Abstract
In this paper, the usage of railway lines across the Alps is evaluated, both at present and after the new lines and base tunnels will be in operation. The railway network of a large part of Europe has been modelled through a graph, and the best routes between some of the most important origin/destination pairs in Italy and Europe have been determined. A new cost function has been developed for the links of the network. The proposed cost function is an improvement of those existing in the literature, because all cost components are taken into account in detail, while the traction cost and the number of locomotives utilized explicitly depend on the geometrical characteristics of rail lines. This last aspect is crucial in analyzing the rail lines across the Alps, as they are often operated in double or triple traction. The results of the study show the importance of new Alpine rail lines and base tunnels: the Ceneri base tunnel will remove a bottleneck on the Gotthard line, while the Brenner and Frejus base tunnels will take up a quota of demand currently served by other lines. Moreover, the new Alpine lines will create an east–west rail connection, through the Italian Padan Plain, alternative to the rail route which currently bypasses the Alps to the north.
Highlights
Most railway lines crossing the Alps were built in the nineteen century and are often steep and tortuous
Railway lines lines currently currentlyininoperation operation(‘current represented in red, and railway lines across Alpine Passes are represented in light blue; Alpine represented in red, and railway lines across Alpine Passes are represented in light blue; Alpine railway railway lines under construction or planned (‘project scenario’) are represented in dark blue
The rail network of a large part of Europe has been modelled through a graph and a new cost function for rail links has been developed
Summary
Most railway lines crossing the Alps were built in the nineteen century and are often steep and tortuous. Some of them are operated in triple traction, for example: the Brenner line on the Austrian side, and the Frejus line on both the Italian and the French side This greatly increases monetary costs, and travel times. A new cost function for railway links has been considered, after a deep analysis of the geometry and operation of each line crossing the Alps, the importance of each Alpine railway pass is evaluated. Development of a new monetary cost function for freight railway links; Analysis of the geometry and operation characteristics of each line crossing the Alps; Construction of the railway network model of a large part of Europe; Calculation of the minimum cost paths, based on travel times, as well as monetary and generalized costs, between pairs of Italian and European railway terminals, which require crossing the Alps
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