Inland Railway Research Articles

Potential threats of glacial lake changes to the Sichuan-Tibet Railway

Abstract The Sichuan-Tibet Railway, China's second inland railway to Tibet, is currently being constructed and will run between Chengdu and Lhasa. It will cross the southeastern Tibetan Plateau and be surrounded by glacial lakes, some of which may pose a threat of glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) events. Both the specific location and the outburst susceptibility of these glacial lakes are largely unknown. In this study, we mapped the glacial lakes using declassified Corona KH-4 and Hexagon KH-9 from the 1960s and Sentinel-2 imagery from 2020 and assessed their spatio-temporal changes. GLOF-susceptibility criteria were established based on historical GLOF events. The results show that the total area (number) of glacial lakes has increased by 22% (20%) from 126.1 ± 2.4 km2 (1662 lakes) in the 1960s to 153.6 ± 11.1 km2 (1994 lakes) in 2020. Of these lakes, this study identified 38 very high and 85 high GLOF-susceptibility lakes; mainly distributed along the Bomi-Nyingchi railway section in the Parlung Zangbo River basin. Four of the very high GLOF-susceptibility glacial lakes may pose a threat to the railway and will require monitoring. The insights from this study can be used to mitigate the risk of GLOFs during the construction and maintenance of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway.

ATTRACTION AREA DIVISION AND FREIGHT FLOW ORGANIZATION OPTIMIZATION OF INLAND RAILWAY CONTAINER TERMINAL

The attraction area division is the foundation of distribution and organization of freight flow among railway stations. The development of railway container terminal, large railway freight distribution center, is closely related to logistics planning and economy development of local city. In this study, we divide freight flow attraction area of inland railway container terminal by using gravity model, break-point model and weighted-Voronoi-diagram with SPSS and ArcGIS. And then under the target of minimal cost and time window limitations, we develop 0–1 integer programming model for freight flow organization optimization between inland terminal and its attraction area. Finally, this paper takes railway container terminal in Harbin as an example to test model feasibility under different speeds from different transportation modes. The results show that it is necessary to divide attraction area when choosing reasonable transportation mode from feeder nodes to railway container terminal. The improvement of feeder transportation speed is an effective method to improve freight volume, increase railway revenue and realize sustainable development of China Railway (CR) Express.

URBAN PLANNING TRANSFORMATION OF FUNCTIONAL PLANNING STRUCTURE OF SUBURBAN ZONES AND BELTS OF MEGAPOLIS. FOREIGN EXPERIENCE

The article considers the features of the functional planning structure transformation of North American megalopolises in the context of the construction of inland railways. The subject of inquiry is the territories of the sett lement system formation in North America from the beginning of colonial invasions, where the interests of Great Britain, France and Spain intersected to the current stage of megacities. There is investigated the infl uence of railway transport on the development of megacities in North America. The subject of research is the Canadian Pacifi c Railroad and the US Transcontinental Railroad, which contributed to the countries urbanization and industrialization. The prerequisites for the transformation of suburban areas were the intensity of labor, cultural, household and industrial links between the center and the periphery in the meridional and latitudinal directions, formation of new kind of scientifi c and industrial complexes, multi-nodes, its infl uence on the functional planning structure of suburban areas and outskirts of megacities. The article introduces the concept of “multi-node”. Multi-nodes are multifunctional urban development complexes with transport infrastructure and engineering facilities which form a complex of terminals for goods transshipment and passengers transferring from one kind of transport to another, as well as public spaces integrated into the urban environment, scientifi c and innovative enterprises with full autonomy and communication that provides the megalopolis with energy resources. Multi-node complexes are located closely to each other and form an integral group, most often around the near-airport territories. This group may not have clear planning boundaries in the form of streets, driveways, fences, and so on. The purpose of the research is to study the sequence of the functional and planning structure formation of the city in dynamics. At the initial stage, from the linear structure of the city along the railway to a more complex ray system, and in the future - the formation of the ring type planning structures, that provide switching of traffi c fl ows on all azimuths directions. It is planning to be constructed a theoretical model of interaction between subcentres and multi-nodes in the suburban zones of intracontinental megacities.

Operation plan of China Railway Express at inland railway container center station

Abstract To ensure the normal operation of China Railway Express, the Inland Railway Container Center Station (IRCCS) needs to replenish the freight sources outside its attraction area. The homogenization of the China Railway Express route, overlapping of attraction area and chaotic transportation organization brings about disordered competition of freight. Based on the attraction area division of the IRCCS, this paper establishes a mixed integer programming model, with minimum transportation time, transportation cost and carbon emission as target. The simulated annealing algorithm is used to solve the problem, and the Harbin Railway Container Center Station is taken as an example to determine the freight collection mode, operating route and operation frequency of China Railway Express. The results show that: The transportation costs, time and carbon emissions have different degree of influence on China Railway Express operation plan, from the largest to the smallest, carbon emissions, transportation costs, time costs. Under different objective weights, the influence on the freight collection mode and transportation route is great, while the frequency impact is small.

A Study on Sino-Korean Efficient Maritime Transport System in Yellow Sea Rim

본 논문은 황해 연안의 주어진 경제 및 지리적 조건 하에서 해상 운송 시스템을 효과적으로 관리하는 데 있어 중-한의 전략적 협력이 가져올수 있는 경제적 이익에 대해 논한다. 중국과 한국은 산업 발전을 촉진하기 위해 경제적 자원을 사용하는 데 비교 우위를 가지고 있기 때문에 교통 체계의 상호 협력은 중국과 한국 간의 국제 무역을 촉진하는데 도움이 될 것이다. 특히 황해 연안의 기존 해상 운송 시스템은 물동량이 크게 증가함에 따라 비용을 절감하기 위해 항만시설 및 선박규모 등을 재조정해야 한다. 결론적으로 중국과 한국은 운영 선박의 톤수를 최적화해야 하고 선석 수량 및 첨단 기술 측면에서 항구 시설을 개선해야 한다. 예를 들어, 중국은 한국 서안 화물운송시스템에 있어 평균 선박 크기를 다소 확대하고 항만 시설 확충 및 내륙 철도 운송 시스템 개선에 투자할 것을 권한다. 반면에 한국은 황해 연안의 중국과 한국 항만 상태를 고려하여 평균 투입선박 크기를 다소 줄이고 항만 시설도 다소 소형 선박위주로 조정할 것을 조언한다.This paper deals with an economic benefit from Sino-Korea strategic cooperation in managing their maritime transport system efficiently under the given economic and geographical condition in Yellow Sea Rim. Since both China and Korea have comparative advantage in utilizing economic resources for industrial development, the mutual cooperation in establishing the transportation system will be very `helpful to galvanize the Sino-Korea’s international trade. Particularly the maritime transport system, under the existing Yellow Sea Rim, is subject to readjustment for the sake of cost-saving in operating both ports and ships involved. In conclusion, both China and Korea need to optimize the operating ship tonnage and to improve the port facilities in terms of berth number and high-technology. For instance, China is recommended to enlarge the average ship size and improve the container port facilities and inland railway transport systems for the Korean west-bound cargo, whereas Korea is advised to reduce its average ship size considering the condition of ports in both China and Korea under Yellow Sea Rim.

컨테이너 화물의 내륙철도이용 확대에 관한 연구

국내 화물운송의 80% 이상을 분담하고 있는 공로중심의 내륙운송체계는 환경문제를 비롯한 다양한 사회적 비용을 야기시키고 있어 다른 운송수단으로의 화물전환이 요구되고 있다. 특히 변화하는 국제 물류환경을 고려해볼 때, 철도는 지속가능한 대안적 운송수단임에 분명하며, 도로화물을 철도로 전환시키고 새로운 수요를 창출하여 내륙철도의 경쟁력을 확보하는 일은 미래를 예측하고 대비하기 위한 필수적 선행과제가 되었다. 따라서 본 연구는 내륙철도 이용 확대를 위하여 컨테이너화주를 대상으로 컨테이너 화물을 철도로 유인하기 위한 핵심 요인을 밝히고자 설문조사를 실시하고 SmartPLS구조방정식모델링 분석기법을 통하여 결과를 도출하였다. Over 80% of Korea's cargo transport relies on public roads. Such over-reliance has created a range of social problems including environmental damage. Korea thus faces an urgent need to establish an alternative mode of cargo transportation. In view of the changing international logistics environment, railway is clearly a superior mode of transport. The prerequisite task today for Korea is to enhance the competitiveness of inland railway by switching to railway and spurring new demand for cargo. This study examines inland railway cargo transport from the demand perspective. Specifically, through the use of a survey, the study identifies key factors influencing the decisions of container shippers regarding the use of railway for cargo transport. The survey responses were statistically tested using Smart PLS structural equation modeling. The results indicate that attitude toward railway use had the strongest influence on choice, while the key variable affecting attitude formation was cost.

The Dynamic of the Suburban Railway Passenger Transport in the Traffic System of the City of Zagreb

The subject of this paper is to research the dynamic and the possibilities of modelling the development of the passenger transport demand in the railway passenger suburban traffic system of the City of Zagreb and the inland railway passenger traffic in the Republic of Croatia. The researched traffic sizes by their characteristics are quantitative indicators of the railway passenger traffic transport demand, stated by the number of transported passengers and realised transport operation within the system. The appropriate mathematical and statistical analysis of passenger transport demand established the existing condition on the level of the traffic system ; then, a mathematical and prognostic trend model of the researched size development dynamic was made. The prognostic trend model of the traffic size has been represented by an appropriate equation, with the calculation of the appertaining determination coefficient as a measure of quality, establishing the level of statistical significance of the given data description. The model equation describes the development principles of the studied traffic size during the observed time period. When researching and formulating the research results, scientific methods of mathematical statistics were used, modelling methods by using the Microsoft Excel computer programme.

Simplistic Geospatial Techniques in Analyzing Transportation Dynamics for Origin-Destination Container Movement Routes in the United States

Spatial analyses incorporating rudimentary techniques are essential to understand container transportation. Most transportation datasets are offered as raw disjoint data containing dissimilar attributes from different sources making them difficult to fathom any spatial linkages. Route optimization and market accessibility are increasingly becoming important and significant as newer container decongestion methods are put in place. Origin-Destination dichotomies can best be harnessed in the United States by optimizing routes based on available databases. In this study, the Public Use Waybill sample database from Surface Transporation Board were used as preliminary inputs for inland railway route optimization. The paper utilized an approach akin to one used in riverine management to optimize container routes. From the primer databases, in as much as most import containers originate from Asia and Europe and shipped to the U.S. through specific North American ports, a significant portion gets to inland markets through Pacific coast in the U.S. The main hub ports for import containers are Los Angeles/Long Beach and Seattle for transpacific trade and New York/New Jersey and Savannah for transatlantic trade. An anomalous and notably high volume flow can be observed between the Pacific coast and the Mississippi valley area including metropolitan areas like Minneapolis, Chicago, Kansas City, Memphis, Dallas, and Houston. Assessing movement in the Midwest to east U.S., most container traffic volume passes through New York/New Jersey and Norfolk to end in Chicago. It can thus be surmised that an in-depth preliminary assessment of container routing can provide a parametric basis for higher-level cost and multi-modal analyses.

Automated shunting of rail container wagons in ports and terminal areas

The development of intermodal container transport is hampered in part by the cost associated with the shunting of trains in marshalling yards, inland and port railway terminals. Many new technologies have been developed in the past decade, but have still not been applied because of high capital investment costs, lack of sufficient market demand and uncertain rates of return. The key for increasing the competitiveness of intermodal container transport by rail is the operation of heavy haul container trains between port and inland railway terminals more frequently with fast, flexible and automatic transhipment, shunting and coupling of container wagons. The operation of self-driven railcars equipped with automatic centre coupling on terminal tracks, which can also be train-hauled on conventional hinterland railway lines, would enable a reduction of shunting and transhipment time and costs in intermodal container terminals by more than 30%.