find the relevant KPIs. The system should support maintainers, answering such ques-tions as what maintenance should be done, where and when. The system should equip the user with the knowledge of the infrastructure's condition and configuration, and the traffic situation so maintenance resources can be targeted to only those areas needing work. The amount of information is vast, so it must be hierarchized and aggregated; users must filter out the useless indicators. Data are fused by compiling several individual indicators into a single index; the resulting composite indicators measure multidimensional concepts which cannot be captured by a single index. The paper describes a method of monitoring a complex entity. In this scenario, a plurality of use indices and weighting values are used to create a composite and aggregated use index from a combination of lower level use indices and weighting values. The resulting composite and aggregated indicators can be a decision-making tool for asset managers at different hierarchical levels.

  1. Trunk Dynamics Are Impaired in Ballet Dancers with Back Pain but Improve with Imagery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gildea, Jan E; VAN DEN Hoorn, Wolbert; Hides, Julie A; Hodges, Paul W

    2015-08-01

    Trunk control is essential in ballet and may be compromised in dancers with a history of low back pain (LBP) by associated changes in motor control. This study aimed to compare trunk mechanical properties between professional ballet dancers with and without a history of LBP. As a secondary aim, we assessed whether asking dancers to use motor imagery to respond in a "fluid" manner could change the mechanical properties of the trunk and whether this was possible for both groups. Trunk mechanical properties of stiffness and damping were estimated with a linear second-order system, from trunk movement in response to perturbations, in professional ballet dancers with (n = 22) and without (n = 8) a history of LBP. The second-order model adequately described trunk movement in response to the perturbations. Trials were performed with and without motor imagery to respond in a fluid manner to the perturbation. Dancers with a history of LBP had lower damping than dancers without LBP during the standard condition (P = 0.002) but had greater damping during the "fluid" condition (P 0.99). Stiffness was not different between the dancers with and those without a history of LBP (P = 0.252) but was less during the fluid condition than the standard condition (P < 0.001). Although dancers with a history of LBP have less trunk damping than those without LBP, they have the capacity to modulate the trunk's mechanical properties to match that of pain-free dancers by increasing damping with motor imagery. These observations have potential relevance for LBP recurrence and rehabilitation.

  2. Stability and Control of Human Trunk Movement During Walking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Q.; Sepehri, N.; Thornton-Trump, A. B.; Alexander, M.

    1998-01-01

    A mathematical model has been developed to study the control mechanisms of human trunk movement during walking. The trunk is modeled as a base-excited inverted pendulum with two-degrees of rotational freedom. The base point, corresponding to the bony landmark of the sacrum, can move in three-dimensional space in a general way. Since the stability of upright posture is essential for human walking, a controller has been designed such that the stability of the pendulum about the upright position is guaranteed. The control laws are developed based on Lyapunov's stability theory and include feedforward and linear feedback components. It is found that the feedforward component plays a critical role in keeping postural stability, and the linear feedback component, (resulting from viscoelastic function of the musculoskeletal system) can effectively duplicate the pattern of trunk movement. The mathematical model is validated by comparing the simulation results with those based on gait measurements performed in the Biomechanics Laboratory at the University of Manitoba.

  3. Evolution of the head-trunk interface in tetrapod vertebrates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sefton, Elizabeth M; Bhullar, Bhart-Anjan S; Mohaddes, Zahra; Hanken, James

    2016-01-01

    Vertebrate neck musculature spans the transition zone between head and trunk. The extent to which the cucullaris muscle is a cranial muscle allied with the gill levators of anamniotes or is instead a trunk muscle is an ongoing debate. Novel computed tomography datasets reveal broad conservation of the cucullaris in gnathostomes, including coelacanth and caecilian, two sarcopterygians previously thought to lack it. In chicken, lateral plate mesoderm (LPM) adjacent to occipital somites is a recently identified embryonic source of cervical musculature. We fate-map this mesoderm in the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), which retains external gills, and demonstrate its contribution to posterior gill-levator muscles and the cucullaris. Accordingly, LPM adjacent to the occipital somites should be regarded as posterior cranial mesoderm. The axial position of the head-trunk border in axolotl is congruent between LPM and somitic mesoderm, unlike in chicken and possibly other amniotes. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.09972.001 PMID:27090084

  4. Complex eigenvalue analysis of railway wheel/rail squeal

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    DR OKE

    Squeal noise from wheel/rail and brake disc/pad frictional contact is typical in railways. ... squeal noise by multibody simulation of a rail car running on rigid rails. ... system, traditional complex eigenvalue analysis by finite element was used.

  5. 76 FR 27173 - Carolina Coastal Railway, Inc.-Acquisition and Operation Exemption-Rocky Mount & Western Railroad...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-05-10

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. FD 35501] Carolina Coastal Railway, Inc.--Acquisition and Operation Exemption--Rocky Mount & Western Railroad Co., Inc. d/b/a Nash County Railroad Carolina Coastal Railway, Inc. (CLNA), a Class III rail carrier, has filed a verified...

  6. Structural impact response for assessing railway vibration induced on buildings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kouroussis, Georges; Mouzakis, Harris P.; Vogiatzis, Konstantinos E.

    2018-03-01

    Over the syears, the rapid growth in railway infrastructure has led to numerous environmental challenges. One such significant issue, particularly in urban areas, is ground-borne vibration. A common source of ground-borne vibration is caused by local defects (e.g. rail joints, switches, turnouts, etc.) that generate large amplitude excitations at isolated locations. Modelling these excitation sources is particularly challenging and requires the use of complex and extensive computational efforts. For some situations, the use of experiments and measured data offers a rapid way to estimate the effect of such defects and to evaluate the railway vibration levels using a scoping approach. In this paper, the problem of railway-induced ground vibrations is presented along with experimental studies to assess the ground vibration and ground borne noise levels, with a particular focus on the structural response of sensitive buildings. The behaviour of particular building foundations is evaluated through experimental data collected in Brussels Region, by presenting the expected frequency responses for various types of buildings, taking into account both the soil-structure interaction and the tramway track response. A second study is dedicated to the Athens metro, where transmissibility functions are used to analyse the effect of various Athenian building face to metro network trough comprehensive measurement campaigns. This allows the verification of appropriate vibration mitigation measures. These benchmark applications based on experimental results have been proved to be efficient to treat a complex problem encountered in practice in urban areas, where the urban rail network interacts with important local defects and where the rise of railway ground vibration problems has clearly been identified.

  7. A comparison of economy and sagittal plane trunk movements among back-, back/front- and head-loading.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hudson, Sean; Cooke, Carlton; Davies, Simeon; West, Sacha; Gamieldien, Raeeq; Low, Chris; Lloyd, Ray

    2018-05-14

    It has been suggested that freedom of movement in the trunk could influence load carriage economy. This study aimed to compare the economy and sagittal plane trunk movements associated with three load carriage methods that constrain posture differently. Eighteen females walked at 3 km.h -1 with loads of 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 20 kg carried on the back, back/front and head. Load carriage economy was assessed using the Extra Load Index (ELI). Change in sagittal plane trunk forward lean and trunk angle excursion from unloaded to loaded walking were assessed. Results show no difference in economy between methods (p = 0.483), despite differences in the change in trunk forward lean (p = 0.001) and trunk angle excursion (p = 0.021) from unloaded to loaded walking. We conclude that economy is not different among the three methods of load carriage, despite significant differences in sagittal plane trunk movements.

  8. An Intrusion Detection System for the Protection of Railway Assets Using Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angelo Catalano

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available We demonstrate the ability of Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs sensors to protect large areas from unauthorized activities in railway scenarios such as stations or tunnels. We report on the technological strategy adopted to protect a specific depot, representative of a common scenario for security applications in the railway environment. One of the concerns in the protection of a railway area centers on the presence of rail-tracks, which cannot be obstructed with physical barriers. We propose an integrated optical fiber system composed of FBG strain sensors that can detect human intrusion for protection of the perimeter combined with FBG accelerometer sensors for protection of rail-track access. Several trials were carried out in indoor and outdoor environments. The results demonstrate that FBG strain sensors bonded under a ribbed rubber mat enable the detection of intruder break-in via the pressure induced on the mat, whereas the FBG accelerometers installed under the rails enable the detection of intruders walking close to the railroad tracks via the acoustic surface waves generated by footsteps. Based on a single enabling technology, this integrated system represents a valuable intrusion detection system for railway security and could be integrated with other sensing functionalities in the railway field using fiber optic technology.

  9. Controlled Blasting for Deconstruction of a Railway Bridge Near Sahibganj

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mandal, S. K.; Ghosh, A. K.; Oraon, S.

    2018-06-01

    Some of the Indian Railway bridges require reconstruction for electrification and expansion of railway tracks. Dismantling of bridge within time schedule in densely populated area requires controlled and pre-planned blasting methodology for safe pulling down of the structure and quick removal of blasted debris for fast restoration of tracks and smooth plying of trains. The three arched railway bridge (Bridge No. 61) located between Sahibganj and Karamtola cases one such example where the bridge was dismantled and the track was restored within 4 h of blasting, though the stipulated block period for demolition and restoration of tracks was 6 h. The 25.48 m long three-arched bridge was drilled and blasted with 225 number of blastholes (32 mm diameter) and 100 kg explosive (25 mm diameter). Length of blastholes varied between 0.5 and 1.8 m with blast geometry of 0.3-0.35 m burden and 0.33 m spacing. This paper deals with the conceptual and theoretical model developed for identification of the key locations for drilling and implementation of the same. It also discusses about the precautionary measures and the drilling pattern adopted for quick demolition and speedy restoration of tracks.

  10. Integral Sensor Fault Detection and Isolation for Railway Traction Drive.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garramiola, Fernando; Del Olmo, Jon; Poza, Javier; Madina, Patxi; Almandoz, Gaizka

    2018-05-13

    Due to the increasing importance of reliability and availability of electric traction drives in Railway applications, early detection of faults has become an important key for Railway traction drive manufacturers. Sensor faults are important sources of failures. Among the different fault diagnosis approaches, in this article an integral diagnosis strategy for sensors in traction drives is presented. Such strategy is composed of an observer-based approach for direct current (DC)-link voltage and catenary current sensors, a frequency analysis approach for motor current phase sensors and a hardware redundancy solution for speed sensors. None of them requires any hardware change requirement in the actual traction drive. All the fault detection and isolation approaches have been validated in a Hardware-in-the-loop platform comprising a Real Time Simulator and a commercial Traction Control Unit for a tram. In comparison to safety-critical systems in Aerospace applications, Railway applications do not need instantaneous detection, and the diagnosis is validated in a short time period for reliable decision. Combining the different approaches and existing hardware redundancy, an integral fault diagnosis solution is provided, to detect and isolate faults in all the sensors installed in the traction drive.

  11. Controlled Blasting for Deconstruction of a Railway Bridge Near Sahibganj

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mandal, S. K.; Ghosh, A. K.; Oraon, S.

    2018-02-01

    Some of the Indian Railway bridges require reconstruction for electrification and expansion of railway tracks. Dismantling of bridge within time schedule in densely populated area requires controlled and pre-planned blasting methodology for safe pulling down of the structure and quick removal of blasted debris for fast restoration of tracks and smooth plying of trains. The three arched railway bridge (Bridge No. 61) located between Sahibganj and Karamtola cases one such example where the bridge was dismantled and the track was restored within 4 h of blasting, though the stipulated block period for demolition and restoration of tracks was 6 h. The 25.48 m long three-arched bridge was drilled and blasted with 225 number of blastholes (32 mm diameter) and 100 kg explosive (25 mm diameter). Length of blastholes varied between 0.5 and 1.8 m with blast geometry of 0.3-0.35 m burden and 0.33 m spacing. This paper deals with the conceptual and theoretical model developed for identification of the key locations for drilling and implementation of the same. It also discusses about the precautionary measures and the drilling pattern adopted for quick demolition and speedy restoration of tracks.

  12. Sustainable railway bridges with higher axle loads:monitoring examples from northern Sweden

    OpenAIRE

    Elfgren, Lennart; Enochsson, Ola; Täljsten, Björn; Paulsson, Björn

    2007-01-01

    Monitoring of several railway bridges has been carried out in northern Sweden in order to increase the allowable axle load. The work is part of a European Integrated Project "Sustainable Bridges - Assessment for Future Traffic Demands and Longer Lives". The paper describes the project and gives some examples of applications. Monitoring of several railway bridges has been carried out in northern Sweden in order to increase the allowable axle load. The work is part of a European Integrated P...

  13. Screen time viewing behaviors and isometric trunk muscle strength in youth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grøntved, Anders; Ried-Larsen, Mathias; Froberg, Karsten; Wedderkopp, Niels; Brage, Søren; Kristensen, Peter Lund; Andersen, Lars Bo; Møller, Niels Christian

    2013-10-01

    The objective of this study was to examine the association of screen time viewing behavior with isometric trunk muscle strength in youth. A cross-sectional study was carried out including 606 adolescents (14-16 yr old) participating in the Danish European Youth Heart Study, a population-based study with assessments conducted in either 1997/1998 or 2003/2004. Maximal voluntary contractions during isometric back extension and abdominal flexion were determined using a strain gauge dynamometer, and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) was obtained using a maximal cycle ergometer test. TV viewing time, computer use, and other lifestyle behaviors were obtained by self-report. Analyses of association of screen use behaviors with isometric trunk muscle strength were carried out using multivariable adjusted linear regression. The mean (SD) isometric strength was 0.87 (0.16) N·kg-1. TV viewing, computer use, and total screen time use were inversely associated with isometric trunk muscle strength in analyses adjusted for lifestyle and sociodemographic factors. After further adjustment for CRF and waist circumference, associations remained significant for computer use and total screen time, but TV viewing was only marginally associated with muscle strength after these additional adjustments (-0.05 SD (95% confidence interval, -0.11 to 0.005) difference in strength per 1 h·d-1 difference in TV viewing time, P = 0.08). Each 1 h·d-1 difference in total screen time use was associated with -0.09 SD (95% confidence interval, -0.14 to -0.04) lower isometric trunk muscle strength in the fully adjusted model (P = 0.001). There were no indications that the association of screen time use with isometric trunk muscle strength was attenuated among highly fit individuals (P = 0.91 for CRF by screen time interaction). Screen time use was inversely associated with isometric trunk muscle strength independent of CRF and other confounding factors.

  14. Viscoelastic dynamic models of resilient elements used in railway tracks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zbiciak Artur

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents selected theoretical aspects concerning viscoelastic dynamic modelling of resilient elements used in railway tracks. In order to characterize the research methodology for resilient mats in railway tracks, German Standards [1-4] are used herein. The main goal of the paper is to demonstrate the procedure of insertion loss calculation for a single degree of freedom truck system containing under-ballast mats. Selected results of certain dynamic characteristics of resilient truck systems (transmissibility, Bode and Nyquist plots etc. are also discussed. The results of calculations visualized in graphs, were obtained by using own applications written in programming language MATLAB.

  15. Validity of trunk extensor and flexor torque measurements using isokinetic dynamometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guilhem, Gaël; Giroux, Caroline; Couturier, Antoine; Maffiuletti, Nicola A

    2014-12-01

    This study aimed to evaluate the validity and test-retest reliability of trunk muscle strength testing performed with a latest-generation isokinetic dynamometer. Eccentric, isometric, and concentric peak torque of the trunk flexor and extensor muscles was measured in 15 healthy subjects. Muscle cross sectional area (CSA) and surface electromyographic (EMG) activity were respectively correlated to peak torque and submaximal isometric torque for erector spinae and rectus abdominis muscles. Reliability of peak torque measurements was determined during test and retest sessions. Significant correlations were consistently observed between muscle CSA and peak torque for all contraction types (r=0.74-0.85; Ptorque (r ⩾ 0.99; Ptorque between test and retest ranged from -3.7% to 3.7% with no significant mean directional bias. Overall, our findings establish the validity of torque measurements using the tested trunk module. Also considering the excellent test-retest reliability of peak torque measurements, we conclude that this latest-generation isokinetic dynamometer could be used with confidence to evaluate trunk muscle function for clinical or athletic purposes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Simplified Transit Procedure in Railway Transport

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Željko Kokorović

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available The current transit procedure in railway transport that iscarried out on the basis of the Customs Act [ 11 of the Republicof Croatia is applied only up to the border, i. e. the issued documentsand guarantees are valid only up to the border, and byjoining the Convention on Common transit procedure, i. e. integrationof the Republic of Croatia in the European Union, theRepublic of Croatia will also have to implement the regulationsand rules of Simplified transit procedure valid in each of thethirty member states. In international railway traffic, the transportof goods is regulated by the Convention concerning InternationalCarriage by Rail- COT IF [2 1 and usage of the CIMwaybill (Contract for International Carriage of Goods by Rail.If the goods are transported in Simplified transit procedure, theformalities regarding the transport of goods performed by railcarriers using the international waybill CIM will be significantlysimplified and accelerated. In principle there are no delays dueto customs on the borders when crossing the EU borders andborders of the Convention member states, contributing greatlyto the acceleration of the transport of goods, reduction of waitingcosts and paperwork, as well as influence on the schedulereliability.

  17. STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF RAILWAYS BOLSTER-BEAM UNDER COMMERCIAL OPERATION CONDITIONS: OVER-TRACTION AND OVER-BRAKING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ronald M. MARTINOD

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The conditions for the operation of railway systems are closely related to the increase of the commercial demand; as a consequence, the performance of the structural elements of railways changes. The present paper focuses on a study of the structural behaviour of bolster-beams under commercial operation conditions of railway systems, specifically in the dynamic conditions generated in events of over-traction and over-braking on the vehicle running. The proposed work is constructed based on the following phases: (i analysis of the kinematics of the vehicle; (ii development of numerical models, a model based on the multibody theory, and a Finite Elements model; (iii development of experimental field tests; and (iv development of simulations for a detailed analysis of the structural behaviour for a study of the strain distribution in the main bolster-beam. This study is applied to a particular case of a railway system that provides commercial service to passengers.

  18. Development and evaluation of a passive trunk support system for Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmood, Mohammad Nauzef; Peeters, Laura H C; Paalman, Micha; Verkerke, Gijsbertus J; Kingma, Idsart; van Dieën, Jaap H

    2018-03-14

    Patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy gradually lose the ability to use different muscles of their body. Consequently, they lose the ability to stabilize their trunk against gravity. This hinders them to effectively perform different daily activities. In this paper, we describe the design, realization and evaluation of a trunk orthosis for these patients that should allow them to move their trunk and maintain stability. This study aimed to primarily assess the effectiveness of the trunk support system in terms of unloading of trunk muscles, so only healthy participants were recruited for this phase of the study. Measurements were done on 10 healthy participants (23.4±2.07 [M±SD] years old, average body weight 68.42±24.22 [M±SD] kg). The experiment comprised maintaining a constant trunk posture in three different device conditions (control without orthosis and two conditions with different configurations of the orthosis), at four different flexion angles (10°, 20°, 30°, 40°) for each device condition and for two load conditions (with and without stretching the arms). Electromyography (EMG) signals from the trunk muscles were measured to estimate activation levels of the trunk muscles (iliocostalis, longissimus, external oblique and rectus abdominis) and a motion capture system was used to record the movement of the participants during the experiment. Wearing the orthosis caused reductions in longissimus and iliocostalis activity. The average muscle activity level was 5%-10% of maximum voluntary contraction in the unsupported conditions for those particular muscles. This level was reduced to 3%-9% of maximal voluntary contraction for the supported conditions. No effect on external oblique and rectus abdominis activity was observed. Moreover, no pain or discomfort was reported by any of the participants during the experiment. The results from the current experiment also suggests the necessity of lumber stabilizing systems while using trunk orthosis. The

  19. Duplication of Inferior Gluteal Artery and Course of Superior Gluteal Artery Through the Lumbosacral Trunk

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Satheesha Nayak B

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Internal iliac artery (IIA shows great deal of variations in its branching pattern. The knowledge of its variant branches is required for successful surgical, orthopedic, plastic surgery and radiological procedures. We observed variations of some of the branches of right IIA in an adult male cadaver. The iliolumbar artery originated from the main trunk of the IIA. After this, IIA divided into anterior and posterior divisions. The posterior division gave lateral sacral and superior gluteal arteries. Superior gluteal artery pierced the lumbosacral trunk before leaving the pelvis. The anterior division further divided into anterior and posterior trunks. Anterior trunk gave rise to superior vesical, inferior vesical, middle rectal and obturator arteries. The posterior trunk gave two inferior gluteal arteries and an internal pudendal artery.

  20. A Cloud-Computing-Based Data Placement Strategy in High-Speed Railway

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hanning Wang

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available As an important component of China’s transportation data sharing system, high-speed railway data sharing is a typical application of data-intensive computing. Currently, most high-speed railway data is shared in cloud computing environment. Thus, there is an urgent need for an effective cloud-computing-based data placement strategy in high-speed railway. In this paper, a new data placement strategy named hierarchical structure data placement strategy is proposed. The proposed method combines the semidefinite programming algorithm with the dynamic interval mapping algorithm. The semi-definite programming algorithm is suitable for the placement of files with various replications, ensuring that different replications of a file are placed on different storage devices, while the dynamic interval mapping algorithm ensures better self-adaptability of the data storage system. A hierarchical data placement strategy is proposed for large-scale networks. In this paper, a new theoretical analysis is provided, which is put in comparison with several other previous data placement approaches, showing the efficacy of the new analysis in several experiments.

  1. Fatigue lifetime estimation of railway axles

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Náhlík, Luboš; Pokorný, Pavel; Ševčík, Martin; Fajkoš, R.; Matušek, P.; Hutař, Pavel

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 73, MAR (2017), s. 139-157 ISSN 1350-6307 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LM2015069; GA MŠk(CZ) ED1.1.00/02.0068 Institutional support: RVO:68081723 Keywords : Residual fatigue lifetime * Railway axle * Variable amplitude loading * Fatigue crack propagation * Damage tolerance methodology Subject RIV: JL - Materials Fatigue, Friction Mechanics OBOR OECD: Audio engineering, reliability analysis Impact factor: 1.676, year: 2016

  2. 78 FR 71037 - New Orleans & Gulf Coast Railway Company, Inc.-Lease Exemption Containing Interchange Commitment...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-11-27

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. FD 35777] New Orleans & Gulf... Company New Orleans & Gulf Coast Railway Company, Inc. (NOGC), a Class III rail carrier, has filed a... to a third-party railroad, BNSF Railway Company and the New Orleans Public Belt are located in very...

  3. 75 FR 32839 - Norfolk Southern Railway Company-Trackage Rights Exemption-The West Tennessee Railroad, LLC

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-06-09

    ... (Corinth), Miss.\\2\\ \\1\\ WTNN is a New Jersey limited liability company and NSR is a wholly owned subsidiary... Railway Company--Trackage Rights Exemption--The West Tennessee Railroad, LLC Pursuant to a written... rights to Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR) \\1\\ over approximately 118.9 miles of rail line...

  4. THE EVALUATION OF OUTSOURCING USE ON UKRAINIAN RAILWAY TRANSPORT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. M. Stasiuk

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available The estimate of outsourcing possibilities on the railway transport of Ukraine is realized. The kinds of activities, which are promising for transfer through outsourcing to small enterprises, are proposed.

  5. Trains and the Italian Unification: the Time of the Railways Buildings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefano Maggi

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available The physical construction of modern Italy began in 1861, with the foundation of the Kingdom of Italy. The historical period coincided with the early industrial development of north-western Italy, and so the new infrastructure system developed in response, on the one hand, to the need to join together all the fragmentary pieces that formed the country and, on the other, to the general tendency to strengthen those areas that were economically and industrially stronger even before unification. The system that was being created in the 1860s by the Italian State before unification suffered continuous interruptions and was substantially without transverse connections, those with more difficult construction caused by the need to cross the Apennines. Within five years, from 1861 to 1866, the size of the railway system doubled, going from little more than 2,000 km to more than 4,000. The management of railway was entrusted to limited companies. The government guaranteed the company a contribution for each kilometer of railway built. In 1863 the tracks extended down the Adriatic coast as far as Brindisi, in order to attract the transit of the India Mail London- Brindisi-Bombay, the most important trade of the world. In 1863 Rome was linked to Naples, in 1864 the line from Bologna to Florence via Pistoia was opened, in 1866 Rome was linked to Florence and Ancona and in 1867 with Pisa. In 1874 the Genoa-Pisa line were completed as far as the frontier with France; later, in 1879 the Naples-Foggia line went into operation. In the same period some of the longer tunnels were opened. Those of Fréjus was realised between 1857 and 1871. The Gottardo tunnel came into being in 1882 and the Sempione tunnel in 1906. The opening of the alpine passes effectively permitted the connection of Italy to central Europe, flinging open the doors to more and more easily reachable markets. In last twenty years of the 19th century, in Italy began the strong development of the

  6. The improvement of suspension training for trunk muscle power in Sanda athletes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiujie Ma

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to investigate whether both suspension training (ST and traditional training (TT can improve Sanda athlete's strength quality of trunk muscles and to explore the effect of suspension training on Sanda athletes' trunk muscle power production. Twelve elite Sanda athletes from the Competitive Sports School of Shanghai University of Sport were randomly assigned to experimental group (EG and control group (CG. EG and CG were regularly trained with suspension training and traditional strength training for 40 minutes three times per week. The total duration of training was 10 weeks. The measurements including peak torque (PT, PT/body weight (BW, and rate of force development (RFD were used to assess trunk muscles strength. The results showed that there were significant differences between the two groups' performance when it was tested at the higher velocity of dynamometer (test of muscle power, but less significant differences when the two groups performance was tested at the lower velocity of dynamometer (test of maximum strength. The conclusion of this study is that compared with traditional training methods, suspension training can improve back and trunk flexion muscles strength more effectively. In particular, suspension training can improve the explosive power of trunk extension and flexion muscles.

  7. Locomotive Schedule Optimization for Da-qin Heavy Haul Railway

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruiye Su

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The main difference between locomotive schedule of heavy haul railways and that of regular rail transportation is the number of locomotives utilized for one train. One heavy-loaded train usually has more than one locomotive, but a regular train only has one. This paper develops an optimization model for the multilocomotive scheduling problem (MLSP through analyzing the current locomotive schedule of Da-qin Railway. The objective function of our paper is to minimize the total number of utilized locomotives. The MLSP is nondeterministic polynomial (NP hard. Therefore, we convert the multilocomotive traction problem into a single-locomotive traction problem. Then, the single-locomotive traction problem (SLTP can be converted into an assignment problem. The Hungarian algorithm is applied to solve the model and obtain the optimal locomotive schedule. We use the variance of detention time of locomotives at stations to evaluate the stability of locomotive schedule. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed optimization model, case studies for 20 kt and 30 kt heavy-loaded combined trains on Da-qin Railway are both conducted. Compared to the current schedules, the optimal schedules from the proposed models can save 62 and 47 locomotives for 20 kt and 30 kt heavy-loaded combined trains, respectively. Therefore, the effectiveness of the proposed model and its solution algorithm are both valid.

  8. Võitlus Tartu–Petseri raudtee ümber 1920. aastatel / The struggle for the Tartu–Pechory railway in the 1920s

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kersti Taal

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The railway first reached Estonia in 1870, when the Tallinn–St. Petersburg line was opened on 24 October. As early as 1849 and 1857, Fr. R. Kreutzwald and J. W. Jannsen had introduced the Estonians to a steam carriage moving on rails. Both men considered railway very important both from the point of view of traffic flow and economy. The railway soon reached the southern part of the Government of Livonia. The Tapa–Tartu railway was completed in 1876, and in 1888, Tartu got a railway connection with Riga via Valga. People dreamt of a Tallinn–Pskov railway via Pechory as early as the last decades of the 19th century, but the actual construction began only in the late 1920s. As early as 1920, the route of the Tartu–Pechory railway was marked at ground level, but the construction failed to begin due to economic difficulties. Transit to Russia was also considered (Tallinn–Moscow direct line. Early in 1928, people in south-eastern Estonia (Põlva, Kanepi, Kambja, and Räpina parishes became active in their demands for rail connections. Meetings were arranged, signatures gathered, and petitions sent to the Prime Minister, the government and ministries. In the petitions sent early in the year, the reasons given for the importance of the railway for the region were economic and strategic. The railway was considered so important that each village and small town wanted it to pass them as near to them as possible. The eastern route via Kauksi was supported by the people in Räpina parish, whereas the western route via Põlva was favoured by the people in Põlva parish, as well as, by the communes in Kanepi and Kambja parishes. On 25 May 1928, the Third Estonian Parliament passed the Railway Network Development Act, but it did not fix precisely the middle section of the route. The marking of the route began in June; the engineers who worked on it proposed that the railway should be built along the western route: it would be considerably cheaper

  9. Delay propagation and process management at railway stations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goverde, R.M.P.; Hansen, I.A.

    2001-01-01

    Process operators at large railway stations have the difficult task to secure a fluent train traffic flow while minimizing deviations from established timetables. Variation in actual train departure times is inevitable due to many circumstances such as arrival delays and fluctuations in alighting

  10. Organisational citizenship behaviour among railway employees in a ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study investigated the effect of differences in age, education and tenure on organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). The purposive sample comprised 839 permanently employed staff in a railway organisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Participants completed the Organisational Citizenship Behaviour ...

  11. Elephant trunk in a small-calibre true lumen for chronic aortic dissection: cause of haemolytic anaemia?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Araki, Haruna; Kitamura, Tadashi; Horai, Tetsuya; Shibata, Ko; Miyaji, Kagami

    2014-12-01

    The elephant trunk technique for aortic dissection is useful for reducing false lumen pressure; however, a folded vascular prosthesis inside the aorta can cause haemolysis. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether an elephant trunk in a small-calibre lumen can cause haemolysis. Inpatient and outpatient records were retrospectively reviewed. Two cases of haemolytic anaemia after aortic surgery using the elephant trunk technique were identified from 2011 to 2013. A 64-year-old man, who underwent graft replacement of the ascending aorta for acute Stanford type A aortic dissection, presented with enlargement of the chronic dissection of the descending aorta and moderate aortic regurgitation. A two-stage surgery was scheduled. Total arch replacement with an elephant trunk in the true lumen and concomitant aortic valve replacement were performed. Postoperatively, he developed severe haemolytic anaemia because of the folded elephant trunk. The anaemia improved after the second surgery, including graft replacement of the descending aorta. Similarly, a 61-year-old man, who underwent total arch replacement for acute Stanford type A aortic dissection, presented with enlargement of the chronic dissection of the descending aorta. Graft replacement of the descending aorta with an elephant trunk inserted into the true lumen was performed. The patient postoperatively developed haemolytic anaemia because of the folded elephant trunk, which improved after additional stent grafting into the elephant trunk. A folded elephant trunk in a small-calibre lumen can cause haemolysis. Therefore, inserting an elephant trunk in a small-calibre true lumen during surgery for chronic aortic dissection should be avoided. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.

  12. Steps for arm and trunk actions of overhead forehand stroke used in badminton games across skill levels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jianyu; Liu, Wenhao; Moffit, Jeffrey

    2009-08-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine arm and trunk actions in overhead forehand strokes used in badminton games across skill levels. The participants were 80 students (40 boys, 40 girls) who were randomly selected from video recordings of 300 students ages 16 to 19 years. The videotaped performances of overhead forehand strokes were coded based on three steps of arm action (elbow flexion, elbow and humeral flexion, and upward backswing) and three steps of trunk action (no trunk action, forward-backward movement, and trunk rotation). Students across the four skill levels exhibited different patterns of arm and trunk actions. Students at advanced levels used more mature arm and trunk actions.

  13. Evaluation of odometry algorithm performances using a railway vehicle dynamic model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allotta, B.; Pugi, L.; Ridolfi, A.; Malvezzi, M.; Vettori, G.; Rindi, A.

    2012-05-01

    In modern railway Automatic Train Protection and Automatic Train Control systems, odometry is a safety relevant on-board subsystem which estimates the instantaneous speed and the travelled distance of the train; a high reliability of the odometry estimate is fundamental, since an error on the train position may lead to a potentially dangerous overestimation of the distance available for braking. To improve the odometry estimate accuracy, data fusion of different inputs coming from a redundant sensor layout may be used. Simplified two-dimensional models of railway vehicles have been usually used for Hardware in the Loop test rig testing of conventional odometry algorithms and of on-board safety relevant subsystems (like the Wheel Slide Protection braking system) in which the train speed is estimated from the measures of the wheel angular speed. Two-dimensional models are not suitable to develop solutions like the inertial type localisation algorithms (using 3D accelerometers and 3D gyroscopes) and the introduction of Global Positioning System (or similar) or the magnetometer. In order to test these algorithms correctly and increase odometry performances, a three-dimensional multibody model of a railway vehicle has been developed, using Matlab-Simulink™, including an efficient contact model which can simulate degraded adhesion conditions (the development and prototyping of odometry algorithms involve the simulation of realistic environmental conditions). In this paper, the authors show how a 3D railway vehicle model, able to simulate the complex interactions arising between different on-board subsystems, can be useful to evaluate the odometry algorithm and safety relevant to on-board subsystem performances.

  14. Railway automatic safety protection system based on GPS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fu Hai Juan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The automatic protection system of railway safety is designed for the railway construction workers to protect alarm, and the safety protection device by using GPS satellite positioning system to acquire location information of the operating point, through the CTC/TDCS system and computer monitoring system for the running of the train position and the arithmetic distance. Achieving timely and continuously forecasts about the distance of the train which is apart from the operating point to prompt the voice alarm of the approaching train. Using digital technology to realize the function of the traditional analog interphone, eliminates the quality problems of the call. With the GSM-R, mobile wireless transmission channel and terminal technology, it overcomes the restrictions of the analog interphone which influenced by communication distance and more problems of blind areas. Finally to achieve practical, convenient, applicable and adaptable design goals.

  15. Time-Dependent Topology of Railway Prestressed Concrete Sleepers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Dan; Ngamkhanong, Chayut; Kaewunruen, Sakdirat

    2017-10-01

    The railway sleepers are very important component of railway track structure. The sleepers can be manufactured by using timber, concrete, steel or other engineered materials. Nowadays, prestressed concrete has become most commonly used type of sleepers. Prestressed concrete sleepers have longer life-cycle and lower maintenance cost than reinforced concrete sleepers. They are expected to withstand high dynamic loads and harsh environments. However, durability and long-term performance of prestressed concrete sleepers are largely dependent on creep and shrinkage responses. This study investigates the long-term behaviours of prestressed concrete sleepers and proposes the shortening and deflection diagrams. Comparison between design codes of Eurocode 2 and AS3600-2009 provides the insight into the time-dependent performance of prestressed concrete sleepers. The outcome of this paper will improve the rail maintenance and inspection criteria in order to establish appropriate sensible remote track condition monitor network in practice.

  16. Estimating emissions from railway traffic

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Joergensen, M.W.; Sorenson, C.

    1997-07-01

    The report discusses methods that can be used to estimate the emissions from various kinds of railway traffic. The methods are based on the estimation of the energy consumption of the train, so that comparisons can be made between electric and diesel driven trains. Typical values are given for the necessary traffic parameters, emission factors, and train loading. Detailed models for train energy consumption are presented, as well as empirically based methods using average train speed and distance between stop. (au)

  17. The use of conjoint method for assessing the relevance of railway investments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dominika WOJTOWICZ

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with designing and testing the use of conjoint analysis method, as one of the tool that provides information gathered within carrying out the ex-ante evaluation of railway infrastructure investments. The authors point to a possible area of application of the method and its usefulness for policy-makers. The proposed method has been tested in empirical research, and the results confirmed the usefulness of the data that can be obtained through its use. Originality of undertaken subject arises from the fact that conjoint method has not been used as a component of ex ante evaluations of EU co-funded programmes, which focus on the railway sector investments. The use of the method may help to strengthen the synergy effects between planned to realize within broader programmes investments. The issue has important practical dimension resulting from intensified investments in the railway sector in the countries which benefit from EU cohesion policy’s funds.

  18. Seismic Retrofitting of an Existing Steel Railway Bridge by Fluid Viscous Dampers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gangopadhyay, Avijit; Ghosh, Aparna Dey

    2016-09-01

    There are over a lakh of bridges in the Indian Railways, many of which have become seismically deficient, either through aging or due to inadequate seismic design considerations. The extensive damage of bridges all over the world in recent earthquakes has propelled significant advancement in earthquake protection and retrofitting of bridges. Amongst various passive control systems that are reliable as well as cost-effective, Fluid Viscous Dampers (FVDs) are proving to be successful in bridge vibration control. Orificed FVDs, commercially available as Taylor Devices, have already been successfully installed in several bridges worldwide. However, there has been no such application or study related to Indian railway bridges. In this paper, an existing thirty years' old railway bridge in Jharkhand, India, has been analyzed in SAP2000v14 considering reduced stiffness and found deficient when subjected to spectrum-compatible accelerograms. Subsequent retrofitting of the bridge superstructure with FVDs has been carried out and the results indicate substantial reductions in the responses of the bridge deck.

  19. Practical Constraint K-Segment Principal Curve Algorithms for Generating Railway GPS Digital Map

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dewang Chen

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In order to obtain a decent trade-off between the low-cost, low-accuracy Global Positioning System (GPS receivers and the requirements of high-precision digital maps for modern railways, using the concept of constraint K-segment principal curves (CKPCS and the expert knowledge on railways, we propose three practical CKPCS generation algorithms with reduced computational complexity, and thereafter more suitable for engineering applications. The three algorithms are named ALLopt, MPMopt, and DCopt, in which ALLopt exploits global optimization and MPMopt and DCopt apply local optimization with different initial solutions. We compare the three practical algorithms according to their performance on average projection error, stability, and the fitness for simple and complex simulated trajectories with noise data. It is found that ALLopt only works well for simple curves and small data sets. The other two algorithms can work better for complex curves and large data sets. Moreover, MPMopt runs faster than DCopt, but DCopt can work better for some curves with cross points. The three algorithms are also applied in generating GPS digital maps for two railway GPS data sets measured in Qinghai-Tibet Railway (QTR. Similar results like the ones in synthetic data are obtained. Because the trajectory of a railway is relatively simple and straight, we conclude that MPMopt works best according to the comprehensive considerations on the speed of computation and the quality of generated CKPCS. MPMopt can be used to obtain some key points to represent a large amount of GPS data. Hence, it can greatly reduce the data storage requirements and increase the positioning speed for real-time digital map applications.

  20. Fabrication of hydrophobic compressed oil palm trunk surface by sol-gel process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muzakir, Syafiqah; Salim, Nurjannah; Huda Abu Bakar, Nurul; Roslan, Rasidi; Sin, Lim Wan; Hashim, Rokiah

    2018-04-01

    Improvement of the robustness of hydrophobic surfaces is crucial to achieving commercial applications of these surfaces in such various areas as self-cleaning, water repellency and corrosion resistance. Compressed oil palm trunk (OPT) panel is one of potential product which can be used as panelling and indoor furniture application. By adding hydrophobic properties to compressed oil palm trunk panel might increase the application of compressed oil palm trunk especially for outdoor application. In this study, fabrication is using the sol-gel technique. Sol-gel was prepared by adding ethanol with Hexadecyl Trimethyl Ammonium Bromide (CTAB) solution with Tetraethyl Orthosilicate (TEOS) with surface modification of chlorotrimethylsilane (CTMS). The surface with hydrophobic coating was undergone surface analysis with contact angle machine with the aid of software SCA 20 and the determined of the morphology of surface with scanning electron microscope (SEM). The produced compressed oil palm trunk surfaces exhibited promising hydrophobic properties with a contact angle of 104° and the relatively better mechanical robustness.

  1. A digital filter-based approach to the remote condition monitoring of railway turnouts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garcia Marquez, Fausto Pedro; Schmid, Felix

    2007-01-01

    Railway operations in Europe have changed dramatically since the early 1990s, partly as a result of new European Union Directives. Performance targets have become more and more exacting, due to reductions in state support for railways and the need to increasing traffic. More intensive operations also place greater demands on the hardware of the railway. This is true for both rolling stock and infrastructure subsystems and components, particularly so in the case of the latter where the time available for maintenance is being reduced. The authors of this paper focus on the railway infrastructure, and more specifically on points. These are critical elements whose reliability is key to the operation of the whole system. Using intelligent monitoring systems, it is possible to predict problems and enable quick recovery before component failures disrupt operations. The authors have studied the application of remote condition monitoring to point mechanisms and their operation, and have identified algorithms which may be used to identify incipient failures. In this paper, the authors propose a Kalman filter for the linear discrete data filtering problem encountered when using current sensor data in a point condition monitoring system. The reason for applying Kalman filtering in this study was to increase the reliability of the model presented to the rule-based decision mechanism

  2. Modeling and analysis of a biomorph piezoelectric energy harvester for railway bridge monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jingcheng; Jang, Shinae; Tang, Jiong

    2012-04-01

    Wireless sensor network is one of prospective methods for railway bridge health monitoring. It has drawn much attention due to the long-term operation and low-maintenance performances. However, how to provide power to wireless sensors is a big issue. In railway health monitoring, the idea of converting ambient vibration energy from the vibration of railway track induced by passing train to electric energy has made it an efficient way for powering the wireless sensor networks. In this paper, a bimorph piezoelectric energy harvester from base excitation was investigated in the laboratory, and the energy output of the bimorph energy harvester was predicted by an equivalent single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) model. Reasonable results have been found between the tested and predicted data. Based on the theoretical model, further works on optimization of the bimorph piezoelectric energy harvester will be performed in future.

  3. The Effects of Liberalisation of the Passenger Railway Market on the Situation of Regional Rail Connections in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taczanowski Jakub

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Liberalisation of railway market can be an important instrument for increasing the attractiveness of local rail services and consequently for making the railways more competitive with other means of transport, which could result in changing the modal share in the favour of railways. The differences in the railway liberalisation level as well as in the policies towards rail transport between Central and Eastern European countries are vast, hence the present situation and the future prospects of regional services are diverse. Whereas there is only one railway line in Slovakia which is not operated by the state railway company ZSSK, a few private local connections which complement a very dense network of ČD state railways are in service in the Czech Republic. Poland, by contrast, is a country where liberalisation of railway market is most advanced as several different companies are responsible for transport in the regions. However, the results of this large scale liberalisation are ambiguous as the positive effects (reopening of some lines are balanced by isolation of the new regional government-owned systems from each other. In Austria, by contrast, the existence of several private and regional government-owned local railways which are an indispensable part of the regional transport networks has contributed to maintain an effective transport system. Although the effects of liberalisation on the local railway networks can often be ambiguous, several cases from the Czech Republic, Austria and Poland show that privatisation and municipalisation may have a positive effect on the railway service as it has enabled to maintain the service on many sections which were at risk of closure. However, the most important condition of the effective transport development seems to be an active cooperation between the railway operators and the local governments as an expression of appropriate transport policy.

  4. Long-Term Deflection Prediction from Computer Vision-Measured Data History for High-Speed Railway Bridges

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaebeom Lee

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Management of the vertical long-term deflection of a high-speed railway bridge is a crucial factor to guarantee traffic safety and passenger comfort. Therefore, there have been efforts to predict the vertical deflection of a railway bridge based on physics-based models representing various influential factors to vertical deflection such as concrete creep and shrinkage. However, it is not an easy task because the vertical deflection of a railway bridge generally involves several sources of uncertainty. This paper proposes a probabilistic method that employs a Gaussian process to construct a model to predict the vertical deflection of a railway bridge based on actual vision-based measurement and temperature. To deal with the sources of uncertainty which may cause prediction errors, a Gaussian process is modeled with multiple kernels and hyperparameters. Once the hyperparameters are identified through the Gaussian process regression using training data, the proposed method provides a 95% prediction interval as well as a predictive mean about the vertical deflection of the bridge. The proposed method is applied to an arch bridge under operation for high-speed trains in South Korea. The analysis results obtained from the proposed method show good agreement with the actual measurement data on the vertical deflection of the example bridge, and the prediction results can be utilized for decision-making on railway bridge maintenance.

  5. Long-Term Deflection Prediction from Computer Vision-Measured Data History for High-Speed Railway Bridges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jaebeom; Lee, Kyoung-Chan; Lee, Young-Joo

    2018-05-09

    Management of the vertical long-term deflection of a high-speed railway bridge is a crucial factor to guarantee traffic safety and passenger comfort. Therefore, there have been efforts to predict the vertical deflection of a railway bridge based on physics-based models representing various influential factors to vertical deflection such as concrete creep and shrinkage. However, it is not an easy task because the vertical deflection of a railway bridge generally involves several sources of uncertainty. This paper proposes a probabilistic method that employs a Gaussian process to construct a model to predict the vertical deflection of a railway bridge based on actual vision-based measurement and temperature. To deal with the sources of uncertainty which may cause prediction errors, a Gaussian process is modeled with multiple kernels and hyperparameters. Once the hyperparameters are identified through the Gaussian process regression using training data, the proposed method provides a 95% prediction interval as well as a predictive mean about the vertical deflection of the bridge. The proposed method is applied to an arch bridge under operation for high-speed trains in South Korea. The analysis results obtained from the proposed method show good agreement with the actual measurement data on the vertical deflection of the example bridge, and the prediction results can be utilized for decision-making on railway bridge maintenance.

  6. Planning the most suitable travel speed for high frequency railway lines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Landex, Alex; Kaas, Anders H.

    2005-01-01

    the interlocking system. Based on the braking distance it is possible to calculate the minimum headway time, and thereby determine the buffer time when knowing the frequency. Hence the headway time can be divided into minimum headway time and buffer time. The buffer time is an indicator for the spare capacity......This paper presents a new method to calculate the most suitable travel speed for high frequency railway lines to achieve as much capacity as possible for congested railway lines. The method calculates the most suitable travel speed based on the braking distance and information about...

  7. Development and application of Danish Key Performance Indicators for Railway Timetables

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schittenhelm, Bernd; Landex, Alex

    ) by requiring improved products with reduced costs at the same time. Introducing Key Performance Indicators (KPI) can help achieve a higher efficiency. Creation of a feasible and attractive railway timetable is the most important process for both TOC and IM. When measuring the quality of the produced timetables......, one also measures the success of the applied timetabling process. KPI for railway timetables most be based on a common accepted set of timetabling criteria. This paper begins with a brief description of the process that lead to the creation of a common Danish list of prioritized timetabling evaluation...

  8. Coupled Boundary and Finite Element Analysis of Vibration from Railway Tunnels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Lars; Jones, C.J.C.

    2006-01-01

    The analysis of vibration from railway tunnels is of growing interest as new and higher-speed railways are built under the ground to address the transport problems of growing modern urban areas around cities. Such analysis can be carried out using numerical methods but models and therefore comput...... body vibration (about 4 to 80 Hz). A coupled finite element and boundary element scheme is applied in both two and three dimensions. Two tunnel designs are considered: a cut-and-cover tunnel for a double track and a single-track tunnel dug with the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM)....

  9. Inter-joint coordination between hips and trunk during downswings: Effects on the clubhead speed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Ahnryul; Lee, In-Kwang; Choi, Mun-Taek; Mun, Joung Hwan

    2016-10-01

    Understanding of the inter-joint coordination between rotational movement of each hip and trunk in golf would provide basic knowledge regarding how the neuromuscular system organises the related joints to perform a successful swing motion. In this study, we evaluated the inter-joint coordination characteristics between rotational movement of the hips and trunk during golf downswings. Twenty-one right-handed male professional golfers were recruited for this study. Infrared cameras were installed to capture the swing motion. The axial rotation angle, angular velocity and inter-joint coordination were calculated by the Euler angle, numerical difference method and continuous relative phase, respectively. A more typical inter-joint coordination demonstrated in the leading hip/trunk than trailing hip/trunk. Three coordination characteristics of the leading hip/trunk reported a significant relationship with clubhead speed at impact (r joint coordination strategies have the great potential to use a biomechanical guideline to improve the golf swing performance of unskilled golfers.

  10. Improvement of Ride Quality of Railway Vehicle by Semiactive Secondary Suspension System on Roller Rig Using Magnetorheological Damper

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Jeong Shin

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Ride quality became a very important factor in the performance of railway vehicles according to the expansion of high-speed railways and speedup of velocity of railway vehicles. In this study, the results of applying the MR (magnetorheological lateral damper on the secondary suspension to reduce the vibration of the car body, directly relating to the ride quality of railway vehicles, were mentioned. In order to verify the control performance of MR dampers, a 1/5 scaled railway vehicle model was constructed, and numerical simulation and experimental tests were conducted. The MR damper for the experimental tests was produced and was attached between the car body and bogie of a full scaled vehicle, and a vibration controlling test was performed to improve ride quality on a roller rig. The skyhook control algorithm was used as the controlling technique, and regarding the test results, the RMS (root mean square value was found by compensating the frequency of the lateral vibration based on the UIC 513 R Standard about the ride quality of railway vehicles. As a result of the test, it could be confirmed that vibration was reduced by approximately 24% when attaching the MR damper between the bogie and the car body compared to when applying a passive damper.

  11. Magnetically suspended railway

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guenther, C

    1977-07-28

    The invention concerns the emergency support of a magnetically suspended railway. On failure of the magnetic suspension/tracking system, the vehicles touch down on the rail configuration by means of emergency gliding elements like sliding shoes, skids, or the like. In doing this, the touch-down shock of the emergency gliding elements has to be limited to a force maximum as small as possible. According to the invention a spring-attenuator combination is used for this purpose, the spring characteristic being linear while the attenuator has a square-law characteristic for the compressing and a linear characteristic for the yielding motion. The force maximum thus achieved is exactly half the size of the physically smallest possible force maximum for an emergency gliding element springed without damping.

  12. [Intravascular Hemolysis Caused by Stenosis of an Elephant Trunk;Report of a Case].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takamaru, Rikako; Kawahito, Koji; Aizawa, Kei; Misawa, Yoshio

    2017-07-01

    Symptomatic intravascular hemolysis after prosthetic aortic graft replacement is rare. It is primarily attributed to mechanical injury of red blood cells caused by stenosis of the vascular graft. A 50-year-old man presented with hemolytic anemia, 5 years after total arch replacement with an elephant trunk for type A aortic dissection. The hemolysis was caused by graft stenosis of the elephant trunk. Endovascular treatment for the stenotic elephant trunk was successfully performed. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the hemolysis was resolved immediately after operation.

  13. Estimation of Structure-Borne Noise Reduction Effect of Steel Railway Bridge Equipped with Floating Ladder Track and Floating Reinforced-Concrete Deck

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watanabe, Tsutomu; Sogabe, Masamichi; Asanuma, Kiyoshi; Wakui, Hajime

    A number of steel railway bridges have been constructed in Japan. Thin steel members used for the bridges easily tend to vibrate and generate structure-borne noise. Accordingly, the number of constructions of steel railway bridges tends to decrease in the urban areas from a viewpoint of environmental preservation. Then, as a countermeasure against structure-borne noise generated from steel railway bridges, we have developed a new type of the steel railway bridge equipped with a floating-ladder track and a floating reinforced-concrete (RC) deck. As a result of train-running experiment, it became apparent that the new steel railway bridge installed by double floating system has reduced a vibration velocity level by 10.5 dB(A) at main girder web as compared with a steel railway bridge installed by directly fastened track. This reduction effect was achieved by the ladder track and RC deck supported by resilient materials.

  14. Modern techniques for condition monitoring of railway vehicle dynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ngigi, R W; Pislaru, C; Ball, A; Gu, F

    2012-01-01

    A modern railway system relies on sophisticated monitoring systems for maintenance and renewal activities. Some of the existing conditions monitoring techniques perform fault detection using advanced filtering, system identification and signal analysis methods. These theoretical approaches do not require complex mathematical models of the system and can overcome potential difficulties associated with nonlinearities and parameter variations in the system. Practical applications of condition monitoring tools use sensors which are mounted either on the track or rolling stock. For instance, monitoring wheelset dynamics could be done through the use of track-mounted sensors, while vehicle-based sensors are preferred for monitoring the train infrastructure. This paper attempts to collate and critically appraise the modern techniques used for condition monitoring of railway vehicle dynamics by analysing the advantages and shortcomings of these methods.

  15. Is the basic trunk control recovery different between stroke patients with right and left hemiparesis?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pappalardo, A; Ciancio, M R; Patti, F

    2014-01-01

    Basic trunk movement control is often impaired after stroke and its recovery is a "miliary stone" in rehabilitation. In this prospective, observational, parallel-group study, we investigated whether there are differences in terms of post-stroke recovery of basic trunk control between patients with left or with right hemiparesis. We recruited 94 patients with loss of postural trunk control due to stroke. Patients were divided into Group A (48 patients with left hemiparesis) and Group B (46 patients with right hemiparesis). We administered the Trunk Control Test (TCT) and the 13 motor items included on the Functional Independence Measure. Evaluation was performed at admission (To) and discharge (T1). TCT increased respectively from 46.7 ± 23.3 to 62.6 ± 19.5 (mean ± standard deviation-SD, p hemiparesis could affect the degree of recovery of basic trunk control after stroke. Patients with right hemiparesis benefit more than those with left hemiparesis. Improvement of basic trunk control was not responsible for an advantage on functional independence.

  16. Strategy for predicting railway-induced vibrations in buildings

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Persson, Peter; Persson, Kent; Andersen, Lars Vabbersgaard

    2016-01-01

    Urban densification is a way of accommodating population growth. Land adjacent to railways is used for constructing residences and other buildings, and new tramway systems are planned. Under these circumstances, nearby buildings will be exposed to vibrations and noise that may become a nuisance...

  17. Developing resilience signals for the Dutch railway system

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Siegel, A.W.; Schraagen, Johannes Martinus Cornelis; Herrera, I.; Schraagen, J.M.C.; van der Vorm, J.; Woods, D.D.

    2014-01-01

    A resilience state model for a railway system is proposed consisting of three boundaries putting pressure on the operating state: Safety, Performance (Capacity & Punctuality) and Workload. In order to model the pressure of the boundaries, an additional dimension is added where the slope represents

  18. Assessment of Stochastic Capacity Consumption in Railway Networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Lars Wittrup; Landex, Alex; Nielsen, Otto Anker

    2015-01-01

    The railway industry continuously strive to reduce cost and utilise resources optimally. Thus, there is a demand for tools that are able to fast and efficiently provide decision-makers with solutions that can help them achieve their goals. In strategic planning of capacity, this translates...

  19. Dynamics of Railway Vehicles and Rail/Wheel Contact

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    True, Hans

    2007-01-01

    of the most important dynamic effects on vehicle dynamic problems are described. In chapter 7 characteristic features of railway vehicle dynamics are described, and in chapter 8 recommendations are presented for the numerical handling that is necessary for the investigation of vehicle dynamic problems...

  20. Effective Development and Verification of Railway Control Software

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Haxthausen, Anne Elisabeth

    2011-01-01

    This document presents a method for effective development of software for a product line of similar railway control systems. The software is constructed in three steps: first a specifications in a domain-specific language is created, then a formal behavioural controller model is automatically...

  1. Formal Verification of the Danish Railway Interlocking Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vu, Linh Hong; Haxthausen, Anne Elisabeth; Peleska, Jan

    2014-01-01

    in the new Danish interlocking systems. Instantiating the generic model with interlocking configuration data results in a concrete model and high-level safety properties. Using bounded model checking and inductive reasoning, we are able to verify safety properties for model instances corresponding to railway...

  2. Removal of oil palm trunk lignin in ammonium hydroxide pretreatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Az-Zahraa, Balqis; Zakaria, Sarani; Daud, Muhammad F. B.; Jaafar, Sharifah Nabihah Syed

    2018-04-01

    Alkaline pretreatment using ammonium hydroxide, NH4OH serves as one of a process to remove lignin from lignocellulosic biomass such as oil palm trunk fiber. In this study, the effect of NH4OH pretreatment on removal of oil palm trunk lignin was investigated. The oil palm trunk fiber was dissolved in NH4OH with different concentrations (6, 8 and 10 %), different duration (3, 5 and 7 h) and temperatures (60, 80 and 100 °C). The samples were analyzed by using UV-Vis to estimate the concentration of extracted lignin. The result indicates that the optimum conditions to gain maximum extracted lignin were 8% NH4OH, 100 °C and 5 h with concentration of 64 mgL-1 while the lowest was at 6% NH4OH, 100 °C and 5 h with concentration of 62.5 mgL-1.

  3. Energy cost of running instability evaluated with wearable trunk accelerometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schütte, Kurt H; Sackey, Saint; Venter, Rachel; Vanwanseele, Benedicte

    2018-02-01

    Maintaining stability under dynamic conditions is an inherent challenge to bipedal running. This challenge may impose an energetic cost (Ec) thus hampering endurance running performance, yet the underlying mechanisms are not clear. Wireless triaxial trunk accelerometry is a simple tool that could be used to unobtrusively evaluate these mechanisms. Here, we test a cost of instability hypothesis by examining the contribution of trunk accelerometry-based measures (triaxial root mean square, step and stride regularity, and sample entropy) to interindividual variance in Ec (J/m) during treadmill running. Accelerometry and indirect calorimetry data were collected concurrently from 30 recreational runners (16 men; 14 women) running at their highest steady-state running speed (80.65 ± 5.99% V̇o 2max ). After reducing dimensionality with factor analysis, the effect of dynamic stability features on Ec was evaluated using hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Three accelerometry-based measures could explain an additional 10.4% of interindividual variance in Ec after controlling for body mass, attributed to anteroposterior stride regularity (5.2%), anteroposterior root mean square ratio (3.2%), and mediolateral sample entropy (2.0%). Our results lend support to a cost of instability hypothesis, with trunk acceleration waveform signals that are 1) more consistent between strides anteroposterioly, 2) larger in amplitude variability anteroposterioly, and 3) more complex mediolaterally and are energetically advantageous to endurance running performance. This study shows that wearable trunk accelerometry is a useful tool for understanding the Ec of running and that running stability is important for economy in recreational runners. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study evaluates and more directly lends support to a cost of instability hypothesis between runners. Moreover, this hypothesis was tested using a minimalist setup including a single triaxial trunk mounted accelerometer

  4. Comparison of Two- and Three-Dimensional Methods for Analysis of Trunk Kinematic Variables in the Golf Swing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Aimée C; Roberts, Jonathan R; Wallace, Eric S; Kong, Pui; Forrester, Stephanie E

    2016-02-01

    Two-dimensional methods have been used to compute trunk kinematic variables (flexion/extension, lateral bend, axial rotation) and X-factor (difference in axial rotation between trunk and pelvis) during the golf swing. Recent X-factor studies advocated three-dimensional (3D) analysis due to the errors associated with two-dimensional (2D) methods, but this has not been investigated for all trunk kinematic variables. The purpose of this study was to compare trunk kinematic variables and X-factor calculated by 2D and 3D methods to examine how different approaches influenced their profiles during the swing. Trunk kinematic variables and X-factor were calculated for golfers from vectors projected onto the global laboratory planes and from 3D segment angles. Trunk kinematic variable profiles were similar in shape; however, there were statistically significant differences in trunk flexion (-6.5 ± 3.6°) at top of backswing and trunk right-side lateral bend (8.7 ± 2.9°) at impact. Differences between 2D and 3D X-factor (approximately 16°) could largely be explained by projection errors introduced to the 2D analysis through flexion and lateral bend of the trunk and pelvis segments. The results support the need to use a 3D method for kinematic data calculation to accurately analyze the golf swing.

  5. A Review on the Development of New Materials for Construction of Prestressed Concrete Railway Sleepers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raj, Anand; Nagarajan, Praveen; Shashikala, A. P.

    2018-03-01

    Railways form the backbone of all economies, transporting goods, and passengers alike. Sleepers play a pivotal role in track performance and safety in rail transport. This paper discusses in brief about the materials that have been used in making sleepers in the early stages of railways. Extensive studies have been carried out on the static, dynamic and impact analysis of prestressed sleepers all around the globe. It has been shown that majority of the sleepers do not last till their expected design life resulting in massive replacement and repair cost. The primary reasons leading to the failure of sleepers have been summarised. This article also highlights the use of new materials developed recently for the construction of prestressed concrete sleepers to improve the performance and life of railway sleepers. Use of geopolymer concrete and steel fibre reinforced concrete, assist in the reduction of flexural cracking, whereas rubber concrete enhances the impact resistance of concrete by three folds. This paper presents a review of state of the art of new materials for railway sleepers.

  6. PROCESS FEATURES OF FLUCTUATIONS PROPAGATION AT STRESS-STRAIN WORK OF THE RAILWAY TRACK

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. O. Bondarenko

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. Scientific work aims at the determination the basic laws of fluctuations propagation process from exitation of rolling stock in the design system of permanent way and substructures of the railway lines for studing the deformation processes as the basis for a regulatory framework of the track operation in the conditions of ensuring the reliability of railways. Methodology. To achieve the aim the principles of elasticity theories and wave propagation process in describing the interaction track and rolling stock were applied. Findings. The kinds of fluctuations and system which should be used when considering the fluctuations in the deformation process of rail track were established. The general view of the displacement function was determined. Originality. The theoretical concepts and principles to consider fluctuations of a structures system of permanent way and substructures of the railway track, energised by rolling stock were grounded. This will allow studing the process of deformation work of the mentioned system, which changes its state. That in turn will allow us to determine the parameters of the trains functional reliability, as part of the security passes of rolling stock on the track section with regard to its technical condition. Practical value. Usually for safe crossing of rolling stock parameters of fluctuation process in the system «vehicle-track» are determined. Existing models or carefully consider fluctuations of rolling stock in generalized characteristics of the structures of permanent way and substructures of the railway tracks or view of quasi-dynamic fluctuations rails with general characteristics of under rail base. This review process of oscillations, energised by rolling stock and delivered to all the elements of the permanent way and substructures of the railway track do not allow determining both the reliability parameters of elements in the system of track construction and parameters of functional

  7. A semi-empirical model for the prediction of fouling in railway ballast using GPR

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bianchini Ciampoli, Luca; Tosti, Fabio; Benedetto, Andrea; Alani, Amir M.; Loizos, Andreas; D'Amico, Fabrizio; Calvi, Alessandro

    2016-04-01

    The first step in the planning for a renewal of a railway network consists in gathering information, as effectively as possible, about the state of the railway tracks. Nowadays, this activity is mostly carried out by digging trenches at regular intervals along the whole network, to evaluate both geometrical and geotechnical properties of the railway track bed. This involves issues, mainly concerning the invasiveness of the operations, the impacts on the rail traffic, the high costs, and the low levels of significance concerning such discrete data set. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) can represent a useful technique for overstepping these issues, as it can be directly mounted onto a train crossing the railway, and collect continuous information along the network. This study is aimed at defining an empirical model for the prediction of fouling in railway ballast, by using GPR. With this purpose, a thorough laboratory campaign was implemented within the facilities of Roma Tre University. In more details, a 1.47 m long × 1.47 m wide × 0.48 m height plexiglass framework, accounting for the domain of investigation, was laid over a perfect electric conductor, and filled up with several configuration of railway ballast and fouling material (clayey sand), thereby representing different levels of fouling. Then, the set of fouling configurations was surveyed with several GPR systems. In particular, a ground-coupled multi-channel radar (600 MHz and 1600 MHz center frequency antennas) and three air-launched radar systems (1000 MHz and 2000 MHz center frequency antennas) were employed for surveying the materials. By observing the results both in terms of time and frequency domains, interesting insights are highlighted and an empirical model, relating in particular the shape of the frequency spectrum of the signal and the percentage of fouling characterizing the surveyed material, is finally proposed. Acknowledgement The Authors thank COST, for funding the Action TU1208 "Civil

  8. Railway Porters of Mumbai : Social Capital in Practice

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Weitering, D.; Nooteboom, G.

    2004-01-01

    This article explores the scope and limitations of social capital and local forms of social security in the informal sector through a case study of railway coolies at Dadar station, Mumbai. The complex organisation of the coolies, virtually excluded from state or enterprise social security schemes,

  9. Noise and Vibration Mitigation for Rail Transportation Systems : Proceedings of the 10th International Workshop on RailwayNoise

    CERN Document Server

    Gautier, Pierre-Etienne; Hanson, Carl; Hemsworth, Brian; Nelson, James; Schulte-Werning, Burkhard; Thompson, David; Vos, Paul

    2012-01-01

    This volume contains the contributions to the 10th International Workshop on Railway Noise, held October 18–22, 2010, in Nagahama, Japan, organized by the Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI), Japan. With 11 sessions and 3 poster sessions, the workshop featured presentations by international leaders in the field of railway noise and vibration. All subjects relating to 1. prospects, legal regulation, and perception; 2. wheel and rail noise; 3. structure-borne noise and squeal noise; 4. ground-borne vibration; 5. aerodynamic noise and micro-pressure waves from tunnel portals; 6. interior noise and sound barriers; and 7. prediction, measurements, and monitoring are addressed here. This book is a useful “state-of-the-art” reference for scientists and engineers involved in solving environmental problems of railways.

  10. “Sapsan”-carriages defrosting station of Nizhniy Novgorod railway service enterprise and its surface waste water purification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strelkov, Alexander; Teplykh, Svetlana; Gorshkalev, Pavel; Bystranova, Anastasia

    2017-10-01

    Surface water disposal is one of the most relevant problems for Nizhniy Novgorod railway service enterprises. Waste water must be quickly removed with special drainage devices and water drainage facilities (culverts, slope drains, pipes, ditches, etc.). During “Sapsan”-carriages defrosting watse water is aggregated on railroad tracks. It leads to track bed structure sagging, roadbed washaway and damages to point switches. In this paper the authors describe a concrete system of waste water disposal from railway service enterprises. This system is realized through culverts readjusted at the foot of ballast section. Thereafter, the collected water is pumped into a water collector and to local sewage waste-disposal plants. For railway stations with three or more tracks surface runoff diversion scheme depends on topography, railway tracks types, flow discharge and is compiled individually for each object. This paper examines “Sapsan”-carriages defrosting station of Nizhniy Novgorod railway service enterprise. It presents a technology scheme and equipment consisting of Sand catcher LOS-P, Oil catcher LOS-N, pressure-tight flotation unit; drain feed pump; solution-consuming tank of the coagulant, the solution-consuming tank of flocculant. The proposed technology has been introduced into the project practice.

  11. Impact Coefficient Analysis of Long-Span Railway Cable-Stayed Bridge Based on Coupled Vehicle-Bridge Vibration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yongle Li

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Compared with medium and small span bridges, very limited attention has been paid on the research of the impact coefficient of long-span railway bridges. To estimate the impact effects of long-span railway bridges subjected to moving vehicles, a real long-span railway cable-stayed bridge is regarded as the research object in this study, and a coupled model of vehicle-bridge system is established. The track irregularities are taken as the system excitation and the dynamic responses of the vehicle-bridge system are calculated. The impact effects on main girder, stayed cable, bearings, and bridge tower are discussed at various vehicle speeds. The results show that different components of the long-span railway cable-stayed bridge have different impact coefficients. Even for each part, the impact coefficient is also different at different local positions. It reveals that the impact coefficients in the actual situation may have significant differences with the related code clauses in the present design codes.

  12. Muscle Power during Standing and Seated Trunk Rotations with Different Weights

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    Erika Zemková

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This study compares peak and mean power during standing and seated trunk rotations with different weights. Twenty seven fit men completed four trials of trunk rotations in both standing and seated positions with a bar weight of 5.5, 10.5, 15.5, and 20 kg placed on the shoulders. The FiTRO Torso Premium was used to monitor basic biomechanical parameters throughout the movement. Results showed significantly higher peak power during standing than seated trunk rotations at weights of 20 kg (274.4±63.5 vs. 206.4±54.6 W, p=0.004, 15.5 kg (371.2±93.9 vs. 313.5±72.3 W, p=0.007, and 10.5 kg (336.9±77.8 vs. 286.3±66.0 W, p=0.009 but not at 5.5 kg (191.6±46.2 vs. 166.0±37.0 W, p=0.061. Similarly, mean power in the acceleration phase of trunk rotations was significantly higher when performed in standing than seated position at weights of 20 kg (143.2±32.1 vs. 101.9±23.7 W, p=0.008, 15.5 kg (185.1±42.3 vs. 150.4±36.5 W, p=0.019, and 10.5 kg (169.8±40.7 vs. 139.7±31.6 W, p=0.024 but not at 5.5 kg (107.4±29.4 vs. 86.5±21.1 W, p=0.111. Furthermore, peak and mean power during standing trunk rotations significantly correlated with values achieved in the seated position at the weight of 5.5 kg (r=0.684, p=0.027; r=0.676, p=0.033 but not at 10.5 kg (r=0.589, p=0.089; r=0.552, p=0.143, 15.5 kg (r=0.493, p=0.243; r=0.436, p=0.298, and 20 kg (r=0.357, p=0.361; r=0.333, p=0.417. In conclusion, power production is greater during standing as compared to seated trunk rotations, with more pronounced differences at higher weights. This fact has to be taken into account when training and testing the trunk rotational power.

  13. Experimental Analysis of Stiffness of the Riveted Steel Railway Bridge Deck Members’ Joints

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    Gocál Jozef

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with the real behaviour of the riveted steel railway bridge deck members’ connections with respect to their bending stiffness. Attention is paid to the stringer-to-cross beam connection as well as the cross beam-to-main girder connection. The stiffness of the two connections is investigated on the basis of evaluation of the experimentally determined stress response of the observed structural members to the actual traffic load on an existing railway bridge.

  14. Opinions of the commuters to receive oral health messages in South central railway zone India: A cross-sectional study

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    P Parthasarathi Reddy

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: The railroads of India are the fourth most heavily used system in the world. Railways are one of the main modes of transport and millions of people travel by train daily. Aim: To know the opinions of commuters in receiving oral health messages in railways station through various methods and also their knowledge and practice regarding oral hygiene. Materials and Methods: Using convenient sampling method data from the commuters was obtained by a pretested questionnaire through interview method from 14 railway stations of South Central Railway zone. Pearson Chi-square test was used to compare the opinions of commuters based on their gender to receive oral health messages. Results: A total of 596 (97.3% responded to the survey; a maximum of 297 (49.8% subjects strongly agreed to the statement that railway platforms should have informative posters on oral health. A maximum of 188 (31.5% commuters strongly agreed that prerecorded messages on oral health if played before the announcement of arrival and departure of train will be helpful to spread oral health awareness. Majority of 43% commuters (255 preferred to receive oral hygiene instructions printed on back side of the ticket followed by messages on television and through posters. Conclusion: Majority of the commuters preferred to receive oral health information in railways stations. Hence, efforts can be directed in spreading oral health information among public through railways.

  15. The impact of personality on driving safety among Chinese high-speed railway drivers.

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    Guo, Ming; Wei, Wei; Liao, Ganli; Chu, Fulei

    2016-07-01

    This study explored the impact of personality traits on driving safety in high-speed railway drivers. A sample of high-speed railway drivers in Beijing (N=214) completed a questionnaire, including information on personality traits and background variables. The NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) was administered to characterize participants based on five personality traits: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience, and Conscientiousness. The survey data were combined with naturalistic data of accident involvement and risky driving behavior in China. Poisson regression results show that drivers with high Conscientiousness and Extraversion caused fewer accidents. Higher Conscientiousness and lower Agreeableness were related to less frequent risky driving behavior. Education level and age negatively moderated the relation between certain personality traits and driving safety. The findings suggest that personality traits should be considered when selecting and training high-speed railway drivers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on High-Speed and Intercity Railways

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    Ye, Xiao-Wei

    2012-01-01

    This book contains the papers included in the proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on High-speed and Intercity Railways (IWHIR 2011) held in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, China from July 19 to July 22, 2011, which is organized by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, in collaboration with Southwest Jiaotong University, Beijing Jiaotong University, Dalian Jiaotong University, China Engineering Consultants, Inc., Zhejiang University, and Tsinghua University. Continuing the great initiatives and momentums of the rapid development in high-speed and intercity railways worldwide in recent years, IWHIR 2011 aims at providing a platform for academic scholars and practicing engineers to share knowledge and experience, to promote collaboration, and to strengthen R&D activities related to railway engineering. Engineers, scientists, professors, and students from universities, research institutes, and related industrial companies have been cordially invited to participate in the workshop. These papers have covered ...

  17. Analysis of the process related to the operations management of the rail traction vehicles in JSC 'Serbian Railways'

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    Vukadinović Vojislav

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In the study, issues related to the operations management in railway were elaborated, with special emphasis on the operations management of rail vehicles and main parameters in its activities and in the railway functioning. The analysis of the current status, operation and functioning of the Serbian Railways was also provided, with a special focus on the study of the technical condition regarding exploitation, reliability, and availability of traction vehicles operation which is always actual and particularly important for ensuring the regular and safe functioning of train traffic in all railways in the world as well as in the railway of Serbia. The issue related to the exploitation reliability and availability regarding traction vehicles operation is also being analyzed which is reflected in development of the concept and creation of the methodology for assessment of the technical condition and indicators for determining the level of exploitation reliability, availability of the traction vehicle operation as well as functioning of train traffic and the models related to the operations management of rail traction vehicles.

  18. Optimal Capacity Estimation Method of the Energy Storage Mounted on a Wireless Railway Train for Energy-Sustainable Transportation

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    Jaewon Kim

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Although electric railway systems have gone through many technological innovations in their electrical, mechanical and structural engineering since the energy paradigm conversion to electrical energy, the conventional feeding system based on the catenary contact is still being applied. In order to solve the problems of the contact-based feeding system that arise and to build up the energy-sustainable electric railway system simultaneously, this paper considers the wireless railway train (WRT, which is fed by storages mounted on the board without catenary contact during driving and charged at a platform during a stop. In order to maximize the energy improvement of WRTs’ operation, the optimal power and storage capacity estimation method considering the increased weight of the additional storage devices is proposed. Through case studies of the electrical and topographical conditions of the actual operating railway route, compared with the electrical performance of the existing railway trains, it is verified that the application of WRTs leads to facility capacity margin enlargement through the peak power reduction, and cost-effectiveness improvement through the reduction of catenary loss and driving energy.

  19. Impact capacity reduction in railway prestressed concrete sleepers with vertical holes

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    Ngamkhanong, Chayut; Li, Dan; Kaewunruen, Sakdirat

    2017-09-01

    Railway prestressed concrete sleepers (or railroad ties) are principally designed in order to carry wheel loads from the rails to the ground as well as to secure rail gauge for dynamic safe movements of trains. In spite of the most common use of the prestressed concrete sleepers in railway tracks, the concrete sleepers are often modified on construction sites to fit in other systems such as cables, signalling gears, drainage pipes, etc. This is because those signalling, fibre optic, equipment cables are often damaged either by ballast corners or by tamping machine. It is thus necessary to modify concrete sleepers to cater cables internally so that the cables or drainage pipes would not experience detrimental or harsh environments. Accordingly, this study will extend from the previous study into the design criteria of holes and web openings. This paper will highlight structural capacity of concrete sleepers under dynamic transient loading. The modified compression field theory for ultimate strength design of concrete sleepers will be highlighted in this study. The outcome of this study will improve the understanding into dynamic behavior of prestressed concrete sleepers with vertical holes. The insight will enable predictive track maintenance regime in railway industry.

  20. Function of Train Traction Department and Railway Vehicles in Logistic Centres

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    Velimir Kolar

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available The increasing globalization has spread the production locationsto every part of the world thus increasing even more therole of transport in determining the price and quality of a product.Therefore, the producers and carriers join together moreand more frequently through the supply chains. Railway carriershave a very significant role in supply chains, both throughorganization of transport and forming the trains as final products,and through forming the logistic centres. Logistic centresare the starting and the final railway stations but also the meetingpoints of the national carrier with other carriers (sea, road,river as well as other railway carriers and they also represent informationcentres. For the quality of service at logistic centres, itis important to have well organized operation of train traction.In order to keep up the regulmity of trains and the quality oftransport at logistic centres, among other things, it is necessaryto provide an optimal number of locomotives and to providethe technical inspection place. Special attention should be paidto the organization of work peiformed by the engine staff At logisticcentres it is possible to organize high-quality technical inspectionof wagons thus increasing the traffic safety.