TECHNICAL AND ECONOMICAL PROBLEMS OF INTEGRATION OF IX B AND XI D INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY TRANSPORT CORRIDORS INTO EUROPEAN RAILWAY TRANSPORT NETWORK

Laura Černiauskaitė,Kazys Sakalauskas

doi:10.3846/16483840.2003.10414086

Abstract

Technical and economical problems of train speed increment up to 160 km/h in existing IX B and IX D international railway transport corridors are analysed. Train speed restriction reasons, values of restrictions and their locations are estimated according to technical parameter characteristics of existing railway line infrastructure and according to the requirements for high-speed trains. The concept railway lines technical shape includes: plan, longitudinal profile, road upper construction and subgrade, besides quantitative and qualitative indices of elements. The most important indicator of railway lines technical shape is the permissible speed of trains. The radius oflying curves is taken as the most important investigation object in the analysis of geometry of railway lines plan. Computer programme „Trauka“ („Traction“) is used for the solution of problems of train speed increase. The programme is intended to calculate train speed and train driving time by evaluating the technical level of existing railway lines infrastructure. Great attention is paid to a complex analysis of road plan, longitudinal profile and upper road structure elements when railway lines infrastructure reconstruction is carried out. The application of these methods in practice allows the exact estimation of train speed increment possibilities when speed restriction reasons are eliminated.

Highlights

Present Lithuanian railway transport sector, as well as the one in most of the Eastern Europe countries, is rather behind the modem, sophisticated and reciprocal Western and Northern Europe railway transport systems, from technical, economical, technological and organizational point of view
While integrating Lithuanian railway network (IX B and IX D international railway transport corridor branches, passing Lithuanian territory) into the European Union transport system, parameters ofinfrastructural elements have to satisfy the requirements of the international agreements AGC and AGTC at first
These requirements are applied for the modernization of lines, which are incorporated into Transport Infrastructure Needs Assessment (TINA) program

Summary

Introduction

Present Lithuanian railway transport sector, as well as the one in most of the Eastern Europe countries, is rather behind the modem, sophisticated and reciprocal Western and Northern Europe railway transport systems, from technical, economical, technological and organizational point of view. In the AGTC agreement, signed in 1991 in Geneva, it is indicated to provide railway network "E" with multiplicity of equipment, which would ensure the process of international composite inter-modal shipment Such shipment system enables to carry goods from door to door leastwise by two different kinds of transport. The most important infrastructural parameters according to the AGC and AGTC agreements are presented in Table 1 [3,4,5,6] These requirements are applied for the modernization of lines, which are incorporated into Transport Infrastructure Needs Assessment (TINA) program. According to TINA, during the modernization of the main railway lines it is necessary to follow the European Union directive 96/48/EB, defining transeuropean high-speed railways system interaction According to this directive the whole railway infrastmcture and rolling-stock characteristics compatibility have to be insured in the whole transeuropean transport network (TEN-Tr). At the moment there are 220 kilometers of railroads in IX (B, D) transport corridor, which are renovated according to the requirements of the EU standards [1]

Research of IX B and IX D International Transport Corridors Infrastructure

Findings

Conclusions