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

Real-Time Track Reallocation for Emergency Incidents at Large Railway Stations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Liu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available After track capacity breakdowns at a railway station, train dispatchers need to generate appropriate track reallocation plans to recover the impacted train schedule and minimize the expected total train delay time under stochastic scenarios. This paper focuses on the real-time track reallocation problem when tracks break down at large railway stations. To represent these cases, virtual trains are introduced and activated to occupy the accident tracks. A mathematical programming model is developed, which aims at minimizing the total occupation time of station bottleneck sections to avoid train delays. In addition, a hybrid algorithm between the genetic algorithm and the simulated annealing algorithm is designed. The case study from the Baoji railway station in China verifies the efficiency of the proposed model and the algorithm. Numerical results indicate that, during a daily and shift transport plan from 8:00 to 8:30, if five tracks break down simultaneously, this will disturb train schedules (result in train arrival and departure delays.

A Predictive Maintenance Model for Railway Tracks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Rui; Wen, Min; Salling, Kim Bang

2015-01-01

presents a mathematical model based on Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) which is designed to optimize the predictive railway tamping activities for ballasted track for the time horizon up to four years. The objective function is setup to minimize the actual costs for the tamping machine (measured by time......). Five technical and economic aspects are taken into account to schedule tamping: (1) track degradation of the standard deviation of the longitudinal level over time; (2) track geometrical alignment; (3) track quality thresholds based on the train speed limits; (4) the dependency of the track quality...

Corrosion processes on weathering steel railway bridge in Prague

OpenAIRE

Urban, Viktor; Křivý, Vít; Buchta, Vojtěch

2016-01-01

This contribution deals with experimental corrosion tests carried out on the weathering steel railway bridge in Prague. The basic specific property of the weathering steel is an ability to create in favourable environment a protective patina layer on its surface. Since 1968 weathering steel is used under the name “Atmofix” in the Czech Republic and can be used as a standard structural material without any corrosion protection. The weathering steel Atmofix is mostly used for bridge structures ...

FEATURES OF THE RESEARCH WORK ELEMENTS DEFORMABILITY OF RAILWAY TRACK

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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

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.

PROCESS FEATURES OF FLUCTUATIONS PROPAGATION AT STRESS-STRAIN WORK OF THE RAILWAY TRACK

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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

Viscoelastic dynamic models of resilient elements used in railway tracks

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Zbiciak Artur

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents selected theoretical aspects concerning viscoelastic dynamic modelling of resilient elements used in railway tracks. In order to characterize the research methodology for resilient mats in railway tracks, German Standards [1-4] are used herein. The main goal of the paper is to demonstrate the procedure of insertion loss calculation for a single degree of freedom truck system containing under-ballast mats. Selected results of certain dynamic characteristics of resilient truck systems (transmissibility, Bode and Nyquist plots etc. are also discussed. The results of calculations visualized in graphs, were obtained by using own applications written in programming language MATLAB.

[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.

The Effect of Heat Treatment on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Cast Bainitic Steel Used for Frogs in Railway Crossovers

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Parzych S.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This work deals with the effect of heat treatment on a microstructure and mechanical properties of a selected cast steel assigned as a material used for frogs in railway crossovers. Materials used nowadays in the railway industry for frogs e.g. Hadfield cast steel (GX120Mn13 or wrougth pearlitic steel (eg. R260 do not fulfil all exploitation requirements indicated in the UIC (International Union of Railways Decision No. 1692/96 in terms of train speed that should be reached on railways. One of the possible solution is using a cast steel with bainitic or bainitic-martensitic microstructure that allows to gain high strength properties the ultimate tensile strength (UTS of 1400 MPa, the tensile yield strength (TYS of 900 MPa and the hardness of up to 400 BHN. The tested material is considered as an alternative to Hadfield cast steel that is currently used for railway frogs.

Study of Railway Track Irregularity Standard Deviation Time Series Based on Data Mining and Linear Model

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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.

75 FR 8114 - In the Matter of Certain Cast Steel Railway Wheels, Processes for Manufacturing or Relating to...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-23

... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Inv. No. 337-TA-655] In the Matter of Certain Cast Steel Railway Wheels, Processes for Manufacturing or Relating to Same and Certain Products Containing Same ; Issuance... to cast steel railway wheels and products containing same manufactured by or for Respondents using...

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

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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.

Monitoring DC stray current interference of steel sheet pile structures in railway environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peelen, W.H.A.; Neeft, E.A.C.; Leegwater, G.; Kanten-Roos, W. van; Courage, W.M.G.

2011-01-01

Steel structures near DC powered railways are expected to be affected by stray current interference. This causes accelerated corrosion rates. Therefore steel is often not used as a building material in these cases, although certain advantages over the alternative material concrete exist. These

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.

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

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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

Experimental Analysis of Stiffness of the Riveted Steel Railway Bridge Deck Members’ Joints

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gocál Jozef

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the real behaviour of the riveted steel railway bridge deck members’ connections with respect to their bending stiffness. Attention is paid to the stringer-to-cross beam connection as well as the cross beam-to-main girder connection. The stiffness of the two connections is investigated on the basis of evaluation of the experimentally determined stress response of the observed structural members to the actual traffic load on an existing railway bridge.

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,...

Track Detection in Railway Sidings Based on MEMS Gyroscope Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Broquetas, Antoni; Comerón, Adolf; Gelonch, Antoni; Fuertes, Josep M.; Castro, J. Antonio; Felip, Damià; López, Miguel A.; Pulido, José A.

2012-01-01

The paper presents a two-step technique for real-time track detection in single-track railway sidings using low-cost MEMS gyroscopes. The objective is to reliably know the path the train has taken in a switch, diverted or main road, immediately after the train head leaves the switch. The signal delivered by the gyroscope is first processed by an adaptive low-pass filter that rejects noise and converts the temporal turn rate data in degree/second units into spatial turn rate data in degree/meter. The conversion is based on the travelled distance taken from odometer data. The filter is implemented to achieve a speed-dependent cut-off frequency to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio. Although direct comparison of the filtered turn rate signal with a predetermined threshold is possible, the paper shows that better detection performance can be achieved by processing the turn rate signal with a filter matched to the rail switch curvature parameters. Implementation aspects of the track detector have been optimized for real-time operation. The detector has been tested with both simulated data and real data acquired in railway campaigns. PMID:23443376

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

Biobjective Optimization of Vibration Performance of Steel-Spring Floating Slab Tracks by Four-Pole Parameter Method Coupled with Ant Colony Optimization

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Hao Jin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Steel-spring floating slab tracks are one of the most effective methods to reduce vibrations from underground railways, which has drawn more and more attention in scientific communities. In this paper, the steel-spring floating slab track located in Track Vibration Abatement and Control Laboratory was modeled with four-pole parameter method. The influences of the fastener damping ratio, the fastener stiffness, the steel-spring damping ratio, and the steel-spring stiffness were researched for the rail displacement and the foundation acceleration. Results show that the rail displacement and the foundation acceleration will decrease with the increase of the fastener stiffness or the steel-spring damping ratio. However, the rail displacement and the foundation acceleration have the opposite variation tendency for the fastener damping ratio and the steel-spring stiffness. In order to optimize the rail displacement and the foundation acceleration affected by the fastener damping ratio and the steel-spring stiffness at the same time, a multiobjective ant colony optimization (ACO was employed. Eventually, Pareto optimal frontier of the rail displacement and the foundation acceleration was derived. Furthermore, the desirable values of the fastener damping ratio and the steel-spring stiffness can be obtained according to the corresponding Pareto optimal solution set.

Stiffness of Railway Soil-Steel Structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Machelski Czesław

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The considerable influence of the soil backfill properties and that of the method of compacting it on the stiffness of soil-steel structures is characteristic of the latter. The above factors (exhibiting randomness become apparent in shell deformation measurements conducted during construction and proof test loading. A definition of soil-shell structure stiffness, calculated on the basis of shell deflection under the service load, is proposed in the paper. It is demonstrated that the stiffness is the inverse of the deflection influence function used in structural mechanics. The moving load methodology is shown to be useful for testing, since it makes it possible to map the shell deflection influence line also in the case of group loads (concentrated forces, as in bridges. The analyzed cases show that the shell’s span, geometry (static scheme and the height of earth fill influence the stiffness of the structure. The soil-steel structure’s characteristic parameter in the form of stiffness k is more suitable for assessing the quality of construction works than the proposed in code geometric index ω applied to beam structures. As shown in the given examples, parameter k is more effective than stiffness parameter λ used to estimate the deformation of soil-steel structures under construction. Although the examples concern railway structures, the methodology proposed in the paper is suitable also for road bridges.

Stiffness of Railway Soil-Steel Structures

Science.gov (United States)

Machelski, Czesław

2015-12-01

The considerable influence of the soil backfill properties and that of the method of compacting it on the stiffness of soil-steel structures is characteristic of the latter. The above factors (exhibiting randomness) become apparent in shell deformation measurements conducted during construction and proof test loading. A definition of soil-shell structure stiffness, calculated on the basis of shell deflection under the service load, is proposed in the paper. It is demonstrated that the stiffness is the inverse of the deflection influence function used in structural mechanics. The moving load methodology is shown to be useful for testing, since it makes it possible to map the shell deflection influence line also in the case of group loads (concentrated forces), as in bridges. The analyzed cases show that the shell's span, geometry (static scheme) and the height of earth fill influence the stiffness of the structure. The soil-steel structure's characteristic parameter in the form of stiffness k is more suitable for assessing the quality of construction works than the proposed in code geometric index ω applied to beam structures. As shown in the given examples, parameter k is more effective than stiffness parameter λ used to estimate the deformation of soil-steel structures under construction. Although the examples concern railway structures, the methodology proposed in the paper is suitable also for road bridges.

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

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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, ...

Influence of heat treatment on microstructure and properties of bainitic cast steel used for frogs in railway crossovers

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E. Tasak

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This work deals with influence of heat treatment on microstructure and properties of sample cast assigned as a material used for frogs in railway crossover. Materials used in railway industry for frogs (manganese cast steel and forged pearlitic steel do not fulfil strict conditions of exploitation of railway. One of the solutions is using cast steel with bainitic or bainite-martensite microstructure, what allows to gain high resistance properties (Rm = 1400 MPa, Rp0,2 = 900 MPa, hardness to 400 HBW. The cooling rates of rail type UIC60 shows that it is possible to reach the bainitic microstructure in cast of frog. The microstructure of lower banite should have an advantageous influence on cracking resistance. In order to set the parameters of heat treatment, the critical temperatures were determined by dilatometric methods determined. This heat treatment consisted of normalizing that prepared it to the farther process of resistance welding. Moreover, the CCT diagram of proposed bainitic cast steel was prepared. The exams were done that can be used to evaluate the influence of heat treatment on microstructure and properties of the sample cast.

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.

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.

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.

Stress-strain properties of railway steel at strain rates of upto 105 per second

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashmi, M.S.J.; Islam, M.N.

1985-01-01

This paper presents the stress-strain characteristics of railway steel at strain rates of up to 10 5 /s at room temperature determined by a new technique. In determining the results, account has been taken of the strain-rate variation, the total strain and the strain rate history. The effect of friction, material inertia and temperature rise is also assessed and an empirical constitutive equation describing the strain-rate and strain sensitive flow stress for this type of steel is proposed. (orig.)

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.

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

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.

Microstructural characterisation and corrosion performance of old railway girder bridge steel and modern weathering structural steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tewary, N.K.; Kundu, A.; Nandi, R.; Saha, J.K.; Ghosh, S.K.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Microstructure and corrosion performance are compared for two structural steels. • Microstructure evolution shows primarily ferrite-pearlite in both the steels. • Steels show higher corrosion rate in 1% HCl solution than in 3.5% NaCl solution. • The corrosion products show the presence of oxide, hydroxide and oxy-hydroxides. • The corroded surface reveals morphologies like flowery, cotton balls and rosette. - Abstract: A comparison on microstructure and corrosion performance has been made between the two structural steels used in old railway girder bridge (Sample A) and modern grades of weathering structural steel (Sample B). The microstructures, viewed under optical microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM), show mainly ferrite-pearlite phase constituents in both the steels, A and B. The phase fraction analysis shows higher amount of pearlite in steel A compared to that of steel B. The grain size of steel A is larger than that of steel B under identical processing condition. The immersion corrosion test in 3.5% NaCl shows that the corrosion rate of steel A increases with time, while the same for steel B decreases with time. On the other hand, corrosion test in 1% HCl shows that the corrosion rate of both steel A and B is higher as compared to that of NaCl which always decreases with time. The XRD analysis of corrosion products show the presence of many oxides, hydroxide and oxy-hydroxide like Lepidocrocite (γ-FeOOH), Goethite (α-FeOOH), Akaganeite (β-FeOOH), Magnetite (Fe_3O_4) and Maghemite (γ-Fe_2O_3) in both the steels. The SEM images of corroded surfaces reveal different morphologies like flowery, cotton balls and rosette etc. which indicate that the corrosion products primarily contain Lepidocrocite (γ-FeOOH), Goethite (α-FeOOH) and Akaganeite (β-FeOOH).

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.

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...

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...

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....

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

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/

Optimal Scheduling of Railway Track Possessions in Large-Scale Projects with Multiple Construction Works

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Rui; Roberti, Roberto

2017-01-01

satisfying different operational constraints and minimizing the total construction cost. To find an optimal solution of the RTPSP, this paper proposes an approach that, first, transfers the nominal market prices into track-possession-based real prices, and then generates a schedule of the construction works...... by solving a mixed-integer linear-programming model for the given track blocking proposal. The proposed approach is tested on a real-life case study from the Danish railway infrastructure manager. The results show that, in 2 h of computing time, the approach is able to provide solutions that are within 0...

A tutorial on fundamental model structures for railway timetable optimization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harrod, Steven

2012-01-01

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

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.

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 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

Fatigue damage of steel components

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fæster, Søren; Zhang, Xiaodan; Huang, Xiaoxu

2014-01-01

Railway rails and the inner ring in roller bearings in wind turbines are both experiencing steel-to-steel contact in small areas with huge loads resulting in extremely high stresses in the base materials......Railway rails and the inner ring in roller bearings in wind turbines are both experiencing steel-to-steel contact in small areas with huge loads resulting in extremely high stresses in the base materials...

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...

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...

Using a very low level radioactive steel from decommissioning of nuclear installation for the construction of railway structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slimak, A.; Necas, V.

2012-01-01

During the operation, but especially during decommissioning (SW) of operation, there is a large amount of radioactive waste, whose activity only slightly exceeds the limits for unrestricted use, or for the unconditional release into the environment. In particular, metal and concrete debris. Processing, treatment and disposal of such waste would require considerable funds, and also storage space would be quickly filled up. A convenient way to use a large number of low-activity materials seems to be conditional release, which will reuse the materials for a particular purpose. The paper deals with use of a very low level of steel from decommissioning of nuclear installations for construction of the railway bridge. The task of the present paper is to review the impact of conditionally released steel on population and to determine what level of mass activity of the steel meets the limits prescribed by law. For impact assessment of conditionally released steel on population there was selected computing resource VISIPLAN 3D ALARA Planning Tool. (author)

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.

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.

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.

Environmental life cycle assessment of railway bridge materials using UHPFRC

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bizjak Karmen Fifer

2016-10-01

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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....

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

Numerical investigation into thermal load responses of steel railway bridge

Science.gov (United States)

Saravana Raja Mohan, K.; Sreemathy, J. R.; Saravanan, U.

2017-07-01

Bridge design requires consideration of the effects produced by temperature variations and the resultant thermal gradients in the structure. Temperature fluctuation leads to expansion and contraction of bridges and these movements are taken care by providing expansion joints and bearings. Free movements of a member can be restrained by imposing certain boundary condition but at the same time considerable allowances should be made for the stresses resulting from this restrained condition since the additional deformations and stresses produced may affect the ultimate and serviceability limit states of the structure. If the reaction force generated by the restraints is very large, then its omission can lead to unsafe design. The principal objective of this research is to study the effects of temperature variation on stresses and deflection in a steel railway bridge. A numerical model, based on finite element analysis is presented for evaluating the thermal performance of the bridge. The selected bridge is analyzed and the temperature field distribution and the corresponding thermal stresses and strains are calculated using the finite element software ABAQUS. A thorough understanding of the thermal load responses of a structure will result in safer and dependable design practices.

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.

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

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.

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)

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...

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.

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

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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

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)....

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.

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.

THE BAINITIC STEELS FOR RAILS APPLICATIONS

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Ivo Hlavatý

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Actual trends of worldwide railway transport development are characterized by increasing speed and growth of railway’s axels load. Increasing load together with transverse, longitudinal wheel displacement and braking on the rails results into heavy surface tension. One of many applications for bainitic steel is in railway transport for highly strength and wear resistant rails. Rail steel must be designed to be able to resist plastic deformation, wear, rolling contact fatigue, bending stress and thermal stress during rail welding process and rails resurfacing.

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.

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

THE ROLE OF SHIELDING GAS ON MECHANICAL, METALLURGICAL AND CORROSION PROPERTIES OF CORTEN STEEL WELDED JOINTS OF RAILWAY COACHES USING GMAW

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Byju John

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This analysis lays emphasis on finding a suitable combination of shielding gas for welding underframe members such as sole bar of Railway Coaches made of corten steel; for improved mechanical, metallurgical and corrosion properties of welds using copper coated solid MIG/MAG welding filler wire size 1.2 mm conforming to AWS/SFA 5.18 ER 70 S in Semi-automatic GMAW process. Solid filler wire is preferred by welders due to less fumes, practically no slag and easy manipulation of welding torch with smooth wire flow during corrosion repair attention, when compared to Flux cored wire. Three joints using Gas metal arc welding (GMAW with shielding gases viz., Pure CO2, (80% Ar – 20% CO2 and (90% Ar – 10% CO2 were made from test pieces cut from Sole bar material of Railway Coach. Study of Mechanical properties such as tensile strength, hardness and toughness revealed that welded joint made using shielding gas (80% Ar – 20% CO2 has better Mechanical properties compared to the other two shielding gases and comparable to that of Parent metal. Type of Shielding gas used has influence on the chemical composition and macro & micro structures. The Tafel extrapolation study of freshly ground samples in 3.5% NaCl solution revealed that the welded joint made using shielding gas (80% Ar – 20% CO2 has also better corrosion resistance which is comparable to the Parent metal as well as similar commercial steels.

Computer modeling design of a frame pier for a high-speed railway project

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Jing-xian; Fan, Jiang

2018-03-01

In this paper, a double line pier on a high-speed railway in China is taken as an example. the size of each location is drawn up firstly. The design of pre-stressed steel beam for its crossbeam is carried out, and the configuration of ordinary reinforcement is carried out for concrete piers. Combined with bridge structure analysis software Midas Civil and BSAS, the frame pier is modeled and calculated. The results show that the beam and pier column section size reasonable design of pre-stressed steel beam with 17-7V5 high strength low relaxation steel strand, can meet the requirements of high speed railway carrying capacity; the main reinforcement of pier shaft with HRB400 diameter is 28mm, ring arranged around the pier, can satisfy the eccentric compression strength, stiffness and stability requirements, also meet the requirements of seismic design.

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

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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.

Evolution mechanisms of MgO·Al2O3 inclusions by cerium in spring steel used in fasteners of high-speed railway

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Lijun; Wang Qi; Chou Kuochih; Liu Yanqiang

2015-01-01

The effect of rare earth metal addition on the non-metallic inclusions in spring steel used in fastener of high speed railway was investigated by metallographic examination; SEM-EDS and component analysis, aiming at deform those harmful inclusions to improve service life of spring steel. MgO·Al 2 O 3 inclusions were found in present experimental steel, which is also confirmed by the stability diagram of MgO/MgO·Al 2 O 3 /Al 2 O 3 from thermodynamic consideration. After Ce addition, the evolution process of Al 2 O 3 ·MgO inclusions was determined through the surface and line scanning. The effects of time and Ce content on the evolution of Al 2 O 3 ·MgO inclusions were examined. It was indicated that Al 2 O 3 ·MgO inclusions were wrapped by rare earth inclusions to form a ring like shape Ce-riched band around the inclusion, which would be useful to improve fatigue and corrosion resistance of spring steel. It was found that diffusion of Ce 3+ , Al 3+ and Mg 2+ in inclusions core and intermediate layer would be the limited step during evolutions of inclusions. (author)

Seismic Retrofitting of an Existing Steel Railway Bridge by Fluid Viscous Dampers

Science.gov (United States)

Gangopadhyay, Avijit; Ghosh, Aparna Dey

2016-09-01

There are over a lakh of bridges in the Indian Railways, many of which have become seismically deficient, either through aging or due to inadequate seismic design considerations. The extensive damage of bridges all over the world in recent earthquakes has propelled significant advancement in earthquake protection and retrofitting of bridges. Amongst various passive control systems that are reliable as well as cost-effective, Fluid Viscous Dampers (FVDs) are proving to be successful in bridge vibration control. Orificed FVDs, commercially available as Taylor Devices, have already been successfully installed in several bridges worldwide. However, there has been no such application or study related to Indian railway bridges. In this paper, an existing thirty years' old railway bridge in Jharkhand, India, has been analyzed in SAP2000v14 considering reduced stiffness and found deficient when subjected to spectrum-compatible accelerograms. Subsequent retrofitting of the bridge superstructure with FVDs has been carried out and the results indicate substantial reductions in the responses of the bridge deck.

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

Exclusively welded steel track for the magnetic levitation (Maglev) system Transrapid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kindmann, R; Schwindt, G

1988-10-01

The development of high-speed magnetic levitation has made enormous headway over the past decade in West Germany. Its operational maturity is forthcoming. The paper exemplifies the high state of development by taking the steel track as example. Design, fabrication, equipment and erection are entered into in detail. Extremely high requirements of accuracy for the shape of track beams form the governing boundary conditions.

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.

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.

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...

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.

Influence of slab length on dynamic characteristics of subway train-steel spring floating slab track-tunnel coupled system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qing-yuan Xu

Full Text Available A subway train-steel spring floating slab track-tunnel coupling dynamic model, considering short and middle-long wavelength random track irregularities, and longitudinal connection between adjacent slabs of steel spring floating slab track, was developed. And the influence of slab length on dynamic characteristics of the system under different track conditions and train speeds are theoretically studied. The calculated results show: (1 In general, the acceleration of each component of the coupled system decreases with the increase of slab length under the perfectly smooth track condition; (2 Slab length has different influence laws on acceleration of each component of subway train-steel spring floating slab track-tunnel coupled system under random irregularity of track condition. The lower the dominant frequency distribution of vibration acceleration is, the higher influence slab length has; (3 With the increase of slab length, the force of rail, fastener and steel spring also decreases significantly, which helps to lengthen the service life of these components; (4 With the increase of slab length, the longitudinal bending moment of slab increases sharply at first, then it begins to drop slightly. When slab length exceeds the distance between two bogies of a vehicle, the longitudinal bending moment of slab changes little; (5 Slab length has significant influence on the dynamic force and displacement of the coupled system when train speed is higher.

NDT of railway components using induction thermography

Science.gov (United States)

Netzelmann, U.; Walle, G.; Ehlen, A.; Lugin, S.; Finckbohner, M.; Bessert, S.

2016-02-01

Induction or eddy current thermography is used to detect surface cracks in ferritic steel. The technique is applied to detect surface cracks in rails from a moving test car. Cracks were detected at a train speed between 2 and 15 km/h. An automated demonstrator system for testing railway wheels after production is described. While the wheel is rotated, a robot guides the detection unit consisting of inductor and infrared camera over the surface.

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.

Study of the temperature effect on the surface of stainless steel using fission track technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dhawan, M M; Nagpaul, K K [Kurukshetra Univ. (India). Dept. of Physics

1977-01-01

Solid state track technique has been used to determine trace amounts of uranium in steel. Steel samples of the size 1 cm x 1 cm x 0.6 cm were ground, polished, heated to various temperatures ranging from room temperature to 900 deg C and then packed alternately with lexan detectors in an aluminium capsule for thermal neutron irradiation. After irradiation, lexan discs were removed and etched. Their surfaces were scanned under an optical microscope for measurement of track density. Uranium contents of the samples was found to vary from 6 ppm to 9 ppm.

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

Track segments in hadronic showers in a highly granular scintillator-steel hadron calorimeter

CERN Document Server

Adloff, C.; Chefdeville, M.; Drancourt, C.; Gaglione, R.; Geffroy, N.; Karyotakis, Y.; Koletsou, I.; Prast, J.; Vouters, G.; Francis, K.; Repond, J.; Schlereth, J.; Smith, J.; Xia, L.; Baldolemar, E.; Li, J.; Park, S.T.; Sosebee, M.; White, A.P.; Yu, J.; Eigen, G.; Mikami, Y.; Watson, N.K.; Mavromanolakis, G.; Thomson, M.A.; Ward, D.R.; Yan, W.; Benchekroun, D.; Hoummada, A.; Khoulaki, Y.; Apostolakis, J.; Dannheim, D.; Dotti, A.; Folger, G.; Ivantchenko, V.; Klempt, W.; Kraaij, E.van der; Lucaci-Timoce, A.-I; Ribon, A.; Schlatter, D.; Uzhinskiy, V.; Cârloganu, C.; Gay, P.; Manen, S.; Royer, L.; Tytgat, M.; Zaganidis, N.; Blazey, G.C.; Dyshkant, A.; Lima, J.G.R.; Zutshi, V.; Hostachy, J.-Y; Morin, L.; Cornett, U.; David, D.; Falley, G.; Gadow, K.; Göttlicher, P.; Günter, C.; Hartbrich, O.; Hermberg, B.; Karstensen, S.; Krivan, F.; Krüger, K.; Lu, S.; Morozov, S.; Morgunov, V.; Reinecke, M.; Sefkow, F.; Smirnov, P.; Terwort, M.; Feege, N.; Garutti, E.; Laurien, S.; Marchesini, I.; Matysek, M.; Ramilli, M.; Briggl, K.; Eckert, P.; Harion, T.; Schultz-Coulon, H.-Ch; Shen, W.; Stamen, R.; Bilki, B.; Norbeck, E.; Onel, Y.; Wilson, G.W.; Kawagoe, K.; Sudo, Y.; Yoshioka, T.; Dauncey, P.D.; Magnan, A.-M; Bartsch, V.; Wing, M.; Salvatore, F.; Gil, E.Cortina; Mannai, S.; Baulieu, G.; Calabria, P.; Caponetto, L.; Combaret, C.; Negra, R.Della; Grenier, G.; Han, R.; Ianigro, J-C; Kieffer, R.; Laktineh, I.; Lumb, N.; Mathez, H.; Mirabito, L.; Petrukhin, A.; Steen, A.; Tromeur, W.; Donckt, M.Vander; Zoccarato, Y.; Alamillo, E.Calvo; Fouz, M.-C; Puerta-Pelayo, J.; Corriveau, F.; Bobchenko, B.; Chadeeva, M.; Danilov, M.; Epifantsev, A.; Markin, O.; Mizuk, R.; Novikov, E.; Popov, V.; Rusinov, V.; Tarkovsky, E.; Kirikova, N.; Kozlov, V.; Smirnov, P.; Soloviev, Y.; Buzhan, P.; Ilyin, A.; Kantserov, V.; Kaplin, V.; Karakash, A.; Popova, E.; Tikhomirov, V.; Kiesling, C.; Seidel, K.; Simon, F.; Soldner, C.; Szalay, M.; Tesar, M.; Weuste, L.; Amjad, M.S.; Bonis, J.; Callier, S.; Lorenzo, S.Conforti di; Cornebise, P.; Doublet, Ph; Dulucq, F.; Fleury, J.; Frisson, T.; der Kolk, N.van; Li, H.; Martin-Chassard, G.; Richard, F.; Taille, Ch de la; Pöschl, R.; Raux, L.; Rouëné, J.; Seguin-Moreau, N.; Anduze, M.; Balagura, V.; Boudry, V.; Brient, J-C; Cornat, R.; Frotin, M.; Gastaldi, F.; Guliyev, E.; Haddad, Y.; Magniette, F.; Musat, G.; Ruan, M.; Tran, T.H.; Videau, H.; Bulanek, B.; Zacek, J.; Cvach, J.; Gallus, P.; Havranek, M.; Janata, M.; Kvasnicka, J.; Lednicky, D.; Marcisovsky, M.; Polak, I.; Popule, J.; Tomasek, L.; Tomasek, M.; Ruzicka, P.; Sicho, P.; Smolik, J.; Vrba, V.; Zalesak, J.; Belhorma, B.; Ghazlane, H.; Kotera, K.; Takeshita, T.; Uozumi, S.; Jeans, D.; Götze, M.; Sauer, J.; Weber, S.; Zeitnitz, C.

2013-01-01

We investigate the three dimensional substructure of hadronic showers in the CALICE scintillator-steel hadronic calorimeter. The high granularity of the detector is used to find track segments of minimum ionising particles within hadronic showers, providing sensitivity to the spatial structure and the details of secondary particle production in hadronic cascades. The multiplicity, length and angular distribution of identified track segments are compared to GEANT4 simulations with several different shower models. Track segments also provide the possibility for in-situ calibration of highly granular calorimeters.

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

Local cyclic deformation behavior and microstructure of railway wheel materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walther, F.; Eifler, D.

2004-01-01

The current investigations concentrate on the relation between the loading and environmental conditions, the local microstructure and the fatigue behavior of highly stressed railway wheel and tire steels. Experiments under stress control and total strain control were performed at ambient temperature with servohydraulic testing systems. Superimposed mean loadings allow an evaluation of cyclic creep and mean stress relaxation effects. Strain, temperature and electrical measuring techniques were used to characterize the cyclic deformation behavior of specimens from different depth positions of the cross-sections of UIC-specified wheel components (UIC: International Railway Union). The measured values show a strong interrelation. The microstructural characterization of the different material conditions was done by light and scanning electron microscopy together with digital image processing

Alternate Double Single Track Lines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moraga Contreras, P.; Grande Andrade, Z.; Castillo Ron, E.

2016-07-01

The paper discusses the advantages and shortcomings of alternate double single track (ADST) lines with respect to double track lines for high speed lines. ADST lines consists of sequences of double and single track segments optimally selected in order to reduce the construction and maintenance costs of railway lines and to optimize the timetables used to satisfy a given demand. The single tracks are selected to coincide with expensive segments (tunnels and viaducts) and the double tracks are chosen to coincide with flat areas and only where they are necessary. At the same time, departure times are adjusted for trains to cross at the cheap double track segments. This alternative can be used for new lines and also for existing conventional lines where some new tracks are to be constructed to reduce travel time (increase speed). The ADST proposal is illustrated with some examples of both types (new lines and where conventional lines exist), including the Palencia-Santander, the Santiago-Valparaíso-Viña del Mar and the Dublin-Belfast lines, where very important reductions (90 %) are obtained, especially where a railway infrastructure already exist. (Author)

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.

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)

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.

Strain monitoring of a newly developed precast concrete track for high speed railway traffic using embedded fiber optic sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Crail, Stephanie; Reichel, D.; Schreiner, U.; Lindner, E.; Habel, Wolfgang R.; Hofmann, Detlef; Basedau, Frank; Brandes, K.; Barner, A.; Ecke, Wolfgang; Schroeder, Kerstin

2002-07-01

In a German slab track system (Feste Fahrbahn FF, system Boegl) for speeds up to 300 km/h and more different fiber optic sensors have been embedded in several levels and locations of the track system. The track system consists of prestressed precast panels of steel fiber concrete which are supported by a cat-in-situ concrete or asphalt base course. The sensors are to measure the bond behavior or the stress transfer in the track system. For that, tiny fiber-optic sensors - fiber Fabry-Perot and Bragg grating sensors - have been embedded very near to the interface of the layers. Measurements were taken on a full scale test sample (slab track panel of 6.45 m length) as well as on a real high speed track. The paper describes the measurement task and discusses aspects with regard to sensor design and prefabrication of the sensor frames as well as the embedding procedure into the concrete track. Results from static and dynamic full scale tests carried out in the testing laboratory of BAM and from measurements on a track are given.

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)

Yonjung High-Speed Railway Bridge Assessment Using Output-Only Structural Health Monitoring Measurements under Train Speed Changing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mosbeh R. Kaloop

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Yonjung Bridge is a hybrid multispan bridge that is designed to transport high-speed trains (HEMU-430X with maximum operating speed of 430 km/h. The bridge consists of simply supported prestressed concrete (PSC and composite steel girders to carry double railway tracks. The structural health monitoring system (SHM is designed and installed to investigate and assess the performance of the bridge in terms of acceleration and deformation measurements under different speeds of the passing train. The SHM measurements are investigated in both time and frequency domains; in addition, several identification models are examined to assess the performance of the bridge. The drawn conclusions show that the maximum deflection and acceleration of the bridge are within the design limits that are specified by the Korean and European codes. The parameters evaluation of the model identification depicts the quasistatic and dynamic deformations of PSC and steel girders to be different and less correlated when higher speeds of the passing trains are considered. Finally, the variation of the frequency content of the dynamic deformations of the girders is negligible when high speeds are considered.

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/

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

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...

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.

Special heavy plates and steel solutions for bridge building

Science.gov (United States)

Lehnert, Tobias

2017-09-01

In many European countries infrastructure, -road as well as railway infrastructure-, needs intensive investments to follow the growing demands of mobility and goods traffic. Steel or steel composite bridges offer in this context viable and very sustainable solutions. Due to its unlimited recyclability steel can in general be seen as the ideal material for such sustainable constructions, but especially when designers or fabricators exploit the nowadays available possibilities of steel industry very cost-efficient and remarkable constructions are realizable. This paper will highlight some of these newest developments in heavy plates for bridge building. For example, for small span railway bridges the so-called thick plate trough bridges have proven to be a favourable concept. Very heavy plates with single plate weights up to 42 t allow building these bridges very efficiently out of one or very few single plates. Another interesting development is the so-called longitudinally profiled plates which allow a varying plate thickness along the actual loading profile. As last point the rising entry of higher strength steels in bridge building will be discussed and it will be shown why thermomechanically rolled plates are the ideal solution for these demands.

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.

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

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.

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.

Cyclic Fracture Toughness of Railway Axle and Mechanisms of its Fatigue Fracture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sorochak Andriy

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The main regularities in fatigue fracture of the railway axle material - the OSL steel - are found in this paper. Micromechanisms of fatigue crack propagation are described and systematized, and a physical-mechanical interpretation of the relief morphology at different stages of crack propagation is proposed for fatigue cracks in specimens cut out of the surface, internal and central layers of the axle.

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...

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....

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.

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.

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...

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...

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.

Long-term behaviour of a steel-concrete composite railway bridge deck

OpenAIRE

STAQUET, S; TAILHAN, JL; ESPION, B

2005-01-01

A prefabricated, composite and prestressed railway bridge deck has been instrumented in June 2000 with strain gages and vibrating wire extensometers. The purpose of this paper is to report on the comparison between strains recorded in situ up to four years with values computed within the framework of an original time-dependent analysis base on the evolution of the degree of hydration and the internal relative humidity in concrete. These fundamental parameters used in the proposed model to com...

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...

Nondestructive Evaluation of Railway Bridge by System Identification Using Field Vibration Measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ho, Duc Duy; Hong, Dong Soo; Kim, Jeong Tae

2010-01-01

This paper presents a nondestructive evaluation approach for system identification (SID) of real railway bridges using field vibration test results. First, a multi-phase SID scheme designed on the basis of eigenvalue sensitivity concept is presented. Next, the proposed multi-phase approach is evaluated from field vibration tests on a real railway bridge (Wondongcheon bridge) located in Yangsan, Korea. On the steel girder bridge, a few natural frequencies and mode shapes are experimentally measured under the ambient vibration condition. The corresponding modal parameters are numerically calculated from a three-dimensional finite element (FE) model established for the target bridge. Eigenvalue sensitivities are analyzed for potential model-updating parameters of the FE model. Then, structural subsystems are identified phase-by-phase using the proposed model-updating procedure. Based on model-updating results, a baseline model and a nondestructive evaluation of test bridge are identified

Phase transformations of under-cooled austenite of new bainitic materials for scissors crossovers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Pacyna

2008-07-01

Full Text Available The paper contains CCT diagrams presenting a transformation kinetics of under-cooled austenite from two new bainitic cast steels which the scissors crossovers for heavy-duty railway tracks (min. 230kN/axle at the speed up to 200 km/h are made of. The cooling ranges of UIC60 type railway tracks plot on the CCT diagrams indicate that there is a 100% bainitic structure in the scissors crossovers made of these cast steels as well, but mainly it would be a favourable for cracking resistance lower bainite. The achievable hardness of scissors crossovers made of new materials make it possible to use high–temperature tempering resulting in obtaining of good crack resistance. However one should provide a good quality of castings made.

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.

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)

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

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

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.

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...

Assessing the influence of wheel defects of a rolling stockon railway tracks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Loktev Aleksey Alekseevich

2015-05-01

- slides (potholes, etc.The motion of the wheels with irregularities on the surface of the rail leads to vertical oscillation of the wheel, resulting in the forces of inertia, which is an additional load on the rail. In case of movement of the wheel with isolated roughness on the tread surface of the slide there is a strike, having a very large additional impact on the rail. Such attacks can cause kinked rails, especially in the winter months when there is increased fragility of rail steel, because of lowered temperatures. This is an abnormal phenomenon and occurs relatively rarely, at a small number of isolated irregularities on a wheel of the rolling stock. As correlations connecting the contact force and local deformation in the interaction of the wheel-rail system, we use the quasi-static Hertz’s model, linear-elastic model and two elastoplastic contact models: Alexandrov-Kadomtsev and Kil’chevsky. According to the results of Loktev’s studies ratios of the contact Hertz’s theory are quite suitable for modeling the dynamic effects of wheel and rail for speeds up to 90 km/h for engineering calculations. Since the contact surface is homogeneous and isotropic, the friction forces in the contact zone are not taken into account, the size of the pad is small compared to the dimensions of the contacting bodies and characteristic radii of curvature of the undeformed surfaces, the contacting surfaces are smooth.When train is driving, the position of the wheelset in relation to the rails varies considerably, giving rise to different combinations of the contact areas of the wheel and rail. Even assuming constant axial load the normal voltage will vary considerably because of the differences in the radii of curvature of the contacting surfaces of these zones. Thus, the proposed method allows evaluating the influence of several types of wheel defects on the condition of the rail and the prospects of its use in the upper structure of a railway track on plots with different

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.

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.

Evaluation of Dynamic Load Factors for a High-Speed Railway Truss Arch Bridge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ding Youliang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Studies on dynamic impact of high-speed trains on long-span bridges are important for the design and evaluation of high-speed railway bridges. The use of the dynamic load factor (DLF to account for the impact effect has been widely accepted in bridge engineering. Although the field monitoring studies are the most dependable way to study the actual DLF of the bridge, according to previous studies there are few field monitoring data on high-speed railway truss arch bridges. This paper presents an evaluation of DLF based on field monitoring and finite element simulation of Nanjing DaShengGuan Bridge, which is a high-speed railway truss arch bridge with the longest span throughout the world. The DLFs in different members of steel truss arch are measured using monitoring data and simulated using finite element model, respectively. The effects of lane position, number of train carriages, and speed of trains on DLF are further investigated. By using the accumulative probability function of the Generalized Extreme Value Distribution, the probability distribution model of DLF is proposed, based on which the standard value of DLF within 50-year return period is evaluated and compared with different bridge design codes.

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

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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.

Rail Track Detection and Modelling in Mobile Laser Scanner Data

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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.

Model for Railway Infrastructure Management Organization

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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)

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

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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.

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...

Regulated Electric Drainage and its Interference with Track Circuits

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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

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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

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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.

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.

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...

Crack closure in near-threshold fatigue crack propagation in railway axle steel EA4T

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pokorný, Pavel; Vojtek, Tomáš; Náhlík, Luboš; Hutař, Pavel

2017-01-01

Roč. 185, NOV (2017), s. 2-19 ISSN 0013-7944 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LQ1601 Institutional support: RVO:68081723 Keywords : Fatigue crack propagation * crack closure * EA4T * Railway axle Subject RIV: JL - Materials Fatigue, Friction Mechanics OBOR OECD: Audio engineering , reliability analysis Impact factor: 2.151, year: 2016

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

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.

Application of Classical Land Surveying Measurement Methods for Determining the Vertical Displacement of Railway Bridges

Science.gov (United States)

Gawronek, Pelagia; Makuch, Maria

2017-12-01

The classical measurements of stability of railway bridge, in the context of determining the vertical displacements of the object, consisted on precise leveling of girders and trigonometric leveling of controlled points (fixed into girders' surface). The construction elements, which were measured in two ways, in real terms belonged to the same vertical planes. Altitude measurements of construction were carried out during periodic structural stability tests and during static load tests of bridge by train. The specificity of displacement measurements, the type of measured object and the rail land surveying measurement conditions were determinants to define methodology of altitude measurement. The article presents compatibility of vertical displacements of steel railway bridge, which were developed in two measurement methods. In conclusion, the authors proposed the optimum concept of determining the vertical displacements of girders by using precise and trigonometric leveling (in terms of accuracy, safety and economy of measurement).

Application of Classical Land Surveying Measurement Methods for Determining the Vertical Displacement of Railway Bridges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gawronek Pelagia

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The classical measurements of stability of railway bridge, in the context of determining the vertical displacements of the object, consisted on precise leveling of girders and trigonometric leveling of controlled points (fixed into girders' surface. The construction elements, which were measured in two ways, in real terms belonged to the same vertical planes. Altitude measurements of construction were carried out during periodic structural stability tests and during static load tests of bridge by train. The specificity of displacement measurements, the type of measured object and the rail land surveying measurement conditions were determinants to define methodology of altitude measurement. The article presents compatibility of vertical displacements of steel railway bridge, which were developed in two measurement methods. In conclusion, the authors proposed the optimum concept of determining the vertical displacements of girders by using precise and trigonometric leveling (in terms of accuracy, safety and economy of measurement.

Existing Noise Level at Railway Stations in Malaysia

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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

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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...

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

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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.

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.

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

Superconducting magnet for maglev system. Fujoshiki tetsudoyo chodendo jishaku

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yamaji, M; Maeda, H; Sanada, Y [Toshiba Corp., Tokyo (Japan)

1991-04-20

The magnetically levitated vehicle (Maglev) system use superconducting magnet was explained in characteristics and present development status. The development of Maglev system, using superconducting magnet, commenced in 1960 {prime}s by ex-Japan National Railways, then succeeded by the Railway Technical Research Institute in 1987, made a long-term progress to be put to practical use. Then, added with the Central Japan Railway Company and Japan Railway Construction Public Company, the project team commenced the construction of Yamanashi test track in 1990, to aim at putting to practical use to be finally confirmed. On the other hand, actual vehicle use superconducting magnet has also entered the final development stage. For the superconducting coil for the Miyazaki test track use, development was made of integrated submersion technology of coil winding by resin, coil-binding structure with cramps to resist high electromagnetic force, generated in the superconducting coil, and coil inner vessel by welding thin stainless steel plate. For the Yamanashi test track use, made were heightening in thermal stability against the quenching phenomenon and optimization in coil inner vessel structure by simulation to confirm the highest magnetomotive force to be 1004kA. 8 figs., 1 tab.

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...

Temperature and composition profile during double-track laser cladding of H13 tool steel

Science.gov (United States)

He, X.; Yu, G.; Mazumder, J.

2010-01-01

Multi-track laser cladding is now applied commercially in a range of industries such as automotive, mining and aerospace due to its diversified potential for material processing. The knowledge of temperature, velocity and composition distribution history is essential for a better understanding of the process and subsequent microstructure evolution and properties. Numerical simulation not only helps to understand the complex physical phenomena and underlying principles involved in this process, but it can also be used in the process prediction and system control. The double-track coaxial laser cladding with H13 tool steel powder injection is simulated using a comprehensive three-dimensional model, based on the mass, momentum, energy conservation and solute transport equation. Some important physical phenomena, such as heat transfer, phase changes, mass addition and fluid flow, are taken into account in the calculation. The physical properties for a mixture of solid and liquid phase are defined by treating it as a continuum media. The velocity of the laser beam during the transition between two tracks is considered. The evolution of temperature and composition of different monitoring locations is simulated.

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

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.

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...

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.

Contamination study of forest track soils located in a recreational area and filled with steel industry waste 30years ago.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez-Nubla, Leticia; Aramendia, Julene; Fdez-Ortiz de Vallejuelo, Silvia; Madariaga, Juan Manuel

2017-11-15

The reuse of waste is increasingly widespread in order to avoid the exploitation of natural resources and to reduce costs. An example of that reuse is the employment of steel slag, a by-product from the steel making process. When the steel is produced through an electric arc furnace (EAF), two types of slag are generated: black and white slag. One application rarely used for this waste is as filler in forest tracks. In this work, two forest tracks of the Basque Country (northern Spain) filled with black and white slag 19 and 35years ago, respectively, have been studied. Leaching tests were performed using Milli-Q water and acetic acid over the slags collected in that area. Additionally, soil samples collected near the slags were subjected to acid digestion. In these soil samples, there were elements of natural origin and others that could come from the leaching of the slag. Some of the more leached elements from the black slag (Ca, Fe, K, Cr, Se, W, Mn and Mo) and white slag (Mg, Al, Na, Co, Ni and Cu) coincided with the elements of highest concentration found in the soil samples. Moreover, there were differences in some elemental concentrations of soil samples with only black slag (higher presence of Ca and Mg) and soil samples with a mixture of both types of slag. It was noticeable that the highest concentration values of the measured elements were found on a specific side of the forest tracks, possibly due to the runoff water or the higher inclination of that side. On the other hand, some areas of both forest tracks could be considered contaminated by Cr according to a standard values from the Basque regulation, posing a risk to human health since they are recreational areas. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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.

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)

Failure and fatigue life assessment of steel railway bridges with brittle material

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maljaars, J.

2014-01-01

Some existing steel bridges have been constructed from steels with a toughness that does not fulfil the requirements in modern standards. In such a case, standards for bridges do not provide an alternative assessment route. Yet such bridges may still be fit for purpose. This paper presents an

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

Synchrotron X-ray measurement of residual strain within the nose of a worn manganese steel railway crossing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dhar, S.; Zhang, Y.; Xu, Ruichao

2017-01-01

Switches and crossings are an integral part of any railway network. Plastic deformation associated with wear and rolling contact fatigue due to repeated passage of trains cause severe damage leading to the formation of surface and sub-surface cracks which ultimately may result in rail failure. Kn...

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

THE PROCESS OF FORMATION OF RAILWAY WHEEL DAMAGES AND TIRES IN OPERATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. A. Grischenko

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The dependence analysis of structural changes in the metal of railway wheels and tires from indicated influences in operation, for the further development of strategy of service reliability growth. Methodology. Test materials are the details selected from railway wheels which were taken out of operation beforehand because of various damages. Micro-structural researches were made with the use of light microscope Epiquant and electron microscope. The sizing of structural elements was done by using the methods of quantitative metallography. Findings. Over the past few decades the rapid development of industry was supported by the steady growth of intensity of using railway transport. In this case simultaneous increase of load at wheel set axle, with the increase of speed was accompanied by natural increase of the amount of cases of premature wheels and tires’ withdrawing out of operation. Railway wheel, except the formation of metal layer at rolling surface with the high defects concentration of crystal structure and first of all dislocations, falls under thermal influence from interaction with break blocks. The nature of joint influence (cold deformation and heating on the metal rim of a wheel is conditioned by the appearance of sufficiently high gradients of structural changes that can be considered as the influence on the level of internal residual stresses. In case of the rise of volume part of carbide phase at a constant ferrite grain size, it is achieved only by the increasing of dislocation nucleation sources without changing the number of annihilation positions. In this case the accumulation of dislocations at the initial stages of plastic deformation (in metal volume in front of delta arm crack will lead to the formation of cementite globes around certain interlocked dislocation density. In contrast the sharp increase of deformation hardening carbon steel parameters is observed. Originality. During the braking of locomotive the

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.

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...

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

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)

Concrete-Filled Steel Tube Arch Bridges in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jielian Zheng

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In the past 20 years, great progress has been achieved in China in the construction of concrete-filled steel tube (CFST arch bridges and concrete arch bridges with a CFST skeleton. The span of these bridges has been increasing rapidly, which is rare in the history of bridge development. The large-scale construction of expressways and high-speed railways demands the development of long-span arch bridges, and advances in design and construction techniques have made it possible to construct such bridges. In the present study, the current status, development, and major innovative technologies of CFST arch bridges and concrete arch bridges with a CFST skeleton in China are elaborated. This paper covers the key construction technologies of CFST arch bridges, such as the design, manufacture, and installation of steel tube arch trusses, the preparation and pouring of in-tube concrete, and the construction of the world’s longest CFST arch bridge—the First Hejiang Yangtze River Bridge. The main construction technologies of reinforced concrete arch bridges are also presented, which include cable-stayed fastening-hanging cantilever assembly, adjusting the load by means of stay cables, surrounding the concrete for arch rib pouring, and so forth. In addition, the construction of two CFST skeleton concrete arch bridges—the Guangxi Yongning Yong River Bridge and the Yunnan–Guangxi Railway Nanpan River Bridge—is discussed. CFST arch bridges in China have already gained a world-leading position; with the continuous innovation of key technologies, China will become the new leader in promoting the development of arch bridges. Keywords: Concrete-filled steel tube (CFST arch bridge, Steel-reinforced concrete arch bridge, Cable-stayed fastening-hanging cantilever assembly, Vacuum-assisted pouring in-tube concrete, Adjusting load by stay cables

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...

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...

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.

Synchrotron X-ray measurement of residual strain within the nose of a worn manganese steel railway crossing

Science.gov (United States)

Dhar, S.; Zhang, Y.; Xu, R.; Danielsen, HK; Jensen, D. Juul

2017-07-01

Switches and crossings are an integral part of any railway network. Plastic deformation associated with wear and rolling contact fatigue due to repeated passage of trains cause severe damage leading to the formation of surface and sub-surface cracks which ultimately may result in rail failure. Knowledge of the internal stress distribution adds to the understanding of crack propagation and may thus help to prevent catastrophic rail failures. In this work, the residual strains inside the bulk of a damaged nose of a manganese railway crossing that was in service for five years has been investigated by using differential aperture synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The main purpose of this paper is to describe how this method allows non-destructive measurement of residual strains in selected local volumes in the bulk of the rail. Measurements were conducted on the transverse surface at a position about 6.5 mm from the rail running surface of a crossing nose. The results revealed the presence of significant compressive residual strains along the running direction of the rail.

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

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...

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.

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.

Measurement of the Dynamic Displacements of Railway Bridges Using Video Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ribeiro Diogo

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This article describes the development of a non-contact dynamic displacement measurement system for railway bridges based on video technology. The system, consisting of a high speed video camera, an optical lens, lighting lamps and a precision target, can perform measurements with high precision for distances from the camera to the target up to 25 m, with acquisition frame rates ranging from 64 fps to 500 fps, and be articulated with other measurement systems, which promotes its integration in structural health monitoring systems. The system’s performance was evaluated based on two tests, one in the laboratory and other on the field. The laboratory test evaluated the performance of the system in measuring the displacement of a steel beam, subjected to a point load applied dynamically, for distances from the camera to the target between 3 m and 15 m. The field test allowed evaluating the system’s performance in the dynamic measurement of the displacement of a point on the deck of a railway bridge, induced by passing trains at speeds between 160 km/h and 180 km/h, for distances from the camera to the target up to 25 m. The results of both tests show a very good agreement between the displacement measurement obtained with the video system and with a LVDT.

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

Mechanical Properties and Fractographic Analysis of High Manganese Steels After Dynamic Deformation Tests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jabłońska M.B.

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Since few years many research centres conducting research on the development of high-manganese steels for manufacturing of parts for automotive and railway industry. Some of these steels belong to the group of AHS possessing together with high strength a great plastic elongation, and an ideal uniform work hardening behavior. The article presents the dynamic mechanical properties of two types of high manganese austenitic steel with using a flywheel machine at room temperature with strain rates between 5×102÷3.5×103s?–1. It was found that the both studied steels exhibit a high sensitivity Rm to the strain rate. With increasing the strain rate from 5×102 to 3.5×103s?–1 the hardening dominates the process. The fracture analysis indicate that after dynamic test both steel is characterized by ductile fracture surfaces which indicate good plasticity of investigated steels.

SEISMIC BEHAVIOR OF STEEL MONORAIL BRIDGES UNDER TRAIN LOAD DURING STRONG EARTHQUAKES

OpenAIRE

KIM, C. W.; KAWATANI, M.; KANBARA, T.; NISHIMURA, N.

2013-01-01

This paper investigated dynamic responses of steel monorail bridges incorporating train-bridge interaction under strong earthquakes. Two types of steel monorail bridges were considered in the study: a conventional type with steel track-girder; an advanced type with composite track-girder and simplified lateral bracing system. During strong earthquakes, monorail train was assumed standing on the track-girder of monorail bridges. Observations through the analytical study showed that considering...

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.

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...

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.

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.)

Dynamic and Fatigue Analysis of an 18th Century Steel Arch Bridge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boumechra, Nadir; Hamdaoui, Karim

2008-01-01

Within the 'Oran-Tlemcen' railway line realization project (159 km), several bridges were built by the Railroads Algerian West Company. 7 km from the east of Tlemcen city, this railway line must cross a very broken mountainous collar, that's why the French engineer 'Gustave Eiffel' was solicited to construct a 68 m length bridge. In 1890, an arch steel truss bridge was realized. The bridge presents 300 m of apron curvature radius and, currently, is considered as one of the most important monuments of the Algerian historical heritage. Considering the age of the bridge and the evolution of the railway loads in time, it was essential to check the good behavior of the studied structure. For that, analyses to verify the physical and mechanical properties of the growth iron members are made. A finite element model of the bridge was built and numerical simulations were drawn. The structural vibration conducted analysis permit to understand the behavior of this particular structure, then to evaluate (in detail) the rate of the structure fatigue

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)

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

Magnetic Nondestructive Testing Techniques of Constructional Steel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiong Er-gang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Steel is a kind of ferromagnetic material, which is extensively applied in such fields as buildings, bridges, railways, machines and lifeline engineering etc. Those engineering structures built of constructional steel will unavoidably experience some damages during their service lifetime, thus which will influence the distribution regularity of internal forces in structures, result in over-stresses, cause the local failure of structures, and even lead to collapse of the whole structure. Therefore, it is a pressing topic to study how to directly evaluate the real-time stressed states of structural members, damages and steel characteristics in present structural health monitoring and diagnosing fields. And the achievements of this research will be of theoretical significance and of application value of engineering. This paper summarizes varieties of new magnetic nondestructive testing techniques used in constructional steel, respectively investigates the testing principles, characteristics and application for the magnetic Barkhausen noise technique, magnetic acoustic emission technique, magnetic flux leakage technique, magnetic memory technique and magnetic absorption technique, and points out the problems present in the application of these new techniques to actual testing and the further research objective.

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

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

2 CFR 176.140 - Award term-Required Use of American Iron, Steel, and Manufactured Goods-Section 1605 of the...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

..., tunnels, sewers, mains, power lines, pumping stations, heavy generators, railways, airports, terminals...) Domestic preference. (1) This award term and condition implements Section 1605 of the American Recovery and... the domestic iron, steel, and/or manufactured goods would be unreasonable. The cost of domestic iron...

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....

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

Prediction of microstructure and ductile damage of a high-speed railway axle steel during cross wedge rolling

OpenAIRE

Huo, Y; Lin, J; Bai, Q; Wang, B; Tang, X; Ji, H

2016-01-01

Microstructure and ductile damage have a significant influence on the deformation behavior of high-speed railway axles during hot cross wedge rolling (CWR) and its final performance. In this study, based on the continuum damage mechanics, a multiaxial constitutive model coupling microstructure and ductile damage was established to predict the evolution of microstructure and ductile damage of 25CrMo4 during hot CWR processes. Material constants within the multiaxial constitutive model were det...

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.

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.

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...

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...

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.

Structure-borne noise of railway composite bridge: Numerical simulation and experimental validation

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiaozhen; Liu, Quanmin; Pei, Shiling; Song, Lizhong; Zhang, Xun

2015-09-01

In order to investigate the characteristics of the noise from steel-concrete composite bridges under high-speed train loading, a model used to predict the bridge-borne noise is established and validated through a field experiment. The numerical model for noise prediction is developed based on the combination of spatial train-track-bridge coupled vibration theory and Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA). Firstly, train-track-bridge coupled vibration is adopted to obtain the velocity time history of the bridge deck vibration. Then, the velocity time history is transferred into frequency domain through FFT to serve as the vibratory energy of SEA deck subsystems. Finally, the transmission of the vibratory energy is obtained by solving the energy balance equations of SEA, and the sound radiation is computed using the vibro-acoustic theory. The numerically computed noise level is verified by a field measurement. It is determined that the dominant frequency of steel-concrete composite bridge-borne noise is 20-1000 Hz. The noise from the bottom flange of steel longitudinal girder is less than other components in the whole frequency bands, while the noise from web of steel longitudinal girder is dominant in high frequency range above 315 Hz. The noise from concrete deck dominates in low-frequency domain ranges from 80 Hz to 160 Hz.

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

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...

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.

Prestressed concrete. Composite material perfectly utilizing the merits of steel and concrete; Puresutoresu concrete. Ko to concreteto no tokucho wo kanzen ni ikashita fukugo sozai

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sugawara, M. [Kyokuto Kogen Concrete Shinko Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

1996-10-15

Since the early stage of the development of the prestressed concrete (PC) manufacturing techniques, it has been said that forming a single PC structure by uniting precast segments with PC steel material into one is a construction method making the most of the feature of PC. This paper roughly describes the history of the development of PC and concrete examples of PC, centering on the construction techniques effectively utilizing the principle of PC and its materials. Especially, a PC bridge is superior to a steel bridge with respect to noise and vibration, so that the construction works of replacing railway steel bridges and railway elevated bridges by PC bridges have come to be seen in many places recently. In order to increase the span of a PC bridge, the reduction of the weight is a major factor. Therefore, an outer cable system has come to be used so as to reduce the thickness is cross section of the web of a PC beam as much as possible. The changes of the maximum span of cable stayed bridge are listed in a table in comparison of PC bridges with steel bridges. 29 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.

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)

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...

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.

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)

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.

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.

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...

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.

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

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...

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

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2017-01-01

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

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.

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.

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.

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.)

Seismic assessment of a multi-span steel railway bridge in Turkey based on nonlinear time history

Science.gov (United States)

Yılmaz, Mehmet F.; Çağlayan, Barlas Ö.

2018-01-01

Many research studies have shown that bridges are vulnerable to earthquakes, graphically confirmed by incidents such as the San Fernando (1971 USA), Northridge (1994 USA), Great Hanshin (1995 Japan), and Chi-Chi (1999 Taiwan) earthquakes, amongst many others. The studies show that fragility curves are useful tools for bridge seismic risk assessments, which can be generated empirically or analytically. Empirical fragility curves can be generated where damage reports from past earthquakes are available, but otherwise, analytical fragility curves can be generated from structural seismic response analysis. Earthquake damage data in Turkey are very limited, hence this study employed an analytical method to generate fragility curves for the Alasehir bridge. The Alasehir bridge is part of the Manisa-Uşak-Dumlupınar-Afyon railway line, which is very important for human and freight transportation, and since most of the country is seismically active, it is essential to assess the bridge's vulnerability. The bridge consists of six 30 m truss spans with a total span 189 m supported by 2 abutments and 5 truss piers, 12.5, 19, 26, 33, and 40 m. Sap2000 software was used to model the Alasehir bridge, which was refined using field measurements, and the effect of 60 selected real earthquake data analyzed using the refined model, considering material and geometry nonlinearity. Thus, the seismic behavior of Alasehir railway bridge was determined and truss pier reaction and displacements were used to determine its seismic performance. Different intensity measures were compared for efficiency, practicality, and sufficiency and their component and system fragility curves derived.

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.

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.

[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

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...

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

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....

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...

Seismic assessment of a multi-span steel railway bridge in Turkey based on nonlinear time history

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. F. Yılmaz

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Many research studies have shown that bridges are vulnerable to earthquakes, graphically confirmed by incidents such as the San Fernando (1971 USA, Northridge (1994 USA, Great Hanshin (1995 Japan, and Chi-Chi (1999 Taiwan earthquakes, amongst many others. The studies show that fragility curves are useful tools for bridge seismic risk assessments, which can be generated empirically or analytically. Empirical fragility curves can be generated where damage reports from past earthquakes are available, but otherwise, analytical fragility curves can be generated from structural seismic response analysis. Earthquake damage data in Turkey are very limited, hence this study employed an analytical method to generate fragility curves for the Alasehir bridge. The Alasehir bridge is part of the Manisa–Uşak–Dumlupınar–Afyon railway line, which is very important for human and freight transportation, and since most of the country is seismically active, it is essential to assess the bridge's vulnerability. The bridge consists of six 30 m truss spans with a total span 189 m supported by 2 abutments and 5 truss piers, 12.5, 19, 26, 33, and 40 m. Sap2000 software was used to model the Alasehir bridge, which was refined using field measurements, and the effect of 60 selected real earthquake data analyzed using the refined model, considering material and geometry nonlinearity. Thus, the seismic behavior of Alasehir railway bridge was determined and truss pier reaction and displacements were used to determine its seismic performance. Different intensity measures were compared for efficiency, practicality, and sufficiency and their component and system fragility curves derived.

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).

BERN railway station: security assessment under a speed increase of trains from 30 to 40 km h-1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ribaux, C.; Capron, M.

1994-01-01

In the frame of the ''Rail 2000'' project, the CFF (Swiss Railways) would like to increase the speed of trains arriving in Bern station. On the eastern head, this speed would be raised from 30 to 40kmh -1 . The superstructure is formed by a three-storey building which rests on 450mm diameter steel columns.The aim of the present study was: - to determine the security loss of the station superstructure under a train impact on the columns at 40kmh -1 rather than at 30kmh -1 - to propose measures in order to get at 40kmh -1 the same security as at 30kmh -1 Four approaches are dealt with: (1)on the base of accidents statistics and of their cost; (2)review of possible dynamical approaches; (3)equivalent static load (from European railways codes); (4)energy in which, starting from its initial speed, the train loses energy on different obstacles (ballast, platform, protection devices, walls, train's own deformation) and the remaining energy is compared with the maximum energy that the column can dissipate by deformation.The conclusions are presented as a 'security plan' and the proposed protection costs are evaluated. ((orig.))

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...

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen-Yuan Chen

2014-06-01

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

Developing a Service Improvement System for the National Dutch Railways

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2017-01-01

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

WAYS OF IMPROVEMENT RAILWAY TRANSPORT IN OVERPASS ECONOMIC CRISIS CONDITIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. H. Deineka

2010-05-01

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

Measured and calculated noise reduction of rail dampers and absorption plates on a high speed slab track

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dittrich, M.G.; Graafland, F.; Eisses, A.R.; Nijhof, M.J.J.

2015-01-01

Rail dampers and sound absorbing plates have been tested on a high speed railway slab track in a walled cutting at a noise sensitive location. Their noise reduction has been determined from pass-by measurements during service and predicted using BEM calculations. The cutting depth, noise barrier

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

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Willigers, J.

2006-01-01

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

Big data for risk analysis: The future of safe railways

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Figueres Esteban, M.

2016-07-01

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

The effects of 10 years Railway investment in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Sten A.

1998-01-01

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

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

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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

Power System Unbalance due to Railway Electrification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

2016-01-01

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

Mathematical model of dynamic interaction between wheel-set and rail track

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Bureika

2002-04-01

Full Text Available The main goal of this title is to show how the effects on maximum bending tensions at different locations in the track caused by simultaneous changes of the various parameters can be estimated in a rational manner The dynamic of vertical interaction between a moving rigid wheel and a flexible railway track is investigated. A round and smooth wheel tread and an initially straight and non-corrugated rail surface are assumed in the present optimisation study. Asymmetric linear three-dimensional beam structure model of a finite length of the track is suggested including rail, pads, sleepers and ballast with spatially non-proportional damping. Transient bending tensions in sleepers and rail are calculated. The influence of eight selected track parameters on the dynamic behaviour of the track is investigated. A two-level fractional factorial design method is used in the search for a combination of numerical levels of these parameters making the maximum bending tensions the minimum. Finally, the main conclusions are given.

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

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-12

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

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

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2013-01-01

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

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...

Automatic Verification of Railway Interlocking Systems: A Case Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Jakob Lyng

1998-01-01

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

The Sensitivity of the Input Impedance Parameters of Track Circuits to Changes in the Parameters of the Track

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lubomir Ivanek

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with the sensitivity of the input impedance of an open track circuit in the event that the parameters of the track are changed. Weather conditions and the state of pollution are the most common reasons for parameter changes. The results were obtained from the measured values of the parameters R (resistance, G (conductance, L (inductance, and C (capacitance of a rail superstructure depending on the frequency. Measurements were performed on a railway siding in Orlova. The results are used to design a predictor of occupancy of a track section. In particular, we were interested in the frequencies of 75 and 275 Hz for this purpose. Many parameter values of track substructures have already been solved in different works in literature. At first, we had planned to use the parameter values from these sources when we designed the predictor. Deviations between them, however, are large and often differ by three orders of magnitude (see Tab.8. From this perspective, this article presents data that have been updated using modern measurement devices and computer technology. And above all, it shows a transmission (cascade matrix used to determine the parameters.

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. I. Kharchenko

2015-04-01

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

Railway bridge monitoring during construction and sliding

Science.gov (United States)

Inaudi, Daniele; Casanova, Nicoletta; Kronenberg, Pascal; Vurpillot, Samuel

1997-05-01

The Moesa railway bridge is a composite steel concrete bridge on three spans of 30 m each. The 50 cm thick concrete deck is supported on the lower flanges of two continuous, 2.7 m high I-beams. The bridge has been constructed alongside an old metallic bridge. After demolishing this one, the new bridge has been slid for 5 m by 4 hydraulic jacks and positioned on the refurbished piles of the old bridge. About 30 fiber optic, low-coherence sensors were imbedded in the concrete deck to monitor its deformations during concrete setting and shrinkage, as well as during the bridge sliding phase. In the days following concrete pour it was possible to follow its thermal expansion due to the exothermic setting reaction and the following thermal and during shrinkage. The deformations induced by the additional load produced by the successive concreting phases were also observed. During the bridge push, which extended over six hours, the embedded and surface mounted sensors allowed the monitoring of the curvature variations in the horizontal plane due to the slightly uneven progression of the jacks. Excessive curvature and the resulting cracking of concrete could be ruled out by these measurements. It was also possible to observe the bridge elongation under the heating action of the sun.

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

African Journals Online (AJOL)

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

Kronecker Algebra-based Deadlock Analysis for Railway Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Mittermayr

2012-09-01

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

Estimating Emissions from Railway Traffic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Morten W.; Sorenson, Spencer C.

1998-01-01

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B.M.Bondarenko

2012-12-01

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

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2012-01-01

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

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

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2012-11-15

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

Price Analysis of Railway Freight Transport under Marketing Mechanism

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Ying; Fang, Xiaoping; Chen, Zhiya

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

RAMSES: a nowcasting system for mitigating geo-hydrological risk along the railway

Science.gov (United States)

Gabriele, Salvatore; Terranova, Oreste G.; Pascale, Stefania; Rago, Valeria; Chiaravalloti, Francesco; Sabatino, Pietro; Brocca, Luca; Laviola, Sante; Baldini, Luca; Federico, Stefano; Miglietta, Mario M.; Marra, Gian Paolo; Niccoli, Raffaele; Arcuri, Salvatore; Catalano, Filippo; Stassi, Sergio; Baccillieri, Maurizio; Agostino, Mario; Iovine, Giulio G. R.

2016-04-01

In recent years, a number of exceptional rainfall events of short / very short duration (from 15 minutes to about 2 hours) caused incidents and service interruptions due to landslides, collapses of bridges, and erosion of the ballast, along the Calabrian railway. RAMSES (RAilway Meteorological SEcurity System) is a pilot CNR project, recently co-funded by RFI S.p.A. and aimed at mitigating the risk along the railway. Forecasting of weather events responsible of heavy convective rainfall, even when provided with some advance, is not generally performed with reliable localization. In fact, objective limits of the numerical weather prediction derive from grid resolution, often exceeding the size of convective cells. These phenomena, whose recurrence periods seem to show a reduction due to climate changes, affect limited areas and are characterized by a very short life cycle. As a consequence, failures of hydraulic crossings are increasingly being recorded together with landslide-related debris invasion along the drainage network and slopes. RAMSES aims at improving short term (3-6 hours) weather forecasts and ground effects at local scale. The employed approach is base on synergistic and integrated operational tools to provide weather information on small-size basins. The system will also allow to promptly identify and track the short-term evolution (15-60 min) of convective cells, by means of imaging techniques based on quasi-real time radar and Meteosat data. The extension of the temporal horizon of the forecast up to three hours will be performed by using the Local Analysis and Prediction System (LAPS) model. This latter employs, as a "first guess", the output of the WRF numerical model: such analyses are updated and improved by means of observational data from different instruments (e.g. on land weather stations, radar, satellites, etc.). Finally, the assessment of ground effects will be accomplished for selected study areas, by means of landslide susceptibility

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

OpenAIRE

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

2013-01-01

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

Reconstruction of railway energy lines; Rekonstruktion von Bahnenergieleitungen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2013-06-15

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

Finance-economical indexes of efficiency of development of railway transport

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Chekhovska

2012-12-01

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

A cascading failure model for analyzing railway accident causation

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jin-Tao; Li, Ke-Ping

2018-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-17

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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

2000-01-01

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

Waiting experience in railway environments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2014-01-01

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

Canadian Pacific Railway presentation to the Propane Gas Association of Canada erger mania, sustaining franchise value

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Green, F.

1997-12-31

A profile of Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was presented. CPR owns and operates 17,400 miles of tracks in Canada and has a total freight revenue of $3.5 billion. Current rail industry issues, including service expectations, capital markets, safety and the environment, and industry responses to these issues, were reviewed. Restructuring, increasing effectiveness, product and service innovations, and mergers, are the usual answers. CPR`s internal restructuring, which included centralization, integration, better use of information technology and reduced management costs, were described. Impacts of industry-wide restructuring, measures put in place by CPR to manage and respond to the changing rail transportation scene were outlined. 16 figs.

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...

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

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Wei; Wang, Xifu

2018-01-01

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

Synthesis of railway-signaling plans using reachability games

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

2016-01-01

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

Robustness indicators and capacity models for railway networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Lars Wittrup

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

Importance measures-based prioritization for improving the performance of multi-state systems: application to the railway industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zio, Enrico; Marella, Marco; Podofillini, Luca

2007-01-01

The railway industry is undertaking significant efforts in the application of reliability-based and risk-informed approaches for rationalizing operation costs and safety requirements. In this respect, importance measures can bring valuable information for identifying the actions to take for most effective system improvement. In this paper, the railway network is modelled within a multi-state perspective in which each rail section is treated as a component, which can stay in different discrete states representing the speed values at which the section can be travelled, depending on the tracks degradation and on the traffic conditions. The Monte Carlo method is used to simulate the complex stochastic dynamics of such multi-state system. A prioritization of the rail sections based on importance measures is then used to most effectively improve the performance of the rail network, in terms of a decrease in the overall trains delay. High-importance sections, i.e. with highest impact on the overall delay, are considered for a relaxation of their speed restrictions and the proposed changes are then verified, from the risk-informed perspective, to have negligible impact on the risk associated to the rail infrastructure

Formal Methods and Safety Certification: Challenges in the Railways Domain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fantechi, Alessandro; Ferrari, Alessio; Gnesi, Stefania

2016-01-01

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

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

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

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

2005-07-01

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

Energetic optimization of regenerative braking for high speed railway systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2016-01-01

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

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2014-01-01

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

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

NARCIS (Netherlands)

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

2017-01-01

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

Railway projects prioritisation for investment : application of goal programming

OpenAIRE

Ahern, Aoife; Anandarajah, Gabrial

2007-01-01

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

Study on high reliability safety valve for railway vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

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

2017-09-01

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fu Yanbing

2013-01-01

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

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

Science.gov (United States)

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

2009-12-01

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

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

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2009-01-01

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

The role of the railways in the future of air transport

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Givoni, M.; Banister, D.

2007-01-01

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. V. Martseniuk

2015-10-01

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

Efficiency and Robustness in Railway Operations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bull, Simon Henry; Pisinger, David

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

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brigitta ZSOTER

2011-01-01

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

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

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Jasna Golubić

2012-10-01

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

Tracked vehicles in hazardous environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, S.; Walton, P.J.

1993-01-01

A programme of remote inspections has been conducted on the Magnox steel reactor pressure vessel at Trawsfynydd Power Station using climbing vehicles. Tracked remotely operated vehicles supported the inspection programme by assisting with the delivery and recovery of the climbing vehicles and facilitating the use of various accessory packages. This paper presents details of the support project, the tracked vehicles and of the uses made of them during the inspection programme. (author)

Perspectives of transport logistics in the railway transport enterprises

OpenAIRE

Elagin, Yu; Obruch, A.

2014-01-01

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

Analysis of the Dynamic Wheel Loads in Railway Transition Zones Considering the Moisture Condition of the Ballast and Subballast

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Haoyu Wang

2017-11-01

Full Text Available 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 potential source of track degradation. This paper presents results of the moisture condition measured in three transition zones using ground penetrating radar, where the ballast/subballast are analyzed. The relationship between the moisture condition and track degradation in the transition zones is studied by comparing it to the longitudinal track level that is measured by the track inspection coaches. A strong connection is found between the high moisture condition and track degradation in the transition zones. The dynamic behavior of the transition zones with high moisture condition is analyzed using the Finite Element method. Differential stiffness and settlement are taken into consideration in the transition zone model, which is also coupled with a vehicle. The ballast/subballast layers are modelled as solid elements. Increased moisture conditions are considered as a reduction of elastic modulus, according to laboratory findings. Results show that high moisture leads to an increase of dynamic wheel loads in the transition zone, which explains the connection and confirms that the high moisture condition is a source of transition zone problems.

Capacity gain with an alternative LTE railway communication network

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sniady, Aleksander; Soler, José

2014-01-01

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

Study of Drivers’ Behaviour at a Passive Railway Crossing

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Sandra Kasalica

2012-05-01

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

Seismic impact of the railway on the geotechnical constructions

Science.gov (United States)

Stolárik, Martin; Pinka, Miroslav

2017-09-01

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

Machine vision inspection of railroad track

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-10

North American Railways and the United States Department of Transportation : (US DOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) require periodic inspection of railway : infrastructure to ensure the safety of railway operation. This inspection is a critic...

A semi-active control suspension system for railway vehicles with magnetorheological fluid dampers

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Xiukun; Zhu, Ming; Jia, Limin

2016-07-01

The high-speed train has achieved great progress in the last decades. It is one of the most important modes of transportation between cities. With the rapid development of the high-speed train, its safety issue is paid much more attention than ever before. To improve the stability of the vehicle with high speed, extra dampers (i.e. anti-hunting damper) are used in the traditional bogies with passive suspension system. However, the curving performance of the vehicle is undermined due to the extra lateral force generated by the dampers. The active suspension systems proposed in the last decades attempt to solve the vehicle steering issue. However, the active suspension systems need extra actuators driven by electrical power or hydraulic power. There are some implementation and even safety issues which are not easy to be overcome. In this paper, an innovative semi-active controlled lateral suspension system for railway vehicles is proposed. Four magnetorheological fluid dampers are fixed to the primary suspension system of each bogie. They are controlled by online controllers for enhancing the running stability on the straight track line on the one hand and further improving the curving performance by controlling the damper force on the other hand. Two control strategies are proposed in the light of the pure rolling concept. The effectiveness of the proposed strategies is demonstrated by SIMPACK and Matlab co-simulation for a full railway vehicle with two conventional bogies.

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

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Fei Dou

2014-01-01

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

Space Time – Track Circuits with Trellis Code Modulation

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Marius Enulescu

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The track circuits are very important equipments used in the railway transportation system. Today these are used to send vital information, to the running train, in the same time with the integrity checking of the rail. The actual track circuits have a small problem due to the use of the same transmission medium by the signals containing vital information and the return traction current, the running track rails. But this small problem can produce big disturbances in the train circulation, especially in the rush hours. To improve the data transmission to the train on-board equipment, the implementation of new track circuits using new communication technology were studied. This technology is used by the mobile and satellite communications and applies the principle of diversity encoding both time and space through the use of multiple transmission points of the track circuit signal for telegram which is sent to the train. Since this implementation does not satisfy the intended purpose, other modern communication principles such as 8PSK signals modulation and encoding using Trellis Coded Modulation were developed. This new track circuit aims to solve the problems which appeared in the current operation of track circuits and theoretically manages to transmit vital information to the train on board equipment without being affected by disturbances in electric traction transport systems.

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

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Guangli; Karoumi, Raid

2013-01-01

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

Road Traffic and Railway Noise Exposures and Adiposity in Adults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

2016-01-01

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

O gigante dormente: O lugar nos trilhos da ferrovia Norte-Sul / The railway sleeper giant: The place in the tracks of the North-South railroad

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Arlete Mendes Mendes da Silva

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The Great Engineering Projects are events that change the space, altering their natural and socio-cultural elements. The socio-spatial effects of these developments can be positive and / or negative. The construction of the North – South railway is considered a major project. This suggests a path with railways of approximately 2100 km across the Midwest and north of the country, connecting the north with the Carajás Railroad and south with the Central Atlantic Railroad. With that reduces freight costs for long distances, and can raise the economic development of the Brazilian Cerrado. Despite the developmental objectives of the FNS, this paper seeks to reflect on the impact that the railroad can bring to the rural and urban in the city of Anápolis - GO, taking place as a category of this analysis. There is no way to integrate, include, accommodate a large number of people who ‘has no place’ in society exclusionary. Moreover, the forms of inclusion and reinstatement are increasingly encountered and degrading little to a condition of social welfare. Aiming to spatialize and illustrate this reflection, the geographical treatment that is intended to give the perspective of space - place mentions the construction of a major infrastructure project in the transport logistics Mid- Region the Center of Goiás, at the southern entrance of the city of Anápolis, in State of Goiás, the North South Railway - FNS and its socio-spatial implications.

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

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Vemić Mirčeta

2005-01-01

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