Railway Network Research Articles

Measuring the Accessibility of the Railway Network with the Possibilities of Increasing the Attractiveness of Railway Transport

The accessibility of the railway network represents an important factor in the choice of public transport compared to individual transport. Rail transport should represent the basic framework of public transport, while associated forms of transport such as cycling or walking would complement it. Acceptable accessibility and optimization of spatial as well as temporal accessibility is an important decision element in the choice of public transport. The time value plays an important role in analysing the use of public transport. In this article we deal with the specific methods for accessibility evaluation that are based on analysis of municipalities and correct location of railway stations, stops as well as transfer terminals. The analysis took into account isochronous maps of the analysed area of selected cities within the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. Selected methods are applied on different railway lines according to their purpose, because accessibility of regional and long-haul trains should be evaluated differently. For the given calculation of the individual time availability areas, the number of inhabitants who have access to rail transport was determined, while the average number of inhabitants in one housing unit served as an indicator. The potential of passengers in long-distance trains for use in public transport was set as result to restore and increase the competitiveness of rail transport.

Impact of daily and seasonal temperature variation on rolling contact fatigue damage in the rail

Rolling contact fatigue is the most frequent degradation mode observed on the rail. Many mechanical studies have revealed the main physical parameters that generate the crack initiation, which are all linked with the track geometry, the dynamic of the wheel and contact conditions. Except for extreme climate, exogenous phenomena such as ambient temperature have not been analysed. The main reason is that temperature variations induce stress cycles in the rail that are under the endurance limit of the material. Therefore, most fatigue life estimation methods do not consider these cycles. In this paper, 6 years of daily temperature measurement over all the French railway network are used and integrated in a machine learning model developed for computing residual lifespan of each rail segment before crack initiation by rolling contact fatigue. Temperature data are aggregated using the continuum damage mechanics model developed by Lemaitre and Chaboche that gives the possibility to let low amplitude cycles to contribute to fatigue damage. Classification models are then implemented, and importance variables are finally quantifed. Results show that daily temperature variations have more impact than seasonal variations and that its contribution to fatigue is significant.

Enhancing RCF rail defect inspection on the Serbian railway network

The interaction between the wheel and the running rails within the railway system introduces intricate stress patterns, resulting in the formation of rolling contact fatigue (RCF) rail defects. The magnitude of this stress is contingent upon factors such as track performance, vehicle characteristics, and service conditions. While advancements in rail metallurgy can mitigate the issue to some extent, no economically viable steel composition currently exists that can completely withstand the repetitive stresses associated with RCF. It is more cost-effective to properly maintain rails for longer use rather than replace them entirely. The paper emphasizes the importance of classifying and coding RCF rail defects in light of their potential adverse effects on rail transport safety. It provides an analysis of the available inspection methods for RCF rail defects and recommends the ones that should be implemented on the Serbian railway network. A combination of proposed inspection methods is preferred to increase detection efficiency for different types of RCF defects.

Сухой порт Екатеринбург — основа новой транспортно-логистической архитектуры Российской Федерации

The article is an overview on the bases of the analyses of scientific literary sources and the materials of several round tables dedicated to the problems of the infrastructural project “Dry Port Ekaterinburg” development. The project potentials, advantages, and problems have been formulated. The problem of complexed formation of railway networks in the Ural-Arctic area aimed to create strategic railway facilities which would provide the system of way-outs to the North Sea Rout has been considered. The main idea - transport logistics architecture of the country should be changed under a complex approach for the development of different level territories and guarantee transport sovereignty of Russian Federation. The project “Dry Port Ekaterinburg” is becoming an important step of this change.

Research on Medium Capacity Rail System: Case on Pham Van Dong Route in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

This paper delves into the study and proposition of a Medium Capacity Rail System (MCS) model to tackle urban traffic issues, both in the immediate future and, more specifically, the public transportation challenges along the Pham Van Dong (PVD) route. Drawing from statistical surveys and an in-depth analysis of motorcycle traffic patterns at intersections during near-peak and peak hours in the morning and afternoon along PVD’s main artery in the northeastern part of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam. Moreover, this research explores the relatively new concept of MCS, which have gained traction in recent years due to their distinct advantages over existing systems. The findings in this article underscore the practicality of the proposal and provide a blueprint for sustainable, integrated urban transport development, improve traffic flow, reduce congestion, reduce environmental pollution and enhance a complete and modern urban railway network for Ho Chi Minh City or other similar global scenarios.

Comparison of the Process of Public Tender and Direct Award in Rail Passenger Transport in Slovakia

European member states have been opening to competition in passenger rail transport in recent years, while others are still on the road to liberalization. The European Commission has decided to address the significant decline in rail transport performance through its competitiveness and sustainable development policy. The most important can be considered the removal of barriers, harmonization, and harmonization of standards. Finally, it is a process of liberalization, the aim of which is to ensure non-discriminatory access to the railway network for other carriers (national and private) from any member state, as well as to make the functioning of the existing monopoly more accessible. railway companies more efficiently. The article is focused on a comparison of the form of concluding contracts for transport performance in the public interest in railway passenger transport in the Slovak Republic. The article describes the process of concluding contracts for transport services in the public interest in the form of direct assignment and in the form of a public tender. The comparison of the public tender process and direct submission is applied for the line Bratislava - Dunajská Streda - Komárno. The requirements of direct awarding and public tendering are compared, as well as their advantages and disadvantages, as well as the criteria for evaluating bids in public tendering or in the case of direct awarding. Four indicators that influence this process are also compared.

Rails and responsibilities: Perspectives of railroad police officers in China

Abstract In policing practices, railway policing has an essential role to ensure the public security of extensive railway network. However, limited attention has been given to understanding the perspectives of police officers involved in this specialized field. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring the perspectives of railway police officers. Through in-depth interviews with 31 railway police officers from different regions, this research examines their experiences, challenges, and perceptions regarding their roles and responsibilities. The findings reveal that conflicts of interest within the railway police department pose potential risks to its internal cohesion. These officers used different strategies for response to violent attacks in ordinary and high-speed trains, highlighted instances of avoidance of duties due to internal conflicts, suggesting deficiencies in the evaluation mechanism employed. This study not only contributes to our understanding of railway policing in China but also provides insights for global railway policing and criminal investigation coordination.

Bi-Directional Delay Propagation Analysis and Modeling for High-Speed Railway Networks Under Disturbance

Bi-Directional Delay Propagation Analysis and Modeling for High-Speed Railway Networks Under Disturbance

Документы Российского государственного архива экономики о торговом обслуживании железнодорожников в 1950-е гг.

Based on the analysis of a set of archival documents reflecting the activities of departmental trade management bodies in railway transport, the article examines the key areas of organization of trade services for Soviet railway workers in the 1950s. Despite the existence of separate works on the history of domestic trade and railway infrastructure, carried out at the all-Union, republican and regional levels, taking into account modern achievements of historical science and the development of the source base, the issues of the activities of departments and departments of working supply in terms of managing the work of railway trade enterprises still remain unexplored. The choice of the chronological framework of the conducted research is due to several circumstances. Firstly, by the mid-1950s, the stage of post-war reconstruction of domestic railway transport and its infrastructure was coming to an end. Secondly, in the second half of the 1950s, the active modernization of the industry began, caused by the urgent needs of the country's economic development. The main source for the study of the stated topic are archival documents reflecting the specifics of management activities for the organization of trade in railway transport. The authors of the article identified documentary materials in the 1884 fund (Ministry of Railways of the USSR) of the Russian State Archive of Economics, presented by administrative acts of the Main Directorate of Workers' Supply. They reveal the specifics of the transport trade, the nature of the measures taken to improve the quality of customer service. Geographically, the administration of departmental trade was carried out on the entire railway network of the USSR. Based on the analysis of the contents of these documents, a range of problems that had to be solved by management structures in order to ensure the effective functioning of trading enterprises is presented. Archival documents quite objectively highlight the situation in the transport trade. The accounting documents of the planning and economic divisions of the industry contain valuable statistical data on the number of trading enterprises, the contingent of their employees and the volume of trade turnover. Their introduction into scientific circulation will contribute to a reliable reflection of the role of sectoral social policy designed to create decent working and living conditions for employees as the most important factor stimulating the conscientious performance of professional duties.

УГОЛЬНЫЕ БАССЕЙНЫ СССР В СИСТЕМЕ МЕЖРЕГИОНАЛЬНЫХ ГРУЗОПЕРЕВОЗОК В 1940–1953 гг.

The article introduces into scientific circulation the materials of the USSR transport statistics on the dynamics of coal cargoes transportation by rail in the late 1940s — early 1950s. On the basis of the identified sources, it establishes the importance and place in the system of interregional freight traffic for the five largest coal basins of the Soviet Union: Donetsk, Near Moscow, Karaganda, Kuznetsk and Pechora. The evolution of transportation is considered in the context of political and economic factors of both external and internal nature. In particular, the case of indirect economic damage caused to the eastern regions of the USSR by the Great Patriotic War is shown on the example of transport links between the Urals and Siberia. In the context of interregional freight transportation, an episode of territorial contradictions of the CPSU Sverdlovsk and Leningrad regional committees regarding the development of coal deposits in the Polar Urals is considered. It is noted that the economic effect of the historical inertia of these events can be traced up to the present time, and is expressed both in the imbalance of the latitudinal and meridional directions of transport routes, and the uneven congestion of the railway network of modern Russia. The published material demonstrates the prospects of using the USSR transport statistics for the implementation of comprehensive historical and economic zoning of the Soviet Union, subject to similar studies in relation to other chronological periods and other categories of cargo in the future. The article is supplemented with cartographic materials illustrating the considered changes in the transportation of coal cargoes across the territory of the USSR graphically.

일제강점기 조선신사(朝鮮神社)의 분포 및 입지

This article attempts to grasp the distribution and location trends of Joseon Shinto shrines built during the Japanese colonial period. Joseon Shinto shrines are divided into Shinto shrines(神社) and Shinmyeong shrines(神明神祠) according to their hierarchy. 81 Shinto shrines and 865 Shinmyung shrines were identified in the “Joseon Government-General's Gazette” (1915-1945). For them, the period of completion of the official formalization of the Joseon Shinto shrines (1915-1929) and the period of the Hwangminhwa(皇民化) policy (1930-1945) were divided into two periods, and a distribution map was drawn up. This distribution map overlapped with the railway network built during the Japanese colonial period and was used to identify the distribution trend of the Joseon Shinto shrines. As a result, it can be seen that during the period when the Joseon Shinto Shrine was fully publicized, it was very accessible to the railway network. However, during the period of the Hwangminhwa Policy, the Shinmyeong Shrine spread throughout the country, and its connection with the railway network gradually decreased. This is due to the policy of 'One Myeon(面), One Shrineism' implemented in 1936, Shinmyung Shrines were intensively built up to the myeon region regardless of the railway network. This distribution trend is well seen in Jeollanam-do, Hwanghae-do, and Gyeonggi-do, where many Shinmyung shrines have been built.
 The tendency of the location of Joseon Shinto shrines was examined by dividing them into Shinto shrines and Shinmyeong shrines. To this end, the types of locations were identified at 37 places where symbols and names representing Shinto shrines were displayed in the “Topographic Map of Joseon”. In addition, among them, the visual location of the Shinto shrine was analyzed by selecting 6 places where the location of the Shinto shrine was confirmed by photographs, as well as 6 places of Shinmyeong Shrine found on the “Topographic Map of Joseon”. In the case of Shinto shrines, due to the characteristics of the city where they were built, they were divided into open port cities, transportation cities, and traditional cities. As a result, all of the 12 Joseon Shinto shrines selected as examples are located on hills or in the middle of gentle slopes, securing excellent views. In addition, they were landmarks that could be seen from anywhere in the city, town and myeon because they faced the central place in city, and they were relatively close to Japanese settlements due to their easy access to railway stations. Because of this location, the hill on which the Shinto Shrine was built was designated as a park, and later most of it became a park. This hilly-oriented location of the Joseon Shinto Shrine can be extended to the location tendency of all Joseon Shinto Shrines built during the Japanese colonial period.

지역간철도 노선명과 역명 영역의 다중스케일적 분석

With the announcement of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport's plan to build the 4th Railway Network Construction Plan, it is time to redefine the nature of existing railway line names and station names and consider how to enact them in the future. The line names and station names of interregional railroads are artificial names with a history of up to 100 years or more, containing the cultural symbols and order of the region, and are closely related to the spatial territory. In particular, this paper focuses on the territories of interregional line names and station names, and analyzes the line names and station names in accordance with the “Guidelines for the Management of Railway Line and Station Names” and multi-scale methods. In order to explore the scope of the “regional” scale in the term “interregional railway”, I analyzed the line name, territory of the line, and actual length, and found that the line name, area, and actual length were inconsistent with each other. A large number of station names, the scale of the station name was revealed by the administrative division system. Other types of station names were analyzed using two strategies: scaling down and scaling up. The scaling down strategy is when the names of public institutions, public facilities, and universities are selected as station names, while the scaling up strategy is when natural, historical, and cultural resources that symbolize the region are selected as station names. On the other hand, the competition for station names has led to the creation of station names that combine place names at multiple scales. There are two types of place names: those that combine two administrative regions and those that combine a place name and an institutional landmark. The historicity of place names, i.e. the time scale of the “past,” allows for the interpretation of station names that could not be categorized by “guideline” standards. In the process of repeatedly expanding and contracting the scale of railway lines, such as extending railway lines and building branches, abandoning lines, and straightening lines, the geographical areas of railway line names and station names shared the same fate. Therefore, it is time to consider a legislation that uses a multi-scale approach to reflect the territories of line names and station names, while also capturing their identity as place names.

철도교통과 한반도 지형 변화

Railways are an indispensable civilization for modernization, but on the other hand, imperialism has two sides as a typical means of invading and colonizing weaker countries. Japan was able to seize and further colonize transportation and logistics on the Korean Peninsula through the construction of railroads. In addition, it used this as a bridgehead to develop a policy of invading the continent.
 After the opening of the port, Japan developed Busan as a base city to promote an aggression policy. Busan was the base city of the railway network, the last stop of the government-affiliated contact line, and the starting point of the Eurasian International Railway. In this process, while Dongnae, a traditional strategic point in the southeastern region of the Korean Peninsula, declined, Busan overtook Pyongyang to grow into Korea's second-largest city. In this process, Dongnae strengthened its character as a recreational tourism city for the Japanese living in Busan.
 The railroads established by Japan reorganized traditional transportation and logistics, and further changed the power relations and topography between cities. The presence or absence of railroads became the main criterion for the rise and fall of cities. As such, it can be seen that railroads were the main means of Japan's colonization of Korea, and were a fundamental force that changed the traditional power relations, topography, logistics, and markets between cities.

A Model-Based Bayesian Inference Approach for On-Board Monitoring of Rail Roughness Profiles: Application on Field Measurement Data of the Swiss Federal Railways Network

According to the International Union of Railways, railway networks count more than one million kilometers of tracks worldwide, a number that is to rise further as the goal is to promote rail transportation as a sustainable means to face the challenge of increased mobility. However, such a vast expansion further necessitates efficient and reliable infrastructure monitoring schemes able to guarantee the quality and safety of rail transportation. Traditional monitoring approaches, relying on visual inspection and portable measuring devices, cannot rise to the task as they do not allow for continuous inspection of extended portions of rail infrastructure. Therefore, mobile monitoring methodologies based on dedicated diagnostic vehicles have emerged as an alternative. Despite revolutionizing traditional monitoring methods, such vehicles are usually expensive and can only operate under the suspension of regular rail service. In this work, we propose an alternative approach for mobile sensing of railway infrastructure based on on-board monitoring data collected from low-cost vibration sensors, e.g., accelerometers, which can be mounted on in-service trains. Specifically, we focus on identifying the roughness profile of the tracks and propose a fusion of reduced-order vehicle models with a Bayesian inference approach for joint input-state estimation. To enhance the inference, we opt for a prior updating of the vehicle model parameters on the basis of an unscented Kalman filter and available measurements from a diagnostic vehicle. The key contributions of this work are (i) the consideration of the dynamic interaction between trains and tracks, which is usually ignored in rail roughness estimation, (ii) the adoption of reduced train vehicle models that decrease the computational effort of the identification task, (iii) the updating of the vehicle parameters to account for inconsistencies in the model used, and (iv) the application of the proposed methodology to actual acceleration measurements collected from a diagnostic vehicle of the Swiss Federal Railways network.

Effects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on the Economies of China and Pakistan

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is an infrastructure and economic development project initiated by China in Pakistan in 2013. The project aims to connect China's western province of Xinjiang to the Pakistani port of Gwadar through a network of roads, railways, pipelines, and power plants. The CPEC is expected to bring several benefits to both China and Pakistan, including expanding China's economic and geopolitical influence in the region and addressing Pakistan's chronic infrastructure deficits, creating new jobs, and attracting foreign investment. The CPEC can also help to alleviate China's domestic overcapacity issues and reduce its dependence on the South China Sea for its energy imports. Moreover, it can improve Pakistan's regional and global connectivity and enhance its geopolitical importance as a gateway to South Asia and the Middle East. However, the success of the CPEC will depend on various factors, including political stability, security, and effective implementation of the project. Overall, the CPEC represents a win-win scenario for China and Pakistan, as it can provide economic benefits to both countries while promoting regional connectivity and integration.

Durability evaluation for existing railway engineering: a review

PurposeThis study aims to analyze the factors, evaluation techniques of the durability of existing railway engineering.Design/methodology/approachChina has built a railway network of over 150,000 km. Ensuring the safety of the existing railway engineering is of great significance for maintaining normal railway operation order. However, railway engineering is a strip structure that crosses multiple complex environments. And railway engineering will withstand high-frequency impact loads from trains. The above factors have led to differences in the deterioration characteristics and maintenance strategies of railway engineering compared to conventional concrete structures. Therefore, it is very important to analyze the key factors that affect the durability of railway structures and propose technologies for durability evaluation.FindingsThe factors that affect the durability and reliability of railway engineering are mainly divided into three categories: material factors, environmental factors and load factors. Among them, material factors also include influencing factors, such as raw materials, mix proportions and so on. Environmental factors vary depending on the service environment of railway engineering, and the durability and deterioration of concrete have different failure mechanisms. Load factors include static load and train dynamic load. The on-site rapid detection methods for five common diseases in railway engineering are also proposed in this paper. These methods can quickly evaluate the durability of existing railway engineering concrete.Originality/valueThe research can provide some new evaluation techniques and methods for the durability of existing railway engineering.

Spatial Effects of Railway Network Construction on Urban Sprawl and Its Mechanisms: Evidence from Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration, China

Urban sprawl has become a notable feature in China. Previous studies have found that railway development has a significant effect on urban sprawl. However, the detailed mechanisms of how railways affect urban sprawl have not been studied in depth. Furthermore, China’s railway system has already formed a network. The network status of cities within the railway network may affect urban sprawl, but few studies have examined this factor. In this context, to explore the effects of railway networks on urban sprawl and the mechanisms of these effects, this study applied the social network analysis (SNA) method to measure the indicators of railway network characteristics and conducted panel model regression with the above indicators using the data from 26 cities from 2011 to 2019 in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) in China. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Railway network construction has a significantly positive impact on urban sprawl through the network agglomeration and diffusion mechanisms. (2) The network agglomeration mechanism improves the location condition of the central cities on the railway network, which encourages urban sprawl as an agglomeration pattern. (3) The network diffusion mechanism enhances the integration of the peripheral cities with the central city on the railway network, which encourages urban sprawl as a diffusion pattern. The network diffusion mechanism is heterogeneous in metropolitan areas (MAs) for the different levels of central city agglomeration. The findings provide a reference for railway construction and urban planning.

Comprehensive Assessment of the Effectiveness of the Application of Foam and Extruded Polystyrene in the Railway Substructure

This article presents the authors’ comprehensive evaluation of the application of specific foam thermal insulation materials, namely expanded polystyrene (EPS) and extruded polystyrene (XPS), within railway substructures. The assessment extends to real-world conditions on the tracks of Slovak Railways (ŽSR), which share substantial similarities with other countries’ railway networks. The assessment of structural composition and material selection considers these technical aspects, while technological feasibility and the environmental implications associated with material production, delivery, and incorporation into railway construction do not. Additionally, the thermal insulation materials’ qualities are compared against conventional railway substructure materials. In these conventional setups, the thermal insulation layer often incorporates crushed aggregate of specified fractions and parameters in line with legislative standards. This article complements previous research conducted at the University of Žilina, focusing on the application of various thermal insulation materials within railway substructures. These materials were both experimentally tested (scale of 1:1) and numerically modelled, with results previously published by the authors. The published works detail the utilisation of diverse thermal insulation materials in railway substructures, primarily evaluating two crucial technical parameters: the protection of the subgrade surface against adverse effects of frost and, secondarily, their impact on the deformation resistance of the railway substructure.

Long-term urban railway network expansion and pollutant emissions: Methodological approach and insights for sustainable transportation policies

Urban transportation is a major challenge in many cities worldwide and railway systems are often considered as an alternative to solve mobility and air pollution problems. However, such systems are capital-intensive, and their implementation often extends over several years, particularly in developing countries. This paper proposes a methodological approach to assess the impact of long-term urban railway network expansion on pollutant emissions applied to the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (MRSP) in Brazil. The proposed approach consists of seven steps: define the trips of interest in a database derived from an OD survey; estimate the trip matrix in a baseline scenario and a future scenario considering the expansion of the rail network; determine the trip attributes in both scenarios; calculate the modal choice based on a Logit model; determine the number of trips per mode; estimate vehicle emissions using the bottom-up methodology; and compare the emissions between scenarios. The results of the proposed railway network would lead to a substantial increase in railway ridership between the base scenario of 2017 and the future scenario of 2030, reducing the choices for automobiles by 41%. Nonetheless, the decrease in vehicular emissions would be modest, primarily attributed to reductions in short-distance trips, resulting in estimated reductions of 0.25% for PM, 1.17% for NOx, and 3.93% for CO emissions. These findings underscore the importance of assessing the potential benefits of railway expansion with tools that consider multiple data sources and models, and the need for integrated policies to achieve sustainable urban transportation systems.

Financial accessibility and crime – Empirical study based on panel data from Chinese cities

PurposeThis paper empirically investigates the relationship between financial availability and crime by measuring it across five dimensions: banking, securities, insurance, private lending and digital inclusive finance.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilizes 2011–2017 data from prefecture-level cities as a representative sample. Moreover, these findings remain robust after addressing endogeneity through the use of the historical distance between cities and the railroad network as an instrumental variable.FindingsThe findings demonstrate a significant negative relationship between financial accessibility and crime rates. Heterogeneity exists in the inhibitory effect of different types of financial accessibility on crime, with banking finance exhibiting a stronger inhibitory effect compared to private lending. Areas affected by natural disasters and infectious diseases exhibit a stronger inhibitory effect of financial accessibility on crime rates, particularly in areas with severe shocks of natural disasters and epidemics. This effect is attributed to the low financing threshold and easy access to private lending, which plays a more effective role than bank finance when people face extreme risks.Practical implicationsThere should be stricter regulations imposed on private lending markets and the introduction of more rational legislation aimed at guiding a healthy development within these markets; such measures serve as effective and complementary means for individuals from all walks of life to access credit financing.Social implicationsThe regulation of financial resources by the government should always prioritize ensuring the accessibility of financial policies to cater to the needs of the majority population.Originality/valueThis study is for the first time in an emerging economy context, the causal relationship between financial accessibility and crime. To provide a more comprehensive measure of financial accessibility in a region, this paper proposes a five-dimensional methodology.