Existing Rail Network Research Articles

Optimizing Dry Port Locations: A Comparative Analysis of Deterministic, Stochastic, and Robust Models

The increasing international maritime transportation of freight has caused a huge operation in important ports, which are often established near cities and therefore do not have enough room for expanding the operations. This causes long delays and poor productivity in ports. The construction of dry ports has been proposed as a suitable solution to mitigate the problems. A dry port is an inland intermodal terminal directly connected to a seaport by road or rail, where importers and exporters can clear their cargo through customs and handle other shipping formalities. Selecting the right place for the establishment of dry ports has a significant impact on the time and costs of transportation in the network, as well as environmental consequences. In this research, to determine the optimal location of dry ports among the potential locations, three mathematical models as deterministic, stochastic, and robust with three objectives of minimizing the maximum transportation time in the entire network, environmental pollutants, and transportation costs are presented, which simultaneously specify the required number of dry ports in the network and the optimal place to build them. The presented models have been implemented for data related to 30 million bills of lading in a 10-year period in Iran with four major ports and 400 cities. Both deterministic and non-deterministic approaches reveal a preference not to build a dry port in the first optimal solution. However, in the following desirable answers, different answers have been suggested. According to the sensitivity analysis performed by making changes in the fuel price situation or the existing rail network, the model introduces several potential points for the construction of dry ports. The results of this model show that, with the construction of dry ports, despite the increase in overall costs of the network because of the construction of dry ports, operation, and storage in them, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions will decrease significantly.

Rehabilitation of rail track facing cross-level issues using polymeric geocell

One of the issues with the existing rail network is the cross-level issue, where the two parallel tracks have unwanted elevation differences, risking train derailment. The speed of trains is typically reduced in those identified areas but still, the geometric irregularity causes train body vibrations reduces the riding comfort. Once that elevation difference exceeds a design limit operation ceases for safety. Conventional solutions to this are jacking up the track by re-filling material inside and injecting expandable foam. None of those temporary techniques have a significant contribution to eliminating the root cause; rather invite additional risks with unpredictable differential stiffness. An enduring solution is rebuilding the embankment with the use of strong geocell reinforcement. The threedimensional confinement along with the high tensile strength of reinforcing polymeric geocell introduces a stiffer layer. Through this paper, a design approach utilizing the tensile strength, stiffness, and geometric properties of the geocell has been established to provide a dependable solution. Three projects have been discussed where a high-strength novel polymeric alloy geocell with the established design method was successfully used. The effective theoretical reduction of bearing pressure was from 38% to 55%. Observation over a year indicated the effectiveness of the design methodology.

Evaluating the substitutability of short-haul air transport by high-speed rail using a simulation-based approach

Air transportation is reported to have the highest CO2 emission per passenger kilometer compared to other modes of travel. Although prior studies have analyzed the impact of high-speed rail (HSR) on the aviation sector, this study is one of the first to develop a simulation model to evaluate the current HSR system, and determine the extent to which the existing rail network can handle additional passengers, if short-haul airline customers were to avail of HSR service. This study also proposes recommendations for future HSR schedules and rail capacities, as well. A Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Verify (DMADV) approach is developed for (a) conceptualizing the problem, (b) collecting data from different sources, (c) developing the simulation model, and (d) evaluating the results and deriving managerial recommendations. For the purpose of illustrating the proposed approach, we discuss a case study considering the passenger travel between two major European cities, Munich and Paris. It can be observed that the current railway operations between Munich and Paris could only handle 25% additional customers. If 50%, 75% and 100% of current air customers were to switch to HSR, then it is recommended to operate one (evening), two (one afternoon and one evening), and three (two afternoon and one evening) additional trains, respectively. Furthermore, this study shows that a complete customer transition from air to rail could save 56.8% in CO2 emission.

An Experimental Investigation of Electrical Clearance in Air for Overhead Traction System

While converting the existing rail network to electric traction, provision of specified minimum requirement of air gap clearance under old bridges and tunnels has always posed problems. Demand in specified electrical clearance of air-gap often forced the Indian Railways in construction of new bridges for the traction overhead lines to pass when the existing bridges still had their life left, which resulted in very high cost of electrification schemes. Extensive experimental investigation work is presented in this article for the performance of air-gap on actual catenary of contact wire assembly. Measurements were made under natural conditions of rain, fog, fair weather and under artificial rain with ac power frequency, lightning and switching impulse voltages. Investigations were also performed with the insertion of a solid insulating barrier in the gap. Considering the severest condition that of stream of water falling directly on the live conductor from the grounded object, the requirement for minimum air-gap clearance could be recommended to reduce to 170 mm for short time and 220 mm for long time applications, which is 37% lower than the air-gap clearance practiced hitherto. Development of twin contact wire assembly forming horizontal bundle is recommended for reducing the air-gap clearance further.

Planning for Operation: Can Line Extension Planning Mitigate Capacity Mismatch on an Existing Rail Network?

Operational planning in China is perhaps more important today than ever before owing to the ongoing expansion of urban rail in the country. As urban rail networks increase in size and complexity, new lines added to them significantly alter both their topologies and operational characteristics. Thus, appraisal of alternative lines from the perspective of operation while planning is crucial. In this study, a method to forecast demands for new lines and obviate the effects of their addition, in terms of overcrowding in urban rail networks, was developed based on smart card data from existing networks. Using the card data and forecasted demand, transfer demand and section load can be estimated through the route choice model, and hence the influence of new lines on the operation of the network can be analyzed. The results of application of the proposed method to a case of line extension of a network in Beijing showed that it effectively prevented overcrowding by fewer interchanges on the line extension. Approximately 63% of passengers desiring an interchange on the target line altered their interchange from the station that had acted as bottleneck to the new interchange. Consequently, the headway of the feeding line was reduced from 6 min to 3.5 min. Hence, the capacity mismatch problem no longer occurred.

Adapting spatial conditions to reduce car dependency in mid-sized ‘post growth’ European city regions: The case of South Limburg, Netherlands

Defining Car Dependency (CD) as a lack of travel choices to daily destinations, this paper explores how possible changes in the spatial context of a post-growth, mid-sized urban region can affect the conditions for CD. In the most rural parts of the region distances to schools and shops will exceed walking and biking distances. Distances to work will increase on average. With the bicycle and e-bicycle fewer jobs will be accessible, although the e-bicycle shows greater reach than public transport. Despite the population and job decline, more jobs will be accessible by car, as a result of current investments in road infrastructure. This is enhanced by the ongoing development of economic centers along the highways, resulting in a growing mismatch between the rail system and the spatial economic structure of the region.We developed policy scenarios to explore spatial conditions for reducing car-dependence within the region. Intensifying land uses along the axes of public transport has a limited effect in a shrinking region. Introducing direct and fast public transport connections to the existing economic centers however does have effect. We tested two transport policy scenarios, one based on improving Inter City (IC) rail services on the existing rail network and one based on creating Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) services on the existing highways. The IC- scenario makes more jobs accessible outside the current daily urban system, while the BRT- scenario intensifies relations within the region. With regards to CD ‘three worlds’ seem to be emerging in this medium-sized, ‘post growth’ region. Rural areas (10–15% of the population in 2030) are increasingly becoming completely car dependent, suburban areas (65 –75% of the population) are offering travel choices to daily amenities, but increasingly becoming more car dependent in relation to jobs, and central urban areas (15–20% of the population) are providing travel choices to amenities as well as jobs, but only under the condition of improving the regional public transport system.

Big buses in a small country: The prospects for bus services in Wales

The evolution of the bus market and industry in Wales since deregulation in the mid-1980s is reviewed. After a brief period of competition, which seemed to offer the prospect of welfare gains, the industry rapidly consolidated, with resulting losses in bus usage and welfare, similar to the rest of Great Britain outside London. There were large increases in subsidy following the introduction of a national free concessionary fares scheme in 2002. There is some evidence that some of this subsidy has leaked, at least some of the time, into super-normal profits, in part due to generous concessionary fare reimbursement terms. For the urban parts of Wales, particularly in the North East (centred on Wrexham) and the South East (centred on Cardiff), there are aspirations to develop Bus Rapid Transit to supplement the existing rail network. For rural Wales, there have been long standing aspirations to develop more flexible public transport services and long distance bus services, but this has often been thwarted by lack of funding. Organisational reforms that might assist the Welsh Government in delivering these aspirations are reviewed, including Quality Contracts, Quality Partnerships and Community Partnerships.

RAIL TRANSPORT IN KALININGRAD –THE CITY OF 2018 WORLD CUP

The theme and purpose of the publication have been formulated on the ground of the problem of the maximum usage of the existing rail network to serve 2018 World Cup in Kaliningrad and mitigate the transport crisis in the most Russian cities. For this to happen, it is required to determine the way of the organization and operation of comparatively short rapid transportations of urban and suburban-urban passengers by railways in the public trains of the S-Bahn type (Stadtschnellbahn), primarily in the connections between the city and the airport. By doing so, it also is possible to solve the acute problem for Russia, concerning the increase of the efficiency of commuter rail and non-removal of hundreds of commuter trains. The basis of this publication is the author’s participation in the informal examination of the transportation system in Kaliningrad, as well as the development, on the stage of the feasibility study, of transport concept of the General Plan of Kaliningrad for 2018–2035.

Rail travel: Conceptualizing a study on slow tourism approaches in sustaining rural development

Rail transportation in Peninsular Malaysia is a popular transportation mode for locals to return to their hometown but is not frequently used as the mode of transport when travelling for holidays. Rural towns in Peninsular Malaysia have immense opportunity to be promoted as a popular tourism destination without the need of intense modern development. Using train rather than taking a car or a bus would endorse the concept of slowness during travel enabling tourists to enjoy the time taken to travel rather than rushing to travel to a destination. Encouragement of travelling by rail to the rural towns will enable improved utilization of the existing rail network and further uplift the travel appeal to rural towns in Peninsular Malaysia. In order to promote the concept of slow tourism that would benefit the rural towns’ sustainability, the perception of tourists on travelling slowly by train should first be understood and taken for consideration. A qualitative methodology of in depth interviews with domestic and international tourists whom have travel on trains to the rural towns will be conducted.

SPEED COMMUTER-URBAN RAIL TRANSPORT

Transport crisis in the cities has become a ubiquitous problem. In Russia, the situation is deteriorated by the absence of the methodology of conceptual design of integrated transport systems in general, and the city-street-speed railway as part of the system. To mitigate this situation, two methodological tasks have been proposed: 1) the relevance of the use of the existing rail network in the city in order to solve the transport crisis and provide the simultaneous increase of its efficiency; 2) a way of organizing a relatively short speed transportation of passengers on the ground of the rail system of urban trains similarly to S- Bahn (Stadtschnellbahn). 1 Logistic approach to the formation of public transport Slogan of times was the integration in everything and everywhere, including public transport. Globalization, which is expressed in the transport sector through inter/multimodality, even in times of crisis and the economic downturn has changed the structure of passenger flows at all levels of transport communications. It has brought to a change in the methods of calculation of passenger traffic, the destination routing traffic and the organization of their technology. Passenger service of all types of transport communication (about 15) should be based on an integrated platform of innovative transportation systems of the two levels. Macrosystems: intermodal, international, long- distance and non-urban transport; microsystems: multimodal, commuter-urban and short transport, which further considered in details. The main type of transport service in microsystem cities and agglomerations should be multifunctional rail transport. Multidimensional solution of the transport problem requires the creation of the intelligent transport and logistics system (ITLS). Passenger logistics in the city should be based on well-developed public transport infrastructure (e.g. rail and vehicles, roads, rail and street ground transportation of all kinds, land and intermodal intercity corridors, ring roads and speed diameters). Urban passenger logistics of inter/multimodal nature should objectively determine the optimal segments of the market of certain types of transport mode and their integration into the end-to-end passenger service system.

How to Expand Subway and Urban Railway Networks: Light Rail Extensions in Madrid, Spain

Residential areas of detached houses were built in north and east Madrid, Spain, during the last decade of the 20th century. Because the population density in those areas is low, implementing an efficient transport system is complicated. In south Madrid in the 1960s, however, huge commuter towns developed. Some of them were linked to a suburban network at some point, whereas others were far away. The Madrid region promoted the construction of several light rail lines to resolve this issue. The lines function as extensions to the existing rail network (subway or suburban trains). The determining factors that enabled these lines to be implemented and operated successfully are analyzed. The recommendations for implementing a light rail transit system, on the basis of that analysis, are: (a) the lines should not be very long; (b) they should have a segregated right-of-way; (c) the quality of service should be good; and (d) they should be coordinated with other modes of transport. Apart from public funding, they could be funded by additional resources collected from property tax and the concessionaire company (private funding). A concessionaire consortium may comprise construction companies, transport operators, financial institutions, rolling stock manufacturers, and consultancies. Finally, the concession should be granted for a 30- to 40-year period so that private stakeholders can recover their investment.

Austria's Koralm tunnel: one of the world's largest tunnel projects

AbstractThe Koralm railway line is currently one of the most prestigious construction projects of ÖBB‐Infrastruktur Bau AG. In 2018 the new 130 km long two‐track electrified route is supposed to raise the capacities and reduce travel times along this important northsouth railway axis. The 33 km long, ambitious Koralm tunnel forms the core piece of this line. Forcing the track development in Austria, ÖBB‐Infrastruktur Bau AG focuses on the development of the main connections to high performance routes such as the Koralm railway line, the four‐track development of the Danube line and of the Lower Inn Valley route. Furthermore, ÖBB invests in the modernisation of its largest stations, many suburban service projects, enhanced tunnel safety, noise protection measures as well as park & ride facilities and extensive reinvestments in the existing rail network.

Benefits of an Edinburgh—Newcastle high-speed rail link

The greatest use of air travel within the UK is between central Scotland and London. This paper discusses the construction of a high-speed rail link (350 km/h capability) between Edinburgh and Newcastle to reduce the Edinburgh–London rail journey time to an equivalent flight time, with the objective of achieving greatest modal shift from air to rail travel with consequent reductions in carbon emissions. The paper describes the existing rail route and its limitations. A broad specification and a possible proposed route that would utilise the existing rail network and stations at each end are discussed. The paper also covers the overall costs of relative transport modes, how these modes can be equally treated and possible sources of finance. Short-term East Coast Main Line capacity improvements and the longer-term view that an Edinburgh–Newcastle link would be only a start in the development of high-speed rail on this route are discussed. It is concluded that the UK should follow the lead of other European countries and develop a high-speed rail network, primarily as a means of reducing carbon emissions from aircraft.

Positive impact of distribution centres on the environment

The transport sector in general, and trucks in particular, generates a significant amount of emissions in Australia. It appears the trend will escalate unless different measures are taken to reduce the reliance of freight transport on trucks. This paper discusses the benefits of distribution centres as a means to reduce road congestion, increase safety, protect the environment by reducing atmospheric pollution and improve freight distribution. It also provides the effective use of the existing rail network and its infrastructure and improves the lead-time as well as lowering the cost of transportation of cargo. It also investigates the positive impact of distribution centres located near to manufacturing and farming production units. A simulation model has been developed and used to help determine the amount of atmospheric pollution produced by two modes of land transport, rail and road, for the movement of containers between port and destination. Results derived from the model provide evidence about a preferred land-transport regime. The paper has two sections: (1) the role of distribution centres in the chain of transport and (2) the impact of distribution centres on the environment. The first section investigates the feasibility of the implementation of distribution centres in the State of Victoria with respect to rail line capacity and location allocation. The second section presents an additional simulation model that investigates the role of a distribution centre in relation to the amount of atmospheric pollution produced by rail and road, while containers are carried between port and destination.

Saobraćajni tranzitni pravci kroz Jugoslaviju i EZ

The authors first review the transit routes through Yugoslavia of interest for the single EC market and this from the standpoint of passenger and freight transport. They remind of an urgent requirement of construction of a new and reconstruction of the existing rail network in accorda11ce with the high speed systems introduction trends. Especially the market which refers to the development of transit routes through Yugoslavia as a factor of advancement of transit and tourism in relation to the future common EC market.