Existing Railway Infrastructure Research Articles

Feasibility Study of Steel Derailment Containment Provisions through Quasi-Static Experiments

Railway derailments present a safety hazard, carrying the potential for severe consequences for both human lives and the economy. Implementing derailment containment provisions (DCPs) near the track centerline is essential for mitigating risks in operating high-speed rail (HSR) while providing significant advantages for the large-scale upgrade of existing railway infrastructure. Therefore, this paper investigated the feasibility of a DCP system made of steel through quasi-static experiments, aiming to enhance safety in HSR operations. Initially, single anchor tests were conducted to assess its capacity to withstand applied loads, prevent the pullout of steel anchors, and avoid the local rotation of the steel frame. Then, full-scale steel DCP systems were manufactured and tested for quasi-static load at different locations, including the mid-anchor, the mid-span, and the end-anchor. The relationship between applied load and displacement, along with the initial stiffness of the DCP specimens, was discussed. The findings revealed that the single anchor can withstand an applied load of up to 197.9 kN. The DCP specimen maintained structural integrity at the 207 kN target load under all load scenarios, showing a maximum displacement of 8.93 mm in the case of applied load at mid-span. Furthermore, the initial stiffness of the DCP systems was 1.77 to 2.55 times greater than that of a single anchor, validating a force-bearing coordination mechanism among neighboring anchors and the substantial impact of the applied load positions on their stiffness.

An electrokinetic-biocementation study for clay stabilisation using carbonic anhydrase-producing bacteria

This study investigates the feasibility of biocementing clay soil underneath a railway embankment of the UK rail network via carbonic anhydrase (CA) biocementation, implementing the treatments electrokinetically. Compared to previous biocementation studies using the ureolytic route, the CA pathway is attractive as CA-producing bacteria can sequester CO2 to produce biocement. Clay soil samples were treated electrokinetically using biostimulation and bioaugmentation conditions to induce biocementation. The effects of the treatment were assessed in terms of undrained shear strength using the cone penetration test, moisture content, and calcium carbonate content measurements. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses were also conducted on soil samples before and after treatment to evaluate the reaction products. The results showed that upon biostimulation, the undrained shear strength of the soil increased uniformly throughout the soil, from 17.6 kPa (in the natural untreated state) to 106.6 kPa. SEM micrographs also showed a clear change in the soil structure upon biostimulation. Unlike biostimulation, bioaugmentation did not have the same performance, although a high amount of CaCO3 precipitates was detected, and bacteria were observed to have entered the soil. The prospects are exciting, as it was shown that it is possible to achieve a considerable strength increase by the biostimulation of native bacteria capturing CO2 while improving the soil strength, thus having the potential to contribute both to the resilience of existing railway infrastructure and to climate change mitigation.

Increasing the efficiency of using backline and private railway infrastructure in the conditions of the transportation market

Purpose. Improving the efficiency of interaction between enterprises that operate public and private railway infrastructure when performing cargo transportation and cargo operations. Methodology. The studies were carried out using the methods of the theory of railway operation and economic and mathematical modeling. Findings. The study found that the transition from a planned economy to a market economy along with increasing customer requirements for the composition and quality of transport services is an objective reason for an increase in carriage downtime at private sidings and junction stations, a shortage of track capacity and shunting locomotives. It is shown that the existing approaches to assessing the effectiveness of the interaction between train tracks of enterprises and mainline railways are aimed at improving the performance of the rolling stock and do not create incentives to solve the problem of the shortage of transfer and processing capacity of the railway infrastructure. Originality. The paper proposes an improved method for assessing the effectiveness of the interaction of participants in the transportation process when performing transportation and cargo operations on the private sidings of industrial enterprises, based on the time the infrastructure is occupied. This approach, unlike the existing one, encourages railways and industrial enterprises to jointly search for the best technological solutions for the use of public and private railway infrastructure. Practical value. The method proposed in the paper for assessing the interaction of participants in the transportation process makes it possible to separate station services in the tariff for the use of the railway infrastructure into separate services of service facilities and track access to them. This will create a competitive environment and encourage participants in the transportation process to use the existing railway infrastructure and develop a new one to obtain a synergistic effect more efficiently.

Application of openBIM for the Management of Existing Railway Infrastructure: Case Study of the Cancello–Benevento Railway Line

In the field of infrastructure, the development and application of the openBIM (open Building Information Modeling) approach and related standards (principally Industry Foundation Classes) remain limited with regard to processes in O&M (Operation and Maintenance) phases, as well as the broader context of AM (Asset Management). This article deals with the activities carried out as part of a pilot project based on the need to manage the operation and assess the condition and value of existing infrastructure along the Cancello–Benevento railway line. The principal goal was to systematize information by digitalizing the infrastructure, in order to enable the assessment of possible performance gaps (compared to national railway standards) in the event of integration within the national infrastructure. In compliance with the project requirements, a digitalization strategy was designed for the definition of surveying activities and the implementation of openBIM systems for the development of an object library and a federated digital model, structured within the collaborative platform that was used, and allowing management, maintenance, and subsequent financial evaluation in the broader context of asset management. The project involved the collaboration of railway operators, a university, and a software company that implemented innovative concepts concerning IFC (specifically, IFC4x2 was used) through the development of dedicated software solutions. The digital solution we proposed enabled the use of digital models as access keys to survey and maintenance information (ERP platforms used by the railway operators) that was available in real time. This project was nominated at the buildingSMART awards 2021 and was one of three finalists in the “Asset Management Using openBIM” category.

ANALYSIS OF LOGISTIC RISKS OF RAILWAY TRANSPORT OF THE MINING AND CONCENTRATING PLANT UNDER CONDITIONS OF INCREASING PRODUCTION VOLUMES OF FINISHED PRODUCTS

Purpose. In modern conditions, the problem of increasing the efficiency of the railway transport of industrial enterprises is very urgent, and, first of all, this applies to enterprises of the metallurgical and mining industry, which are the largest recipients and consignors of goods by the railways of Ukraine. In this regard, the purpose of the study is to develop measures to increase the throughput and carrying capacity of the railway infrastructure of a mining enterprise in the context of an increase in the transportation of raw materials. Methods. The analysis of the technical equipment and technology of the railway transport of a large mining and processing plant in Ukraine was carried out using the methods of graphical analytical modeling. Results. The track development of the mining and processing plant ensures the delivery of iron ore from the quarry to the crushing and processing plant. The plant is presented as a system for transporting raw materials from loading points to unloading points, in which the process of its consumption is uniform (unloading ore on the tracks of a crushing plant), and the process of its replenishment is uneven (loading ore at loading points). Smoothing the uneven supply of raw materials between the points of loading and unloading provides the track capacity of the station adjacent to the crushing plant. The carrying capacity of the existing railway infrastructure of the plant does not ensure the mastery of the estimated volumes of transportation of raw materials. Analysis of the results of graphical modeling of the mining and processing plant showed that the limiting elements are the processing capacity of the crushing plant and long distances between the loading points and the abutment station. Organizational and technical solutions are proposed to increase the throughput of the railway infrastructure of the mining and processing plant. Practical significance. The results obtained can be used in the implementation of recommendations aimed at increasing the efficiency of the functioning of the railway transport of the mining and processing plant in conditions of an increase in the volume of transportation of raw materials.

An experimental/numerical hybrid methodology for the prediction of railway-induced ground-borne vibration on buildings to be constructed close to existing railway infrastructures: Numerical validation and parametric study

A novel experimental/numerical hybrid methodology for the assessment of railway-induced ground-borne vibration in buildings based on experimental measurements in the soil surface is proposed in this paper. This methodology has been specifically designed for the prediction of railway-induced vibration in buildings to be constructed close to an operative railway infrastructure, although it can be applied for other types of vibration sources. The model of the incident wave field induced by the railway infrastructure consists of a set of virtual forces applied in the soil, which would be obtained from vibration experimental measurements in the surface of the ground where the building will be constructed. These virtual forces can be subsequently applied to a model of the building-soil system to obtain a prediction of the vibration levels that will be induced by the existing railway infrastructure to the studied building. In the present work, this methodology is theoretically defined and it is numerically validated for two-dimensional and two-and-a-half-dimensional cases. To numerically test the methodology, the measured ground surface responses are replaced by simulated ones obtained in a set of points called collocation points. In this context, a parametric study has been developed with the aim of finding out a robust criterion for the application of the present methodology with respect to the amount and location of the collocation points (representing vibration sensors) and virtual forces. It is found that the distance between virtual sources should be smaller than the S-wave wavelength of the upper soil layer corresponding to the highest frequency of the frequency range of interest to ensure the reliability of the methodology. Moreover, the proposed method is found to be insignificantly affected by the building-tunnel dynamic coupling for building-tunnel distances above 20 m. The proposed hybrid model would simplify the usual numerical prediction approach commonly adopted for dealing in detail with these problems, since a model of the railway infrastructure is no longer required. Moreover, it would reduce the uncertainty of the prediction due to the use of experimental measurements of the particular site to be studied. In addition, it would provide a higher accuracy and flexibility than empirical models based on experimental transmissibility functions between the soil surface and the building.

Hough$^2$Map – Iterative Event-Based Hough Transform for High-Speed Railway Mapping

To cope with the growing demand for transportation on the railway system, accurate, robust, and high-frequency positioning is required to enable a safe and efficient utilization of the existing railway infrastructure. As a basis for a localization system we propose a complete on-board mapping pipeline able to map robust meaningful landmarks, such as poles from power lines, in the vicinity of the vehicle. Such poles are good candidates for reliable and long term landmarks even through difficult weather conditions or seasonal changes. To address the challenges of motion blur and illumination changes in railway scenarios we employ a Dynamic Vision Sensor, a novel event-based camera. Using a sideways oriented on-board camera, poles appear as vertical lines. To map such lines in a real-time event stream, we introduce Hough2Map, a novel consecutive iterative event-based Hough transform framework capable of detecting, tracking, and triangulating close-by structures. We demonstrate the mapping reliability and accuracy of Hough2Map on real-world data in typical usage scenarios and evaluate using surveyed infrastructure ground truth maps. Hough2Map achieves a detection reliability of up to 92% and a mapping root mean square error accuracy of 1.1518m.

Proposed models to calculate and optimise line capacity under different operation conditions for Egyptian railway network

The capacity evaluation models are planning tools that help government agencies to maximize the benefit from existing railway infrastructure and improve rail transportation operations. These models determine the maximum number of trains that could operate on a given railway infrastructure, during a specific time interval under operational conditions. This paper develops analytical models to calculate the railway line capacity using a regression analysis based on the Egyptian official timetable. The Egyptian railway network consists of 104 links under different operation conditions (passenger / freight, passenger and freight trains) with mechanical or electrical signals systems running on single or double tracks. To calculate railway practical capacity, the three equations for each operation conditions were improved by the combination of the longest block section and passenger and freight speed. These equations have accepted value of the coefficient of determination and the absolute average error. Finally the maximum capacity is obtained by the optimum values of effective factors using iteration technique. This optimum values will increased about 80% of the capacity for Egyptian network lines.

STUDY OF THE PASSAGE AND TRANSPORTATION CAPACITY OF THE RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE MINING AND PROCESSING PLANT UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF INCREASING THE VOLUMES OF TRANSPORTATION OF RAW MATERIALS

Purpose. In modern conditions, the problem of increasing the efficiency of the railway transport of industrial enterprises is very urgent, and, first of all, this applies to enterprises of the metallurgical and mining industry, which are the largest recipients and consignors of goods by the railways of Ukraine. In this regard, the purpose of the study is to develop measures to increase the throughput and carrying capacity of the railway infrastructure of a mining enterprise in the context of an increase in the transportation of raw materials. Methods. The analysis of the technical equipment and technology of the railway transport of a large mining and processing plant in Ukraine was carried out using the methods of graphical analytical modeling. Results. The track development of the mining and processing plant ensures the delivery of iron ore from the quarry to the crushing and processing plant. The plant is presented as a system for transporting raw materials from loading points to unloading points, in which the process of its consumption is uniform (unloading ore on the tracks of a crushing plant), and the process of its replenishment is uneven (loading ore at loading points). Smoothing the uneven supply of raw materials between the points of loading and unloading provides the track capacity of the station adjacent to the crushing plant. The carrying capacity of the existing railway infrastructure of the plant does not ensure the mastery of the estimated volumes of transportation of raw materials. Analysis of the results of graphical modeling of the mining and processing plant showed that the limiting elements are the processing capacity of the crushing plant and long distances between the loading points and the abutment station. Organizational and technical solutions are proposed to increase the throughput of the railway infrastructure of the mining and processing plant. Practical significance. The results obtained can be used in the implementation of recommendations aimed at increasing the efficiency of the functioning of the railway transport of the mining and processing plant in conditions of an increase in the volume of transportation of raw materials.

Impact of Railway Noise on People Based on Strategic Acoustic Maps

The main objectives of the introduced Directive 2002/49/EC are to harmonize the activities intended to control the harmful effects of noise pollution and to standardize the methodology for their assessment. Strategic acoustic maps drawn up in the EU Member States allow for determining the state of environmental noise pollution and planning preventive measures. This study involved analyses of noise levels in selected European capitals and Polish cities. The number of inhabitants who may be affected by a high degree of sleep disturbance caused by railway noise was also analyzed. An attempt was made to present a correlation between the scale of noise exposure and population density, the length of the existing railway infrastructure, and the type of areas with railways running through them. The most unfavorable type of development in terms of the number of people exposed to noise is compact development located directly along railway lines. Thanks to the acoustic maps, it is possible to locate the most noise-polluted places and establish a hierarchy of protective measures.

Commercially Focused Dynamic Priorities in the Organisation of the Transit of Cargo Trains

One of the main tasks in improving management of the transportation process is the transition to enhanced quality of transport service focused on meeting users’ requirements while achieving the most economical results for all the components of the technological process stages. The quality of the services offered by railway transport is gradually becoming an increasingly significant indicator of economic efficiency for both carriers and cargo owners. Customers are ready to buy more and more qualitative services to save time, expand their business, and meet new needs. This necessitates dev elopment of modern approaches to optimizing the use of existing railway infrastructure, including by establishing priorities in organizing traffic. The objective of the research was to study the procedure for establishing dynamic priorities for organizing transit of cargo trains. To achieve this goal, a comparative analysis method, special engineering calculation methods associated with organization of train traffic were used. During the study comparative analysis of main characteristics of a number of world railways was carried out. Following clearly defined strategy of railways of the Russian Federation aimed at customer focus, this article provides preliminary research results, the findings of which revealed the expediency of establishing dynamic priorities for cargo trains transit. It is especially important to implement these approaches in the context of an operational change in the train situation in the event of emergency events on the infrastructure and for a possible reduction in the financial losses of consignors and consignees. The same approaches can rightfully be used on the railway of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Development and knowledge for assessing the stability of rock masses and rock slopes in Bulgaria

This article examines the stages of construction of infrastructure in Bulgaria. Much of the existing railway infrastructure was built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when in practice there were no formulated requirements for assessing the stability of rocky slopes and workings carried out in rocky terrains. For this reason, the development of different methods for assessing the construction qualities of rock massifs is being considered. It is stated that the first methods for estimating the rock massifs are based only on the engineering-geological properties of the rocks, but not on their geostructural features. The development of methods for assessing the stability of tunnels and rock excavations, as well as the entry into them of necessary data from studies on the geostructural properties of rock massifs, are considered. Examples are given of the use of different methods in the assessment of the stability of rock slopes and tunnels in Bulgaria. It is emphasized that in the latest publications, the properties of the rock masses and their stability are described on the basis of the latest knowledge in the field of geostructural geology, geotechnics and normative documents.

A Simulation Study on the Potential of Moving Urban Freight by a Cross-City Railway Line

This paper analyses the scope for moving urban freight through rail by evaluating the utilisation levels of the Cross-City railway line in The United Kingdom (UK), running between Lichfield Trent Valley and Birmingham New Street. A simulation model of the railway system was built and implemented using SIMUL8 computer software. The results from the simulation model suggest that the railway line is being under-utilised. These low utilisation levels of the line presented a case to propose three scenarios that has the potential to carry urban freight by rail through Lichfield Trent Valley to Birmingham New Street Station. The total number of services operated on the line is varied between different scenarios. The proposed three scenarios could not only exploit the existing railway infrastructure by improving the utilisation levels of the currently operating railway line, but also proved to reduce an amount of green-house gases (GHGs) emissions that are caused by heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) moving on the road. After simulating all the proposed scenarios in the SIMUL8 simulation software and analysing the results, scenario number 3 seemed to be the best replacement to the actual system as it presents a case to increase the number of train services running per day by in the line by 108 and causing a drastic improvement in the utilisation levels by an increase of 341.71% to that of the actual system. This proposed system has the potential to eliminate 5400 HGVs moving on the road per day that causes a reduction of CO2 gas by approximately 5.4%. All the scenarios presented in the study assures a sustainable method to move the urban freight by rail that has the potential to reduce congestion and emissions in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom (UK).

Maglev freight - one possible path forward in the U.S.A.

Background: As high-speed rail and other transportation technologies are moving forward and gaining funding in the United States, the push for MagLev is not receiving the necessary support that would make it a viable alternative in the near future. Major changes in the approach to implementing MagLev could make a better case for it, specifically for carrying freight. One alternative that has been considered in the past is the modification of existing freight railways to support MagLev. For this to be economically feasible and practical, such a solution has to be able to support both conventional freight trains and MagLev freight. 
 Aim: The successful application of Partially Magnetically-Levitated Freight (PMLF) technology achieved by integrating superconducting MagLev technology with current railroad design and operations.
 Methods: A MagLev freight system that is envisioned to use existing rail routes must be designed to be compatible with the existing railway infrastructure. To accomplish this, every component utilized by the railroads must be examined in detail to determine if and how it could be affected by the proposed PMLF. In addition, components that will need to be modified for PMLF operation must undergo a retrofit design and testing process. The design scope must also include an examination of all existing tasks and activities that are being performed by the railroads such as track maintenance and repair. Any procedures that affect or are affected by the addition of PMLF will need to be modified. Finally, superconducting MagLev technology must be optimized and advanced for application to PMLF. 
 Opinions and Discussions: The dual use of railway lines has substantial cost advantages when compared to building new dedicated MagLev freight corridors. In fact it could make the entire proposition very appealing if proven to be technically feasible. However, there are certain limitations and concerns that would cause policy makers to reject such a proposal unless such obstacles can be shown to be temporary and non-critical. Essential rail installations such as switches are presently difficult to modify in a way that would ensure reliable functionality for both MagLev and conventional freight trains, and grade crossings pose safety risks. It is difficult to envision the tremendous leap forward of merging MagLev with existing freight rail lines when much more basic technologies such as positive train control are not even fully implemented. Consequently, it is a challenge to advance MagLev in the United States where new dedicated freight corridors are considered to be cost-prohibitive and dual use railway lines pose uncertainties that railroad companies simply do not want to solve. However, there is one more solution has not been considered that would allow a MagLev freight train to navigate on existing railway infrastructure without disrupting traditional rail utilization. This solution is a partially magnetically-levitated freight train.
 Results: After reviewing the fundamental components, systems and operations of the railways in the United States, it will be feasible and practical to introduce magnetic levitation technology to assist in moving freight on existing rail routes. PMLF trains will be able to take advantage of magnetic levitation on sections where the track has been upgraded to allow its use and much higher speed while still being able to travel on unmodified sections with the same speed as traditional trains.
 Conclusion: Modifying existing freight rail with magnetic “quasi-lift” technology is a much lower cost alternative to building an entirely new MagLev infrastructure. This alternative will provide very important benefits including enhancing safety in the rail industry. In its first phase of implementation, the proposed PMLF system will levitate a significant portion of the weight of the train but still utilize the existing steel rails for traction and guidance. The most evident advantages of this approach include reduced wear on rail and other supporting elements, and a significant reduction in friction and energy use. Locomotives, freight cars and all other components could be made lighter and travel speeds will increase dramatically due to less impact and other effects. Later phases of implementation will focus on magnetic traction and guidance. The acceptance and success of this partially levitated system will eventually lead to fully levitated freight transport technology. Sometimes it is necessary to take smaller steps to achieve the desired future.

Economic Cooperation Between Latvia and China on the Background of Belt and Road Initiative with Focus on Cargo Potential

Latvia is a Belt and Road Initiative country and can contribute to its Eurasian Land Bridge. The existing railway infrastructure can be used for establishing the Eurasian Land Bridge Northern Branch via Latvia, but the problem is a lack of cargo for this route. It can be integrated into the existing Eurasian Land Bridge with specialization to connect China and some European countries—the Scandinavian countries. The aim of the study is to assess the potential volume of Latvian cargo for the Eurasian Land Bridge Northern Branch through Latvia. The methods of the study are statistical analyses and the forecasts of experts. Forecast of experts is an innovative method for investigating this topic. The study contributes to the discussion regarding One Belt One Road and Eurasian Land Bridge. The research shows that it is possible to establish regular container block train between Latvia and China for distribution of Chinese goods in the Scandinavian countries and vice versa because cargo potential for this route is growing, the seaport of Riga in Latvia is the shortest route to the seaport in the European Union and previous demonstration trains were successful.

CONSIDERATION OF AERODYNAMIC IMPACT IN SETTING THE MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE SPEEDS OF HIGH-SPEED TRAIN

Purpose. Studies of the effect of aerodynamic pressure on the maximum permissible speeds of a high-speed train on the existing railway infrastructure. Methodology. The study of the magnitude and direction of the aerodynamic pressure, its effect on the maximum speeds of a high-speed train was carried out on a train model composed of axisymmetric bodies with conical forms of head and tail parts. Findings. Determined the values of the aerodynamic pressure at different distances from the train are, when the high-speed train moves at a speed of 200 km/h or more. The maximum speeds of a high-speed train are determined taking into account the state of the infrastructure of the existing railway, ensuring the safe operation of a high-speed railway. Originality. Theoretical studies of aerodynamic pressure from secondary air currents formed during the movement of high-speed trains are performed on a model of a train composed of identical axisymmetric bodies with conical forms of head and tail moving in a compressible medium. The results of the research allow the regularity of the change in aerodynamic pressure during the movement of a high-speed train. Practical value. The obtained results allow to establish: 1) the maximum permissible speeds of a high-speed train taking into account the technical condition of permanent devices and structures of the existing railway infrastructure; 2) technical parameters of individual objects and structural elements of the infrastructure of high-speed iron subjected to the effect of aerodynamic pressure for a given maximum speed of high-speed trains.

An integrated train scheduling and infrastructure development model in railway networks

The evaluation of the railway infrastructure capacity is an important task for railway companies. The goal is to find the best infrastructure development plan for scheduling new train services. The question addressed by the present study is how the existing railway infrastructure can be upgraded to decrease the total delay of existing and new trains with minimum cost. To answer this question, a mixed-integer programming formulation is extended for the integrated train scheduling and infrastructure development problem. The train timetabling model deals with the optimum schedule of trains on a railway network and determines the best stop locations for both the technical and religious services. We developed two heuristics based in variable fixing strategies to reduce the complexity of the problem. To evaluate the effect of railway infrastructure development on scheduling of the new trains, a sequential decomposition is adopted Iranian railway network. The outcomes of the empirical analysis performed in this study allow to gain beneficial insights by identifying the bottleneck corridors. The result of the proposed methodology shows that it can significantly decrease the total delay of new trains with the most emphasis on the bottleneck sections.

TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN TERMS OF DATA EXCHANGE

Prediction of train running and IT support of conflict resolution decision for an efficient use of the existing railway infrastructure is needed. To meet these requirements standardized interfaces between infrastructure managers and railway undertakings and infrastructure description are indispensable.

Variable Neighborhood Search for Integrated Timetable Based Design of Railway Infrastructure

In this paper we deal with the problem of building new or extending an existing railway infrastructure. The goal is to determine a minimum cost infrastructure fulfilling the requirements defined by an integrated timetable and the operation of the railway system. We first model this planning task as a combinatorial network optimization problem, capturing the essential aspects. We then present a metaheuristic solution method based on general variable neighborhood search that makes use of a dynamic programming procedure for realizing individual connections. Computational experiments indicate that the suggested approach is promising and the analysis of obtained results gives useful hints for future work in this area.

Development of “New Silk Road” Northern Branch through Seaport of Riga in Latvia

The study reveals opportunity to develop the “New Silk Road” Northern branch from North-West China (the People's Republic of China) via seaport of Riga in Latvia to Europe. The methods of the study are the monographic method, the statistical analysis, the expert method and a case study. The study shows that the shortest route for the “New Silk Road” Northern branch is through seaport of Riga (Latvia) which is the shortest way from China to the seaport in the European Union. The existing railway infrastructure can be used from Urumqi (North-Western China) to the seaport of Riga. Transit countries for this route are Kazakhstan and Russia. This route could be beneficial for distribution of goods in containers from the North-West China to Scandinavian countries and vice versa. This study contributes to the discussion about trade routes between Europe and China, as well as introduces with development of “New Silk Road” Northern branch.