Improving the safety indicators of Ukrainian railways: A study of the longitudinal stability of the railway track

Abstract

The article considers the problem of improving safety indicators on the railways of Ukraine, in particular, with regard to the temperature-stressed jointless track, which makes up more than 75% of the total length of the main tracks. During the operation of this structure, there is a risk of dangerous failures, such as “track ejection” and “rail and sleeper grid displacement”, which can lead to a rolling stock derailment. The article considers various aspects of this problem and analyses the stress state of the jointless track in the context of loss of longitudinal stability, investigating the factors that affect this risk. The purpose of the article is to propose comprehensive solutions to reduce the risk of loss of longitudinal stability of the continuous track and improve safety on Ukrainian railways. The study is based on the analysis of actual cases of rolling stock derailments due to loss of rail and sleeper grid stability. The article also examines the regulatory approach to determining the conditions of longitudinal stability of continuous track in Ukraine and the European Union and compares their approaches. Finally, the authors of the article offer proposals for improving the safety performance of railways, including the introduction of: the European approach to authorization of the subsystem “infrastructure”; modern systems for diagnostics and monitoring of the state of infrastructure; and an approach to work planning based on the assessment of the probability of the risk of loss of rail and sleeper stability. The general context of the article is to improve traffic safety on Ukrainian railways and to avoid transportation accidents associated with the loss of longitudinal stability of the rail and sleeper grid of a jointless track.