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

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

Experimental analysis of railway track settlement in transition zones

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, H.; Markine, V.L.; Liu, X.

2017-01-01

Transition zones in railway tracks are the locations with considerable changes in the vertical support structures. Due to the differential stiffness and settlement in the open track and the engineering structure resulting in the dynamic amplification of the wheel forces, track settlement is usually

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

Gantry Crane Scheduling with Interference Constraints in Railway Container Terminals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peng Guo

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Railway container terminals, where gantry cranes are responsible for loading and unloading containers between freight trains and yards, are important hubs of hinterland logistics transportation. Terminal managers confront the challenge in improving the efficiency of their service. As the most expensive equipment in a terminal, the operational performance of gantry cranes is a crucial factor. In this paper, the gantry crane scheduling problem of railway container terminals is investigated. A mixed integer programming model which considers the effect of dwelling position dependent processing times is formulated. In addition, the safety distances, the travel times and the non-crossing requirement of cranes are incorporated in the mathematical model. A novel discrete artificial bee colony algorithm is presented to solve the intractable scheduling problem. Computational experiments are conducted to evaluate the proposed algorithm on some randomly constructed instances based on typical terminal operational data. Experimental results show that the proposed approach can obtain near optimal solutions for the investigated problem in a reasonable computational time.

[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.

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.

Freight railway operator timetabling and engine scheduling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bach, Lukas; Gendreau, M.; Wøhlk, Sanne

2015-01-01

In this paper we consider timetable design at a European freight railway operator. The timetable is designed by choosing the time of service for customer unit train demands among a set of discrete points. These discrete points are all found within the a time-window. The objective of the model...... is to minimize cost while adhering to constraints regarding infrastructure usage, demand coverage, and engine availability. The model is solved by a column generation scheme where feasible engine schedules are designed in a label setting algorithm with time-dependent cost and service times....

The railway track and its long term behaviour a handbook for a railway track of high quality

CERN Document Server

Tzanakakis, Konstantinos

2013-01-01

A proper quality of a track and other infrastructure objects represents a basic requirement for train safety and punctuality. Most of the physical systems and their components deteriorate over time. This affects performance and may lead to failures. Albert Einstein said, “You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.” Only if we understand how the whole system works, taking into account its imperfections and how they influence its quality and performance will we be able to learn the rules of the game and “play better.” The book provides the readers with the necessary functional knowledge of track behaviour and comprehensively covers the function of the various track components, their interaction as elements of the track system, as well as the interaction of the track with railway vehicles. By presenting important tools for a deep understanding of track-behaviour this book aims to be a reference guide for infrastructure managers and to help them to find way...

Automated vehicle for railway track fault detection

Science.gov (United States)

Bhushan, M.; Sujay, S.; Tushar, B.; Chitra, P.

2017-11-01

For the safety reasons, railroad tracks need to be inspected on a regular basis for detecting physical defects or design non compliances. Such track defects and non compliances, if not detected in a certain interval of time, may eventually lead to severe consequences such as train derailments. Inspection must happen twice weekly by a human inspector to maintain safety standards as there are hundreds and thousands of miles of railroad track. But in such type of manual inspection, there are many drawbacks that may result in the poor inspection of the track, due to which accidents may cause in future. So to avoid such errors and severe accidents, this automated system is designed.Such a concept would surely introduce automation in the field of inspection process of railway track and can help to avoid mishaps and severe accidents due to faults in the track.

Anti-Runaway Prevention System with Wireless Sensors for Intelligent Track Skates at Railway Stations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chaozhe Jiang

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Anti-runaway prevention of rolling stocks at a railway station is essential in railway safety management. The traditional track skates for anti-runaway prevention of rolling stocks have some disadvantages since they are operated and monitored completely manually. This paper describes an anti-runaway prevention system (ARPS based on intelligent track skates equipped with sensors and real-time monitoring and management system. This system, which has been updated from the traditional track skates, comprises four parts: intelligent track skates, a signal reader, a database station, and a monitoring system. This system can monitor the real-time situation of track skates without changing their workflow for anti-runaway prevention, and thus realize the integration of anti-runaway prevention information management. This system was successfully tested and practiced at Sunjia station in Harbin Railway Bureau in 2014, and the results confirmed that the system showed 100% accuracy in reflecting the usage status of the track skates. The system could meet practical demands, as it is highly reliable and supports long-distance communication.

Anti-Runaway Prevention System with Wireless Sensors for Intelligent Track Skates at Railway Stations.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Chaozhe; Xu, Yibo; Wen, Chao; Chen, Dilin

2017-12-19

Anti-runaway prevention of rolling stocks at a railway station is essential in railway safety management. The traditional track skates for anti-runaway prevention of rolling stocks have some disadvantages since they are operated and monitored completely manually. This paper describes an anti-runaway prevention system (ARPS) based on intelligent track skates equipped with sensors and real-time monitoring and management system. This system, which has been updated from the traditional track skates, comprises four parts: intelligent track skates, a signal reader, a database station, and a monitoring system. This system can monitor the real-time situation of track skates without changing their workflow for anti-runaway prevention, and thus realize the integration of anti-runaway prevention information management. This system was successfully tested and practiced at Sunjia station in Harbin Railway Bureau in 2014, and the results confirmed that the system showed 100% accuracy in reflecting the usage status of the track skates. The system could meet practical demands, as it is highly reliable and supports long-distance communication.

The UIC 406 capacity method used on single track sections

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Landex, Alex; Kaas, Anders H.; Jacobsen, Erik M.

2007-01-01

This paper describes the relatively new UIC 406 capacity method which is an easy and effective way of calculating capacity consumption on railway lines. However, it is possible to expound the method in different ways which can lead to different capacity consumptions. This paper describes the UIC...... 406 method for single track lines and how it is expounded in Denmark. Many capacity analyses using the UIC 406 capacity method for double track lines have been carried out and presented internationally but only few capacity analyses using the UIC 406 capacity method on single track lines have been...... presented. Therefore, the differences between capacity analysis for double track lines and single track lines are discussed in the beginning of this paper. Many of the principles of the UIC 406 capacity analyses on double track lines can be used on single track lines – at least when more than one train...

Identification of characteristic frequencies of damaged railway tracks using field hammer test measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Oregui, M.; Li, Z.; Dollevoet, R.

2015-03-01

In this paper, the feasibility of the Frequency Response Function (FRF)-based statistical method to identify the characteristic frequencies of railway track defects is studied. The method compares a damaged track state to a healthy state based on non-destructive field hammer test measurements. First, a study is carried out to investigate the repeatability of hammer tests in railway tracks. By changing the excitation and measurement locations it is shown that the variability introduced by the test process is negligible. Second, following the concepts of control charts employed in process monitoring, a method to define an approximate healthy state is introduced by using hammer test measurements at locations without visual damage. Then, the feasibility study includes an investigation into squats (i.e. a major type of rail surface defect) of varying severity. The identified frequency ranges related to squats agree with those found in an extensively validated vehicle-borne detection system. Therefore, the FRF-based statistical method in combination with the non-destructive hammer test measurements has the potential to be employed to identify the characteristic frequencies of damaged conditions in railway tracks in the frequency range of 300-3000 Hz.

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...

The Issues of Track Maintenance Management in Indonesia (Based on Study of the British Railways

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tetria Yunik Dewi Pamungkas

2017-01-01

Full Text Available It is believed that there is merit in researching how the management of track maintenance is organized in the United Kingdom, in particular by Network Rail, and then evaluating how this can be applied to the benefit of Indonesian Railways. The purpose of this research was expected to provide recommendations for management improvement of track maintenance by researching the track maintenance management system in Network Rail. This research study is based on secondary data. The analysis was conducted by using comparison method which compares the British Railways management and Indonesia railway management related to track maintenance management. The track maintenance management system was studied by using Network Rail. The results were compared with track maintenance management system in Indonesia. The comparison will provide the data differences that evaluated so the problem can be identified. The final result of this analysis was the identification of problems and improvisation that can be done for the development of track maintenance management in Indonesia. Several management issues have been mapped to several groups: finance management, structure organization, and asset management. From the problems that have been mapped, some improvements are recommended as monopolist authority restriction, maintenance system contract extension, re-structuring organization hierarchy, business plan consideration, track monitoring strategy arrangement, and condition based maintenance strategy adoption.

The Accuracy Assessment of Determining the Axis of Railway Track Basing on the Satellite Surveying

Science.gov (United States)

Koc, Władysław; Specht, Cezary; Chrostowski, Piotr; Palikowska, Katarzyna

2012-09-01

In 2009, at the Gdansk University of Technology there have been carried out, for the first time, continuous satellite surveying of railway track by the use of the relative phase method based on geodesic active network ASG-EUPOS and NAVGEO service. Still continuing research works focused on the GNSS multi-receivers platform evaluation for projecting and stock-taking. In order to assess the accuracy of the railway track axis position, the values of deviations of transverse position XTE (Cross Track Error) were evaluated. In order to eliminate the influence of random measurement errors and to obtain the coordinates representing the actual shape of the track, the XTE variable was analyzed by signal analysis methods (Chebyshev low-pass filtering and fast Fourier transform). At the end the paper presents the module of the computer software SATTRACK which currently has been developing at the Gdansk University of Technology. The program serves visualization, assessment and design process of railway track, adapted to the technique of continuous satellite surveying. The module called TRACK STRAIGHT is designed to assess the straight sections. A description of its operation as well as examples of its functions has been presented.

Nonlinear Dynamic of Curved Railway Tracks in Three-Dimensional Space

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, X.; Ngamkhanong, C.; Kaewunruen, S.

2017-12-01

On curved tracks, high-pitch noise pollution can often be a considerable concern of rail asset owners, commuters, and people living or working along the rail corridor. Inevitably, wheel/rail interface can cause a traveling source of sound and vibration, which spread over a long distance of rail network. The sound and vibration can be in various forms and spectra. The undesirable sound and vibration on curves is often called ‘noise,’ includes flanging and squealing noises. This paper focuses on the squeal noise phenomena on curved tracks located in urban environments. It highlights the effect of curve radii on lateral track dynamics. It is important to note that rail freight curve noises, especially for curve squeals, can be observed almost everywhere and every type of track structures. The most pressing noise appears at sharper curved tracks where excessive lateral wheel/rail dynamics resonate with falling friction states, generating a tonal noise problem, so-call ‘squeal’. Many researchers have carried out measurements and simulations to understand the actual root causes of the squeal noise. Most researchers believe that wheel resonance over falling friction is the main cause, whilst a few others think that dynamic mode coupling of wheel and rail may also cause the squeal. Therefore, this paper is devoted to systems thinking the approach and dynamic assessment in resolving railway curve noise problems. The simulations of railway tracks with different curve radii will be carried out to develop state-of-the-art understanding into lateral track dynamics, including rail dynamics, cant dynamics, gauge dynamics and overall track responses.

Sensitivity analysis of railpad parameters on vertical railway track dynamics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oregui Echeverria-Berreyarza, M.; Nunez Vicencio, Alfredo; Dollevoet, R.P.B.J.; Li, Z.

2016-01-01

This paper presents a sensitivity analysis of railpad parameters on vertical railway track dynamics, incorporating the nonlinear behavior of the fastening (i.e., downward forces compress the railpad whereas upward forces are resisted by the clamps). For this purpose, solid railpads, rail-railpad

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.

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.

Evaluation of Railway Networks with Single Track Operation Using the UIC 406 Capacity Method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Landex, Alex

2009-01-01

lines and single track lines are discussed in this article. The principles of the UIC 406 of double track lines can be applied to single track lines-at least when more than one train follows each other in the same direction. In a presentation of the UIC 406 for single track operations, it is important...

Bitumen stabilized ballast: a potential solution for railway track-bed

OpenAIRE

D'Angelo, Giacomo; Thom, Nicholas; Lo Presti, Davide

2016-01-01

Railway ballast degradation under dynamic loads progressively leads to loss of mechanical performance and geometry of the track, so that maintenance interventions are frequently needed. In order to systematically avoid this issue, recently solutions have been proposed to reinforce track-bed by using polyurethane and/or resins as well as asphalt layers among others. Nonetheless, their main limitations are related to the high initial cost and low productivity.\\ud To cope with these limitations,...

Influencing factors for condition-based maintenance in railway tracks using knowledge-based approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jamshidi, A.; Hajizadeh, S.; Naeimi, M.; Nunez Vicencio, Alfredo; Li, Z.

2017-01-01

In this paper, we present a condition-based maintenance decision method using
knowledge-based approach for rail surface defects. A railway track may contain a considerable number of surface defects which influence track maintenance decisions. The proposed method is based on two sets of

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.

THE BASIS OF MATHEMATICAL DESCRIPTION FOR WAVE MODEL OF STRESSES PROPAGATION IN RAILWAY TRACK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. M. Kurhan

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Modern scientific research has repeatedly cited practical examples of the dynamic effects of railway track operation that go beyond the static calculation schemes. For the track sections where the train speed is approaching to the velocity of wave propagation in the slab track layers such issues are of particular relevance. An adequate tool for the study of such issues can be the use of the wave theory of stress propagation. The purpose of the article is the creation of a mathematical description of the basic principles of the stress propagation wave model in the railway track, which can be used as a basis for the practical development of the relevant calculation system. Methodology. The model of stress-strain states of the railway track on the basis of the stress wave propagation theory is to bring together the equations of the geometry of the outline of the space systems that is involved in the interaction at a given time, and the dynamic equilibrium equations of deformation. The solution is based on the use of the laws of the theory of elasticity. The wave front is described by an ellipsoid equation. When determining the variation in time of the surface position of the ellipsoid a vector approach is used. Findings. The geometry equations of the wave motion determine the volumes of material layers of the slab track involved in the interaction at a given time. The dynamic equilibrium determination of the deformed condition of the space bounded by the wave front makes it possible to calculate both the stresses and strains, and their changes during the time of the load perception. Thus, mathematical descriptions of the processes that occur in the perception of the load by the elements of railway track at high speeds were obtained. Originality. The simulation tasks of the track and rolling stock interaction, in particular taking into account the dynamic deflection of slab track were further developed. For the first time the article

Modelling of a Double-Track Railway Contact System Electric Field Intensity

Science.gov (United States)

Belinsky, Stanislav; Khanzhina, Olga; Sidorov, Alexander

2017-12-01

Working conditions of personnel that serves contact system (CS) are affected by factors including health and safety, security and working hours (danger of rolling stock accidents, danger of electric shock strokes, work at height, severity and tension of work, increased noise level, etc.) Low frequency electromagnetic fields as part of both electric and magnetic fields are among of the most dangerous and harmful factors. These factors can affect not only the working personnel, but also a lot of people, who do not work with the contact system itself, but could be influenced by electromagnetic field as the result of their professional activity. People, who use public transport or live not far from the electrified lines, are endangered by these factors as well. There are results of the theoretical researches in which low frequency electric fields of railway contact system were designed with the use of mathematical and computer modelling. Significant features of electric field distribution near double-track railway in presence or absence of human body were established. The studies showed the dependence of low frequency electric field parameters on the distance to the track axis, height, and presence or absence of human body. The obtained data were compared with permissible standards established in the Russian Federation and other countries with advanced electrified railway system. Evaluation of low frequency electric fields harmful effect on personnel is the main result of this work. It is also established, that location of personnel, voltage and current level, amount of tracks and other factors influence electric fields of contact systems.

Selection and testing of ballast stones for underground railway tracks

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Ballast is broken pieces of hard rocks such as sandstones, schist, etc. approximately 25- 60 mm size, over which the railway tracks are laid. The function of the ballast is to transfer the applied load over a large surface, provide adequate elasticity, prevent creep and hold the sleepers in position. Also under wet conditions, ...

The Use of Deconstructed Tires as Elastic Elements in Railway Tracks.

Science.gov (United States)

Sol-Sánchez, Miguel; Moreno-Navarro, Fernando; Rubio-Gámez, Mª Carmen

2014-08-18

Elastic elements such as rail pads, under sleeper pads and under ballast mats are railway components that allow for a reduction in track deterioration and vibrations. And they are furthermore commonly used to obtain an optimal vertical stiffness of the infrastructure. However, the use of elastomeric materials can increase construction costs and the consumption of raw materials. Thus, the utilization of used tire layers offers an alternative to reuse an abundant waste reducing the cost of elastic elements. In addition, an innovator technique allows deconstructing tire layers without grinding up the material, reducing production costs at the same time that tire properties are remained. This research is focused on the study of the viability of developing elastic components from used tire layers by evaluating the influence of thickness, the resistance capacity of the elements and their behavior in a ballast box. Results indicate the ability of tire pads to manufacture elastic elements (rail pads, under sleeper pads and under ballast mats) to be used in railway tracks.

Mechanical modelling and application of vibroacoustic isolators in railway tracks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zbiciak Artur

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents systematization and description of vibroacoustic isolators used in railway tracks (due to track structure type, with special attention paid to resilient mats. As in the second part of the paper the state-space mechanical model of a system with Under-Ballast Mat is formulated. Also some numerical problems arising from the mass matrix singularity are discussed. The poles of the system were calculated by using Matlab. Moreover, the influence of various parameters on the system’s insertion loss and its transmissibility was visualized in figures.

TO THE MODELING ISSUES OF LIFE CYCLE OF DEFORMATION WORK OF THE RAILWAY TRACK ELEMENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. O. Bondarenko

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. This article highlightsthe operational cycle modeling of the railway track elements for the development processes study of deformability as the basis of creating a regulatory framework of the track while ensuring the reliability of the railways. Methodology.The basic theory of wave propagation process in describing the interaction of track and rolling stock are used to achieve the goal. Findings. The basic provisions concerning the concept «the operational cycle of the deformation track» were proposed and formulated. The method was set. On its base the algorithm for determining the dynamic effects of the rolling stock on the way was obtained. The basic principles for the calculation schemes of railway track components for process evaluation of the deformability of the way were formulated. An algorithm was developed, which allows getting the field values of stresses, strains and displacements of all points of the track design elements. Based on the fields of stress-strain state of the track, an algorithm to establish the dependence of the process of deformability and the amount of energy expended on the deformability of the track operation was created. Originality.The research of track reliability motivates the development of new models, provides an opportunity to consider it for some developments. There is a need to define the criteria on which the possibility of assessing and forecasting changes in the track states in the course of its operation. The paper proposed the basic principles, methods, algorithms, and the terms relating to the conduct of the study, questions the reliability of the track. Practical value. Analytical models, used to determine the parameters of strength and stability of tracks, fully meet its objectives, but cannot be applied to determine the parameters of track reliability. One of the main factors of impossibility to apply these models is a quasi-dynamic approach. Therefore, as a rule, not only one dynamic

The Use of Deconstructed Tires as Elastic Elements in Railway Tracks

Science.gov (United States)

Sol-Sánchez, Miguel; Moreno-Navarro, Fernando; Rubio-Gámez, Mª Carmen

2014-01-01

Elastic elements such as rail pads, under sleeper pads and under ballast mats are railway components that allow for a reduction in track deterioration and vibrations. And they are furthermore commonly used to obtain an optimal vertical stiffness of the infrastructure. However, the use of elastomeric materials can increase construction costs and the consumption of raw materials. Thus, the utilization of used tire layers offers an alternative to reuse an abundant waste reducing the cost of elastic elements. In addition, an innovator technique allows deconstructing tire layers without grinding up the material, reducing production costs at the same time that tire properties are remained. This research is focused on the study of the viability of developing elastic components from used tire layers by evaluating the influence of thickness, the resistance capacity of the elements and their behavior in a ballast box. Results indicate the ability of tire pads to manufacture elastic elements (rail pads, under sleeper pads and under ballast mats) to be used in railway tracks. PMID:28788168

The Use of Deconstructed Tires as Elastic Elements in Railway Tracks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel Sol-Sánchez

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Elastic elements such as rail pads, under sleeper pads and under ballast mats are railway components that allow for a reduction in track deterioration and vibrations. And they are furthermore commonly used to obtain an optimal vertical stiffness of the infrastructure. However, the use of elastomeric materials can increase construction costs and the consumption of raw materials. Thus, the utilization of used tire layers offers an alternative to reuse an abundant waste reducing the cost of elastic elements. In addition, an innovator technique allows deconstructing tire layers without grinding up the material, reducing production costs at the same time that tire properties are remained. This research is focused on the study of the viability of developing elastic components from used tire layers by evaluating the influence of thickness, the resistance capacity of the elements and their behavior in a ballast box. Results indicate the ability of tire pads to manufacture elastic elements (rail pads, under sleeper pads and under ballast mats to be used in railway tracks.

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....

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).

Vibrations of a delivery car excited by railway track crossing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Litak, Grzegorz; Borowiec, Marek; Hunicz, Jacek; Koszalka, Grzegorz; Niewczas, Andrzej

2009-01-01

Vertical vibrations of a delivery car passing through railway tracks have been investigated in this paper. The application of recurrence plots allows to examine short time series of acceleration non-stationary courses. Recurrence quantification analysis and square deviations estimated in small windows have been used to monitor car vibrations and transient behaviour. Measuring acceleration on the 'sprung' and 'unsprung' masses of a vehicle has enabled also to test the quality of a car suspension.

Living alongside railway tracks: Long-term effects of nocturnal noise on sleep and cardiovascular reactivity as a function of age.

Science.gov (United States)

Tassi, Patricia; Rohmer, Odile; Schimchowitsch, Sarah; Eschenlauer, Arnaud; Bonnefond, Anne; Margiocchi, Florence; Poisson, Franck; Muzet, Alain

2010-10-01

Very few studies were devoted to permanent effects of nocturnal railway noise on sleep and cardiovascular reactivity. We investigated the effects of nocturnal railway noise on sleep and cardiovascular response in young and middle-aged adults living for many years either near a railway track or in a quiet area. Forty subjects (50% males) divided into two age groups (juniors: 26.2+/-3.6 and seniors: 56.2+/-4.2) participated in this experiment. Half of them lived near a railway track (RW group: 2.6 to 19 years) and the other half in a quiet environment (QE group: 8.1 to 14.2 years). After an adaptation night, all subjects underwent two nights in the laboratory: one control night and one noisy night (30 by-passes of a freight train). Sleep and cardiovascular modifications were assessed in response to noise. Sleep fragmentation indices were lower in RW subjects compared to QE whatever their age. In response to noise, there was a higher cardiovascular response rate to noise in RW juniors and a lower cardiovascular response rate in RW seniors compared to their age-paired QE counterparts. In conclusion, permanent exposure to nocturnal railway noise leads to decreased sleep fragmentation and to cardiovascular habituation. It is suggested that during the initial period experienced by residents living near railway tracks, nocturnal railway noise could induce a sensitization process on the autonomic response to noise reflecting a startle/defense reflex due to its functional significance, which progressively turns to habituation in the long-term if no adverse effect is experienced. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Influence of the Track Axis Curvature at Railway Filler-Beam Deck Bridges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Răzvan Marian Stănescu

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The article presents a comparative study between the simplified method calculation proposed by the prescriptions of design codes and the analysis with the FEM program LUSAS [1], regarding the influence of the curvature of the track axis at railway bridges with steel beams embedded in concrete.

MODELING OF RAILWAY TRACK OPERATION AS A SYSTEM OF QUASI-ELASTIC ORTHOTROPIC LAYERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sychev Vyacheslav Petrovich

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper the authors give a solution to the problem of the impact of a rolling stock on the rail track on the basis of modeling a railway track as a multi-layered space, introducing each of the layers is a quasi-elastic orthotropic layer with cylindrical anisotropy in the polar coordinate system. The article describes wave equations, taking into account the rotational inertia of cross sectional and transverse shear strains. From the point of view of classical structural mechanics train path can be represented as a multilayer system comprising separate layers with different stiffness, lying on the foundation being the elastic-isotropic space. Winkler model provides that the basis is linearly deformable space, there are loads influencing its surface. These loads are transferred through a layered deformable half-space. This representation is used in this study as an initial approximation. For more accurate results of the deformation of a railway track because of rolling dynamic loads it is proposed to present a railway track in the form of a layered structure, where each element (assembled rails and sleepers, ballast section, the soil in the embankment, basement soils is modeled as a planar quasi-elastic orthotropic layer with cylindrical anisotropy. The equations describing the dynamic behaviour of flat element in a polar coordinate system are hyperbolic in nature and take into account the rotational inertia of the cross sectional and the transverse shear strains. This allows identifying the impact on the final characteristics of the blade wave effects, and oscillatory processes. In order to determine the unknown functions included in the constitutive equations it is proposed to use decomposition in power series in spatial coordinate and time. In order to determine the coefficients of ray series for the required functions, it is necessary to differentiate the defining wave equations k times on time, to take their difference on the different

Hybrid Discrete Element - Finite Element Simulation for Railway Bridge-Track Interaction

Science.gov (United States)

Kaewunruen, S.; Mirza, O.

2017-10-01

At the transition zone or sometimes called ‘bridge end’ or ‘bridge approach’, the stiffness difference between plain track and track over bridge often causes aggravated impact loading due to uneven train movement onto the area. The differential track settlement over the transition has been a classical problem in railway networks, especially for the aging rail infrastructures around the world. This problem is also additionally worsened by the fact that the construction practice over the area is difficult, resulting in a poor compaction of formation and subgrade. This paper presents an advanced hybrid simulation using coupled discrete elements and finite elements to investigate dynamic interaction at the transition zone. The goal is to evaluate the dynamic stresses and to better understand the impact dynamics redistribution at the bridge end. An existing bridge ‘Salt Pan Creek Railway Bridge’, located between Revesby and Kingsgrove, has been chosen for detailed investigation. The Salt Pan Bridge currently demonstrates crushing of the ballast causing significant deformation and damage. Thus, it’s imperative to assess the behaviours of the ballast under dynamic loads. This can be achieved by modelling the nonlinear interactions between the steel rail and sleeper, and sleeper to ballast. The continuum solid elements of track components have been modelled using finite element approach, while the granular media (i.e. ballast) have been simulated by discrete element method. The hybrid DE/FE model demonstrates that ballast experiences significant stresses at the contacts between the sleeper and concrete section. These overburden stress exists in the regions below the outer rails, identify fouling and permanent deformation of the ballast.

Application of Mastic Asphalt Waterproofing Layer in High-Speed Railway Track in Cold Regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Song Liu

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Freeze-thaw damage is a typical distress incurred in road and railway engineering in cold regions. Concrete waterproofing layer is commonly used in high-speed railway tracks to prevent the penetration of surface water, however, it cracks easily under thermal stress, especially in cold regions. Recently solutions have been proposed to increase the waterproofing layer’s cracking resistance by using asphalt layers. Nonetheless, the use of emulsified asphalt as well as dense-graded asphalt mixture were not effective enough. To improve the effectiveness, in this study, mastic asphalt was designed for application as the waterproofing layer on the subgrade surface of high-speed railway tracks in cold regions. The overall performance of mastic asphalt was preliminarily evaluated by laboratory tests, then a 200-m test section was constructed for field validation in northeastern China as part of a new high-speed railway line, and water content sensors were placed inside the subgrade to monitor the performance of the mastic asphalt waterproofing layer (MAWL. The subsequent field investigation and monitoring data during the two years operation showed that MAWL dramatically outperformed the conventional concrete waterproofing layer in terms of waterproof performance. Plenty of serious cracks were found in the conventional concrete waterproofing layer, but only a limited number of local cracks were observed in MAWL. As a result, MAWL keeps the water content of subgrade at a stable level. In addition, MAWL showed relatively high stability during the two years investigation period, and no obvious deterioration was observed in the test section.

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.

ON OPERATION OF 740 M LONG FREIGHT TRAINS ON CZECH TEN-T RAILWAY NETWORK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michal Drábek

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Regulation (EU No 1315/2013 defines actual scope of core and comprehensive TEN-T network, including both networks for railway freight transport. For the core network, possibility to operate 740 m long freight trains is required. The aim of this paper is to analyse availability of appropriate overtaking tracks for 740 m long freight trains. Due to ETCS braking curves and odometry, such trains, after ETCS implementation, will require 780-800 m long overtaking tracks. For practical reasons (e.g. bypass lines, whole Czech railway TEN-T network is analysed. The overtaking track, whose occupation means influence on scheduled traffic or threat to boarding passengers, are excluded. The data was collected from station schemes from Collection of Official Requisites for 2015/16 Timetable, issued by SŽDC, Czech state Infrastructure Manager. Most of appropriate tracks are over 800 m long, but their density in the network and in particular directions varies considerably. For freight traffic, gradient of the line is important, so in the resulting figure, there are marked significant peaks for particular lines as well. Czech TEN-T lines are further segmented on the basis of number of tracks and their traffic character. Then, specific issues on overtaking or crossing of 740 m long freight trains are discussed. As a conclusion, for long-term development of Czech TEN-T lines, targeted investment is recommended not only for passenger railway, but also for freight railway. An attractive capacity offer for railway undertakings, which can stimulate freight traffic on European Rail freight corridors, can be represented by network-bound periodic freight train paths with suitable long overtaking tracks outside bottlenecks. After the overtaking by passenger trains, a freight train should run without stop through large node station or a bottleneck area. Before the sections with high gradients, coupling of additional locomotives should be connected with the overtaking

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...

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)....

The effect of track load correlation on ground-borne vibration from railways

Science.gov (United States)

Ntotsios, Evangelos; Thompson, David; Hussein, Mohammed

2017-08-01

In predictions of ground-borne vibration from railways, it is generally assumed that the unevenness profile of the wheel and rail is fully correlated between the two rails and the two wheels of an axle. This leads to identical contact forces at the two rails and can allow further simplifications of the vehicle model, the track model and the track/ground interface conditions. In the present paper, the level of correlation of the track loading at the wheel/rail interface due to rail unevenness and its influence on predictions of ground vibration is investigated. The extent to which the unevenness of the two rails is correlated has been estimated from measurements of track geometry obtained with track recording vehicles for four different tracks. It was found that for wavelengths longer than about 3 m the unevenness of the two rails can be considered to be strongly correlated and in phase. To investigate the effect of this on ground vibration, an existing model expressed in the wavenumber-frequency domain is extended to include separate inputs on the two rails. The track is modelled as an infinite invariant linear structure resting on an elastic stratified half-space. This is excited by the gravitational loading of a passing train and the irregularity of the contact surfaces between the wheels and the rails. The railway model is developed in this work to be versatile so that it can account or discard the effect of load correlations on the two rails beside the effects of variation of the tractions across the width of the track-ground interface and the vehicle sprung mass, as well as the roll motion of the sleepers and the axle. A comparative analysis is carried out on the influence of these factors on the response predictions using numerical simulations. It is shown that, when determining the vibration in the free field, it is important to include in the model the traction variation across the track-ground interface and the non-symmetrical loading at the two rails that

The Use of Deconstructed Tires as Elastic Elements in Railway Tracks

OpenAIRE

Sol-S?nchez, Miguel; Moreno-Navarro, Fernando; Rubio-G?mez, M? Carmen

2014-01-01

Elastic elements such as rail pads, under sleeper pads and under ballast mats are railway components that allow for a reduction in track deterioration and vibrations. And they are furthermore commonly used to obtain an optimal vertical stiffness of the infrastructure. However, the use of elastomeric materials can increase construction costs and the consumption of raw materials. Thus, the utilization of used tire layers offers an alternative to reuse an abundant waste reducing the cost of ela...

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.

A non-reflecting boundary for use in a finite element beam model of a railway track

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jiannan; Thompson, David J.

2015-02-01

Some beam-like structures such as a railway track are effectively infinite in nature. Analytical solutions exist for simple structures but numerical methods like the finite element (FE) method are often employed to study more complicated problems. However, when the FE method is used for structures of infinite extent it is essential to introduce artificial boundaries to limit the area of computation. Here, a non-reflecting boundary is developed using a damped tapered tip for application in a finite element model representing an infinite supported beam. The FE model of the tapered tip is validated against an analytical model based on Bessel functions. The reflection characteristics of the FE tapered tip are quantified using a wave/FE superposition method. It is shown that the damped tapered tip is much more effective than its constant counterpart and achieves reduction of the model size. The damped tapered tip is applied to a simple FE railway track model and good agreement is found when its point mobility is compared with an analytical infinite track model.

Automatic radar target recognition of objects falling on railway tracks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mroué, A; Heddebaut, M; Elbahhar, F; Rivenq, A; Rouvaen, J-M

2012-01-01

This paper presents an automatic radar target recognition procedure based on complex resonances using the signals provided by ultra-wideband radar. This procedure is dedicated to detection and identification of objects lying on railway tracks. For an efficient complex resonance extraction, a comparison between several pole extraction methods is illustrated. Therefore, preprocessing methods are presented aiming to remove most of the erroneous poles interfering with the discrimination scheme. Once physical poles are determined, a specific discrimination technique is introduced based on the Euclidean distances. Both simulation and experimental results are depicted showing an efficient discrimination of different targets including guided transport passengers

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...

Adaptive track scheduling to optimize concurrency and vectorization in GeantV

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Apostolakis, J; Brun, R; Carminati, F; Gheata, A; Novak, M; Wenzel, S; Bandieramonte, M; Bitzes, G; Canal, P; Elvira, V D; Jun, S Y; Lima, G; Licht, J C De Fine; Duhem, L; Sehgal, R; Shadura, O

2015-01-01

The GeantV project is focused on the R and D of new particle transport techniques to maximize parallelism on multiple levels, profiting from the use of both SIMD instructions and co-processors for the CPU-intensive calculations specific to this type of applications. In our approach, vectors of tracks belonging to multiple events and matching different locality criteria must be gathered and dispatched to algorithms having vector signatures. While the transport propagates tracks and changes their individual states, data locality becomes harder to maintain. The scheduling policy has to be changed to maintain efficient vectors while keeping an optimal level of concurrency. The model has complex dynamics requiring tuning the thresholds to switch between the normal regime and special modes, i.e. prioritizing events to allow flushing memory, adding new events in the transport pipeline to boost locality, dynamically adjusting the particle vector size or switching between vector to single track mode when vectorization causes only overhead. This work requires a comprehensive study for optimizing these parameters to make the behaviour of the scheduler self-adapting, presenting here its initial results. (paper)

Numerical modelling of the reinforcing effect of geosynthetic material used in a ballasted railway tracks

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Jiroušek, Ondřej; Jíra, J.; Hrdlička, Ondřej; Kunecký, Jiří; Kytýř, Daniel; Vyčichl, J.; Doktor, Tomáš

2010-01-01

Roč. 224, č. 4 (2010), s. 259-267 ISSN 0954-4097 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20710524 Keywords : railway track bed * reinforcing geogrid * finite-element modelling * settlement reduction * contact analysis * ballast material Subject RIV: JN - Civil Engineering Impact factor: 0.389, year: 2010 http://journals.pepublishing.com/content/k561040632411117/

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.

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.

The influence of mechanical vibrations of railway and car traffics on the radon exhalation using track detector technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moharram, B.M.

2000-01-01

The influence of train and car traffic vibrations on the radon concentration (CRn) increase near the railway tracks and the heavy traffic roads. It was estimated along the railway road, and perpendicular directions using CR-39 detectors. The special radius of the influence is about 32 m, while the related value for car traffics is found to be about 25 m. The base line of radon concentration in soil gas and radon exhalation are estimated in the whole area, far from the center of traffic roads by a distance (> 100 m) in different different directions and found to be 0.6 Bq/L and 1.25 x 10 4 Bq m -2 respectively.It is easy to detect that the average ratio between the radon concentration at its higher level and its base line, which is regular concentration of radon in the ordinary positions far from the effect of traffics, is about 1.18 for railway traffics. While the related value to vehicle traffic is about 1.23, which is higher than that of railway traffic because the ground is stimulated per minutely

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

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...

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...

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...

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.

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.

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...

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

Displacement monitoring of switch track and its slab on a bridge of high speed railway by FBG

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Weilai; Li, He; Cheng, Jian; Huang, Xiaomei; Pan, Jianjun; Zhou, Ciming; Yang, Minghong

2011-05-01

In a 350km/h high speed railway line, there is a seamless switch with ballastless slabs built on a bridge. 54 Fiber Bragg Grating detecting cells are employed to monitor the displacement of track and slab. The cell is of extending function of measurement range, up to 50mm displacement, and is of good linearity. Protecting methods for cells and fiber are adopted to keep them surviving from the harsh conditions. The results show that in 75 days, the displacement of the track and sleeper slab was 8-9mm, and the displacement is of high correlation with daily environmental temperature change.

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.

A comparison of two exact methods for passenger railway rolling stock (re)scheduling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haahr, Jørgen Thorlund; Wagenaar, Joris C.; Veelenturf, Lucas P.

2016-01-01

The assignment of rolling stock units to timetable services in passenger railways is an important optimization problem that has been addressed by many papers in different forms. Solution approaches have been proposed for different planning phases: strategic, tactical, operational, and real...... is solved using a column and row generation approach. In this paper, we benchmark the performance of the methods on networks of two countries (Denmark and The Netherlands). We use the approaches to make daily schedules and we test their real time applicability by performing tests with different disruption...... scenarios. The computational experiments demonstrate that both models can be used on both networks and are able to find optimal rolling stock circulations in the different planning phases. Furthermore, the results show that both approaches are sufficiently fast to be used in a real-time setting....

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...

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.

Nonmyopic Sensor Scheduling and its Efficient Implementation for Target Tracking Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morrell Darryl

2006-01-01

Full Text Available We propose two nonmyopic sensor scheduling algorithms for target tracking applications. We consider a scenario where a bearing-only sensor is constrained to move in a finite number of directions to track a target in a two-dimensional plane. Both algorithms provide the best sensor sequence by minimizing a predicted expected scheduler cost over a finite time-horizon. The first algorithm approximately computes the scheduler costs based on the predicted covariance matrix of the tracker error. The second algorithm uses the unscented transform in conjunction with a particle filter to approximate covariance-based costs or information-theoretic costs. We also propose the use of two branch-and-bound-based optimal pruning algorithms for efficient implementation of the scheduling algorithms. We design the first pruning algorithm by combining branch-and-bound with a breadth-first search and a greedy-search; the second pruning algorithm combines branch-and-bound with a uniform-cost search. Simulation results demonstrate the advantage of nonmyopic scheduling over myopic scheduling and the significant savings in computational and memory resources when using the pruning algorithms.

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.

High-speed railway real-time localization auxiliary method based on deep neural network

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Dongjie; Zhang, Wensheng; Yang, Yang

2017-11-01

High-speed railway intelligent monitoring and management system is composed of schedule integration, geographic information, location services, and data mining technology for integration of time and space data. Assistant localization is a significant submodule of the intelligent monitoring system. In practical application, the general access is to capture the image sequences of the components by using a high-definition camera, digital image processing technique and target detection, tracking and even behavior analysis method. In this paper, we present an end-to-end character recognition method based on a deep CNN network called YOLO-toc for high-speed railway pillar plate number. Different from other deep CNNs, YOLO-toc is an end-to-end multi-target detection framework, furthermore, it exhibits a state-of-art performance on real-time detection with a nearly 50fps achieved on GPU (GTX960). Finally, we realize a real-time but high-accuracy pillar plate number recognition system and integrate natural scene OCR into a dedicated classification YOLO-toc model.

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...

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...

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.

The scheduling of tracking times for interplanetary spacecraft on the Deep Space Network

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, W. A.

1978-01-01

The Deep Space Network (DSN) is a network of tracking stations, located throughout the globe, used to track spacecraft for NASA's interplanetary missions. This paper describes a computer program, DSNTRAK, which provides an optimum daily tracking schedule for the DSN given the view periods at each station for a mission set of n spacecraft, where n is between 2 and 6. The objective function is specified in terms of relative total daily tracking time requirements between the n spacecraft. Linear programming is used to maximize the total daily tracking time and determine an optimal daily tracking schedule consistent with DSN station capabilities. DSNTRAK is used as part of a procedure to provide DSN load forecasting information for proposed future NASA mission sets.

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.

Modelling and Metaheuristic for Gantry Crane Scheduling and Storage Space Allocation Problem in Railway Container Terminals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming Zeng

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The gantry crane scheduling and storage space allocation problem in the main containers yard of railway container terminal is studied. A mixed integer programming model which comprehensively considers the handling procedures, noncrossing constraints, the safety margin and traveling time of gantry cranes, and the storage modes in the main area is formulated. A metaheuristic named backtracking search algorithm (BSA is then improved to solve this intractable problem. A series of computational experiments are carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm under some randomly generated cases based on the practical operation conditions. The results show that the proposed algorithm can gain the near-optimal solutions within a reasonable computation time.

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.

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

Application of geocomposite placed beneath ballast bed to improve ballast quality and track stability

Science.gov (United States)

Horníček, Leoš; Břešt'ovský, Petr; Jasanský, Petr

2017-09-01

The article deals with the application of a stabilization hexagonal geocomposite for the improvement of poor stability of railway tracks caused by undesirable migration of fine soil particles from the subgrade into the ballast bed. The establishment of a test railway section on a single-line track situated near Domazlice and its long-term monitoring programme are described. Evaluation is aimed especially at track geometry parameters, the load-bearing capacity of the ballast bed, elastic rail deflection during train passages and the durability of geocomposite’s physical properties. The data taken from the test section during five measurement campaigns are compared with both adjacent sections. In one of them, only the ballast bed renovation was carried out, whereas in the second one no intervention was performed at all. The usage of a pioneering geosynthetic product in combination with new trends in ballast bed restoration seems to be an innovative as well as effective solution to analogous problematic spots on railway tracks in the Czech Republic.

Challenges in the Tracking and Prediction of Scheduled-Vehicle Journeys

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Christian Søndergaard; Tiesyte, Dalia

2007-01-01

this type of knowledge with minimal cost. This paper characterizes the problem of real-time vehicle tracking using wireless communication, and of predicting the future status of the vehicles when their movements are restricted to given routes and when they follow schedules with a best effort. The paper...... discusses challenges related to tracking, to the prediction of future travel times, and to historical data analysis. It also suggests approaches to addressing the challenges.......A number of applications in areas such as logistics, cargo delivery, and collective transport involve the management of fleets of vehicles that are expected to travel along known routes according to fixed schedules. Due to road construction, accidents, and other unanticipated conditions...

Quality of Slab Track Construction - Track Alignment Design and Track Geometry

Science.gov (United States)

Šestáková, Janka

2015-05-01

The slab track superstructure design (without ballast) is a perspective construction especially for building tunnels and bridges in the modernized sections of railway tracks in Slovakia. Monitoring of the structure described in this article is focused on the transition areas between standard structure with ballast and slab track construction.

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.

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)

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...

A dynamic wheel-rail impact analysis of railway track under wheel flat by finite element analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Bian, Jian; Gu, Yuantong; Murray, Martin Howard

2013-06-01

Wheel-rail interaction is one of the most important research topics in railway engineering. It involves track impact response, track vibration and track safety. Track structure failures caused by wheel-rail impact forces can lead to significant economic loss for track owners through damage to rails and to the sleepers beneath. Wheel-rail impact forces occur because of imperfections in the wheels or rails such as wheel flats, irregular wheel profiles, rail corrugations and differences in the heights of rails connected at a welded joint. A wheel flat can cause a large dynamic impact force as well as a forced vibration with a high frequency, which can cause damage to the track structure. In the present work, a three-dimensional finite element (FE) model for the impact analysis induced by the wheel flat is developed by the use of the FE analysis (FEA) software package ANSYS and validated by another validated simulation. The effect of wheel flats on impact forces is thoroughly investigated. It is found that the presence of a wheel flat will significantly increase the dynamic impact force on both rail and sleeper. The impact force will monotonically increase with the size of wheel flats. The relationships between the impact force and the wheel flat size are explored from this FEA and they are important for track engineers to improve their understanding of the design and maintenance of the track system.

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

Quality of Slab Track Construction – Track Alignment Design and Track Geometry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Šestáková Janka

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The slab track superstructure design (without ballast is a perspective construction especially for building tunnels and bridges in the modernized sections of railway tracks in Slovakia. Monitoring of the structure described in this article is focused on the transition areas between standard structure with ballast and slab track construction.

Study on the Elasticity-Plasticity-Stickiness of the Railway Crushed Stone Ballast

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Gao Liang

2004-01-01

This paper is mainly aimed at the mechanics characteristic elas of ticity-plasticitystickiness existed in the CWR (continuously welded rails) track plane of the railway crushed stone ballast. As an important mechanics parameter of the CWR track plane, the ballast resistance is mainly influenced by this mechanics characteristic. Through the systematic experimental research and the theoretical analysis, this mechanics characteristic of the ballast resistance is revealed and a reasonable theoretical model is built for it. This study set a sound foundation for further studying the CWR track deformation property. It will be beneficial to the development of high-speed railway in China.

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.

Heating Processes Of The Axle-Boxes Of Rolling-Stock On Railway Track Curves

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olegas Lunys

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the heating process of the axle-boxes ofrolling stock when the train is in motion and discusses the forcesacting on the wheel-set when rolling stock moves along the trackcurves. The paper analyses scientific publications relevant tothe forces acting on the wheel-set of rolling stock and focuseson the axle-box heating process. The article also discusses theresults of theoretical studies on wheel-set forces that affect theheat exchange process of axle-boxes for a railway vehicle. Theresearch has determined a change in heating temperatures ofdifferent axle-boxes of rolling stock and reasons for their variationsand tendencies. The paper has estimated an effect of thetrain running along the track curves on the heating intensity ofthe axle-box. Finally, valid conclusions and recommendationshave been provided.

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

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.

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.

“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.

Towards Signalling Maintenance Scheduling for European Railway Traffic Management System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

M. Pour, Shahrzad

signalling system. Therefore, the entire maintenance system needs to change from the previous system to the newest system, and hence, new optimisation techniques need to be established so as to facilitate managers in creating ideal maintenance strategies. The aim of this thesis is to develop new maintenance......The European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is the newest signalling standard that has been introduced in the railway industry. The aim of ERTMS is to ensure better signalling communication amongst various train systems, and hence, to help in attaining improved connectivity and commuting...... between European countries. In various countries across the world, there is a gradual shift from the current signalling systems to ERTMS. Amongst the European countries, Denmark was the first country to commence a full upgrading of its signalling system to ERTMS. A variety of maintenance requirements...

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)

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...

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

A semi-analytical beam model for the vibration of railway tracks

Science.gov (United States)

Kostovasilis, D.; Thompson, D. J.; Hussein, M. F. M.

2017-04-01

The high frequency dynamic behaviour of railway tracks, in both vertical and lateral directions, strongly affects the generation of rolling noise as well as other phenomena such as rail corrugation. An improved semi-analytical model of a beam on an elastic foundation is introduced that accounts for the coupling of the vertical and lateral vibration. The model includes the effects of cross-section asymmetry, shear deformation, rotational inertia and restrained warping. Consideration is given to the fact that the loads at the rail head, as well as those exerted by the railpads at the rail foot, may not act through the centroid of the section. The response is evaluated for a harmonic load and the solution is obtained in the wavenumber domain. Results are presented as dispersion curves for free and supported rails and are validated with the aid of a Finite Element (FE) and a waveguide finite element (WFE) model. Closed form expressions are derived for the forced response, and validated against the WFE model. Track mobilities and decay rates are presented to assess the potential implications for rolling noise and the influence of the various sources of vertical-lateral coupling. Comparison is also made with measured data. Overall, the model presented performs very well, especially for the lateral vibration, although it does not contain the high frequency cross-section deformation modes. The most significant effects on the response are shown to be the inclusion of torsion and foundation eccentricity, which mainly affect the lateral response.

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.

Function integrated track system

OpenAIRE

Hohnecker, Eberhard

2010-01-01

The paper discusses a function integrated track system that focuses on the reduction of acoustic emissions from railway lines. It is shown that the combination of an embedded rail system (ERS), a sound absorbing track surface, and an integrated mini sound barrier has significant acoustic advantages compared to a standard ballast superstructure. The acoustic advantages of an embedded rail system are particularly pronounced in the case of railway bridges. Finally, it is shown that a...

Robust scheduling in an uncertain environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wilson, M.

2016-01-01

This thesis presents research on scheduling in an uncertain environment, which forms a part of the rolling stock life cycle logistics applied research and development program funded by Dutch railway industry companies. The focus therefore lies on scheduling of maintenance operations on rolling stock

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.

Improvement of railway ballast maintenance approach, incorporating ballast geometry and fouling conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Sadeghi, J.; Motieyan-Najar, M. E.; Zakeri, J. A.; Yousefi, B.; Mollazadeh, M.

2018-04-01

Ballast plays an important role in the stability of railway track systems. The effectiveness of the ballast in maintaining the track stability is very much dependent on its mechanical conditions. The available ballast maintenance approaches are mainly based on only track geometry conditions (such as track profile) which do not sufficiently reflect the ballast mechanical behaviors. That is, the ballast potential of degradation (i.e., ballast long term behaviors) has been omitted. This makes the effectiveness of the current ballast maintenance approach questionable, indicating a need for a more comprehensive and effective ballast conditions assessment technique. In response to this need, two ballast condition indices based on ballast geometry degradation (BGI) and the level of ballast fouling (BFI) as the main indicators of ballast mechanical behavior were developed. The BGI is a function of the standard deviations of track alignment, unevenness and twist. The BFI was developed based on the data obtained from the ground penetration radar (GPR). Making use of the new indices, a more reliable maintenance algorithm was developed. Through illustrations of the applicability of the new maintenance algorithm in a railway line, it was shown that the new algorithm causes a considerable improvement in the maintenance effectiveness and an increase in the life cycle of railway tracks by making more effective allocation of resources and more accurate maintenance planning.

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....

Solving Large Scale Crew Scheduling Problems in Practice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E.J.W. Abbink (Erwin); L. Albino; T.A.B. Dollevoet (Twan); D. Huisman (Dennis); J. Roussado; R.L. Saldanha

2010-01-01

textabstractThis paper deals with large-scale crew scheduling problems arising at the Dutch railway operator, Netherlands Railways (NS). NS operates about 30,000 trains a week. All these trains need a driver and a certain number of guards. Some labor rules restrict the duties of a certain crew base

Influence of Surface Abrasion on Creep and Shrinkage of Railway Prestressed Concrete Sleepers

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Dan; Ngamkhanong, Chayut; Kaewunruen, Sakdirat

2017-10-01

Ballasted railway track is very suitable for heavy-rail networks because of its many superior advantages in design, construction, short- and long-term maintenance, sustainability, and life-cycle cost. The sleeper, which supports rail and distributes loads from rail to ballast, is a very important component of rail track system. Prestressed concrete is very popular used in manufacturing sleepers. Therefore, improved knowledge about design techniques for prestressed concrete (PC) sleepers has been developed. However, the ballast angularity causes differential abrasions on the soffit or bottom surface of sleepers. Furthermore, in sharp curves and rapid gradient change, longitudinal and lateral dynamics of rails increase the likelihood of abrasions in concrete sleepers. This paper presents a comparative investigation using a variety of methods to evaluate creep and shrinkage effects in railway prestressed concrete sleepers. The outcome of this study will improve the material design, which is very critical to the durability of railway track components.

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.

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.

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.

31 CFR 223.14 - Schedules of single risks.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Schedules of single risks. 223.14 Section 223.14 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations Relating to Money and Finance (Continued) FISCAL... UNITED STATES § 223.14 Schedules of single risks. During the months of January, April, July, and October...

Methods and sensitivity for pass-by measurement of track decay rates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dittrich, M.G.

2012-01-01

Track decay rates are measured to characterize the track dynamics for railway noise type testing, but also for other purposes in relation to railway noise. They are often measured statically using hammer response functions on unloaded track, but can also be derived from rail vibrations on loaded

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.

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.

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...

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.

Estimate of the possibility of the track capacity increase of the section Lavochne–Beskyt–Volovets at the expense of intensive application of regenerative braking system saurt-bars

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.V. Arsonov

2012-04-01

Full Text Available In the paper the outcomes of operations performed on the proving track section of Lviv Railways aimed at estimating the possibility of exclusion of pneumatic braking on the section Lavchne–Beskyt–Volovets as well as the possibility of exclusion of an engineering stop at the platform Skotarske from the train schedule are observed.

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.

Use efficiency of dynamic stabilizer in the post-repair period of railways in Ukraine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O.V. Gubar

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To analyze the interaction forces of the track and rolling stock at application of dynamic stabilizers, as well as the determination of the area, on which the track stabilization is necessary not only according to the technical indices but also according to the economic ones. Methodology.To achieve the research purpose the methods of analysis of material flows, peculiar to the places that need applications of dynamic stabilizers on railway transport tracks are used. Findings. Researches of relatively economic efficiency of dynamic stabilizers application, which were conducted by scientists during the last years, do not spread to comparison of cost of works on the track stabilizing and losses of railway for period of running. During the running period the trains move with a limited speed that causes corresponding financial losses. Speed limitation result in the both the motion time increase and in some occasions in the heavy consumption of fuel and energy resources. The more intensive track discord and expenses increase for its maintenance are observed in the sections of braking and acceleration immediately in front of and after the areas of limitation. The methodology relative to the estimation of economic efficiency of dynamic stabilizers application after completion of track repairs for the areas of Ukrainian railways with different operational conditions was developed. This methodology includes the losses calculation of railroad, which are predefined by extra motion time, heavy consumption of fuel and energy resources and charges for current maintenance. Originality. The methodology of cost effectiveness evaluating of the dynamic stabilizers application in the post-repair period was developed. Such an approach would allow one to take the rational decisions taking into account the features of the track sections, which were reconstructed. Practical value. The obtained results will rationally assign the works on the dynamic track

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

The Impact of Delays of Freight Trains in JIT System on Example One Track Line

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dlugoš Matúš

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The paper describes the problem between freight trains operated by Metrans Danube, a.s. and passenger trains operated by Regiojet, a.s on the line Bratislava – Dunajská Streda - Komárno. It is very important to emphasize this problem because, nowadays, mostly freight trains across the Europe drive in just in time system, it means, that shipments are delivered at exact time and place on time. At this line there are many problems not only this track line is single track, so it is necessary to cross the trains very often in traffic points which maximum 2 traffic tracks but also organizing of transport is more complicated which is provided by Railway infrastructure manager – this case is very important example when railway traffic technology slows down all processes in the logistic chain.

The Seismic Response of High-Speed Railway Bridges Subjected to Near-Fault Forward Directivity Ground Motions Using a Vehicle-Track-Bridge Element

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Ling-kun

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Based on the Next Generation Attenuation (NGA project ground motion library, the finite element model of the high-speed railway vehicle-bridge system is established. The model was specifically developed for such system that is subjected to near-fault ground motions. In addition, it accounted for the influence of the rail irregularities. The vehicle-track-bridge (VTB element is presented to simulate the interaction between train and bridge, in which a train can be modeled as a series of sprung masses concentrated at the axle positions. For the short period railway bridge, the results from the case study demonstrate that directivity pulse effect tends to increase the seismic responses of the bridge compared with far-fault ground motions or nonpulse-like motions and the directivity pulse effect and high values of the vertical acceleration component can notably influence the hysteretic behaviour of piers.

INEQUALITIES RESEARCH OF THE TRACK AT THE RAILROAD CROSSINGS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. B. Kurhan

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The intersection of highways and railways in one level – railway crossing, is a zone of increased danger for rail and road transport. Nearly half of all crossings are available on the main directions of passenger transportation. From this comes the problem of maintenance and service locations of intersection roads and railways. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the processes of emergence and development of inequalities in the area of railroad crossings and identify the factors that cause them. Methodology. The presence of derogation from the plan and profile within the railway crossing and approaches to it reduces evenness of riding and passenger comfort. Today, there are various possibilities for shooting natural geometry of a railway track. For research on a large number of areas during long service life, the tape of a track measuring car remains the most convenient. However, this tool is directed to assess the state of the railway line and does not determine the exact geometrical position. When trying to determine valid outlines of the track inequalities on track measuring tape, some difficulties arise. Findings. Performed statistical analysis showed a steady trend of growth of inequalities in the area of the railway crossings. Generally, the level of inequalities in the vertical plane increases in1.3−3.2 times and in 1.2−2.0 times in the horizontal plane (compared with areas that are outside crossing. During the deflection lines of action in the area of railroad crossing concrete slabs work as ribs that limit deflections of rail-tie grating. When placing the wheels of the bogie before (or after and within crossing the calculated modulus of elasticity under the rail base, brought to the point of wheels contact can vary up to 3 times. Originality. Issues of the assessment and investigation of inequalities on track started to be developed. The resulting statistics on inequalities accumulation gauge in the zone of crossing

The dynamic behaviour of a railway mine vehicle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

van Manen, P.; Brickle, B.V.

1983-06-01

The paper describes a mathematical model of a railway mine vehicle which is capable of predicting its dynamic behaviour in response to track inputs. The predictions of the model have been compared with the results of tests carried out on a new high speed mine vehicle and the correlation shown is good. The model yields frequency response information for the vehicle and may be used to simulate dynamic behaviour in response to track irregularities. (4 refs.)

Analyzing Track Responses to Train Braking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bose, Tulika; Levenberg, Eyal; Zania, Varvara

2018-01-01

The objective of this study was to suggest a response analysis framework for railway tracks that are subjected to braking. An analytical formulation was developed, in which the rail–track system was modeled as an infinite beam supported by an orthogonal Winkler foundation consisting of linear...... a response analysis framework for railway tracks that are subjected to braking. An analytical formulation was developed, in which the rail–track system was modeled as an infinite beam supported by an orthogonal Winkler foundation consisting of linear springs in perpendicular directions. The spring constants...... springs in perpendicular directions. The spring constants were varied over a wide range in order to represent different track types. Braking loads were simulated as representative sets of vertical and longitudinal forces, either concentrated or distributed. Considering a realistic set of model parameters...

Planning of resource maintenance at building of railway bridge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klykov Michael

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The Publication contains the results of research on the problem of resources provision perfecting of erection processes of railway bridges including consideration of forecasting demand questions to material resources, formations of delivery schedules of materials and designs, definitions of insurance reserves in regards to suppliers of material and technical production.

Dowel Behavior of Rebars in Small Concrete Block for Sliding Slab Track on Railway Bridges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seong-Cheol Lee

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In recent years, several studies have investigated the sliding slab track for railway bridges. In the design of sliding slab tracks, one of the most important considerations is to evaluate the shear capacity of the lateral supporting concrete blocks in which dowel rebars are embedded. The predictions of the dowel behavior of rebars by existing models are considerably different. Therefore, in this study, the actual dowel behavior of the rebars embedded in a small concrete block was extensively investigated through experiments. Test variables were concrete compressive strength, dowel rebar diameter and yield strength, specimen thickness, and dowel rebar spacing. Existing model predictions were considerably different from test results. The maximum dowel force increased as concrete compressive strength and dowel rebar diameter increased, while it did not increase considerably with other test variables. Unlike in existing models, the shear slip at the maximum dowel force decreased as the dowel rebar diameter increased. Existing models significantly underestimated the maximum dowel force of the dowel rebars with small diameters and overestimated it for the dowel rebars with large diameters. This work can be useful for developing a more rational model to represent the actual dowel behavior of the rebars embedded in small concrete blocks.

A Matheuristic Approach for Solving the Railroad Hump Yard Block-to-Track Assignment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haahr, Jørgen Thorlund; Lusby, Richard Martin

dependent subproblems. Optimization-based strategies are adopted for two of these, while the third is solved using a greedy heuristic. We demonstrate the efficiency of the complete framework on the official datasets, where solutions within 4-14% of a known lower bound (to a relaxed problem) are found. We......This paper presents a novel matheuristic for solving the Hump Yard Block-to-Track Assignment Problem. This is an important problem rising in the railway freight industry and involves scheduling the transitions of a set of rail cars from a set of inbound trains to a set of outbound trains over...... a certain planning horizon. It was also the topic of the 2014 challenge organised by the Railway Applications Section of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences for which the proposed matheuristic was awarded first prize. Our approach decomposes the problem into three highly...

Finding suspects in multiple cameras for improved railway protection

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Marck, J.W.; Bouma, H.; Baan, J; Oliveira Filho, J. de; Brink, M. van der

2014-01-01

The capability to find individuals using CCTV cameras is important for surveillance applications at large areas such as railway stations, airports and shopping centers. However, it is laborious to track and trace people over multiple cameras post incident. In this paper, we describe the live

A combined multibody and finite element approach for dynamic interaction analysis of high-speed train and railway structure including post-derailment behavior during an earthquake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanabe, M; Wakui, H; Sogabe, M; Matsumoto, N; Tanabe, Y

2010-01-01

A combined multibody and finite element approach is given to solve the dynamic interaction of a Shinkansen train (high-speed train in Japan) and the railway structure including post-derailment during an earthquake effectively. The motion of the train is expressed in multibody dynamics. Efficient mechanical models to express interactions between wheel and track structure including post-derailment are given. Rail and track elements expressed in multibody dynamics and FEM are given to solve contact problems between wheel and long railway components effectively. The motion of a railway structure is modeled with various finite elements and rail and track elements. The computer program has been developed for the dynamic interaction analysis of a Shinkansen train and railway structure including post derailment during an earthquake. Numerical examples are demonstrated.

Estimating railway infrastructure project cost from transferring nominal price to real price by considering the working time possessions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Rui; Landex, Alex; Salling, Kim Bang

are varying depending on the working time possessions presented through the closure of the railway line. The effective working hours, type of construction work and construction speed are used as constraints to ensure the track closure plan remains feasible. To demonstrate the approach a Danish railway...... and 2) railway construction work costs are not transparent in the market. This paper suggests separating the costs into 3 sub-categories: materials, labour and machinery. Evidently, the materials are further broke-down into subcomponents which then remains fixed whereas the cost of labour and machinery...... construction project, the new line to the fixed link across Fehmarn Belt, is introduced where it is shown that the non-material cost is about 19% of the total expenditure. By assuming three sets of track blocking scenarios with the same amount of construction works it is proven that given an optimal track...

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.

Impact capacity reduction in railway prestressed concrete sleepers with vertical holes

Science.gov (United States)

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.

Conditional release of materials from decommissioning process into the environment in the form of steel railway tracks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tatransky, Peter; Necas, Vladimir

2009-01-01

This work points to the possibilities of conditional release of materials from the process of decommissioning the nuclear unit from the operation. According to the valid legislation, materials which do not meet the condition of direct-unconditional release into the environment, should be modified and processed into the matrix designed for the final disposal in the storing place. However there exists a group of materials which activity is on the borderline of the limit of releasing into the environment and it is possible to release them conditionally. The matter of conditional release is that notable amount of materials, mainly metals, is usually contaminated only by radionuclids with relatively short time of half decay. These materials are suitable to use for a specific industrial purpose where the longtime fixation of shortly living radionuclids is expected in one place. This work deals with the conditional release of metals into the form of steel railway tracks. It describes the (working) groups of workers working with the steel railway tracks and defines in the numbers the critical group and its critical individual. For critical individual it dimensions the amounts of materials, which are possible to be released conditionally from one double-unit of the plant of the type VVER 440 V-230 which operation was ended on the regular basis. According to the calculations in the software VISIPLAN and OMEGA there is defined a number of released steel in such way that the internationally recommended rate of maximal effective dose for critical individual-10 μSv/year [IAEA, 2008. Managing low radioactivity material from the decommissioning of nuclear facility. Technical reports series no. 462] is not extended. In the final part there are compared the estimates of the costs of the decommissioning process with the application of conditional release and without it, which is directly reflected in the amount of saved costs and number of containers for surface disposal.

Non Destructive Tests for Evaluation of Railway Platforms: Application of Ground Penetrating Radar

OpenAIRE

Fontul, S.; Fortunato, E.; Chiara, F.; Paixão, A.

2012-01-01

Identification and diagnosis of railway track problems of the supporting layers is essential to achieve efficient maintenance and safe train operations [1]. Nowadays, maintenance interventions consist of performing different operations such as levelling and tamping of the track, based on the measured geometric parameters. Although these actions restore the track design geometry, they do not solve substructure related problems. Thus, a better maintenance policy should be adop...

Points with branching track in a vertical plane for a magnetic levitating railway. Weiche mit einer Fahrbahnverzweigung in einer vertikalen Ebene fuer eine Magnetschwebebahn

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miericke, J

1978-01-19

The invention refers to points for a railway, which are used for the non-contact guiding of a vehicle by a magnet system on the electrodynamic repulsion principle, with a branching track lying in a vertical plane. The invention is characterized by the fact that mechanically moving means are provided on the vehicle, which, together with the magnetic reaction parts of the branching track form an additional magnet system. The moving means consist of at least 2 magnet coils, one of which is situated on the outside of the vehicle. The reaction parts are situated on the upper track side of the reaction rail. The moving means consist of 2 reaction plates, one of which is situated on the outside of the vehicle. Other design features are made clear by some system section drawings and 10 patent claims.

76 FR 56874 - CSX Transportation, Inc.-Trackage Rights Exemption-Norfolk Southern Railway Company, Pennsylvania...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-14

... and milepost 17.98 at Elm, a distance of 4.98 miles. SEPTA owns all of the real estate and track... provided by Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) since the real estate and track were transferred from..., Inc.--Trackage Rights Exemption--Norfolk Southern Railway Company, Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad...

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.

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

A Comparison of Two Exact Methods for Passenger Railway Rolling Stock (Re)Scheduling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.T. Haahr (Jørgen); J.C. Wagenaar (Joris); L.P. Veelenturf (Lucas); L.G. Kroon (Leo)

2015-01-01

textabstractThe assignment of rolling stock units to timetable services in passenger railways is an important optimization problem that has been addressed by many papers in different forms. Solution approaches have been proposed for different planning phases: strategic, tactical, and also

A comparison of two exact methods for passenger railway rolling stock (re)scheduling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haahr, J.T.; Wagenaar, J.C.; Veelenturf, L.P.; Kroon, L.G.

2015-01-01

The assignment of rolling stock units to timetable services in passenger railways is an important optimization problem that has been addressed by many papers in different forms. Solution approaches have been proposed for different planning phases: strategic, tactical, and also operational planning.

A comparison of two exact methods for passenger railway rolling stock (re)scheduling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haahr, J.T.; Wagenaar, J.C.; Veelenturf, L.P.; Kroon, L.G.

2016-01-01

The assignment of rolling stock units to timetable services in passenger railways is an important optimization problem that has been addressed by many papers in different forms. Solution approaches have been proposed for different planning phases: strategic, tactical, operational, and real-time

Structural health monitoring of railway transition zones using satellite radar data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, Haoyu; Chang, L.; Markine, V.L.

2018-01-01

Transition zones in railway tracks are locationswith considerable changes in the rail-supporting structure. Typically, they are located near engineering structures, such as bridges, culverts and tunnels. In such locations, severe differential settlements often occur due to the different material

Dual color single particle tracking via nanobodies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albrecht, David; Winterflood, Christian M; Ewers, Helge

2015-01-01

Single particle tracking is a powerful tool to investigate the function of biological molecules by following their motion in space. However, the simultaneous tracking of two different species of molecules is still difficult to realize without compromising the length or density of trajectories, the localization accuracy or the simplicity of the assay. Here, we demonstrate a simple dual color single particle tracking assay using small, bright, high-affinity labeling via nanobodies of accessible targets with widely available instrumentation. We furthermore apply a ratiometric step-size analysis method to visualize differences in apparent membrane viscosity. (paper)

Static and dynamic behaviours of railway prestressed concrete sleepers with longitudinal through hole

Science.gov (United States)

Ngamkhanong, C.; Kaewunruen, S.; Remennikov, A. M.

2017-10-01

As the crosstie beam in railway track systems, the prestressed concrete sleepers (or railroad ties) are principally designed in order to carry wheel loads from the rails to the ground. Their design takes into account static and dynamic loading conditions. It is evident that prestressed concrete has played a significant role as to maintain the high endurance of the sleepers under low to moderate repeated impact loads. In spite of the most common use of the prestressed concrete sleepers in railway tracks, there have always been many demands from rail engineers to improve serviceability and functionality of concrete sleepers. For example, signalling, fibre optic, equipment cables are often damaged either by ballast corners or by tamping machine. There has been a need to re-design concrete sleeper to cater cables internally so that they would not experience detrimental or harsh environments. Accordingly, this study will investigate the effects of through hole or longitudinal hole on static and dynamic behaviours of concrete sleepers under rail shock 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 enable the new design and calculation methods for prestressed concrete sleepers with holes and web opening that practically benefits civil, track and structural engineers in railway industry.

The railway as a system - a safety view of the interface between track and operations; System Bahn - Sicherheitsbetrachtung der Schnittstelle zwischen Fahrweg und Betrieb

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grauf, H.H. [Eisenbahn-Bundesamt, Bonn (Germany)

2004-07-01

The opinion is often expressed that one of the essential advantages of rail compared with road traffic is that it forms a coherent closed system. In engineering terms, trains and the permanent way are parts of a single whole. The central monitoring and control of all process not only offers various different opportunities for economic optimization but also for making sure that technical safety is engineered in. However, there are objectives, such as the unimpeded movement of goods within Europe, competition of the railways and access to the railway infrastructure free from any form of discrimination, that mean that there has to be a differentiation between infrastructure providers and transport operators. Critics see this as a wilful dismembering of the system and express fears that safety could be jeopardized. The author sets out to explain the essentials of how the various components of the railway system interact with one another and to discuss implications for safety. (orig.)

A clamping force measurement system for monitoring the condition of bolted joints on railway track joints and points

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tesfa, B; Horler, G; Thobiani, F Al; Gu, F; Ball, A D

2012-01-01

Many industrial structures associated with railway infrastructures rely on a large number of bolted joint connections to ensure safe and reliable operation of the track and trackside furniture. Significant sums of money are spent annually to repair the damage caused by bolt failures and to maintain the integrity of bolted structures. In the UK, Network Rail (the organization responsible for rail network maintenance and safety) conducts corrective and preventive maintenance manually on 26,000 sets of points (each having approximately 30 bolted joints per set), in order to ensure operational success and safety for the travelling public. Such manual maintenance is costly, disruptive, unreliable and prone to human error. The aim of this work is to provide a means of automatically measuring the clamping force of each individual bolted joint, by means of an instrumented washer. This paper describes the development of a sensor means to be used in the washer, which satisfies the following criteria. 1. Sense changes in the clamping force of the joint and report this fact. 2. Provide compatibility with the large dynamic range of clamping force. 3. Satisfy the limitations in terms of physical size. 4. Provide the means to electronically interface with the washer. 5. Provide a means of powering the washer in situ. 6. Provide a solution at an acceptable cost. Specifically the paper focuses on requirements 1, 2 and 3 and presents the results that support further development of the proposed design and the realization of a pre-prototype system. In the paper, various options for the force sensing element (strain gage, capacitor, piezo-resistive) have been compared, using design optimization techniques. As a result of the evaluation, piezo-resistive sensors in concert with a proprietary force attenuation method, have been found to offer the best performance and cost trade-off The performance of the novel clamping force sensor has been evaluated experimentally and the results show

Structural Health Monitoring of Railway Transition Zones Using Satellite Radar Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haoyu Wang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Transition zones in railway tracks are locations with considerable changes in the rail-supporting structure. Typically, they are located near engineering structures, such as bridges, culverts and tunnels. In such locations, severe differential settlements often occur due to the different material properties and structure behavior. Without timely maintenance, the differential settlement may lead to the damage of track components and loss of passenger’s comfort. To ensure the safety of railway operations and reduce the maintenance costs, it is necessary to consecutively monitor the structural health condition of the transition zones in an economical manner and detect the changes at an early stage. However, using the current in situ monitoring of transition zones is hard to achieve this goal, because most in situ techniques (e.g., track-measuring coaches are labor-consuming and usually not frequently performed (approximately twice a year in the Netherlands. To tackle the limitations of the in situ techniques, a Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR system is presented in this paper, which provides a potential solution for a consecutive structural health monitoring of transition zones with bi-/tri-weekly data update and mm-level precision. To demonstrate the feasibility of the InSAR system for monitoring transition zones, a transition zone is tested. The results show that the differential settlement in the transition zone and the settlement rate can be observed and detected by the InSAR measurements. Moreover, the InSAR results are cross-validated against measurements obtained using a measuring coach and a Digital Image Correlation (DIC device. The results of the three measuring techniques show a good correlation, which proves the applicability of InSAR for the structural health monitoring of transition zones in railway track.

Structural Health Monitoring of Railway Transition Zones Using Satellite Radar Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Haoyu; Chang, Ling; Markine, Valeri

2018-01-31

Transition zones in railway tracks are locations with considerable changes in the rail-supporting structure. Typically, they are located near engineering structures, such as bridges, culverts and tunnels. In such locations, severe differential settlements often occur due to the different material properties and structure behavior. Without timely maintenance, the differential settlement may lead to the damage of track components and loss of passenger's comfort. To ensure the safety of railway operations and reduce the maintenance costs, it is necessary to consecutively monitor the structural health condition of the transition zones in an economical manner and detect the changes at an early stage. However, using the current in situ monitoring of transition zones is hard to achieve this goal, because most in situ techniques (e.g., track-measuring coaches) are labor-consuming and usually not frequently performed (approximately twice a year in the Netherlands). To tackle the limitations of the in situ techniques, a Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) system is presented in this paper, which provides a potential solution for a consecutive structural health monitoring of transition zones with bi-/tri-weekly data update and mm-level precision. To demonstrate the feasibility of the InSAR system for monitoring transition zones, a transition zone is tested. The results show that the differential settlement in the transition zone and the settlement rate can be observed and detected by the InSAR measurements. Moreover, the InSAR results are cross-validated against measurements obtained using a measuring coach and a Digital Image Correlation (DIC) device. The results of the three measuring techniques show a good correlation, which proves the applicability of InSAR for the structural health monitoring of transition zones in railway track.

Response of soil microflora to impact of heavy metals in zones of influence of railway transport

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Bobryk

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Monitoring research on the areas intensively and continuously affected by technogenic loading has remained topical until nowadays. The soil as a basic component of many ecosystems, including the structure of its microbial cenoses, remains an informative index of a system’s overall stability. The areas affected by railway transport have been scarcely studied. Due to the above, the aim of this work has been to establish the transformation regularities of soil microbial cenoses of territories close to railways and to establish the groups of microorganisms that are a sensitive criterion of technogenic vehicular influence. For the purpose of microbiological research, soil samples were taken at different distances from the railway track (0, 25, 50, 100 and250 m within five monitoring sections of the Tchop – Uzhhorod – Sambor railway (in the territory of Zakarpatska oblast. The number of ecological trophic groups was identified by means of inoculation on nutrient media using the method of serial dilution of soil suspensions. The research showed that in all types of soils that were adjacent to railway tracks, the number of ammonifiers and spore microbiota was high due to the high content of heavy metals (beyond the background levels. Besides, the bacterial microflora on beef-extract agar was characterized by homogeneity with domination of enteric bacteria and spore bacteria. Simultaneously, the numbers of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms, micromycetes, oligonitrophils, amylolytic and pedotrophic microflorae were shown to be low compared to the control. Farther from the railway track, pigmental species of bacteria appeared in the soil samples, attesting to the activity of self-purification processes. Correlation analysis of the data showed that the soil microbiota of the railway-side areas was undergoing changes as affected by heightened contents of heavy metals. Existence of medium and close connections was established between the number of

Dynamic modelling of high speed ballasted railway trakcs: Analysis of the behaviour

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gallego, I.; Rivas, A.; Sanchez-Cambronero, S.; Lajara, J.

2016-07-01

The aim of the paper is to present a numerical model for a ballasted railway track that includes the dynamic effect of a moving train load and predicts the values of the vertical stiffness of the infrastructure. This model is therefore deemed to be a tool for the evaluation of the state of the track during service situations as well as a predictive model of the behaviour of the system. Consequently, it will be very useful when sizing the cross section of a new railway line is required.The main modelling tool is the finite element method. In regard to this, the application of damping elements to avoid the elastic wave reflection on the boundaries of the numerical domain will be studied. The proposed dynamic analysis consider the change in time of the value of the train load, but not the change in position along the tracks.In the end, a set of suggestions for the numerical model with moving loads will be summarize aiming for the mitigation of the unusual behaviour of the contact surface between the ballast and the sleepers. (Author)

Optimization of Multiperiod Mixed Train Schedule on High-Speed Railway

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenliang Zhou

2015-01-01

Full Text Available For providing passengers with periodic operation trains and making trains’ time distribution better fit that of passengers, the multiperiod mixed train schedule is first proposed in this paper. It makes each type of train having same origin, destination, route, and stop stations operate based on a periodic basis and allows different types of train to have various operation periods. Then a model of optimizing multiperiod mixed train schedule is built to minimize passengers generalized travel costs with the constraints of trains of same type operating periodically, safe interval requirements of trains’ departure, and arrival times, and so forth. And its heuristic algorithm is designed to optimize the multiperiod mixed train schedule beginning with generating an initial solution by scheduling all types of train type by type and then repeatedly improving their periodic schedules until the objective value cannot be reduced or the iteration number reaches its maximum. Finally, example results illustrate that the proposed model and algorithm can effectively gain a better multiperiod mixed train schedule. However, its passengers deferred times and advanced times are a little higher than these of an aperiodic train schedule.

Scheduled power tracking control of the wind-storage hybrid system based on the reinforcement learning theory

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ze

2017-09-01

In allusion to the intermittency and uncertainty of the wind electricity, energy storage and wind generator are combined into a hybrid system to improve the controllability of the output power. A scheduled power tracking control method is proposed based on the reinforcement learning theory and Q-learning algorithm. In this method, the state space of the environment is formed with two key factors, i.e. the state of charge of the energy storage and the difference value between the actual wind power and scheduled power, the feasible action is the output power of the energy storage, and the corresponding immediate rewarding function is designed to reflect the rationality of the control action. By interacting with the environment and learning from the immediate reward, the optimal control strategy is gradually formed. After that, it could be applied to the scheduled power tracking control of the hybrid system. Finally, the rationality and validity of the method are verified through simulation examples.

A calculation model for the noise from steel railway bridges

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssens, M.H.A.; Thompson, D.J.

1996-01-01

The sound level of a train crossing a steel railway bridge is usually about 10 dB higher than on plain track. In the Netherlands there are many such bridges which, for practical reasons, cannot be replaced by more intrinsically quiet concrete bridges. A computational model is described for the

Environmental comparison of a railway bridge with alternative designs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Guangli; Karoumi, Raid

2012-01-01

Railway bridges are complex structures that remain for a long life span and consume large amount of material and energy throughout the life span. All of those lead to considerable resource depletion and environmental burdens. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has proved to be a comprehensive tool...... for quantifying and assessing the environmental impacts of the products through its whole life cycle. This paper presents a comparative case study between two alternative designs of Banafjäl Bridge: ballast track design and fixed slab track design. The methodology of LCA is utilized as a supporting tool...

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.

Mathematical model for estimating of technical and technological indicators of railway stations operation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D.M. Kozachenko

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The article aims to create a mathematical model of the railway station functioning for the solving of problems of station technology development on the plan-schedule basis. Methodology. The methods of graph theory and object-oriented analysis are used as research methods. The model of the station activity plan-schedule includes a model of technical equipment of the station (plan-schedule net and a model of the station functioning , which are formalized on the basis of parametric graphs. Findings. The presented model is implemented as an application to the graphics package AutoCAD. The software is developed in Visual LISP and Visual Basic. Taking into account that the construction of the plan-schedule is mostly a traditional process of adding, deleting, and modifying of icons, the developed interface is intuitively understandable for a technologist and practically does not require additional training. Originality. A mathematical model was created on the basis of the theory of graphs and object-oriented analysis in order to evaluate the technical and process of railway stations indicators; it is focused on solving problems of technology development of their work. Practical value. The proposed mathematical model is implemented as an application to the graphics package of AutoCAD. The presence of a mathematical model allows carrying out an automatic analysis of the plan-schedule and, thereby, reducing the period of its creation more than twice.

Single-organelle tracking by two-photon conversion

Science.gov (United States)

Watanabe, Wataru; Shimada, Tomoko; Matsunaga, Sachihiro; Kurihara, Daisuke; Fukui, Kiichi; Shin-Ichi Arimura, Shin-Ichi; Tsutsumi, Nobuhiro; Isobe, Keisuke; Itoh, Kazuyoshi

2007-03-01

Spatial and temporal information about intracellular objects and their dynamics within a living cell are essential for dynamic analysis of such objects in cell biology. A specific intracellular object can be discriminated by photoactivatable fluorescent proteins that exhibit pronounced light-induced spectral changes. Here, we report on selective labeling and tracking of a single organelle by using two-photon conversion of a photoconvertible fluorescent protein with near-infrared femtosecond laser pulses. We performed selective labeling of a single mitochondrion in a living tobacco BY-2 cell using two-photon photoconversion of Kaede. Using this technique, we demonstrated that, in plants, the directed movement of individual mitochondria along the cytoskeletons was mediated by actin filaments, whereas microtubules were not required for the movement of mitochondria. This single-organelle labeling technique enabled us to track the dynamics of a single organelle, revealing the mechanisms involved in organelle dynamics. The technique has potential application in direct tracking of selective cellular and intracellular structures.

Road and railway network of the Paks nuclear power plant, Hungary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szoukup, I.; Komlos, Cs.

1983-01-01

Meeting the demands of reception, unloading and transportation of materials during the construction and later, during the operation of the plant, is ensured by a suitable road and railway network. The tasks of internal roads and tracks, their connection with the national transportation network are presented. (author)

Liquid filtration properties in gravel foundation of railroad tracks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strelkov, A; Teplykh, S; Bukhman, N

2016-01-01

Railway bed gravel foundation has a constant permanent impact on urban ecology and ground surface. It is only natural that larger objects, such as railway stations, make broader impact. Surface run-off waters polluted by harmful substances existing in railroad track body (ballast section) flow along railroad tracks and within macadam, go down into subterranean ground flow and then enter neighbouring rivers and water basins. This paper presents analytic calculations and characteristics of surface run-off liquid filtration which flows through gravel multiple layers (railroad track ballast section). The authors analyse liquids with various density and viscosity flowing in multi-layer porous medium. The paper also describes liquid stationary and non-stationary weepage into gravel foundation of railroad tracks. (paper)

Meteorological tools in support to the railway security system on the Calabria region

Science.gov (United States)

Laviola, Sante; Gabriele, Salvatore; Iovine, Giulio; Baldini, Luca; Chiravalloti, Francesco; Federico, Stefano; Miglietta, Marcello Mario; Milani, Lisa; Procopio, Antonio; Roberto, Nicoletta; Tiesi, Alessandro; Agostino, Mario; Niccoli, Raffaele; Stassi, Sergio; Rago, Valeria

2017-04-01

RAMSES (RAilway Meteorological SEcurity System) is a pilot project co-funded by the Italian Railway Company - RFI S.p.A. and conceived for the mitigation of the hydrological risk along the Calabria railways. RAMSES aims at improving the forecast of very short life-cycle convection systems, responsible of intense and localized rainfalls affecting small catchment areas, which are often underestimated by the numerical weather models and even non-adequately detected by the network of sparse raingauges. The RAMSES operational design is based on a synergistic and integrated architecture, providing a series of information able to identify the most active convective cells and monitoring their evolution in terms of vertical structure, rain intensity and geo-hydrological effects at ground (debris flow, landslides, collapses of bridges, erosion of the ballast). The RAMSES meteorological component is designed to identify and track the short-term evolution (15-60 min) of convective cells, by means of imaging techniques based on dual-polarization weather radar and Meteosat data. In support of this quasi-real time analysis, the numerical model WRF provides the weather forecast at 3-6 hours range by ingesting, through the assimilation system LAPS, the observational data (rain gauges, ground weather stations, radar, satellites) in order to improve the initial condition. Finally, the hydraulic flow modeling is used to assess the ground effects in terms of landslide susceptibility, rainfall-runoff intensity, debris impact on the drainage network and evaluate of risk along the railway track.

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/

Model of Wagons’ Placing-In and Taking-Out Problem in a Railway Station and Its Heuristic Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chuijiang Guo

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Placing-in and taking-out wagons timely can decrease wagons’ dwell time in railway stations, improve the efficiency of railway transportation, and reduce the cost of goods transportation. We took the locomotive running times between goods operation sites as weights, so the wagons’ placing-in and taking-out problem could be regarded as a single machine scheduling problem, 1pijCmax, which could be transformed into the shortest circle problem in a Hamilton graph whose relaxation problem was an assignment problem. We used a Hungarian algorithm to calculate the optimal solution of the assignment problem. Then we applied a broken circle and connection method, whose computational complexity was O(n2, to find the available satisfactory order of wagons’ placing-in and taking-out. Complex problems, such as placing-in and transferring combined, taking-out and transferring combined, placing-in and taking-out combined, or placing-in, transferring, and taking-out combined, could also be resolved with the extended algorithm. A representative instance was given to illustrate the reliability and efficiency of our results.

Proposal of an intelligent wayside monitoring system for detection of critical ice accumulations on railway vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Michelberger, Frank; Wagner, Adrian; Ostermann, Michael; Maly, Thomas

2017-09-01

At railway lines with ballasted tracks, under unfavourable conditions, the so-called flying ballast can occur predominantly for trains driving at high speeds. Especially in wintertime, it is highly likely that the causes are adhered snow or ice deposits, which are falling off the vehicle. Due to the high kinetic energy, the impact can lead to the removal of ballast stones from the structure of the ballasted track. If the stones reach the height of vehicles underside, they may be accelerated significantly due to the collision with the vehicle or may detach further ice blocks. In the worst case, a reinforcing effect occurs, which can lead to considerable damage to railway vehicles (under-floor-area, vehicle exteriors, etc.) and infrastructure (signal masts, noise barriers, etc.). Additionally the flying gravel is a significant danger to people in the nearby area of the tracks. With this feasibility study the applicability and meaningfulness of an intelligent monitoring system for identification of the critical ice accumulation to prevent the ballast fly induced by ice dropping was examined. The key findings of the research are that the detection of ice on railway vehicles and the development of an intelligent monitoring seem to be possible with existing technologies, but a proof of concept in terms of field tests is necessary.

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.

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)

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

High performance control strategy for single-phase three-level neutral-point-clamped traction four-quadrant converters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kejian, Song; Konstantinou, Georgios; Jing, Li

2017-01-01

Operational data from Chinese railways indicate a number of challenges for traction four-quadrant converter (4QC) control including low-order voltage and current harmonics and reference tracking. A control strategy for a single-phase three-level neutral-point-clamped 4QC employed in the electric...

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...

Choice between Single and Multiple Reinforcers in Concurrent-Chains Schedules

Science.gov (United States)

Mazur, James E.

2006-01-01

Pigeons responded on concurrent-chains schedules with equal variable-interval schedules as initial links. One terminal link delivered a single reinforcer after a fixed delay, and the other terminal link delivered either three or five reinforcers, each preceded by a fixed delay. Some conditions included a postreinforcer delay after the single…

A comprehensive model for the prediction of vibrations due to underground railway traffic: formulation and validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Costa, Pedro Alvares; Cardoso Silva, Antonio; Calçada, Rui; Lopes, Patricia; Fernandez, Jesus

2016-01-01

n this communication, a numerical approach for the prediction of vibrations induced in buildings due to railway traffic in tunnels is presented. The numerical model is based on the concept of dynamic sub structuring, being composed by three autonomous models to simulate the following main parts of the problem: i) generation of vibrations (train-track interaction); ii) propagation of vibrations (track - tunnel-ground system); iii) reception of vibrations (building coupled to the ground). The methodology proposed allows dealing with the three-dimensional characteristics of the problem with a reasonable computational effort [ 1 , 2 ] . After the brief description of the model, its experimental validation is performed. For that, a case study about vibrations inside of a building close to a shallow railway tunnel in Madrid are simulated and the experimental data [ 3 ] is compared with the predicted results [ 4 ]. Finally, the communication finishes with some insights about the potentialities and challenges of this numerical modelling approach on the prediction of the behavior of ancient structures subjected to vibrations induced by human sources (railway and road traffic, pile driving, etc)

Outage Analysis of Train-to-Train Communication Model over Nakagami-m Channel in High-Speed Railway

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pengyu Liu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the end-to-end outage performance of high-speed-railway train-to-train communication model in high-speed railway over independent identical and nonidentical Nakagami-m channels. The train-to-train communication is inter-train communication without an aid of infrastructure (for base station. Source train uses trains on other rail tracks as relays to transmit signals to destination train on the same track. The mechanism of such communication among trains can be divided into three cases based on occurrence of possible-occurrence relay trains. We first present a new closed form for the sum of squared independent Nakagami-m variates and then derive an expression for the outage probability of the identical and non-identical Nakagami-m channels in three cases. In particular, the problem is improved by the proposed formulation that statistic for sum of squared Nakagami-m variates with identical m tends to be infinite. Numerical analysis indicates that the derived analytic results are reasonable and the outage performance is better over Nakagami-m channel in high-speed railway scenarios.

Discrete event model-based simulation for train movement on a single-line railway

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Xiao-Ming; Li Ke-Ping; Yang Li-Xing

2014-01-01

The aim of this paper is to present a discrete event model-based approach to simulate train movement with the considered energy-saving factor. We conduct extensive case studies to show the dynamic characteristics of the traffic flow and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The simulation results indicate that the proposed discrete event model-based simulation approach is suitable for characterizing the movements of a group of trains on a single railway line with less iterations and CPU time. Additionally, some other qualitative and quantitative characteristics are investigated. In particular, because of the cumulative influence from the previous trains, the following trains should be accelerated or braked frequently to control the headway distance, leading to more energy consumption. (general)

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...

Single nanoparticle tracking spectroscopic microscope

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Haw [Moraga, CA; Cang, Hu [Berkeley, CA; Xu, Cangshan [Berkeley, CA; Wong, Chung M [San Gabriel, CA

2011-07-19

A system that can maintain and track the position of a single nanoparticle in three dimensions for a prolonged period has been disclosed. The system allows for continuously imaging the particle to observe any interactions it may have. The system also enables the acquisition of real-time sequential spectroscopic information from the particle. The apparatus holds great promise in performing single molecule spectroscopy and imaging on a non-stationary target.

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

Statistical analysis of cone penetration resistance of railway ballast

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saussine Gilles

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Dynamic penetrometer tests are widely used in geotechnical studies for soils characterization but their implementation tends to be difficult. The light penetrometer test is able to give information about a cone resistance useful in the field of geotechnics and recently validated as a parameter for the case of coarse granular materials. In order to characterize directly the railway ballast on track and sublayers of ballast, a huge test campaign has been carried out for more than 5 years in order to build up a database composed of 19,000 penetration tests including endoscopic video record on the French railway network. The main objective of this work is to give a first statistical analysis of cone resistance in the coarse granular layer which represents a major component of railway track: the ballast. The results show that the cone resistance (qd increases with depth and presents strong variations corresponding to layers of different natures identified using the endoscopic records. In the first zone corresponding to the top 30cm, (qd increases linearly with a slope of around 1MPa/cm for fresh ballast and fouled ballast. In the second zone below 30cm deep, (qd increases more slowly with a slope of around 0,3MPa/cm and decreases below 50cm. These results show that there is no clear difference between fresh and fouled ballast. Hence, the (qd sensitivity is important and increases with depth. The (qd distribution for a set of tests does not follow a normal distribution. In the upper 30cm layer of ballast of track, data statistical treatment shows that train load and speed do not have any significant impact on the (qd distribution for clean ballast; they increase by 50% the average value of (qd for fouled ballast and increase the thickness as well. Below the 30cm upper layer, train load and speed have a clear impact on the (qd distribution.

MODEL OF FEES CALCULATION FOR ACCESS TO TRACK INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. I. Mishchenko

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The purpose of the article is to develop a one- and two-element model of the fees calculation for the use of track infrastructure of Ukrainian railway transport. Methodology. On the basis of this one can consider that when planning the planned preventive track repair works and the amount of depreciation charges the guiding criterion is not the amount of progress it is the operating life of the track infrastructure facilities. The cost of PPTRW is determined on the basis of the following: the classification track repairs; typical technological processes for track repairs; technology based time standards for PPTRW; costs for the work of people, performing the PPTRW, their hourly wage rates according to the Order 98-Ts; the operating cost of machinery; regulated list; norms of expenditures and costs of materials and products (they have the largest share of the costs for repairs; railway rates; average distances for transportation of materials used during repair; standards of general production expenses and the administrative costs. Findings. The models offered in article allow executing the objective account of expenses in travelling facilities for the purpose of calculation of the proved size of indemnification and necessary size of profit, the sufficient enterprises for effective activity of a travelling infrastructure. Originality. The methodological bases of determination the fees (payments for the use of track infrastructure on one- and two-element base taking into account the experience of railways in the EC countries and the current transport legislation were grounded. Practical value. The article proposes the one- and two-element models of calculating the fees (payments for the TIF use, accounting the applicable requirements of European transport legislation, which provides the expense compensation and income formation, sufficient for economic incentives of the efficient operation of the TIE of Ukrainian railway transport.

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...

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...

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.

Development of Viscoelastic Multi-Body Simulation and Impact Response Analysis of a Ballasted Railway Track under Cyclic Loading

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daisuke Nishiura

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Simulation of a large number of deformable bodies is often difficult because complex high-level modeling is required to address both multi-body contact and viscoelastic deformation. This necessitates the combined use of a discrete element method (DEM and a finite element method (FEM. In this study, a quadruple discrete element method (QDEM was developed for dynamic analysis of viscoelastic materials using a simpler algorithm compared to the standard FEM. QDEM easily incorporates the contact algorithm used in DEM. As the first step toward multi-body simulation, the fundamental performance of QDEM was investigated for viscoelastic analysis. The amplitude and frequency of cantilever elastic vibration were nearly equal to those obtained by the standard FEM. A comparison of creep recovery tests with an analytical solution showed good agreement between them. In addition, good correlation between the attenuation degree and the real physical viscosity was confirmed for viscoelastic vibration analysis. Therefore, the high accuracy of QDEM in the fundamental analysis of infinitesimal viscoelastic deformations was verified. Finally, the impact response of a ballast and sleeper under cyclic loading on a railway track was analyzed using QDEM as an application of deformable multi-body dynamics. The results showed that the vibration of the ballasted track was qualitatively in good agreement with the actual measurements. Moreover, the ballast layer with high friction reduced the ballasted track deterioration. This study suggests that QDEM, as an alternative to DEM and FEM, can provide deeper insights into the contact dynamics of a large number of deformable bodies.

A computationally efficient software application for calculating vibration from underground railways

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussein, M F M; Hunt, H E M

2009-01-01

The PiP model is a software application with a user-friendly interface for calculating vibration from underground railways. This paper reports about the software with a focus on its latest version and the plans for future developments. The software calculates the Power Spectral Density of vibration due to a moving train on floating-slab track with track irregularity described by typical values of spectra for tracks with good, average and bad conditions. The latest version accounts for a tunnel embedded in a half space by employing a toolbox developed at K.U. Leuven which calculates Green's functions for a multi-layered half-space.

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 ...

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....

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.

Single-machine scheduling of proportionally deteriorating jobs by two agents

OpenAIRE

S Gawiejnowicz; W-C Lee; C-L Lin; C-C Wu

2011-01-01

We consider a problem of scheduling a set of independent jobs by two agents on a single machine. Every agent has its own subset of jobs to be scheduled and uses its own optimality criterion. The processing time of each job proportionally deteriorates with respect to the starting time of the job. The problem is to find a schedule that minimizes the total tardiness of the first agent, provided that no tardy job is allowed for the second agent. We prove basic properties of the problem and give a...

Analysis of the monitoring data of geomagnetic storm interference in the electrification system of a high-speed railway

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lianguang; Ge, Xiaoning; Zong, Wei; Zhou, You; Liu, Mingguang

2016-10-01

To study the impact of geomagnetic storm on the equipment of traction electrification system in the high-speed railway, geomagnetically induced current (GIC) monitoring devices were installed in the Hebi East traction power supply substation of the Beijing-Hong Kong Dedicated Passenger Line in January 2015, and GICs were captured during the two geomagnetic storms on 17 March and 23 June 2015. In order to investigate the GIC flow path, both in the track circuit and in the traction network adopting the autotransformer feeding system, a GIC monitor plan was proposed for the electrical system in the Hebi East traction power supply substation. This paper analyzes the correlation between the GIC captured on 17 March and the geomagnetic data obtained from the Malingshan Geomagnetic Observatory and presents a regression analysis between the measured GIC and the calculated geoelectric fields on 23 June in the high-speed railway. The maximum GICs measured in the track circuit are 1.08 A and 1.74 A during the two geomagnetic storms. We find that it is necessary to pay attention on the throttle transformers and track circuits, as the most sensitive elements responding to the extreme geomagnetic storms in the high-speed railway.

 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...

Single particle tracking and single molecule energy transfer

CERN Document Server

Bräuchle, Christoph; Michaelis, Jens

2009-01-01

Closing a gap in the literature, this handbook gathers all the information on single particle tracking and single molecule energy transfer. It covers all aspects of this hot and modern topic, from detecting virus entry to membrane diffusion, and from protein folding using spFRET to coupled dye systems, as well recent achievements in the field. Throughout, the first-class editors and top international authors present content of the highest quality, making this a must-have for physical chemists, spectroscopists, molecular physicists and biochemists.

Automatic Rail Extraction and Celarance Check with a Point Cloud Captured by Mls in a Railway

Science.gov (United States)

Niina, Y.; Honma, R.; Honma, Y.; Kondo, K.; Tsuji, K.; Hiramatsu, T.; Oketani, E.

2018-05-01

Recently, MLS (Mobile Laser Scanning) has been successfully used in a road maintenance. In this paper, we present the application of MLS for the inspection of clearance along railway tracks of West Japan Railway Company. Point clouds around the track are captured by MLS mounted on a bogie and rail position can be determined by matching the shape of the ideal rail head with respect to the point cloud by ICP algorithm. A clearance check is executed automatically with virtual clearance model laid along the extracted rail. As a result of evaluation, the accuracy of extracting rail positions is less than 3 mm. With respect to the automatic clearance check, the objects inside the clearance and the ones related to a contact line is successfully detected by visual confirmation.

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.

Numerical Modelling of the Dynamic Response of High-Speed Railway Bridges Considering Vehicle-Structure and Structure-Soil-Structure Interaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bucinskas, Paulius; Agapii, L.; Sneideris, J.

2015-01-01

is idealized as a multi-degree-of-freedom system, modelled with two layers of spring-dashpot suspension systems. Coupling the vehicle system and railway track is realized through interaction forces between the wheels and the rail, where the irregularities of the track are implemented as a random stationary......The aim of this paper is the dynamic analysis of a multi-support bridge structure exposed to high-speed railway traffic. The proposed computational model has a unified approach for simultaneously accounting for the bridge structure response, soil response and forces induced by the vehicle....... The bridge structure is modelled in three dimensions based on the finite element method using two-noded three-dimensional beam elements. The track structure is composed of three layers: rail, sleepers and deck which are connected through spring-dashpot systems. The vehicle travelling along a bridge...

FMEF Electrical single line diagram and panel schedule verification process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fong, S.K.

1998-01-01

Since the FMEF did not have a mission, a formal drawing verification program was not developed, however, a verification process on essential electrical single line drawings and panel schedules was established to benefit the operations lock and tag program and to enhance the electrical safety culture of the facility. The purpose of this document is to provide a basis by which future landlords and cognizant personnel can understand the degree of verification performed on the electrical single lines and panel schedules. It is the intent that this document be revised or replaced by a more formal requirements document if a mission is identified for the FMEF

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.

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.

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.

Railway investigation report : derailment : Canadian National freight train M30351-03 mile 49.4, Edson Subdivision, Wabamun, Alberta, 03 August 2005

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

This railway investigation report described an incident in which 43 cars of a Canadian National (CN) freight train derailed near Wabamun, Alberta. The cars contained pole treating oil, toluene, and 700,000 litres of Bunker C heavy oil fuel oil. The accident caused extensive environmental and biological damage to the area, and approximately 20 people were evacuated. This report provided factual information concerning the accident, including details of the railway track and the defect that led to the derailment, as well as details of the CN incident response and remediation process and responses from Alberta Environment. An analysis of the incident examined fatigue limits, defect tracking, and emergency response systems. The report then concluded by examining safety actions taken to ensure improved rail testing, track inspection and maintenance practices. 57 refs., 3 tab., 3 fig

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.

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...

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.

An Improved Genetic Algorithm for Single-Machine Inverse Scheduling Problem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianhui Mou

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The goal of the scheduling is to arrange operations on suitable machines with optimal sequence for corresponding objectives. In order to meet market requirements, scheduling systems must own enough flexibility against uncertain events. These events can change production status or processing parameters, even causing the original schedule to no longer be optimal or even to be infeasible. Traditional scheduling strategies, however, cannot cope with these cases. Therefore, a new idea of scheduling called inverse scheduling has been proposed. In this paper, the inverse scheduling with weighted completion time (SMISP is considered in a single-machine shop environment. In this paper, an improved genetic algorithm (IGA with a local searching strategy is proposed. To improve the performance of IGA, efficient encoding scheme, fitness evaluation mechanism, feasible initialization methods, and a local search procedure have been employed in the paper. Because of the local improving method, the proposed IGA can balance its exploration ability and exploitation ability. We adopt 27 instances to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The experimental results illustrated that the proposed algorithm can generate satisfactory solutions. This approach also has been applied to solve the scheduling problem in the real Chinese shipyard and can bring some benefits.

IMPROVING THE POSITIONING ACCURACY OF TRAIN ON THE APPROACH SECTION TO THE RAILWAY CROSSING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. I. Havryliuk

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose. In the paper it is necessary to analyze possibility of improving the positioning accuracy of train on the approach section to crossing for traffic safety control at railway crossings. Methodology. Researches were performed using developed mathematical model, describing dependence of the input impedance of the coded and audio frequency track circuits on a train coordinate at various values of ballast isolation resistances and for all usable frequencies. Findings. The paper presents the developed mathematical model, describing dependence of the input impedance of the coded and audio-frequency track circuits on the train coordinate at various values of ballast isolation resistances and for all frequencies used in track circuits. The relative error determination of train coordinate by input impedance caused by variation of the ballast isolation resistance for the coded track circuits was investigated. The values of relative error determination of train coordinate can achieve up to 40-50 % and these facts do not allow using this method directly for coded track circuits. For short audio frequency track circuits on frequencies of continuous cab signaling (25, 50 Hz the relative error does not exceed acceptable values, this allow using the examined method for determination of train location on the approach section to railway crossing. Originality. The developed mathematical model allowed determination of the error dependence of train coordinate by using input impedance of the track circuit for coded and audio-frequency track circuits at various frequencies of the signal current and at different ballast isolation resistances. Practical value. The authors proposethe method for train location determination on approach section to the crossing, equipped with audio-frequency track circuits, which is a combination of discrete and continuous monitoring of the train location.

A tabu search algorithm for scheduling a single robot in a job-shop environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hurink, Johann L.; Knust, S.

1999-01-01

We consider a single-machine scheduling problem which arises as a subproblem in a job-shop environment where the jobs have to be transported between the machines by a single transport robot. The robot scheduling problem may be regarded as a generalization of the travelling-salesman problem with time

A tabu search algorithm for scheduling a single robot in a job-shop environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hurink, Johann L.; Knust, Sigrid

2002-01-01

We consider a single-machine scheduling problem which arises as a subproblem in a job-shop environment where the jobs have to be transported between the machines by a single transport robot. The robot scheduling problem may be regarded as a generalization of the travelling-salesman problem with time

Susceptibility of optimal train schedules to stochastic disturbances of process times

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Rune; Pranzo, Marco; D’Ariano, Andrea

2013-01-01

study, an advanced branch and bound algorithm, on average, outperforms a First In First Out scheduling rule both in deterministic and stochastic traffic scenarios. However, the characteristic of the stochastic processes and the way a stochastic instance is handled turn out to have a serious impact...... and dwell times). In fact, the objective of railway traffic management is to reduce delay propagation and to increase disturbance robustness of train schedules at a network scale. We present a quantitative study of traffic disturbances and their effects on the schedules computed by simple and advanced...

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...

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...

Performance of Railway Sleepers with Holes under Impact Loading

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Chie Hong; Kaewunruen, Sakdirat; Mlilo, Nhlanganiso

2017-12-01

Prestressed concrete sleepers are essential structural components of railway track structures, with the purpose of redistributing wheel loads from the rails to the ground. To facilitate cables and signalling equipment, holes are often generated in these prestressed concrete sleepers. However, the performance of these sleepers under impact loading may be a concern with the addition of these holes. Numerical modelling using finite element analysis (FEA) is an ideal tool that enables static and dynamic simulation and can perform analyses of basic/advanced linear and nonlinear problems, without incurring a huge cost in resources like standard experimental test methods would. This paper will utilize the three-dimensional FE modelling software ABAQUS to investigate the behaviour of the prestressed concrete sleepers with holes of varying sizes upon impact loading. To obtain the results that resemble real-life behaviour of the sleepers under impact loading, the material properties, element types, mesh sizes, contact and interactions and boundary conditions will be defined as accurately as possible. Both Concrete Damaged Plasticity (CDP) and Brittle Cracking models will be used in this study. With a better understanding of how the introduction of holes will influence the performance of prestressed sleepers under impact loading, track and railway engineers will be able to generate them in prestressed concrete sleepers without compromising the sleepers’ performance during operation

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...

Prediction of railway induced ground vibration through multibody and finite element modelling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Kouroussis

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The multibody approach is now recognized as a reliable and mature computer aided engineering tool. Namely, it is commonly used in industry for the design of road or railway vehicles. The paper presents a framework developed for predicting the vibrations induced by railway transportation. Firstly, the vehicle/track subsystem is simulated, on the basis of the home-made C++ library EasyDyn, by mixing the multibody model of the vehicle and the finite element model of the track, coupled to each other through the wheel/rail contact forces. Only the motion in the vertical plane is considered, assuming a total symmetry between left and right rails. This first step produces the time history of the forces exerted by the ballast on the foundation, which are then applied to a full 3-D FEM model of the soil, defined under the commercial software ABAQUS. The paper points out the contribution of the pitch motion of the bogies and carbodies which were neglected in previous publications, as well as the interest of the so-called coupled-lumped mass model (CLM to represent the influence of the foundation in the track model. The potentialities of the model are illustrated on the example of the Thalys high-speed train, riding at 300 km h−1 on the Belgian site of Mévergnies.

THE RESULTS OF THE DEFECT PLACES INVESTIGATION OF DONETSK RAILWAY ROAD BED BY GROUND PENETRATING RADAR COMPLEX

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. D. Petrenko

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Defective places definition of road bed at ground penetrating radar is examined. Methodology. For achievement of this goal the experimental research on ground penetrating radar inspection of road bed defective places of the Donetsk Railway, which are caused by a complex of various reasons of geotechnical and constructive character, were conducted. Findings. According to these diagnostic results of road bed on the three districts of the Donetsk Railway is revealed the main causes which lead to the defects appearance, deformities and injuries in it, there is abuse of process parameters and modify its physic mechanical soil properties of natural and technology-related factors. As it is established, the use of ground penetrating radar of series “Losa” on the railways of Ukraine allows searching ballast tank in the body of road bed, defining damp places in soil road bed and foundations, to find arrangement of foreign matter in the soil road bed and work search heterogeneity and places weakening soil. In addition, the use of ground penetrating radar provides rapid detection of defects, deformation and damage of railway track, especially in areas the most dangerous for rolling stock that creates the high level security at the main and auxiliary lines of Ukrzaliznytsia. In conducting the research was justified the high level of reliability and performance with autonomous use of ground penetrating radar. Originality. In modern conditions of defects determination, deformations and damages by traditional methods with application of engineering-geological investigations, it is impossible in connection with their insufficient efficiency. Therefore the using of highly effective methodology of expeditious tool identification of defective places allows reducing significantly the periods of repair of a railway track which is very important for introduction of the high-speed movement on the Ukrainian Railways. Practical value. On the basis of the

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

. The estimation strategy has good performance also under degraded adhesion conditions and could be put on board of high-speed railway vehicles; it represents an accurate and reliable solution. The IMU board is tested via a dedicated Hardware in the Loop (HIL) test rig: it includes an industrial robot able to replicate the motion of the railway vehicle. Through the generated experimental outputs the performances of the innovative localisation algorithm have been evaluated: the HIL test rig permitted to test the proposed algorithm, avoiding expensive (in terms of time and cost) on-track tests, obtaining encouraging results. In fact, the preliminary results show a significant improvement of the position and speed estimation performances compared to those obtained with SCMT algorithms, currently in use on the Italian railway network.

Smart current collector—fibre optic hit detection system for improved security on railway tracks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schröder, Kerstin; Ecke, Wolfgang; Kautz, Michael; Rothhardt, Manfred; Willett, Simon; Unterwaditzer, Hansjörg; Bosselmann, Thomas

2013-01-01

In a deregulated EU railway market, monitoring the vehicle and infrastructure interfaces is mandatory for the enhanced availability of operation and for reducing costs. Therefore, infrastructure managers need monitoring tools on overhead contact lines (OCLs). We know from earlier investigations that a measurement of contact forces alone is not sufficient (Schröder et al 2013 Opt. Lasers Eng. 51 172–9). In this study, we introduce a system which is fast enough to detect short disturbances and which can be used with regular trains. It is based on fibre optic sensors integrated with conventional current collectors (CCs). The system is designed to monitor hard and soft hits on the CC in horizontal (driving) and vertical (contact) direction. It was systematically tested in the laboratory as well as in test runs on commercial railways in several countries. With its help, a variety of minor as well as serious defects have been discovered and repaired at the CC–OCL interface. (paper)

A direct comparison of physical block occupancy versus timed block occupancy in train timetabling formulations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harrod, Steven; Schlechte, Thomas

2013-01-01

Two fundamental mathematical formulations for railway timetabling are compared on a common set of sample problems, representing both multiple track high density services in Europe and single track bidirectional operations in North America. One formulation, ACP, enforces against conflicts by const......Two fundamental mathematical formulations for railway timetabling are compared on a common set of sample problems, representing both multiple track high density services in Europe and single track bidirectional operations in North America. One formulation, ACP, enforces against conflicts...

Analysis of Bridge Transition Zones in Railways Considering the Moisture Condition of the Ballast and Subballast

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, Haoyu; Silvast, Mika; Markine, V.L.; Wiljanen, Bruce

2017-01-01

Transition zones in railway tracks are the locations with considerable changes in vertical support structures, e.g., near bridges. Due to possible water flow constrictions in transition zone structures, there is frequently an increased moisture level in the ballast/subballast layers, which is a

Health-Related Quality of Life and Associated Factors of Frontline Railway Workers: A Cross-Sectional Survey in the Ankang Area, Shaanxi Province, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaona Zhang

2016-11-01

Full Text Available After validation of the widely used health-related quality of life (HRQOL generic measure, the Short Form 36 version 2 (SF-36v2, we investigated the HRQOL and associated factors of frontline railway workers in China. Ground workers, conductors, and train drivers were selected from Ankang Precinct by using a stratified cluster sampling technique. A total of 784 frontline railway workers participated in the survey. The reliability and validity of SF-36v2 was satisfactory. The physical component summary (PCS scores of three subgroups attained the average range for the USA general population, whereas the mental component summary (MCS scores were well below the range. Most domains scored below the norm, except for the physical functioning (PF domain. Among three subgroups, train drivers reported significantly lower scores on MCS and six health domains (excluding PF and bodily pain (BP. After controlled confounders, conductors had significantly higher PCS and MCS scores than ground workers. There is heterogeneity on risk factors among three subgroups, but having long or irregular working schedules was negatively associated with HRQOL in all subgroups. SF-36v2 is a reliable and valid HRQOL measurement in railway workers in China. The frontline railway workers’ physical health was comparative to American norms, whilst mental health was relatively worse. Long or irregular working schedules were the most important factors.

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.

Semi-active H∞ control of high-speed railway vehicle suspension with magnetorheological dampers

Science.gov (United States)

Zong, Lu-Hang; Gong, Xing-Long; Xuan, Shou-Hu; Guo, Chao-Yang

2013-05-01

In this paper, semi-active H∞ control with magnetorheological (MR) dampers for railway vehicle suspension systems to improve the lateral ride quality is investigated. The proposed semi-active controller is composed of a H∞ controller as the system controller and an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) inverse MR damper model as the damper controller. First, a 17-degree-of-freedom model for a full-scale railway vehicle is developed and the random track irregularities are modelled. Then a modified Bouc-Wen model is built to characterise the forward dynamic characteristics of the MR damper and an inverse MR damper model is built with the ANFIS technique. Furthermore, a H∞ controller composed of a yaw motion controller and a rolling pendulum motion (lateral motion+roll motion) controller is established. By integrating the H∞ controller with the ANFIS inverse model, a semi-active H∞ controller for the railway vehicle is finally proposed. Simulation results indicate that the proposed semi-active suspension system possesses better attenuation ability for the vibrations of the car body than the passive suspension system.

Nondestructive tests for railway monitoring. European Experience in COST Action TU1208

Science.gov (United States)

Fontul, Simona; Solla, Mercedes; Loizos, Andreas

2016-04-01

The railway monitoring is an important issue for a proper maintenance planning. With the increase in loads and travel speed, it is important to be able to diagnose the track defects and to plan the proper maintenance without interfering with the users. Traditionally, the maintenance actions are planned based on the geometric level parameters assessed without contact with the line, at traffic speed, by dedicated inspection vehicles. Nevertheless, the geometric condition of the line does not provide information on the defects causes. In order to complements the information on the causes, geophysics measurements can be performed in a nondestructive way. Among these later methods, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a quick and effective technique to evaluate infrastructure condition in a continuous manner, replacing or reducing the use of traditional drilling method. GPR application to railways infrastructures, during construction and monitoring phase, is relatively recent. It is based on the measuring of layers thicknesses and detection of structural changes. It also enables the assessment of materials properties that constitute the infrastructure and the evaluation of the different types of defects such as ballast pockets, fouled ballast, poor drainage, subgrade settlement and transitions problems. These deteriorations are generally the causes of vertical deviations in track geometry. Moreover, the development of new GPR systems with higher antenna frequencies, better data acquisition systems, more user friendly software and new algorithms for calculation of materials properties can lead to a regular use of GPR. A resume of the European experience in COST Action TU1208 of the application of GPR for railway monitoring and the measurement interpretation is presented in this paper. Also complementary nondestructive tests and other geophysical methods are referred, together with case studies of their application. The main troubleshooting and the needs for data analysis

Single-track handshake signaling with application to micropipelines and handshake circuits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berkel, van C.H.; Bink, A.J.

1996-01-01

Single-track handshake signaling is using the same wire for request and acknowledge signaling. After each 2-phase handshake the wire is back in its initial state. A sequence of three protocol definitions suggests both a design method for single-track circuits and a trade-off between their robustness

Technical comparison of communication equipment of high speed railways between Japan and Europe. Tsushin setsubi ni okeru Nichio no gijutsu hikaku (kosoku tetsudo)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sasaki, S [Railway Technology Research Institute, Tokyo (Japan)

1994-04-12

This paper compares and explains pieces of communication equipment in high-speed railways in Japan and Europe. The Shinkansen railways in Japan adopted a train wireless communication of the LCX system in 400-MHz band (partly a spatial wave system) that is used for orders, business operations, and public telephone lines, as well as data communications. Almost all of the European countries use the UIC system train wireless communication (the UIC Standard specifies the operation methods, criteria for communication quality assurance, frequency allocation plans, wireless line control systems, and control signals). This paper summarizes the systems adopted in Japan and Europe by the following items: order telephones, data communications, on-board public telephone service, measures against tunnel interference, track-side transmission cabling facilities, and seat reservation systems. The paper indicates that the communication facilities in the Shinkansen railways are distinguished from those for the conventional railway services to meet the requirement of high-speed and large-number conveyance, while the communication facilities in the European high-speed railways are interchangeable with those for the conventional railway lines. 7 figs., 1 tab.

Single track and single layer formation in selective laser melting of niobium solid solution alloy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yueling GUO

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Selective laser melting (SLM was employed to fabricate Nb-37Ti-13Cr-2Al-1Si (at% alloy, using pre-alloyed powders prepared by plasma rotating electrode processing (PREP. A series of single tracks and single layers under different processing parameters was manufactured to evaluate the processing feasibility by SLM, including laser power, scanning speed, and hatch distance. Results showed that continuous single tracks could be fabricated using proper laser powers and scanning velocities. Both the width of a single track and its penetration depth into a substrate increased with an increase of the linear laser beam energy density (LED, i.e., an increase of the laser power and a decrease of the scanning speed. Nb, Ti, Si, Cr, and Al elements distributed heterogeneously over the melt pool in the form of swirl-like patterns. An excess of the hatch distance was not able to interconnect neighboring tracks. Under improper processing parameters, a balling phenomenon occurred, but could be eliminated with an increased LED. This work testified the SLM-processing feasibility of Nb-based alloy and promoted the application of SLM to the manufacture of niobium-based alloys. Keywords: Additive manufacturing, Melt pool, Niobium alloy, Powder metallurgy, Selective laser melting

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

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...

Investigation on energy efficient sensor node placement in railway systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayona Philipose

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Recently wireless sensor network (WSN has been widely used for monitoring railway tracks and rail tunnels. The key requirement in the design of such WSN is to minimize the energy consumption so as to maximize the network lifetime. This paper includes the performance of an improved medium access control (MAC protocol, namely, time adaptive-bit map assisted (TA-BMA protocol, for the purpose of communication between the sensors placed in a railway wagon. The train is considered to be moving at a constant speed, and the sensor nodes are stationary with respect to the motion of train. The effect of mobility on the proposed MAC protocol is determined using genetic algorithm (GA, and the observed increase in energy consumption on considering mobility is 18.51%. Performance analysis of the system model is carried out using QualNet (ver. 7.1, and the energy consumption in transmit mode, receive mode, percentage of time in sleep mode, end-to-end delay and throughput are investigated.

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.

Epidemiology & preventive aspects of railway suicides and fatalities related to trespassing accidents.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Sachil; Verma, Anoop K; Bhattacharya, Sandeep; Singh, Uma Shankar

2013-11-01

Suicide and trespass are major contributors to risk on the railway, resulting in around 170-180 fatalities per year in Lucknow region, as well as associated major disruption to the rail network. Lucknow is the capital city of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. The analysis included train-pedestrian fatalities during 2007-2012. The data for 2007-2012 were collected from the autopsy reports of the university, case sheets from the hospital, the general prosecutor's investigations report and the inquest reports from police. The results show that the majority of victims were males. Half of the suicide victims were 20-39 years old. Accidents happened most frequently in situations when a person was walking on the tracks/in front of train (22.7%) or were crossing the tracks illegally (20.9%). Among all train-pedestrian fatalities, about half of the victims (42.8%) were intoxicated by alcohol. Female suicide victims suffered from mental health problems more frequently (55.8%) than male suicide victims. Overall, there is no reason to believe that train-pedestrian fatalities are unavoidable. By contrast, the effective prevention of railway suicides and accidents should be based on a systems approach involving effective measures introduces by several organisations such as government, railway organisations, various authorities (such as public health, education, enforcement, urban planning) and communities. Same measures can often be used to prevent both trespassing and suicides, even though their effectiveness may depend on the target group. In addition, there are measures specifically targeted to prevent either trespassing or suicides. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

Tools and techniques for schedule's controlling: tracking system and control of Urucu-Manaus gas-pipeline construction, stretch B1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zuany, Valdenise Marques; Dias, Jose Luiz Gomes [CONCREMAT Engenharia e Tecnologia S/A, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2009-07-01

The goal is to show the monitoring systems and deadline control, using the PMBOK{sup R} project management tools, in the Construction and Assembly of the Coari-Manaus Gas-pipeline, stretch B1, which includes the cities of Coari, Codajas, Anori and Anama, in the state of Amazon, in the Northern Undertaking Implementation (IENOR), an Engineering division of the PETROBRAS System. This report presents the practical effects of the usage of three schedule control tools of the project: Performance Measurement, using the technique of the Earned Value Management (EVM), which integrates cost, schedule and physical progress of the enterprise to determine the variations of schedule and performance; Project Management Software, MSProject, which allows schedule's elaboration and makes the tracking of the planned dates possible (baseline) in relation to real dates and forecasts the trend level, the effects of changes in the project's schedule, demonstrating its utility as a schedule control tool; and Schedule Variance Analysis, which adopts practical data to reach the pessimistic, most likely and optimistic expectations. The implantation of these tools was based in the Work Breakdown Structure of the enterprise. The application of these three tools in the tracking and control of the enterprise demonstrates that, the use of information and techniques deriving from the planning and control can be an important support for project management and decision taking, comparing the results gotten in the implantation of the plan with its actual realization, defining, thus, the necessary corrective actions, generating learned lessons to use in future projects. (author)

STIMULATION METHODS IMPROVEMENT OF EXIT ROUTE ON RAILWAY TRANSPORT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. I. Verlan

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The purpose of the article is to assess the costs, which are redistributed in the system «shipper−railroad−consignee» during routing of rail transportation and the development of tariff simulation methods of shippers to the exit routes formation. Methodology. Using economic and mathematical analysis the distribution of costs among the various participants of transportation process during the exit routes formation is investigated in the article. Findings. For implementation of the tariff simulation methods of exit routes and retention of the existing tariff structure it is proposed to provide in the «Tariff catalogue for freight transportation by railway transport of Ukraine» the discount, differentiated from haulage distance. A new method for determining the fees amount for cars supply and removal on approach tracks by train locomotives was also offered. Originality. As a result of the research a new method for determination of the exit rout efficiency that, unlike the existing one, takes into account the various interests of the individual participants in the transportation process was proposed. The dependence of the correction factors to the tariff for freight transportation in their own cars by direct exit routes from distance haulage was obtained. Implementation of these coefficients provides an approximation of railway tariffs to the traffic handling costs. A method for determination the rate of fees for cars supply and removal on approach tracks by train locomotives was offered. Practical value. InUkraine creation of the tariff discounts system for freight transportation by exit routes consistent with international practice and allows bringing the tariff to the real traffic handling cost. This change on the one hand will provide stimulation for private capital investments in infrastructure development and shunting means of approach tracks, on the other – it will fix the shippers to the railroads and stop their outflow

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.

Strengthening of a railway bridge with NSMR and CFRP tubes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Täljsten, Björn; Bennitz, Anders; Danielsson, Georg

2008-01-01

Strengthening of structures with CFRP is today considered an accepted method to upgrade concrete structures. In this paper two different CFRP strengthening systems are combined to give extended service life to a Swedish double-trough-double-track railway bridge, constructed in concrete with a 10 ....... Sensors on bars and tubes display proofs of utilization of the CFRP while displacement sensors and strain gauges on the steel reinforcement due to the small loads in the service limit state show minor effect....

Urban and peri-urban agricultural production along railway tracks: a case study from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prem Jose Vazhacharickal

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA contributes to food security, serves as an opportunity for income generation, and provides recreational services to urban citizens. With a population of 21 Million people, of which 60 % live in slums, UPA activities can play a crucial role in supporting people’s livelihoods in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR. This study was conducted to characterize the railway gardens, determine their role in UPA production, and assess potential risks. It comprises a baseline survey among 38 railway gardeners across MMR characterized by different demographic, socio-economic, migratory, and labour characteristics. Soil, irrigation water, and plant samples were analyzed for nutrients, heavy metals, and microbial load. All the railway gardeners practiced agriculture as a primary source of income and cultivated seasonal vegetables such as lady’s finger (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench, spinach (Spinacia oleracea L., red amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus L., and white radish (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus which were irrigated with waste water. This irrigation water was loaded with 7–28 mg N l^(−1, 0.3–7 mg P l^(−1, and 8–32 mg K l^(−1, but also contained heavy metals such as lead (0.02–0.06 mg Pb l^(−1, cadmium (0.03–0.17 mg Cd l^(−1, mercury (0.001–0.005 mg Hg l^(−1, and pathogens such as Escherichia coli (1,100 most probable number per 100 ml. Levels of heavy metals exceeded the critical thresholds in surface soils (Cr, Ni, and Sr and produce (Pb, Cd, and Sr. The railway garden production systems can substantially foster employment and reduce economic deprivation of urban poor particularly slum dwellers and migrant people. However this production system may also cause possible health risks to producers and consumers.

Real-time flood inundation forecasting and mapping for key railway infrastructure: a UK case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murphy Alexandra T.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Flooding events that impede railway infrastructure can cause severe travel delays for the general public and large fines in delayed minutes for the rail industry. Early warnings of flood inundation can give more time to implement mitigation measures which help reduce cancellations, delays and fines. Initial work is reported on the development of a real-time flood inundation forecasting and mapping system for the Cowley Bridge track area near Exeter, UK. This location is on one of the main access routes to South West England and has suffered major floods in the past resulting in significant transport impacts. Flood forecasting systems in the UK mainly forecast river level/flow rather than extent and depth of flood inundation. Here, the development of a chain of coupled models is discussed that link rainfall to river flow, river level and flood extent for the rail track area relating to Cowley Bridge. Historical events are identified to test model performance in predicting inundation of railway infrastructure. The modelling system will operate alongside a series of in-situ sensors chosen to enhance the flood mapping forecasting system. Sensor data will support offline model calibration/verification and real-time data assimilation as well as monitoring flood conditions to inform track closure decisions.

Scheduling Agreeable Jobs On A Single Machine To Minimize ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Journal of Applied Science and Technology ... (NP) scheduling of number of jobs on a single machine to minimize weighted number of early and tardy jobs where the earliest start times and latest due date are agreeable (i.e. earliest start time must increase in the same sequence as latest due dates) has been considered.

Rail Track Detection and Modelling in Mobile Laser Scanner Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Oude Elberink

2013-10-01

Full Text Available We present a method for detecting and modelling rails in mobile laser scanner data. The detection is based on the properties of the rail tracks and contact wires such as relative height, linearity and relative position with respect to other objects. Points classified as rail track are used in a 3D modelling algorithm. The modelling is done by first fitting a parametric model of a rail piece to the points along each track, and estimating the position and orientation parameters of each piece model. For each position and orientation parameter a smooth low-order Fourier curve is interpolated. Using all interpolated parameters a mesh model of the rail is reconstructed. The method is explained using two areas from a dataset acquired by a LYNX mobile mapping system in a mountainous area. Residuals between railway laser points and 3D models are in the range of 2 cm. It is concluded that a curve fitting algorithm is essential to reliably and accurately model the rail tracks by using the knowledge that railways are following a continuous and smooth path.

Multi-physics modeling of single/multiple-track defect mechanisms in electron beam selective melting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, Wentao; Ge, Wenjun; Qian, Ya; Lin, Stephen; Zhou, Bin; Liu, Wing Kam; Lin, Feng; Wagner, Gregory J.

2017-01-01

Metallic powder bed-based additive manufacturing technologies have many promising attributes. The single track acts as one fundamental building unit, which largely influences the final product quality such as the surface roughness and dimensional accuracy. A high-fidelity powder-scale model is developed to predict the detailed formation processes of single/multiple-track defects, including the balling effect, single track nonuniformity and inter-track voids. These processes are difficult to observe in experiments; previous studies have proposed different or even conflicting explanations. Our study clarifies the underlying formation mechanisms, reveals the influence of key factors, and guides the improvement of fabrication quality of single tracks. Additionally, the manufacturing processes of multiple tracks along S/Z-shaped scan paths with various hatching distance are simulated to further understand the defects in complex structures. The simulations demonstrate that the hatching distance should be no larger than the width of the remelted region within the substrate rather than the width of the melted region within the powder layer. Thus, single track simulations can provide valuable insight for complex structures.

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

The influence of train running direction and track supports position on the behaviour of transition zones

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sañudo Ortega, R.; Miranda Manzanares, M.; Markine, V.; Dell' Olio, L.

2016-07-01

Different types of track infrastructure can be found along railway lines. Separation zones between these different types of structures are the source of a lot of problems. Transition zones on a railway line represent a gradual solution for the problems between conventional railway structure and singular structures located at different points along the line. The different nature, positioning and geometry used with the materials generate changes in the stiffness on both sides of these singular zones leading to an increase in wear and a loss of geometry, with the associated maintenance costs. This article describes the use of mathematical modelling to represent the behaviour of these zones as a function of train running direction and track supports. Available research into transition zones has not studied these separation points where high increases in load are generated for very short periods of time. Finite elements are used to model two types of track (conventional ballasted track and slab track), using a vehicle to dynamically simulate the behaviour in these zones as a function of train running direction and the position of track supports. The magnitudes analysed were the vertical stresses and the vertical displacements under the sleepers and the supports in both types of structure. The results show increased stresses at the separation zone between both structures which varied in magnitude and position depending most of track supports’ location than the train running direction. (Author)

Design of tracking photovoltaic systems with a single vertical axis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lorenzo, E. [Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid (Spain). Instituto de Energeia Solar; Perez, M. [Pol Industrial La Nava, Naavarrsa (Spain). Alternativas Energeticas Solares; Ezpeleta, A. [Energia Hidroelectrica Navarra, Pamplona (Spain); Acedo, J. [Ingeteam SA, Pamplona (Spain)

2002-07-01

Solar tracking is used in large grid-connected photovoltaic plants to maximise solar radiation collection and, hence, to reduce the cost of delivered electricity. In particular, single vertical axis tracking, also called azimuth tracking, allows for energy gains up to 40%, compared with optimally tilted fully static arrays. This paper examines the theoretical aspects associated with the design of azimuth tracking, taking into account shadowing between different trackers and back-tracking features. Then, the practical design of the trackers installed at the 1.4 MW Tudela PV plant is presented and discussed. Finally, this tracking alternative is compared with the more conventional fully stationary approach. (author)

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.

Regulated Electric Drainage and its Interference with Track Circuits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vaclav Kolar

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Electric drainage is a power electronic device used to protect underground metal devices (such as piping from the corrosive effects of stray currents. Stray currents are usually caused by DC electric traction, such as trams or railways. In places where stray currents leave the underground device and return into rails, they cause significant electrochemical corrosion of buried devices. The principle of electric drainage is based on electrical connection between the underground device and electric traction rails, which ensures that current flows through this connection, instead of flowing into the ground. Nowadays, the most widely used type is regulated electric drainage, where current is regulated by means of Pulse Width Modulation (PWM. Because of this modulation, current flowing through the drainage contains harmonic components with different frequencies. In modern railways, track circuits are often used as an important part of the track security system. For safe operation, it is necessary to ensure that frequencies generated by the drainage do not interfere with track circuits. This paper describes the design of a regulated drainage control system, with regard to its compatibility with track circuits and this paper contains related computer simulations and discussion of the results

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.

Feature Extraction for Track Section Status Classification Based on UGW Signals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lei Yuan

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Track status classification is essential for the stability and safety of railway operations nowadays, when railway networks are becoming more and more complex and broad. In this situation, monitoring systems are already a key element in applications dedicated to evaluating the status of a certain track section, often determining whether it is free or occupied by a train. Different technologies have already been involved in the design of monitoring systems, including ultrasonic guided waves (UGW. This work proposes the use of the UGW signals captured by a track monitoring system to extract the features that are relevant for determining the corresponding track section status. For that purpose, three features of UGW signals have been considered: the root mean square value, the energy, and the main frequency components. Experimental results successfully validated how these features can be used to classify the track section status into free, occupied and broken. Furthermore, spatial and temporal dependencies among these features were analysed in order to show how they can improve the final classification performance. Finally, a preliminary high-level classification system based on deep learning networks has been envisaged for future works.

[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.

Research on noise and vibration reduction at DB to improve the environmental friendliness of railway traffic

Science.gov (United States)

Schulte-Werning, B.; Beier, M.; Degen, K. G.; Stiebel, D.

2006-06-01

One of the most prominent keywords relating to the environmental friendliness of railway traffic is noise reduction. Thus, the research and development programme "Low Noise Railway" of Deutsche Bahn (DB) is under way to treat the noise of the vehicles and infrastructure. The noise reduction of the trains and the rail/wheel system are being tackled within several projects. The direct noise experienced by railway-lineside residents due to train movements on the track can be reduced by minimising the sound radiation directly at the source. This is the first-choice solution, as it proves to be the most effective countermeasure regarding a cost-benefit relation. The limit values for the noise emission as specified in the technical specification for interoperability are an essential criterion to be confirmed during the procurement process of railway vehicles. A recently developed acoustical quality management scheme establishes systematic noise management to complete the vehicle procurement process in the phases of concept, design, construction and manufacturing. In freight traffic quiet railway wheels for block brake operation will play an important role in the future to meet the goal of a low-noise railway system. A first attempt to realise successfully the low-noise potential of such optimised wheels was performed, even if with mixed results. To show ways of reducing the noise of the cooling ventilation in locomotives, DB is a partner in a development project led by Siemens. A notable 8 dB(A) noise reduction was measured. Concerning bridge noise, a project was started based on an effective and cost-efficient combination of experiments and simulations in order to develop specifications for the construction of generic low-noise bridges.

Ergonomic Intervention on the Occupational Stress of Selective Railway Workshop's Fitters

Science.gov (United States)

Mukhopadhyay, Partha; Dey, Netai Chandra

2017-12-01

In India, progressively rigorous health, safety and environmental regulation, together with rapid technological advances have caused job demands of man machine interface. Any deviations in implementing rules and regulations leave many workers at severe risks. In different railway workshops where periodic overhauling (POH) of different coaches and locomotives are obtained, the exhaustive nature of work results strain within the workers. Unfortunately physiological work studies on railway workers are highly inadequate in India. The present study is aimed to relate the ergonomic intervention on the occupational stress of railway workshop's fitters. Working heart rate (WHR) is measured continuously during their work schedule by portable heart rate monitor. Recovery heart rate and other essential occupational stress indexes are also measured along with total working environmental details. The working heart rate (WHR) of the subjects are found as 138 beats/min (bpm) and 121 bpm for the junior (age senior fitters (age > 40 years), respectively. Net cardiac cost (NCC) and relative cardiac cost (RCC) values exhibit their range in a non-safe zone. No recovery in resting heart rate denotes the hostile environmental effect on the worker's physiology. The effective temperature (ET) and wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of work site cross the recommended value. Clear evidences of a direct relationship between occupational hazard and fatigue is found and it can be considered as an environmental stresses which, in conjunction with other environmental and host factors induced a chronic fatigue that lead to non-specific health disorders.

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.

A simple and rapid method for high-resolution visualization of single-ion tracks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masaaki Omichi

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Prompt determination of spatial points of single-ion tracks plays a key role in high-energy particle induced-cancer therapy and gene/plant mutations. In this study, a simple method for the high-resolution visualization of single-ion tracks without etching was developed through the use of polyacrylic acid (PAA-N, N’-methylene bisacrylamide (MBAAm blend films. One of the steps of the proposed method includes exposure of the irradiated films to water vapor for several minutes. Water vapor was found to promote the cross-linking reaction of PAA and MBAAm to form a bulky cross-linked structure; the ion-track scars were detectable at a nanometer scale by atomic force microscopy. This study demonstrated that each scar is easily distinguishable, and the amount of generated radicals of the ion tracks can be estimated by measuring the height of the scars, even in highly dense ion tracks. This method is suitable for the visualization of the penumbra region in a single-ion track with a high spatial resolution of 50 nm, which is sufficiently small to confirm that a single ion hits a cell nucleus with a size ranging between 5 and 20 μm.

A simple and rapid method for high-resolution visualization of single-ion tracks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Omichi, Masaaki [Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871 (Japan); Center for Collaborative Research, Anan National College of Technology, Anan, Tokushima 774-0017 (Japan); Choi, Wookjin; Sakamaki, Daisuke; Seki, Shu, E-mail: seki@chem.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp [Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871 (Japan); Tsukuda, Satoshi [Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8577 (Japan); Sugimoto, Masaki [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Takasaki Advanced Radiation Research Institute, Gunma, Gunma 370-1292 (Japan)

2014-11-15

Prompt determination of spatial points of single-ion tracks plays a key role in high-energy particle induced-cancer therapy and gene/plant mutations. In this study, a simple method for the high-resolution visualization of single-ion tracks without etching was developed through the use of polyacrylic acid (PAA)-N, N’-methylene bisacrylamide (MBAAm) blend films. One of the steps of the proposed method includes exposure of the irradiated films to water vapor for several minutes. Water vapor was found to promote the cross-linking reaction of PAA and MBAAm to form a bulky cross-linked structure; the ion-track scars were detectable at a nanometer scale by atomic force microscopy. This study demonstrated that each scar is easily distinguishable, and the amount of generated radicals of the ion tracks can be estimated by measuring the height of the scars, even in highly dense ion tracks. This method is suitable for the visualization of the penumbra region in a single-ion track with a high spatial resolution of 50 nm, which is sufficiently small to confirm that a single ion hits a cell nucleus with a size ranging between 5 and 20 μm.

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...

Circulation of Railway Rolling Stock: A Branch-and-Price Approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M. Peeters (Marc); L.G. Kroon (Leo)

2003-01-01

textabstractWe describe an algorithmic approach to determine an efficient railway rolling stock circulation on a single line or on a set of interacting lines. Given the timetable and the passengers? seat demand, we develop a branch-and-price algorithm that results in an allocation of rolling

Integrating rolling stock scheduling with train unit shunting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haahr, Jørgen Thorlund; Lusby, Richard Martin

2017-01-01

In this paper, we consider integrating two important railway optimization problems, in particular the Rolling Stock Scheduling Problem and the Train Unit Shunting Problem. We present two similar branch-and-cut based approaches to solve this integrated problem and, in addition, provide a comparison......, sequential approach ends in infeasibility. Furthermore, for the considered instances, solutions are typically found within a few minutes, indicating the applicability of the methodology to short-term planning....

Impact analyses for negative flexural responses (hogging) in railway prestressed concrete sleepers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaewunruen, S; Ishida, T; Remennikov, AM

2016-01-01

By nature, ballast interacts with railway concrete sleepers in order to provide bearing support to track system. Most train-track dynamic models do not consider the degradation of ballast over time. In fact, the ballast degradation causes differential settlement and impact forces acting on partial and unsupported tracks. Furthermore, localised ballast breakages underneath railseat increase the likelihood of centrebound cracks in concrete sleepers due to the unbalanced support under sleepers. This paper presents a dynamic finite element model of a standard-gauge concrete sleeper in a track system, taking into account the tensionless nature of ballast support. The finite element model was calibrated using static and dynamic responses in the past. In this paper, the effects of centre-bound ballast support on the impact behaviours of sleepers are highlighted. In addition, it is the first to demonstrate the dynamic effects of sleeper length on the dynamic design deficiency in concrete sleepers. The outcome of this study will benefit the rail maintenance criteria of track resurfacing in order to restore ballast profile and appropriate sleeper/ballast interaction. (paper)

Impact analyses for negative flexural responses (hogging) in railway prestressed concrete sleepers

Science.gov (United States)

Kaewunruen, S.; Ishida, T.; Remennikov, AM

2016-09-01

By nature, ballast interacts with railway concrete sleepers in order to provide bearing support to track system. Most train-track dynamic models do not consider the degradation of ballast over time. In fact, the ballast degradation causes differential settlement and impact forces acting on partial and unsupported tracks. Furthermore, localised ballast breakages underneath railseat increase the likelihood of centrebound cracks in concrete sleepers due to the unbalanced support under sleepers. This paper presents a dynamic finite element model of a standard-gauge concrete sleeper in a track system, taking into account the tensionless nature of ballast support. The finite element model was calibrated using static and dynamic responses in the past. In this paper, the effects of centre-bound ballast support on the impact behaviours of sleepers are highlighted. In addition, it is the first to demonstrate the dynamic effects of sleeper length on the dynamic design deficiency in concrete sleepers. The outcome of this study will benefit the rail maintenance criteria of track resurfacing in order to restore ballast profile and appropriate sleeper/ballast interaction.

Communication and Sensemaking in the Dutch Railway System: Explaining coordination failure between teams using a mixed methods approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

D. Schipper (Danny); L.M. Gerrits (Lasse)

2017-01-01

textabstractEarly in 2014, the Dutch railway system spiralled out of control after traffic management was confronted with the decision to take four double switches and two rail tracks out of service. A lack of coordination between the responsible teams resulted in the decision to stop all traffic in

A hybrid Constraint Programming/Mixed Integer Programming framework for the preventive signaling maintenance crew scheduling problem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pour, Shahrzad M.; Drake, John H.; Ejlertsen, Lena Secher

2017-01-01

A railway signaling system is a complex and interdependent system which should ensure the safe operation of trains. We introduce and address a mixed integer optimisation model for the preventive signal maintenance crew scheduling problem in the Danish railway system. The problem contains many...... to feed as ‘warm start’ solutions to a Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) solver for further optimisation. We apply the CP/MIP framework to a section of the Danish rail network and benchmark our results against both direct application of a MIP solver and modelling the problem as a Constraint Optimisation...

Strain-temperature monitor of high speed railway switch by fiber Bragg grating gauges

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Weilai; Huang, Xiaomei; Cheng, Jian; Pan, Jianjun

2010-10-01

On the 350km/h high speed railway there is a seamless track switch on a bridge. 32 Fiber Bragg Grating (FGB) gauges are used along the neutral line of the tracks to monitor the strain generated by thermal, geological and vibrational factors, and these FBG strain gauges have the function of strain expansion. Meanwhile other 6 FBG sensors are used to measure the temperature for strain compensating purpose. The Finite Element Analysis method is used to analyze the special shape of the gauges. A testing unit was used to test the FBG gauges and bare FBG on the track samples under measurable pressure and tension. The fixing and encapsulating technology of FBG gauges on the surface of the track and to protect the fiber cable to survive in the harsh conditions are discussed. The strain status of switch tracks could be obtained by processing the data from FBG strain gauges and FBG temperature sensors. The results of measurement showed that in 9 days, the strain in the track shifted 350 μɛ, and the strain curves closely correlated with the temperature curves.

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.

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

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...

Single machine scheduling with time-dependent linear deterioration and rate-modifying maintenance

OpenAIRE

Rustogi, Kabir; Strusevich, Vitaly A.

2015-01-01

We study single machine scheduling problems with linear time-dependent deterioration effects and maintenance activities. Maintenance periods (MPs) are included into the schedule, so that the machine, that gets worse during the processing, can be restored to a better state. We deal with a job-independent version of the deterioration effects, that is, all jobs share a common deterioration rate. However, we introduce a novel extension to such models and allow the deterioration rates to change af...

Single-Track Melt-Pool Measurements and Microstructures in Inconel 625

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosh, Supriyo; Ma, Li; Levine, Lyle E.; Ricker, Richard E.; Stoudt, Mark R.; Heigel, Jarred C.; Guyer, Jonathan E.

2018-02-01

We use single-track laser melting experiments and simulations on Inconel 625 to estimate the dimensions and microstructure of the resulting melt pool. Our work is based on a design-of-experiments approach which uses multiple laser power and scan speed combinations. Single-track experiments generated melt pools of certain dimensions that showed reasonable agreement with our finite-element calculations. Phase-field simulations were used to predict the size and segregation of the cellular microstructure that formed along the melt-pool boundaries for the solidification conditions that changed as a function of melt-pool dimensions.

Single-Track Melt-Pool Measurements and Microstructures in Inconel 625

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosh, Supriyo; Ma, Li; Levine, Lyle E.; Ricker, Richard E.; Stoudt, Mark R.; Heigel, Jarred C.; Guyer, Jonathan E.

2018-06-01

We use single-track laser melting experiments and simulations on Inconel 625 to estimate the dimensions and microstructure of the resulting melt pool. Our work is based on a design-of-experiments approach which uses multiple laser power and scan speed combinations. Single-track experiments generated melt pools of certain dimensions that showed reasonable agreement with our finite-element calculations. Phase-field simulations were used to predict the size and segregation of the cellular microstructure that formed along the melt-pool boundaries for the solidification conditions that changed as a function of melt-pool dimensions.

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...

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.

Heuristic algorithm for single resource constrained project scheduling problem based on the dynamic programming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stanimirović Ivan

2009-01-01

Full Text Available We introduce a heuristic method for the single resource constrained project scheduling problem, based on the dynamic programming solution of the knapsack problem. This method schedules projects with one type of resources, in the non-preemptive case: once started an activity is not interrupted and runs to completion. We compare the implementation of this method with well-known heuristic scheduling method, called Minimum Slack First (known also as Gray-Kidd algorithm, as well as with Microsoft Project.

Features of single tracks in coaxial laser cladding of a NIbased self-fluxing alloy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feldshtein Eugene

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In the present paper, the influence of coaxial laser cladding conditions on the dimensions, microstructure, phases and microhardness of Ni-based self-fluxing alloy single tracks is studied. The height and width of single tracks depend on the speed and distance of the laser cladding: increasing the nozzle distance from the deposited surface 1.4 times reduces the width of the track 1.2 - 1.3 times and increases its height 1.2 times. The increase of the laser spot speed 3 times reduces the track width 1.2 - 1.4 times and the height in 1.5 - 1.6 times. At the same time, the increase of the laser spot speed 3 times reduces the track width 1.2 - 1.4 times and the height 1.5 - 1.6 times. Regularities in the formation of single tracks microstructure with different cladding conditions are defined, as well as regularity of distribution of elements over the track depth and in the transient zone. The patterns of microhardness distribution over the track depth for different cladding conditions are found.

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.

Note: Time-gated 3D single quantum dot tracking with simultaneous spinning disk imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DeVore, M. S.; Stich, D. G.; Keller, A. M.; Phipps, M. E.; Hollingsworth, J. A.; Goodwin, P. M.; Werner, J. H.; Cleyrat, C.; Lidke, D. S.; Wilson, B. S.

2015-01-01

We describe recent upgrades to a 3D tracking microscope to include simultaneous Nipkow spinning disk imaging and time-gated single-particle tracking (SPT). Simultaneous 3D molecular tracking and spinning disk imaging enable the visualization of cellular structures and proteins around a given fluorescently labeled target molecule. The addition of photon time-gating to the SPT hardware improves signal to noise by discriminating against Raman scattering and short-lived fluorescence. In contrast to camera-based SPT, single-photon arrival times are recorded, enabling time-resolved spectroscopy (e.g., measurement of fluorescence lifetimes and photon correlations) to be performed during single molecule/particle tracking experiments

Note: Time-gated 3D single quantum dot tracking with simultaneous spinning disk imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DeVore, M. S.; Stich, D. G.; Keller, A. M.; Phipps, M. E.; Hollingsworth, J. A.; Goodwin, P. M.; Werner, J. H., E-mail: jwerner@lanl.gov [Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Mail Stop G755, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States); Cleyrat, C.; Lidke, D. S.; Wilson, B. S. [Department of Pathology and Cancer Research and Treatment Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131 (United States)

2015-12-15

We describe recent upgrades to a 3D tracking microscope to include simultaneous Nipkow spinning disk imaging and time-gated single-particle tracking (SPT). Simultaneous 3D molecular tracking and spinning disk imaging enable the visualization of cellular structures and proteins around a given fluorescently labeled target molecule. The addition of photon time-gating to the SPT hardware improves signal to noise by discriminating against Raman scattering and short-lived fluorescence. In contrast to camera-based SPT, single-photon arrival times are recorded, enabling time-resolved spectroscopy (e.g., measurement of fluorescence lifetimes and photon correlations) to be performed during single molecule/particle tracking experiments.

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...

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

Single track coincidence measurements of fluorescent and plastic nuclear track detectors in therapeutic carbon beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osinga, J-M; Jäkel, O; Ambrožová, I; Brabcová, K Pachnerová; Davídková, M; Akselrod, M S; Greilich, S

2014-01-01

In this paper we present a method for single track coincidence measurements using two different track detector materials. We employed plastic and fluorescent nuclear track detectors (PNTDs and FNTDs) in the entrance channel of a monoenergetic carbon ion beam covering the therapeutic energy range from 80 to 425 MeV/u. About 99% of all primary particle tracks detected by both detectors were successfully matched, while 1% of the particles were only detected by the FNTDs because of their superior spatial resolution. We conclude that both PNTDs and FNTDs are suitable for clinical carbon beam dosimetry with a detection efficiency of at least 98.82% and 99.83% respectively, if irradiations are performed with low fluence in the entrance channel of the ion beam. The investigated method can be adapted to other nuclear track detectors and offers the possibility to characterize new track detector materials against well-known detectors. Further, by combining two detectors with a restricted working range in the presented way a hybrid-detector system can be created with an extended and optimized working range

Characteristics of single-vehicle crashes with e-bikes in Switzerland.

Science.gov (United States)

Hertach, Patrizia; Uhr, Andrea; Niemann, Steffen; Cavegn, Mario

2018-08-01

In Switzerland, the usage and accident numbers of e-bikes have strongly increased in recent years. According to official statistics, single-vehicle accidents constitute an important crash type. Up to date, very little is known about the mechanisms and causes of these crashes. To gain more insight, a survey was conducted among 3658 e-cyclists in 2016. The crash risk and injury severity were analysed using logistic regression models. 638 (17%) e-cyclists had experienced a single-vehicle accident in road traffic since the beginning of their e-bike use. Risk factors were high riding exposure, male sex, and using the e-bike mainly for the purpose of getting to work or school. There was no effect of age on the crash risk. Skidding, falling while crossing a threshold, getting into or skidding on a tram/railway track and evasive actions were the most important accident mechanisms. The crash causes mentioned most often were a slippery road surface, riding too fast for the situation and inability to keep the balance. Women, elderly people, riders of e-bikes with a pedal support up to 45 km/h and e-cyclists who considered themselves to be less fit in comparison to people of the same age had an increased risk of injury. This study confirms the high relevance of single-vehicle crashes with e-bikes. Measures to prevent this type of accident could include the sensitisation of e-cyclists regarding the most common accident mechanisms and causes, a regular maintenance of bicycle pathways, improvements regarding tram and railway tracks and technological advancements of e-bikes. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

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...

A cloud-based electronic medical record for scheduling, tracking, and documenting examinations and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Robert W; Jacob, Jack; Matrix, Zinnia

2012-01-01

Screening by neonatologists and staging by ophthalmologists is a cost-effective intervention, but inadvertent missed examinations create a high liability. Paper tracking, bedside schedule reminders, and a computer scheduling and reminder program were compared for speed of input and retrospective missed examination rate. A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) process was then programmed for cloud-based distribution for inpatient and outpatient retinopathy of prematurity monitoring. Over 11 years, 367 premature infants in one NICU were prospectively monitored. The initial paper system missed 11% of potential examinations, the Windows server-based system missed 2%, and the current cloud-based system missed 0% of potential inpatient and outpatient examinations. Computer input of examinations took the same or less time than paper recording. A computer application with a deliberate NICU process improved the proportion of eligible neonates getting their scheduled eye examinations in a timely manner. Copyright 2012, SLACK Incorporated.

Single machine scheduling with slack due dates assignment

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Weiguo; Hu, Xiangpei; Wang, Xuyin

2017-04-01

This paper considers a single machine scheduling problem in which each job is assigned an individual due date based on a common flow allowance (i.e. all jobs have slack due date). The goal is to find a sequence for jobs, together with a due date assignment, that minimizes a non-regular criterion comprising the total weighted absolute lateness value and common flow allowance cost, where the weight is a position-dependent weight. In order to solve this problem, an ? time algorithm is proposed. Some extensions of the problem are also shown.

Comparisons of complex network based models and real train flow model to analyze Chinese railway vulnerability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ouyang, Min; Zhao, Lijing; Hong, Liu; Pan, Zhezhe

2014-01-01

Recently numerous studies have applied complex network based models to study the performance and vulnerability of infrastructure systems under various types of attacks and hazards. But how effective are these models to capture their real performance response is still a question worthy of research. Taking the Chinese railway system as an example, this paper selects three typical complex network based models, including purely topological model (PTM), purely shortest path model (PSPM), and weight (link length) based shortest path model (WBSPM), to analyze railway accessibility and flow-based vulnerability and compare their results with those from the real train flow model (RTFM). The results show that the WBSPM can produce the train routines with 83% stations and 77% railway links identical to the real routines and can approach the RTFM the best for railway vulnerability under both single and multiple component failures. The correlation coefficient for accessibility vulnerability from WBSPM and RTFM under single station failures is 0.96 while it is 0.92 for flow-based vulnerability; under multiple station failures, where each station has the same failure probability fp, the WBSPM can produce almost identical vulnerability results with those from the RTFM under almost all failures scenarios when fp is larger than 0.62 for accessibility vulnerability and 0.86 for flow-based vulnerability

Optimizing the Steel Plate Storage Yard Crane Scheduling Problem Using a Two Stage Planning/Scheduling Approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Anders Dohn; Clausen, Jens

This paper presents the Steel Plate Storage Yard Crane Scheduling Problem. The task is to generate a schedule for two gantry cranes sharing tracks. The schedule must comply with a number of constraints and at the same time be cost efficient. We propose some ideas for a two stage planning...

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.

The Concept of Limitation of the Vibration Generated by Rail-Vehicles at Railway Stations and Railway Crossings

Science.gov (United States)

Adamczyk, Jan; Targosz, Jan

2011-03-01

One of the possibilities of limitation of effects of dynamic influence of the rail-vehicles is the application of the complex objects of vibroinsulation when the mass of the vibroinsulating element is significant, and that is the case of the transporting machines and devices, when the geometric dimensions of the elements of vibroinsulation system are similar to the slab, where the process of modelling of the vibroinsulation mechanism as a discrete system, creates extreme hazards. The article presents the concept of limitation of effects of dynamic influence of the rail-vehicles and tram-vehicles, mainly in the railway tracks located at the railway stations, tram-stops and other engineering structures. The digital model was developed for simulation regarding the propagation of the vibration to the environment. The results of simulation were the basis for development of the vibroinsulation system for the rail-tracks located at the engineering structures such as railway stations, viaducts. The second part of the article presents the approach for controlling of the tension as a function of load of the railway crossing, which was modelled as discrete-continous model. The continuous systems consist of two elements, that is of the support made of elastomer and of the tension members with controlled tension depending on the crossing load. Together with development and more popular application of tension member systems in engineering structures, among others in vibroinsulation systems, it is important to include into calculations and experiments the dynamic loads of the tension member with the mass attached to it. In case of complex objects of vibroinsulation when the mass of the vibroinsulator is significant, and that is the case of the transporting machines and devices, when the geometric dimensions of the elements of vibroinsulation system are similar to the slab, where the process of modelling of the vibroinsulation mechanism as a discrete system, creates extreme

Basic Features of Customer Satisfaction with Train Schedules

Science.gov (United States)

Murakoshi, Akiko; Kunimatsu, Taketoshi; Saito, Ayano

This paper aims to reveal the fundamental features of customer satisfaction with train schedules, which is one of the most basic services provided by a railway company. A customer satisfaction survey of passengers who frequently utilize three lines in the metropolitan area was conducted; we obtained the following findings: (a) out of nine factors to evaluate a train schedule from a passenger's viewpoint, the four most important ones are the frequency of trains running, punctuality, congestion rate, and time distance; (b) the ride-frequency influences the degree of satisfaction with train schedules in a particular line; and (c) it is important to set a numeric goal for the level of customer satisfaction by grasping the relationship between the transport service and a passenger's satisfaction with that service. The difference between customer satisfaction and passenger disutility is also discussed. The findings are expected to help conduct customer satisfaction surveys and also to form the basis for establishing a method by which to evaluate a train schedule from passengers' satisfaction ratings.

Track-based event recognition in a realistic crowded environment

Science.gov (United States)

van Huis, Jasper R.; Bouma, Henri; Baan, Jan; Burghouts, Gertjan J.; Eendebak, Pieter T.; den Hollander, Richard J. M.; Dijk, Judith; van Rest, Jeroen H.

2014-10-01

Automatic detection of abnormal behavior in CCTV cameras is important to improve the security in crowded environments, such as shopping malls, airports and railway stations. This behavior can be characterized at different time scales, e.g., by small-scale subtle and obvious actions or by large-scale walking patterns and interactions between people. For example, pickpocketing can be recognized by the actual snatch (small scale), when he follows the victim, or when he interacts with an accomplice before and after the incident (longer time scale). This paper focusses on event recognition by detecting large-scale track-based patterns. Our event recognition method consists of several steps: pedestrian detection, object tracking, track-based feature computation and rule-based event classification. In the experiment, we focused on single track actions (walk, run, loiter, stop, turn) and track interactions (pass, meet, merge, split). The experiment includes a controlled setup, where 10 actors perform these actions. The method is also applied to all tracks that are generated in a crowded shopping mall in a selected time frame. The results show that most of the actions can be detected reliably (on average 90%) at a low false positive rate (1.1%), and that the interactions obtain lower detection rates (70% at 0.3% FP). This method may become one of the components that assists operators to find threatening behavior and enrich the selection of videos that are to be observed.

Framework for Railway Phase-based Planning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Rui; Landex, Alex; Nielsen, Otto Anker

spending) to evaluate the project alternatives. The comparison result can identify the most cost-efficient solution in a long run and therefore reduce the overall costs. This article defines a phase-based framework to guide the railway maintenance and renewal project planning at strategic level....... The framework evaluates the project options from a larger LCC scope: The costs from train operation companies and passengers, together with the maintenance and renewal costs from Infrastructure Managers are included in the calculation. The framework simplifies the planning processes and the LCC calculation...... and compared. A case study is introduced in the article to demonstrate how the framework works to compare timber sleepers and concrete sleepers from strategic planning level. Two Life Cycle Cost oriented policies are discussed to illustrate: high quality track is necessity to improve the cost efficiency...

Fluorescent detection of single tracks of alpha particles using lithium fluoride crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bilski, P.; Marczewska, B.

2017-01-01

Lithium fluoride single crystals were successfully used for fluorescent imaging of single tracks of alpha particles. This was realized with a standard wide-field fluorescent microscope equipped with a 100× objective. Alpha particles create F_2 and F_3"+ color centers in LiF crystals. The subsequent illumination with the blue light (wavelength around 445 nm), excites these centers and produces fluorescence with a broad band peaked at 670 nm. The observed tracks of alpha particles have diameter of about 500 nm. Focusing of the microscope at different depths in a LiF crystal, enables imaging changes of shape and position of tracks, allowing for visualization of their paths. These encouraging results are the first step towards practical application of LiF as fluorescent nuclear track detectors.

Peer-to-peer Cooperative Scheduling Architecture for National Grid Infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Matyska, Ludek; Ruda, Miroslav; Toth, Simon

For some ten years, the Czech National Grid Infrastructure MetaCentrum uses a single central PBSPro installation to schedule jobs across the country. This centralized approach keeps a full track about all the clusters, providing support for jobs spanning several sites, implementation for the fair-share policy and better overall control of the grid environment. Despite a steady progress in the increased stability and resilience to intermittent very short network failures, growing number of sites and processors makes this architecture, with a single point of failure and scalability limits, obsolete. As a result, a new scheduling architecture is proposed, which relies on higher autonomy of clusters. It is based on a peer to peer network of semi-independent schedulers for each site or even cluster. Each scheduler accepts jobs for the whole infrastructure, cooperating with other schedulers on implementation of global policies like central job accounting, fair-share, or submission of jobs across several sites. The scheduling system is integrated with the Magrathea system to support scheduling of virtual clusters, including the setup of their internal network, again eventually spanning several sites. On the other hand, each scheduler is local to one of several clusters and is able to directly control and submit jobs to them even if the connection of other scheduling peers is lost. In parallel to the change of the overall architecture, the scheduling system itself is being replaced. Instead of PBSPro, chosen originally for its declared support of large scale distributed environment, the new scheduling architecture is based on the open-source Torque system. The implementation and support for the most desired properties in PBSPro and Torque are discussed and the necessary modifications to Torque to support the MetaCentrum scheduling architecture are presented, too.

Reduction of lateral forces between the railway vehicle and the track in small-radius curves by means of active elements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michálek T.

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with a possibility of reduction of guiding forces magnitude in small-radius curves by means of active elements. These guiding forces characterize the lateral force interaction between the rail vehicle and the track and influence the wear of wheels and rails in curves. Their magnitudes are assessed in the framework of vehicle authorization process. However, in case of new railway vehicles with axleload of approximately 20t and more it is problematic to meet the condition of maximum value of the quasistatic guiding force which acts on the outer wheel of the 1st wheelset in small-radius curves. One of the possible ways how to reduce these forces is using the system of active yaw dampers. By means of computer simulations of guiding behaviour of a new electric locomotive, comparison of reached values of the quasistatic guiding forces in case of locomotive equipped with active yaw dampers and without them was performed. Influences of magnitude of force generated by the active yaw dampers, friction coefficient in wheel/rail contact and curve radius were analysed in this work, as well.

Centralized Routing and Scheduling Using Multi-Channel System Single Transceiver in 802.16d

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Hemyari, A.; Noordin, N. K.; Ng, Chee Kyun; Ismail, A.; Khatun, S.

This paper proposes a cross-layer optimized strategy that reduces the effect of interferences from neighboring nodes within a mesh networks. This cross-layer design relies on the routing information in network layer and the scheduling table in medium access control (MAC) layer. A proposed routing algorithm in network layer is exploited to find the best route for all subscriber stations (SS). Also, a proposed centralized scheduling algorithm in MAC layer is exploited to assign a time slot for each possible node transmission. The cross-layer optimized strategy is using multi-channel single transceiver and single channel single transceiver systems for WiMAX mesh networks (WMNs). Each node in WMN has a transceiver that can be tuned to any available channel for eliminating the secondary interference. Among the considered parameters in the performance analysis are interference from the neighboring nodes, hop count to the base station (BS), number of children per node, slot reuse, load balancing, quality of services (QoS), and node identifier (ID). Results show that the proposed algorithms significantly improve the system performance in terms of length of scheduling, channel utilization ratio (CUR), system throughput, and average end to end transmission delay.

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

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

Gamma-ray backscatter applied to the on-line location of termite-damaged railway sleepers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fookes, R.A.; Watt, J.S.; Seatonberry, B.W.; Davison, A.; Greig, R.A.; Lowe, H.W.G.; Abbott, A.C.

1978-01-01

A radioisotope system has been developed to locate groups of termite-damaged sleepers during continuous scans of a railway track. It depends on measuring the intensities of collimated beams of 137 Cs γ-rays backscattered from within the sleeper. The detected intensity varies with the amount of termite damage (i.e. voidage). Variations in intensity caused by changes in the density of sound sleepers are minimised by the geometrical arrangement of source, shields and detector. The Atomic Voidage Detector (AVD) has been tested in field trials on the Newman to Port Hedland railway, Western Australia. Four separate groups of termite-damaged sleepers were located and examined. The lower limit of detectable voidage depends mainly on the scanning speed and distribution of voids within the sleeper, and is very approximately 8% voidage at 10.7 km/h and 5% at 2.7 km/h. (author)

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

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

Long-Term Structural Health Monitoring System for a High-Speed Railway Bridge Structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

You-Liang Ding

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Nanjing Dashengguan Bridge, which serves as the shared corridor crossing Yangtze River for both Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway and Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu railway, is the first 6-track high-speed railway bridge with the longest span throughout the world. In order to ensure safety and detect the performance deterioration during the long-time service of the bridge, a Structural Health Monitoring (SHM system has been implemented on this bridge by the application of modern techniques in sensing, testing, computing, and network communication. The SHM system includes various sensors as well as corresponding data acquisition and transmission equipment for automatic data collection. Furthermore, an evaluation system of structural safety has been developed for the real-time condition assessment of this bridge. The mathematical correlation models describing the overall structural behavior of the bridge can be obtained with the support of the health monitoring system, which includes cross-correlation models for accelerations, correlation models between temperature and static strains of steel truss arch, and correlation models between temperature and longitudinal displacements of piers. Some evaluation results using the mean value control chart based on mathematical correlation models are presented in this paper to show the effectiveness of this SHM system in detecting the bridge’s abnormal behaviors under the varying environmental conditions such as high-speed trains and environmental temperature.

Long-Term Structural Health Monitoring System for a High-Speed Railway Bridge Structure

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Lai-Yi

2015-01-01

Nanjing Dashengguan Bridge, which serves as the shared corridor crossing Yangtze River for both Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway and Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu railway, is the first 6-track high-speed railway bridge with the longest span throughout the world. In order to ensure safety and detect the performance deterioration during the long-time service of the bridge, a Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system has been implemented on this bridge by the application of modern techniques in sensing, testing, computing, and network communication. The SHM system includes various sensors as well as corresponding data acquisition and transmission equipment for automatic data collection. Furthermore, an evaluation system of structural safety has been developed for the real-time condition assessment of this bridge. The mathematical correlation models describing the overall structural behavior of the bridge can be obtained with the support of the health monitoring system, which includes cross-correlation models for accelerations, correlation models between temperature and static strains of steel truss arch, and correlation models between temperature and longitudinal displacements of piers. Some evaluation results using the mean value control chart based on mathematical correlation models are presented in this paper to show the effectiveness of this SHM system in detecting the bridge's abnormal behaviors under the varying environmental conditions such as high-speed trains and environmental temperature. PMID:26451387

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.

The algorithm for the assessment of functional work capacity of railway workers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Okiljević Z.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The assessment of functional work capacity based on the biological function of the body and a specific job demands and job characteristics, determine whether a person is capable to do the job or group of jobs. Evaluation of work capacity (EWC railway workers is conducted according to the program of Regulations for the former and periodic examinations of employees in workplaces with high risk published in the Official Gazette of RS no. 120/ 07 and 655. Regulations on health conditions to be met by railway workers, who are directly involved in railway transport. One of the most common chronic diseases during EWC is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD. The definition of contraindications for use of railway employees with COPD given by Ordinance 655 is in very general terms, trying to make it easier and improve the quality of assessment of work capacity, we have developed an algorithm for the assessment of work ability among these workers. When doubt the existence of COPD should first prove that the disease exists, according to GOLD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease guidelines, and for occupational medicine we considered important to clarify and standardize the assessment criteria for EWC, which resulting in a diagnostic algorithm for EWC. It is also important to know which type of job will worker to do. Application of a diagnostic algorithm in EWC will allow optimal assessment of disease severity in railway and other workers suffering of COPD working at the workplace with an increased risk efficacy treatment evaluation; assess compensation of functional defects and determine schedule of periodical examination.

Direct tracking error characterization on a single-axis solar tracker

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sallaberry, Fabienne; Pujol-Nadal, Ramon; Larcher, Marco; Rittmann-Frank, Mercedes Hannelore

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The solar tracker of a small-size parabolic trough collector was tested. • A testing procedure for the tracking error characterization of a single-axis tracker was proposed. • A statistical analysis on the tracking error distribution was done regarding different variables. • The optical losses due to the tracking error were calculated based on a ray-tracing simulation. - Abstract: The solar trackers are devices used to orientate solar concentrating systems in order to increase the focusing of the solar radiation on a receiver. A solar concentrator with a medium or high concentration ratio needs to be orientated correctly by an accurate solar tracking mechanism to avoid losing the sunrays out from the receiver. Hence, to obtain an appropriate operation, it is important to know the accuracy of a solar tracker in regard to the required precision of the concentrator in order to maximize the collector optical efficiency. A procedure for the characterization of the accuracy of a solar tracker is presented for a single-axis solar tracker. More precisely, this study focuses on the estimation of the positioning angle error of a parabolic trough collector using a direct procedure. A testing procedure, adapted from the International standard IEC 62817 for photovoltaic trackers, was defined. The results show that the angular tracking error was within ±0.4° for this tracker. The optical losses due to the tracking were calculated using the longitudinal incidence angle modifier obtained by ray-tracing simulation. The acceptance angles for various transversal angles were analyzed, and the average optical loss, due to the tracking, was 0.317% during the whole testing campaign. The procedure presented in this work showed that the tracker precision was adequate for the requirements of the analyzed optical system.

High-Speed Train Stop-Schedule Optimization Based on Passenger Travel Convenience

OpenAIRE

Dingjun Chen; Shaoquan Ni; Chang’an Xu; Hongxia Lv; Simin Wang

2016-01-01

The stop-schedules for passenger trains are important to the operation planning of high-speed trains, and they decide the quality of passenger service and the transportation efficiency. This paper analyzes the specific manifestation of passenger travel convenience and proposes the concepts of interstation accessibility and degree of accessibility. In consideration of both the economic benefits of railway corporations and the travel convenience of passengers, a multitarget optimization model i...

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...

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.

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.

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

Single-machine scheduling with release dates, due dates and family setup times

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schutten, Johannes M.J.; van de Velde, S.L.; van de Velde, S.L.; Zijm, Willem H.M.

1996-01-01

We address the NP-hard problem of scheduling n independent jobs with release dates, due dates, and family setup times on a single machine to minimize the maximum lateness. This problem arises from the constant tug-of-war going on in manufacturing between efficient production and delivery

THE BASING OF STABILIZATION PARAMETERS OF A FORTIFIED RAILWAY BED

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. D. Petrenko

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The article is devoted to stabilization parameters determination of reinforced railway bed. At the present time, the railway plays the leading role in transport system to ensure the needs of freight and passenger traffic. In modern conditions railway operation concentrates on ensuring the necessary level of track reliability, including the roadbed, this is one of the main elements of road structures. The purpose of this article is the determination of basic parameters of stress-strain state to stabilize the soil subgrade embankment by reinforced materials. Methodology. To achieve this goal the following tasks of researches were solved: the effect of reinforcing layer of geomaterial on deformation properties of soil subgrade in various design of strengthening was investigated, the distributions of stresses in the subgrade were determined, reinforced of geomaterials under state load. Experimental studies to explore the nature of the deformation model subgrade at various degrees of stress were carried out. Findings. The analysis of the results of performed experimental and theoretical studies permitted to do the following conclusions. In conducting researches determined the distribution of stresses in the subgrade reinforced geomaterials under static load. The complex of experimental studies allows exploring the nature of the deformation model subgrade at various degrees of stress. Originality. On the basis of the theoretical studies have been regarded the problem of determining the stress-strain state of subgrade reinforced geomaterials by measuring stresses in its application for step loads. Practical value. The practical value was presented by the results of evaluating the effect of reinforcing way for changing the stress-strain state of subgrade.

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)

Methods to estimate railway capacity and passenger delays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Landex, Alex

that an evaluation of passenger delays obtained with simulation software (in this case RailSys) and the passenger delay model is comparable with the daily operation of the Copenhagen suburban railway network. Using a microscopic simulation model, the thesis demonstrates that it is possible to compare travel times...... of additional travel time. The differences between the different kinds of delay (train delays, passenger delays and scheduled waiting time) are illustrated through simple, but representative, case examples in CHAPTER 10. The examples demonstrate that 3rd generation passenger delay models are more realistic than...... depend on the given infrastructure and timetable and can result in longer travel times for trains and passengers. Furthermore, the thesis shows that the network effects can result in reduced capacity as some trains or train services can make it impossible to operate other planned/desired trains or train...

Single-machine scheduling with release dates, due dates, and family setup times

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.M.J. Schutten (Marco); S.L. van de Velde (Steef); W.H.M. Zijm

1996-01-01

textabstractWe address the NP-hard problem of scheduling n independent jobs with release dates, due dates, and family setup times on a single machine to minimize the maximum lateness. This problem arises from the constant tug-of-war going on in manufacturing between efficient production and delivery

The Dynamics of a Railway Vehicle on a Disturbed Track

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Lasse Engbo

This work studies a mathematical model of a bogie, the aim being to investigate the correlation between the lateral motion of the bogie and lateral irregularities of the track that the bogie is running along. When modelling the wheel-rail forces real wheel and rail profiles are used. One...... describing how the wheel-rail interaction is modelled. The fourth chapter gives a presentation of the numerical algorithms used in this work. The fifth chapter presents the results obtained during this work, it begins with an brief investigation of the dynamics when running on a straight track. The second...... section introduces some statistical measures and treats centerline irregularities when running with a fixed speed of 30 m/s. The following section investigates the behaviour of the model when the track possesses gauge irregularities. The fourth and fifth sections describe the changes observed when...

Multi-Color Single Particle Tracking with Quantum Dots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Eva Arnspang; Brewer, J. R.; Lagerholm, B. C.

2012-01-01

. multiplex single molecule sensitivity applications such as single particle tracking (SPT). In order to fully optimize single molecule multiplex application with QDs, we have in this work performed a comprehensive quantitative investigation of the fluorescence intensities, fluorescence intensity fluctuations......Quantum dots (QDs) have long promised to revolutionize fluorescence detection to include even applications requiring simultaneous multi-species detection at single molecule sensitivity. Despite the early promise, the unique optical properties of QDs have not yet been fully exploited in e. g...... further show that there is only a small size advantage in using blue-shifted QDs in biological applications because of the additional size of the water-stabilizing surface coat. Extending previous work, we finally also show that parallel four color multicolor (MC)-SPT with QDs is possible at an image...

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...

Multimodal processes scheduling in mesh-like network environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bocewicz Grzegorz

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Multimodal processes planning and scheduling play a pivotal role in many different domains including city networks, multimodal transportation systems, computer and telecommunication networks and so on. Multimodal process can be seen as a process partially processed by locally executed cyclic processes. In that context the concept of a Mesh-like Multimodal Transportation Network (MMTN in which several isomorphic subnetworks interact each other via distinguished subsets of common shared intermodal transport interchange facilities (such as a railway station, bus station or bus/tram stop as to provide a variety of demand-responsive passenger transportation services is examined. Consider a mesh-like layout of a passengers transport network equipped with different lines including buses, trams, metro, trains etc. where passenger flows are treated as multimodal processes. The goal is to provide a declarative model enabling to state a constraint satisfaction problem aimed at multimodal transportation processes scheduling encompassing passenger flow itineraries. Then, the main objective is to provide conditions guaranteeing solvability of particular transport lines scheduling, i.e. guaranteeing the right match-up of local cyclic acting bus, tram, metro and train schedules to a given passengers flow itineraries.

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.

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

Environmental surveillance master sampling schedule

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bisping, L E

1992-01-01

Environmental surveillance of the Hanford Site and surrounding areas is conducted by the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) for the US Department of Energy (DOE). This document contains the planned schedule for routine sample collection for the Surface Environmental Surveillance Project (SESP) and Ground-Water Monitoring Project. Samples for radiological analyses include Air-Particulate Filter, gases and vapor; Water/Columbia River, Onsite Pond, Spring, Irrigation, and Drinking; Foodstuffs/Animal Products including Whole Milk, Poultry and Eggs, and Beef; Foodstuffs/Produce including Leafy Vegetables, Vegetables, and Fruit; Foodstuffs/Farm Products including Wine, Wheat and Alfalfa; Wildlife; Soil; Vegetation; and Sediment. Direct Radiation Measurements include Terrestrial Locations, Columbia River Shoreline Locations, and Onsite Roadway, Railway and Aerial, Radiation Surveys.

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...

Application of FMEA method in railway signalling projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Szmel Dariusz

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The article presents the FMEA method application, which is relevant in verification of design of two separated railway signalling systems. The efficiency of the method at the stage of the design was discussed. The method was identified as an important element of safety management process and as safety analysis method, which is included in the Safety Case and is applied for the sake of safety arguments and its assessment. Safety process management comprises several phases and appropriate actions, linked with each other in the way to create safety life cycle consistent with system life cycle. The safety case is a set of documents demonstrating that the product is compliant with defined safety requirements including analysis that indicates the correctness of the design and the correct reaction of the system to the failures, with appropriate and requested fail-safe reaction. It is necessary that railway signalling system should fulfil SIL4 requirement and remain safe in case of occurrence any kind of single failure of the equipment considered as possible.

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.

Evaluating the Promise of Single-Track Year-Round Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Haenn, Joseph F.

1996-01-01

Describes two single-track year-round elementary schools in Durham, North Carolina, established in discrete attendance zones. Remediation and enrichment activities were provided during intersession. Low-SES students were overrepresented in remediation sessions. Student outcomes data (end-of-grade reading and math test scores) suggest that…

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

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.

Geometric Filtering Effect of Vertical Vibrations in Railway Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mădălina Dumitriu

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The paper herein examines the geometric filtering effect coming from the axle base of a railway vehicle upon the vertical vibrations behavior, due to the random irregularities of the track. For this purpose, the complete model of a two-level suspension and flexible carbody vehicle has been taken into account. Following the modal analysis, the movement equations have been treated in an original manner and brought to a structure that points out at the symmetrical and anti-symmetrical decoupled movements of vehicle and their excitation modes. There has been shown that the geometric filtering has a selective behavior in decreasing the level of vibrations, and its contribution is affected by the axle base magnitude, rolling speed and frequency range.

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...

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.

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...

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.

A cross-sectional study of hearing thresholds among 4627 Norwegian train and track maintenance workers.

Science.gov (United States)

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

2014-10-16

Railway workers performing maintenance work of trains and tracks could be at risk of developing noise-induced hearing loss, since they are exposed to noise levels of 75-90 dB(A) with peak exposures of 130-140 dB(C). The objective was to make a risk assessment by comparing the hearing thresholds among train and track maintenance workers with a reference group not exposed to noise and reference values from the ISO 1999. Cross-sectional. A major Norwegian railway company. 1897 and 2730 male train and track maintenance workers, respectively, all exposed to noise, and 2872 male railway traffic controllers and office workers not exposed to noise. The primary outcome was the hearing threshold (pure tone audiometry, frequencies from 0.5 to 8 kHz), and the secondary outcome was the prevalence of audiometric notches (Coles notch) of the most recent audiogram. Train and track maintenance workers aged 45 years or older had a small mean hearing loss in the 3-6 kHz area of 3-5 dB. The hearing loss was less among workers younger than 45 years. Audiometric notches were slightly more prevalent among the noise exposed (59-64%) group compared with controls (49%) for all age groups. They may therefore be a sensitive measure in disclosing an early hearing loss at a group level. Train and track maintenance workers aged 45 years or older, on average, have a slightly greater hearing loss and more audiometric notches compared with reference groups not exposed to noise. Younger (<45 years) workers have hearing thresholds comparable to the controls. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

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.

Dynamic Forces between the Rails and the Wheels of Railway Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zdravko Peran

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The process of acquisition of the measured dynamic values of forces between the rails and the wheels on the real measurement train and the train tracks. The conversion of the measured values into the matrices and vectors enables numerous exact qualitative and quantitative studies of the dynamic phenomena behaviour. The paper shows the possibilities of using MATLAB computer tool. All the commands in the software are given and explained. Calculating of the empirical, normal and cumulative distribution on an example of the lateral force is given in detail. The new software is exactly verified mathematically and qualified for any further use. The developed software is the tool for the development of other two phases: software for the exact automatic evaluation of the maximum values of the dynamic values and software for the automatic approval of vehicles and railway due to the driving safety, loading tracks and driving comfort compared to the limited values regarding UI C CODE 518.

Improvement of train-track interaction in transition zones via reduction of ballast damage

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, H.; Markine, V.L.; Dollevoet, R.P.B.J.; Shevtsov, I.Y.

2015-01-01

Transition zones in railway tracks are locations with considerable changes in the vertical stiffness of the rail support. Typically they are located near engineering structures, such as bridges, culverts, tunnels and level crossings. In such locations, the differential settlement always exists and

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS OF INTERACTION OF TRACK AND ROLLING STOCK ON CROSSOVERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. A. Arbuzov

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Recently on the Ukrainian railways network more attention is paid to the cases of violations in the maintenance of crossovers, which may lead to deterioration of the train traffic safety conditions. As a rule, such violations occur as a result of inaccuracies during crossover pegging and laying, as well as are the consequence of impact of rolling stock and thermal forces. The appearance of geometrical irregularities can also be triggered by violation of the scheme of layout of concrete sleepers in the crossover turnout curve with intertrack spaces of less than 5.3 m. Therefore, we have decided to analyze the impact of the presence of deviations from the layout scheme of the sleepers and geometric irregularities on the conditions of track and rolling stock interaction based on the results of experimental investigations. It was also decided to establish a connection between the stress-strain states of the track and the presence of short sleepers. Methodology. The effect of deviations from the layout scheme of the sleepers and geometric irregularities on the interaction conditions of track and rolling stock was studied by means of theoretical calculations and experimental research. The experimental research covered the area on the non-public railway tracks that meets the required conditions for scientific and research work on the territory of «Transinvestservice» company. Findings. The distribution of stresses and forces acting on a railway track depending on speed movement of experienced rolling stock was obtained. In addition we obtained the data on the influence of the sleeper geometric parameters on its stress-strain state. Originality. For the first time the paper assessed the impact of rolling stock in the presence of geometrical irregularities and asymmetrically truncated sleepers within the crossover connection part on the stress-strain state of track in this zone. In addition, we compared the results for the area with common and

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

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.

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.

An Improved Particle Swarm Optimization for Selective Single Machine Scheduling with Sequence Dependent Setup Costs and Downstream Demands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kun Li

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates a special single machine scheduling problem derived from practical industries, namely, the selective single machine scheduling with sequence dependent setup costs and downstream demands. Different from traditional single machine scheduling, this problem further takes into account the selection of jobs and the demands of downstream lines. This problem is formulated as a mixed integer linear programming model and an improved particle swarm optimization (PSO is proposed to solve it. To enhance the exploitation ability of the PSO, an adaptive neighborhood search with different search depth is developed based on the decision characteristics of the problem. To improve the search diversity and make the proposed PSO algorithm capable of getting out of local optimum, an elite solution pool is introduced into the PSO. Computational results based on extensive test instances show that the proposed PSO can obtain optimal solutions for small size problems and outperform the CPLEX and some other powerful algorithms for large size problems.

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.

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)

Computation and evaluation of scheduled waiting time for railway networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Landex, Alex

2010-01-01

Timetables are affected by scheduled waiting time (SWT) that prolongs the travel times for trains and thereby passengers. SWT occurs when a train hinders another train to run with the wanted speed. The SWT affects both the trains and the passengers in the trains. The passengers may be further...... affected due to longer transfer times to other trains. SWT can be estimated analytically for a given timetable or by simulation of timetables and/or plans of operation. The simulation of SWT has the benefit that it is possible to examine the entire network. This makes it possible to improve the future...

Evaluation of single tracks of 17-4PH steel manufactured at different power densities and scanning speeds by selective laser melting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Makoana, N. W.

2016-11-01

Full Text Available In Selective Laser Melting, the initial units produced are single tracks that overlap to create a single layer; from the sequence of layers, a 3D object is manufactured. The properties of the parts produced by SLM depend heavily on the properties of each single track and each layer formed by these tracks. This study evaluates the effect of processing parameters on the geometrical characteristics of single tracks manufactured from 17-4PH stainless steel powder. A single-mode continuous-wave ytterbium fibre laser was used to manufacture single tracks at laser powers in the range of 100-300 W with a constant spot size of ∼80μm. The single tracks produced were subjected to standard metallographic preparation techniques for further analysis with an optical microscope. Deep molten pool shapes were observed at low scan speeds, while shallow molten pool shapes were observed at high scan speeds. At higher laser power densities, under-cutting and humping effects were also observed. The dimensions of single tracks processed without powder generally decrease with increasing scan speed at constant laser power. However, the geometrical features of the single tracks processed with powder revealed pronounced irregularities believed to be caused by non-homogeneity in the deposited powder layer.

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

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

An innovative wheel–rail contact model for railway vehicles under degraded adhesion conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meli, E.; Ridolfi, A.

2015-01-01

The accurate modelling of the wheel–rail contact plays a fundamental role in the railway field since the contact forces heavily affect the vehicle dynamics, the wear of the contact surfaces and the vehicle safety. Concerning the wheel–rail contact, an important open problem is represented by the degraded adhesion. A realistic adhesion model is quite difficult to obtain because of the complex and highly non-linear behaviour of the adhesion coefficient and the presence of external unknown contaminants (the third body); this is especially true when degraded adhesion and large sliding between the wheel and rail contact surfaces occur.In this work the authors present an adhesion model particularly developed to describe degraded adhesion conditions. The new approach will have to be suitable to be employed within the wheel–rail contact models typical of the multibody applications. In other words, the contact model, comprising the new adhesion model, will have to guarantee a good accuracy and, at the same time, a high numerical efficiency to be implemented directly online inside the general multibody model of the vehicles (e.g. in Matlab-Simulink or Simpack environments) ( www.mathworks.com http://www.mathworks.com , 2012; www.simpack.com http://www.simpack.com , 2012).The model analysed in the paper is based on some of the main phenomena characterising the degraded adhesion, such as large sliding at the contact interface, high energy dissipation, the consequent cleaning effect on the contact surfaces and the final adhesion recovery due to the removal of external unknown contaminants.The adhesion model has been validated because of the experimental data provided by Trenitalia S.p.A. coming from on-track tests performed in Velim (Czech Republic). The tests have been carried out on a straight railway track under degraded adhesion conditions with the railway vehicle UIC-Z1 equipped with a fully-working Wheel Slide Protection (WSP) system.The validation highlighted the

An innovative wheel–rail contact model for railway vehicles under degraded adhesion conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meli, E., E-mail: enrico.meli@unifi.it; Ridolfi, A., E-mail: a.ridolfi@unifi.it [University of Florence, Department of Industrial Engineering (Italy)

2015-03-15

The accurate modelling of the wheel–rail contact plays a fundamental role in the railway field since the contact forces heavily affect the vehicle dynamics, the wear of the contact surfaces and the vehicle safety. Concerning the wheel–rail contact, an important open problem is represented by the degraded adhesion. A realistic adhesion model is quite difficult to obtain because of the complex and highly non-linear behaviour of the adhesion coefficient and the presence of external unknown contaminants (the third body); this is especially true when degraded adhesion and large sliding between the wheel and rail contact surfaces occur.In this work the authors present an adhesion model particularly developed to describe degraded adhesion conditions. The new approach will have to be suitable to be employed within the wheel–rail contact models typical of the multibody applications. In other words, the contact model, comprising the new adhesion model, will have to guarantee a good accuracy and, at the same time, a high numerical efficiency to be implemented directly online inside the general multibody model of the vehicles (e.g. in Matlab-Simulink or Simpack environments) ( www.mathworks.com http://www.mathworks.com , 2012; www.simpack.com http://www.simpack.com , 2012).The model analysed in the paper is based on some of the main phenomena characterising the degraded adhesion, such as large sliding at the contact interface, high energy dissipation, the consequent cleaning effect on the contact surfaces and the final adhesion recovery due to the removal of external unknown contaminants.The adhesion model has been validated because of the experimental data provided by Trenitalia S.p.A. coming from on-track tests performed in Velim (Czech Republic). The tests have been carried out on a straight railway track under degraded adhesion conditions with the railway vehicle UIC-Z1 equipped with a fully-working Wheel Slide Protection (WSP) system.The validation highlighted the

On-line scheduling on a single machine : maximizing the number of early jobs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoogeveen, J.A.; Potts, C.N.; Woeginger, G.J.

2000-01-01

This note deals with the scheduling problem of maximizing the number of early jobs on a single machine. We investigate the on-line version of this problem in the Preemption-Restart model. This means that jobs may be preempted, but preempting results in all the work done on this job so far being

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.

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

Neutron measurement of residual stresses in a used railway rail

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webster, P.J.; Low, K.S.; Mills, G.; Webster, G.A.

1990-01-01

The high resolution neutron diffraction technique has been applied to determine, non-destructively, the residual stress distribution developed in the head of a railway rail after normal service. Measurements were made, using the neutron strain scanner at the Institute Laue Langevin, Grenoble, on a transverse slice of rail 12mm thick taken from a section of straight track. The rail head was scanned in the three principal orientations in a series of parallel traverses sufficiently close to enable a two-dimensional matrix of data to be accumulated and vertical, transverse and longitudinal residual stress contours to be drawn. The results demonstrate the effectiveness and unique characteristics of the neutron technique to determine nondestructively and continuously the residual stresses inside engineering components

Theoretical and experimental study of single particle tracking in extreme conditions: single photon imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cajgfinger, T.

2012-10-01

This manuscript presents my thesis on the high frame rate (500 frames / second) single-photon detector electron-bombarded CMOS (ebCMOS). The first section compares three ultra-sensitive detectors and their methods for improving photon sensitivity: the CMOS low noise (sCMOS), the electron-multiplying CCD (emCCD) with signal multiplication by pixel and the ebCMOS with amplification by applied electric field. The method developed to detect single photon impacts with intra-pixel resolution on the ebCMOS sensor is presented. The second section compares the localization accuracy of these detectors in extreme conditions of very low photon flux (<10 photons/frame). First the theoretical limit is calculated using the Cramer-Rao lower bound for significant parameter sets. An experimental comparison of the detectors is then described. The setup provides one or more point sources controlled in position, signal and background noise. The results allow a comparison of the experimental effectiveness, purity and localization accuracy. The last section describes two experiments with the ebCMOS camera. The first aims at tracking hundreds of quantum dots simultaneously at the Nanoptec center. The second focuses on the swimming of bacteria at the surface at the Joliot Curie Institute. The point sources tracking algorithm using single photons and the Kalman filter implementation developed for these experiments is also described. (author)

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.

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....

Optical performance of inclined south-north single-axis tracked solar panels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Zhimin; Liu, Xinyue; Tang, Runsheng

2010-01-01

To investigate optical performance of the inclined south-north single-axis (ISN-axis, in short) tracked solar panels, a mathematical procedure to estimate the annual collectible radiation on fixed and tracked panels was suggested based on solar geometry and monthly horizontal radiation. For solar panels tracking about ISN-axis, the yearly optimal tilt-angle of ISN-axis for maximizing annual solar gain was about 3 o deviating from the site latitude in most of China except in areas with poor solar resources, and the maximum annual collectible radiation on ISN-axis tracked panels was about 97-98% of that on dual-axis tracked panels; whereas for ISN-axis tracked panels with the tilt-angle of ISN-axis being adjusted four times in a year at three fixed tilt-angles, the annual collectible radiation was almost close to that on dual-axis tracked panels, the optimum date of tilt-angle adjustment of ISN-axis was 23 days from the equinoxes, and the optimum tilt-angle adjustment value for each adjustment was about 22 o . Compared to fixed south-facing solar panels inclined at an optimal tilt-angle, the increase in the annual solar gain due to using ISN-axis sun tracking was above 30% in the areas with abundant solar resources and less than 20% in the areas with poor solar resources.

Train shunting at a workshop area

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Per Munk; Pisinger, David

2011-01-01

We consider the problem of planning the shunting of train units at a railway workshop area. Before and after the maintenance check, a train unit is parked at a depository track. The problem is to schedule the trains to workshops and depot tracks in order to complete the repairs as soon as possibl....... It turns out, that both GLS and SA find within a few minutes solutions that are a few percent from the best MIP solution found....

Railway testing using a portable ride quality and vibration measurement system with GPS

Science.gov (United States)

Mee, Brian; Whitten, Brian; Neijikovsky, Boris

1995-06-01

To conduct the testing and evaluation of railway and railway vehicles, the Federal Railroad Administration developed a protable system that consists of accelerometers oriented in the vertical and horizontal directions, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, data collection and power systems, and a portable computer. Commercial software was used to collect and display the data, while software, developed by ENSCO, was used to analyze and display results. The GPS provided dynamic location to an accuracy of 30 meters or better, and vehicle speed to within one mile per hour. The system was used in the demonstration tests of several advanced high-speed trains on Amtrak's Northeast Corrider and on other tracks in the US. The portable measurement system proved to be a simple and effective device to characterize the vibration environment of any transportation system. It is ideal for use in the assessment of the safe performance of high-speed trains operating at high cant deficiency. The system has also been used for other field tests, including braking performance and bridge monitoring. This report discusses the portable measurement system, the test applications that the system has been used for, the results of thoses tests, and the potential for improvements.

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...

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

A note on resource allocation scheduling with group technology and learning effects on a single machine

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Yuan-Yuan; Wang, Ji-Bo; Ji, Ping; He, Hongyu

2017-09-01

In this article, single-machine group scheduling with learning effects and convex resource allocation is studied. The goal is to find the optimal job schedule, the optimal group schedule, and resource allocations of jobs and groups. For the problem of minimizing the makespan subject to limited resource availability, it is proved that the problem can be solved in polynomial time under the condition that the setup times of groups are independent. For the general setup times of groups, a heuristic algorithm and a branch-and-bound algorithm are proposed, respectively. Computational experiments show that the performance of the heuristic algorithm is fairly accurate in obtaining near-optimal solutions.

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.

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...

Stray current interaction in the system of two extensive underground conductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Machczynski, W.

1993-01-01

The important problem, technically, is to evaluate the harmful effects that an electrified railway has on nearby earth-return circuits (cables, pipelines). This paper considers the effects of a DC-electrified railway system on two extensive metal conductors buried in parallel in the vicinity of the tracks. The interaction between currents flowing in both underground conductors is taken into account, whereas the reaction of the conductors' currents on the track current is disregarded. The analysis given is applicable to any DC railway system in which tracks may be represented by a single earth return circuit with current energization. It is assumed in the paper that the system considered is linear and that the earth is homogeneous. The technical application of the method is illustrated by an example of computer simulation

An ensemble classifier to predict track geometry degradation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cárdenas-Gallo, Iván; Sarmiento, Carlos A.; Morales, Gilberto A.; Bolivar, Manuel A.; Akhavan-Tabatabaei, Raha

2017-01-01

Railway operations are inherently complex and source of several problems. In particular, track geometry defects are one of the leading causes of train accidents in the United States. This paper presents a solution approach which entails the construction of an ensemble classifier to forecast the degradation of track geometry. Our classifier is constructed by solving the problem from three different perspectives: deterioration, regression and classification. We considered a different model from each perspective and our results show that using an ensemble method improves the predictive performance. - Highlights: • We present an ensemble classifier to forecast the degradation of track geometry. • Our classifier considers three perspectives: deterioration, regression and classification. • We construct and test three models and our results show that using an ensemble method improves the predictive performance.

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

Nová vysokorychlostní železniční trať

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Frýba, Ladislav

2007-01-01

Roč. 49, č. 3 (2007), s. 6-7 +příloha F ISSN 0012-5520 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA103/05/2066; GA AV ČR(CZ) IAA200710505 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20710524 Keywords : high-speed railway track * speed parameters * time schedule Subject RIV: JM - Building Engineering

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...

The Impact of Single-Gender Scheduling on Students in a Title I School

Science.gov (United States)

Moss, Janet L.

2011-01-01

This dissertation was designed to examine the impact that single-gender scheduling would have on students who attend a struggling Title I middle school. The importance of the middle level cannot be denied. Strong research points to this time in a student's life as the pivotal crux on which success and failure are balanced. Middle level educators…

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...

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.

Single quantum dot tracking reveals the impact of nanoparticle surface on intracellular state.

Science.gov (United States)

Zahid, Mohammad U; Ma, Liang; Lim, Sung Jun; Smith, Andrew M

2018-05-08

Inefficient delivery of macromolecules and nanoparticles to intracellular targets is a major bottleneck in drug delivery, genetic engineering, and molecular imaging. Here we apply live-cell single-quantum-dot imaging and tracking to analyze and classify nanoparticle states after intracellular delivery. By merging trajectory diffusion parameters with brightness measurements, multidimensional analysis reveals distinct and heterogeneous populations that are indistinguishable using single parameters alone. We derive new quantitative metrics of particle loading, cluster distribution, and vesicular release in single cells, and evaluate intracellular nanoparticles with diverse surfaces following osmotic delivery. Surface properties have a major impact on cell uptake, but little impact on the absolute cytoplasmic numbers. A key outcome is that stable zwitterionic surfaces yield uniform cytosolic behavior, ideal for imaging agents. We anticipate that this combination of quantum dots and single-particle tracking can be widely applied to design and optimize next-generation imaging probes, nanoparticle therapeutics, and biologics.

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

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.

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)

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.

Two-Agent Single-Machine Scheduling of Jobs with Time-Dependent Processing Times and Ready Times

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan-Yee Kung

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Scheduling involving jobs with time-dependent processing times has recently attracted much research attention. However, multiagent scheduling with simultaneous considerations of jobs with time-dependent processing times and ready times is relatively unexplored. Inspired by this observation, we study a two-agent single-machine scheduling problem in which the jobs have both time-dependent processing times and ready times. We consider the model in which the actual processing time of a job of the first agent is a decreasing function of its scheduled position while the actual processing time of a job of the second agent is an increasing function of its scheduled position. In addition, each job has a different ready time. The objective is to minimize the total completion time of the jobs of the first agent with the restriction that no tardy job is allowed for the second agent. We propose a branch-and-bound and several genetic algorithms to obtain optimal and near-optimal solutions for the problem, respectively. We also conduct extensive computational results to test the proposed algorithms and examine the impacts of different problem parameters on their performance.

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.

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

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.

A Feasibility Study on the Application of Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF Steel Slag for Railway Ballast Material

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taehoon Koh

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Railway ballast, for which natural crushed stone aggregates have been generally used, is an essential track component for the distribution of train loads along the rails and sleepers to the roadbed. However, the use of natural crushed stone aggregate causes environmental destruction as well as dust production in train service. This paper evaluates the feasibility of using the basic oxygen furnace (BOF steel slag as railway ballast material. A series of physical and chemical quality tests are performed to investigate the characteristics of the materials associated with the effect of aging period due to the remaining free CaO and MgO in the BOF steel slag. Three different aging periods (i.e., 0, 3, and 6 months are used to compare with various standards and the properties of the crushed stone aggregates. It is demonstrated that the physical and chemical properties of the BOF steel slag with different aging periods satisfy all requirements of standards sufficiently. Especially, the BOF steel slag without aging (i.e., 0 month provides the similar physical and chemical properties, when compared to the BOF steel slag with aging (i.e., 3 and 6 months. Thus, it is possible to apply the BOF steel slag regardless of aging periods to the railway ballast materials instead of natural crushed stone aggregates.

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.

A Wireless Fatigue Monitoring System Utilizing a Bio-Inspired Tree Ring Data Tracking Technique

OpenAIRE

Bai, Shi; Li, Xuan; Xie, Zhaohui; Zhou, Zhi; Ou, Jinping

2014-01-01

Fatigue, a hot scientific research topic for centuries, can trigger sudden failure of critical structures such as aircraft and railway systems, resulting in enormous casualties as well as economic losses. The fatigue life of certain structures is intrinsically random and few monitoring techniques are capable of tracking the full life-cycle fatigue damage. In this paper, a novel in-situ wireless real-time fatigue monitoring system using a bio-inspired tree ring data tracking technique is propo...

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.

How shift scheduling practices contribute to fatigue amongst freight rail operating employees: Findings from Canadian accident investigations.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudin-Brown, Christina M; Harris, Sarah; Rosberg, Ari

2018-02-01

Canada's freight rail system moves 70% of the country's surface goods and almost half of all exports (RAC, 2016). These include dangerous goods. Anonymous survey of freight rail operating employees conducted by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC, 2014) revealed that many do not report getting enough sleep because of their work schedules, and that fatigue may be affecting their performance at work. Besides general impairments in attention and cognitive functioning, fatigue in railway operating employees slows reaction time to safety alarms and impairs conformance to train operating requirements. Shift scheduling practices can contribute to sleep-related fatigue by restricting sleep opportunities, requiring extended periods of wakefulness and by disrupting daily (circadian) rhythms. The primary goal of accident investigation is to identify causal and contributing factors so that similar occurrences can be prevented. A database search of Transportation Safety Board (TSB) rail investigation reports published in the 21-year period from 1995 to 2015 identified 18 that cited sleep-related fatigue of freight rail operating employees as a causal, contributing, or risk finding. This number represents about 20% of TSB rail investigations from the same period in which a human factors aspect of freight train activities was a primary cause. Exploration of accident themes suggests that management of fatigue and shift scheduling in the freight rail industry is a complex issue that is often not conducive to employee circadian rhythms and sleep requirements. It also suggests that current shift scheduling and fatigue management practices may be insufficient to mitigate the associated safety risk. Railway fatigue management systems that are based on the principles of modern sleep science are needed to improve scheduling practices and mitigate the ongoing safety risk. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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...

A study of modelling simplifications in ground vibration predictions for railway traffic at grade

Science.gov (United States)

Germonpré, M.; Degrande, G.; Lombaert, G.

2017-10-01

Accurate computational models are required to predict ground-borne vibration due to railway traffic. Such models generally require a substantial computational effort. Therefore, much research has focused on developing computationally efficient methods, by either exploiting the regularity of the problem geometry in the direction along the track or assuming a simplified track structure. This paper investigates the modelling errors caused by commonly made simplifications of the track geometry. A case study is presented investigating a ballasted track in an excavation. The soil underneath the ballast is stiffened by a lime treatment. First, periodic track models with different cross sections are analyzed, revealing that a prediction of the rail receptance only requires an accurate representation of the soil layering directly underneath the ballast. A much more detailed representation of the cross sectional geometry is required, however, to calculate vibration transfer from track to free field. Second, simplifications in the longitudinal track direction are investigated by comparing 2.5D and periodic track models. This comparison shows that the 2.5D model slightly overestimates the track stiffness, while the transfer functions between track and free field are well predicted. Using a 2.5D model to predict the response during a train passage leads to an overestimation of both train-track interaction forces and free field vibrations. A combined periodic/2.5D approach is therefore proposed in this paper. First, the dynamic axle loads are computed by solving the train-track interaction problem with a periodic model. Next, the vibration transfer to the free field is computed with a 2.5D model. This combined periodic/2.5D approach only introduces small modelling errors compared to an approach in which a periodic model is used in both steps, while significantly reducing the computational cost.

Utilization of bagasse and coconut fibers waste as fillers of sandwich composite for bridge railway sleepers

Science.gov (United States)

Soehardjo, K. A.; Basuki, A.

2017-07-01

The bridge railway sleepers is an essential component in the construction of railways, as the foundation of the rail support in order to withstand the load a train that runs above it. Sleepers used in bridge construction are expected to have a longer service life, lighter weight and durable so that can be used more efficient. This research was carried out to create a model of bridges railway sleepers made of sandwich structured composite from fiber glass, epoxy resin with fillers waste of bagasse (sugar cane pulp mill) or coconut fiberboard (copra industry) that using polyurethane as an adhesive. The process of making was conditioned for small and medium industrial applications. Railway sleepers’ specifications adapted to meet the requirements of end user. The process steps in this research include; lay-up fiberglass combined with bagasse/coconut fiberboard (as fillers), gluing with epoxy resin, molded it with pressure to be solid, curing after solidification process. The specimens of composite, bagasse and coconut fiber board were tested for tensile and compressive strength. The prototype were tested of mechanical test: flexural moment test to the stand rail, flexural moment test to the middle of the sleepers and tensile strength test on one side of the sleepers, in accordance to SNI 11-3388-1994 Method testing of single block concrete sleepers and bearing single rail fastening systems. The results of mechanical testing all variations meet the technical specifications of end user such as test results for flexural moment on all prototypes, after load test, there is no visible crack. While in the tensile strength test, it seem the prototype with coconut fiberboard filler, shows better performance than bagasse fiberboard filler, the decisions is just depended on techno economic and lifetime.

Low-complexity Behavioral Model for Predictive Maintenance of Railway Turnouts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barkhordari, Pegah; Galeazzi, Roberto; Tejada, Alejandro de Miguel

2017-01-01

together with the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm – a type of subspace identification – to identify a fourth order model of the infrastructure. The robustness and predictive capability of the low-complexity behavioral model to reproduce track responses under different types of train excitations have been......Maintenance of railway infrastructures represents a major cost driver for any infrastructure manager since reliability and dependability must be guaranteed at all times. Implementation of predictive maintenance policies relies on the availability of condition monitoring systems able to assess...... the infrastructure health state. The core of any condition monitoring system is the a-priori knowledge about the process to be monitored, in the form of either mathematical models of different complexity or signal features characterizing the healthy/faulty behavior. This study investigates the identification...

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.

Optimal Rules for Single Machine Scheduling with Stochastic Breakdowns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinwei Gu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the problem of scheduling a set of jobs on a single machine subject to stochastic breakdowns, where jobs have to be restarted if preemptions occur because of breakdowns. The breakdown process of the machine is independent of the jobs processed on the machine. The processing times required to complete the jobs are constants if no breakdown occurs. The machine uptimes are independently and identically distributed (i.i.d. and are subject to a uniform distribution. It is proved that the Longest Processing Time first (LPT rule minimizes the expected makespan. For the large-scale problem, it is also showed that the Shortest Processing Time first (SPT rule is optimal to minimize the expected total completion times of all jobs.

Design Of Single-Axis And Dual-Axis Solar Tracking Systems Protected Against High Wind Speeds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mai Salaheldin Elsherbiny

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Solar energy is rapidly gaining ground as an important mean of expanding renewable energy use. Solar tracking is employed in order to maximize collected solar radiation by a photovoltaic panel. In this paper we present a prototype for Automatic solar tracker that is designed using Arduino UNO with Wind sensor to Cease Wind effect on panels if wind speed exceeds certain threshold. The Proposed solar tracker tracks the location of the sun anywhere in any time by calculating the position of the sun. For producing the maximum amount of solar energy a solar panel must always be perpendicular to the source of light. Because the sun motion plane varies daily and during the day it moves from east to west one needs two axis tracking to follow the suns position. Maximum possible power is collected when two axis tracking is done. However two axis tracking is relatively costly and complex. A compromise between maximum power collection and system simplicity is obtained by single axis tracking where the plane North south axis is fixed while the east west motion is accomplished. This work deals with the design of both single and two axis tracking systems. Automatic trackers is also compared to Fixed one in terms of Energy generated Efficiency Cost and System reliability.

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...

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.

An Evaluation of the Value of Choice-Making Opportunities in Single-Operant Arrangements: Simple Fixed- and Progressive-Ratio Schedules

Science.gov (United States)

Tiger, Jeffrey H.; Toussaint, Karen A.; Roath, Christopher T.

2010-01-01

The current study compared the effects of choice and no-choice reinforcement conditions on the task responding of 3 children with autism across 2 single-operant paradigm reinforcer assessments. The first assessment employed simple fixed-ratio (FR) schedules; the second used progressive-ratio (PR) schedules. The latter assessment identified the…

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.)

3D dual-virtual-pinhole assisted single particle tracking microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma, Ye; Wang, Yifan; Zhou, Xin; Kuang, Cuifang; Liu, Xu

2014-01-01

We propose a novel approach for high-speed, three-dimensional single particle tracking (SPT), which we refer to as dual-virtual-pinhole assisted single particle tracking microscopy (DVPaSPTM). DVPaSPTM system can obtain axial information of the sample without optical or mechanical depth scanning, so as to offer numbers of advantages including faster imaging, improved efficiency and a great reduction of photobleaching and phototoxicity. In addition, by the use of the dual-virtual-pinhole, the effect that the quantum yield exerts to the fluorescent signal can be eliminated, which makes the measurement independent of the surroundings and increases the accuracy of the result. DVPaSPTM system measures the intensity within different virtual pinholes of which the radii are given by the host computer. Axial information of fluorophores can be measured by the axial response curve through the ratio of intensity signals. We demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed method by a series of experiments. Results showed that the standard deviation of the axial measurement was 19.2 nm over a 2.5 μm range with 30 ms temporal resolution. (papers)

A Single Unexpected Change in Target- but Not Distractor Motion Impairs Multiple Object Tracking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hauke S. Meyerhoff

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Recent research addresses the question whether motion information of multiple objects contributes to maintaining a selection of objects across a period of motion. Here, we investigate whether target and/or distractor motion information is used during attentive tracking. We asked participants to track four objects and changed either the motion direction of targets, the motion direction of distractors, neither, or both during a brief flash in the middle of a tracking interval. We observed that a single direction change of targets is sufficient to impair tracking performance. In contrast, changing the motion direction of distractors had no effect on performance. This indicates that target- but not distractor motion information is evaluated during tracking.

Performance study on the east-west oriented single-axis tracked panel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Tian Pau

2009-01-01

A theoretical study on the performance of an east-west oriented single-axis tracked panel was originally proposed in this paper. Mathematic expressions applicable for calculating the angle that the tracked panel should rotate by to follow the Sun are derived. The incident angle of sunlight upon the panel as well as the instantaneous increments of solar energy captured by the panel relative to a fixed horizontal surface are then demonstrated graphically. To simulate different operation environments, three kinds of radiation sources will be considered, i.e. the extraterrestrial radiation, global radiation predicted by empirical models under clear sky situation and global radiation observed in Taiwan. Simulation results show that the yearly gains correlate positively with the radiation level, i.e. 21.2%, 13.5% and 7.4% for the extraterrestrial, predicted and observed radiations, respectively, which are far less than those obtained from a north-south oriented single-axis tracked panel. The irradiation increases with the maximum rotation angle of the panel, the benefit of increasing the rotation in overcast environment is not as good as in clear sky, for annual energy collection 45 o is recommended. The irradiation received decreases with latitude, but it has a greater gain in higher latitude zone.

Formulation of Equations of Motion for a Simply Supported Bridge under a Moving Railway Freight Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ping Lou

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Based on energy approach, the equations of motion in matrix form for the railway freight vehicle-bridge interaction system are derived, in which the dynamic contact forces between vehicle and bridge are considered as internal forces. The freight vehicle is modelled as a multi-rigid-body system, which comprises one car body, two bogie frames and four wheelsets. The bogie frame is linked with the car body through spring-dashpot suspension systems, and the bogie frame is rigidly linked with wheelsets. The bridge deck, together with railway track resting on bridge, is modelled as a simply supported Bernoulli-Euler beam and its deflection is described by superimposing modes. The direct time integration method is applied to obtain the dynamic response of the vehicle-bridge interaction system at each time step. A computer program has been developed for analyzing this system. The correctness of the proposed procedure is confirmed by one numerical example. The effect of different beam mode numbers and various surface irregularities of beam on the dynamic responses of the vehicle-bridge interaction system are investigated.

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...

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...

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.

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....

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...

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.

Estimation of wind erosion from construction of a railway in arid Northwest China

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Benli Liu

2017-06-01

Full Text Available A state-of-the-art wind erosion simulation model, the Wind Erosion Prediction System and the United States Environmental Protection Agency's AP 42 emission factors formula, were combined together to evaluate wind-blown dust emissions from various construction units from a railway construction project in the dry Gobi land in Northwest China. The influence of the climatic factors: temperature, precipitation, wind speed and direction, soil condition, protective measures, and construction disturbance were taken into account. Driven by daily and sub-daily climate data and using specific detailed management files, the process-based WEPS model was able to express the beginning, active, and ending phases of construction, as well as the degree of disturbance for the entire scope of a construction project. The Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-speed Railway was selected as a representative study because of the diversities of different climates, soil, and working schedule conditions that could be analyzed. Wind erosion from different working units included the building of roadbeds, bridges, plants, temporary houses, earth spoil and barrow pit areas, and vehicle transportation were calculated. The total wind erosion emissions, 7406 t, for the first construction area of section LXS-15 with a 14.877 km length was obtained for quantitative analysis. The method used is applicable for evaluating wind erosion from other complex surface disturbance projects.

Accurately tracking single-cell movement trajectories in microfluidic cell sorting devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Jenny; Frohberg, Nicholas J; Zhou, Enlu; Sulchek, Todd; Qiu, Peng

2018-01-01

Microfluidics are routinely used to study cellular properties, including the efficient quantification of single-cell biomechanics and label-free cell sorting based on the biomechanical properties, such as elasticity, viscosity, stiffness, and adhesion. Both quantification and sorting applications require optimal design of the microfluidic devices and mathematical modeling of the interactions between cells, fluid, and the channel of the device. As a first step toward building such a mathematical model, we collected video recordings of cells moving through a ridged microfluidic channel designed to compress and redirect cells according to cell biomechanics. We developed an efficient algorithm that automatically and accurately tracked the cell trajectories in the recordings. We tested the algorithm on recordings of cells with different stiffness, and showed the correlation between cell stiffness and the tracked trajectories. Moreover, the tracking algorithm successfully picked up subtle differences of cell motion when passing through consecutive ridges. The algorithm for accurately tracking cell trajectories paves the way for future efforts of modeling the flow, forces, and dynamics of cell properties in microfluidics applications.

Accurately tracking single-cell movement trajectories in microfluidic cell sorting devices.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jenny Jeong

Full Text Available Microfluidics are routinely used to study cellular properties, including the efficient quantification of single-cell biomechanics and label-free cell sorting based on the biomechanical properties, such as elasticity, viscosity, stiffness, and adhesion. Both quantification and sorting applications require optimal design of the microfluidic devices and mathematical modeling of the interactions between cells, fluid, and the channel of the device. As a first step toward building such a mathematical model, we collected video recordings of cells moving through a ridged microfluidic channel designed to compress and redirect cells according to cell biomechanics. We developed an efficient algorithm that automatically and accurately tracked the cell trajectories in the recordings. We tested the algorithm on recordings of cells with different stiffness, and showed the correlation between cell stiffness and the tracked trajectories. Moreover, the tracking algorithm successfully picked up subtle differences of cell motion when passing through consecutive ridges. The algorithm for accurately tracking cell trajectories paves the way for future efforts of modeling the flow, forces, and dynamics of cell properties in microfluidics applications.

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.

LATTE - Log and Time Tracking for Elections

Data.gov (United States)

Office of Personnel Management — LATTE - Log and Time Tracking for Elections is a time tracking and voucher preparation system used to schedule employees to cover elections, to document their time...

[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

Improved Space Surveillance Network (SSN) Scheduling using Artificial Intelligence Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Stottler, D.

There are close to 20,000 cataloged manmade objects in space, the large majority of which are not active, functioning satellites. These are tracked by phased array and mechanical radars and ground and space-based optical telescopes, collectively known as the Space Surveillance Network (SSN). A better SSN schedule of observations could, using exactly the same legacy sensor resources, improve space catalog accuracy through more complementary tracking, provide better responsiveness to real-time changes, better track small debris in low earth orbit (LEO) through efficient use of applicable sensors, efficiently track deep space (DS) frequent revisit objects, handle increased numbers of objects and new types of sensors, and take advantage of future improved communication and control to globally optimize the SSN schedule. We have developed a scheduling algorithm that takes as input the space catalog and the associated covariance matrices and produces a globally optimized schedule for each sensor site as to what objects to observe and when. This algorithm is able to schedule more observations with the same sensor resources and have those observations be more complementary, in terms of the precision with which each orbit metric is known, to produce a satellite observation schedule that, when executed, minimizes the covariances across the entire space object catalog. If used operationally, the results would be significantly increased accuracy of the space catalog with fewer lost objects with the same set of sensor resources. This approach inherently can also trade-off fewer high priority tasks against more lower-priority tasks, when there is benefit in doing so. Currently the project has completed a prototyping and feasibility study, using open source data on the SSN's sensors, that showed significant reduction in orbit metric covariances. The algorithm techniques and results will be discussed along with future directions for the research.

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...

JIT single machine scheduling problem with periodic preventive maintenance

Science.gov (United States)

Shahriari, Mohammadreza; Shoja, Naghi; Zade, Amir Ebrahimi; Barak, Sasan; Sharifi, Mani

2016-09-01

This article investigates a JIT single machine scheduling problem with a periodic preventive maintenance. Also to maintain the quality of the products, there is a limitation on the maximum number of allowable jobs in each period. The proposed bi-objective mixed integer model minimizes total earliness-tardiness and makespan simultaneously. Due to the computational complexity of the problem, multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) algorithm is implemented. Also, as well as MOPSO, two other optimization algorithms are used for comparing the results. Eventually, Taguchi method with metrics analysis is presented to tune the algorithms' parameters and a multiple criterion decision making technique based on the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution is applied to choose the best algorithm. Comparison results confirmed the supremacy of MOPSO to the other algorithms.

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 ...

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

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.

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.

Railway diagnosis of electric transport

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yushkov Vladimir Sergeevich

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The increase in noise level at cities is increasing the requirements to functional interaction of road users - pedestrians and drivers - with the parameters of the environment as a leading component of Afferentation synthesis in the complicated complex of locomotive activity. City noise is one of the most widespread factors of unfavorable living and working conditions. The noise of high intensity provokes diseases, lowers labor activity. At present, many large cities pay much attention to electric vehicles. The authors present an analysis of the poor state of tram track in areas of high noise and vibration of car and under-sleeper base design. A negative effect of noise and vibration on the formation of urban areas environment is shown as well as the impact of these conditions on the person. The advantages of the application of electric transport are specified, noise displacement curve of railway and under sleeper base is plotted depending on the frequency of the applied load and the modulus of elasticity, as well as under sleeper base vibroacceleration depending on time. The authors offer a systematic study on the basis of a mathematical model of the sources of noise in the process of a tram motion.

Coupled Finite Element/Boundary Element Analysis of a Vehicle Moving Along a Railway Track

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Lars; Nielsen, Søren R. K.

2004-01-01

Trains running in build-up areas are a source to ground-borne noise. A careful design of the track structure may be one way of minimizing the vibrations in the surroundings. For example, open or in-filled trenches may be constructed along the track, or the soil underneath the track may be improved...

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.

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.

TrackArt: the user friendly interface for single molecule tracking data analysis and simulation applied to complex diffusion in mica supported lipid bilayers.

Science.gov (United States)

Matysik, Artur; Kraut, Rachel S

2014-05-01

Single molecule tracking (SMT) analysis of fluorescently tagged lipid and protein probes is an attractive alternative to ensemble averaged methods such as fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) or fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) for measuring diffusion in artificial and plasma membranes. The meaningful estimation of diffusion coefficients and their errors is however not straightforward, and is heavily dependent on sample type, acquisition method, and equipment used. Many approaches require advanced computing and programming skills for their implementation. Here we present TrackArt software, an accessible graphic interface for simulation and complex analysis of multiple particle paths. Imported trajectories can be filtered to eliminate spurious or corrupted tracks, and are then analyzed using several previously described methodologies, to yield single or multiple diffusion coefficients, their population fractions, and estimated errors. We use TrackArt to analyze the single-molecule diffusion behavior of a sphingolipid analog SM-Atto647N, in mica supported DOPC (1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) bilayers. Fitting with a two-component diffusion model confirms the existence of two separate populations of diffusing particles in these bilayers on mica. As a demonstration of the TrackArt workflow, we characterize and discuss the effective activation energies required to increase the diffusion rates of these populations, obtained from Arrhenius plots of temperature-dependent diffusion. Finally, TrackArt provides a simulation module, allowing the user to generate models with multiple particle trajectories, diffusing with different characteristics. Maps of domains, acting as impermeable or permeable obstacles for particles diffusing with given rate constants and diffusion coefficients, can be simulated or imported from an image. Importantly, this allows one to use simulated data with a known diffusion behavior as a comparison for results

Creating Intelligent Computer Workstation of a Freight Officer in a Single Information Space of Railway Transport: Synergetic Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Malybaev, Saken K.; Malaybaev, Nurlan S.; Isina, Botakoz M.; Kenzhekeeva, Akbope R.; Khuangan, Nurbol

2016-01-01

The article presents the results of researches aimed at the creation of automated workplaces for railway transport specialists with the help of intelligent information systems. The analysis of tendencies of information technologies development in the transport network was conducted. It was determined that the most effective approach is to create…

THE RAILMAPPER – A DEDICATED MOBILE LIDAR MAPPING SYSTEM FOR RAILWAY NETWORKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Kremer

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The Mobile LiDAR Mapping System StreetMapper from IGI and 3D Laser Mapping (Bingham Nottingham, UK is mounted on a large variety of road vehicles to cover different mission specifications. In addition to the operation on the road, the system finds its applications on other kinds of vehicles, like boats or trains. The modular and flexible system concept even allows utilizing the same LiDAR Mapping system for Mobile Mapping on the ground and for airborne missions on helicopters, respectively. Besides this general flexibility, each application has its own special requirements. Special hardware and software components are needed to complete the core components, like the laser scanner and the GNSS/IMU systems, to build a dedicated system for the chosen task. Compared to the typical dynamics of a road vehicle mounted Mobile Mapping system, a dedicated rail mapping system operates under conditions that are much more challenging for a high accuracy GNSS/IMU trajectory determination. Furthermore, the typical rail mapping tasks, like the exact measurement of the rail track geometry, require the operation of the most accurate laser scanners and of specialized post-processing software. In this paper, the RailMapper, a specialized Mobile Mapping system for railway surveys is presented. The system is described with focus on the railway specific requirements and results of practical surveys are given.

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...

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)

Truck circuits diagnosis for railway lines equipped with an automatic block signalling system

Science.gov (United States)

Spunei, E.; Piroi, I.; Muscai, C.; Răduca, E.; Piroi, F.

2018-01-01

This work presents a diagnosis method for detecting track circuits failures on a railway traffic line equipped with an Automatic Block Signalling installation. The diagnosis method uses the installation’s electrical schemas, based on which a series of diagnosis charts have been created. Further, the diagnosis charts were used to develop a software package, CDCBla, which substantially contributes to reducing the diagnosis time and human error during failure remedies. The proposed method can also be used as a training package for the maintenance staff. Since the diagnosis method here does not need signal or measurement inputs, using it does not necessitate additional IT knowledge and can be deployed on a mobile computing device (tablet, smart phone).

Diffracted X-ray tracking: new system for single molecular detection with X-rays

CERN Document Server

Sasaki, Y C; Adachi, S; Suzuki, Y; Yagi, N

2001-01-01

We propose a new X-ray methodology for direct observations of the behaviors of single molecular units in real time and real space. This new system, which we call Diffracted X-ray Tracking (DXT), monitors the Brownian motions of a single molecular unit by observations of X-ray diffracted spots from a nanocrystal, tightly bound to the individual single molecular unit in bio-systems. DXT does not determine any translational movements, but only orientational movements.

Diffracted X-ray tracking: new system for single molecular detection with X-rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasaki, Y.C.; Okumura, Y.; Adachi, S.; Suzuki, Y.; Yagi, N.

2001-01-01

We propose a new X-ray methodology for direct observations of the behaviors of single molecular units in real time and real space. This new system, which we call Diffracted X-ray Tracking (DXT), monitors the Brownian motions of a single molecular unit by observations of X-ray diffracted spots from a nanocrystal, tightly bound to the individual single molecular unit in bio-systems. DXT does not determine any translational movements, but only orientational movements

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.

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...

Evaluation of Railway Level Crossing Attributes on Accident Causation in Lagos, Nigeria.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adeolu O Dina

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract The study examines the contribution of Railway Level Crossing (RLCphysical attributes to accident occurrence using the12 major level crossings within the Lagos metropolis. The 48km single track mainline section under consideration which barely make up 1.1% of the entire narrow gauge track network of the country within a 5 year period contributed about 45% of the total National crossing accidents recorded in Nigeria. The method of investigation involved recording the individual attributes of each RLC such asgates, pedestrian traffic, car traffic light, proximity of signage to crossing, vehicular traffic as dummy variables.The regression analysis  was used to measure their effect on accidents.The result indicates gates, pedestrians and the location of signage had significant impact on accidents occurrence at level crossings within Lagos metropolis. Based on the findings, enhancement of active warning systems among other recommendations was suggested as potent counter measures for RLC accident reduction. Abstrak Penelitian menguji tingkat kontribusi atribut fisik dari perlintasan jalan kereta api terhadap kejadian kecelakaan menggunakan 12 perlintasan utama dalam kota metropolis Lagos. 48 km jalan utama tunggal menjadi pertimbangan yang hampir meningkat 1.1% dari seluruh trek sempit jaringan negara dalam jangka waktu 5 tahun menyumbang sekitar 45% dari total kecelakaan perlintasan secara Nasional di Nigeria. Metode penelitian melibatkan catatan dari masing-masing atribut RLC seperti pintu gerbang, pejalan kaki, lampu lalu lintas mobil, kedekatan tanda penyebarangan, lalu lintas kendaraan sebagai variabel dumi. Analisis regresi digunakan untuk mengukur pengaruh dari atribut terhadap kecelakaan. Hasilnya menunjukkan pintu gerbang, pejalan kaki, dan lokasi tanda perlintasan mempunyai dampak signifikan pada kecelakaan dalam kota metropolis Lagos.Berdasarkan penemuan tersebut, perbaikan dari sistem peringatan aktif disarankan sebagai upaya

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

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.

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