Track Access Charges Research Articles

Experimental investigations of the wear behaviour of railway brake block raw materials

Abstract Passenger and freight transport by rail is gaining ground not only in Europe, but in many countries around the world. At the same time, due to the increased traffic, the need to investigate the effects of rail transport on the environment and to reduce the harmful effects is also increasing. One of the recurring problems is the reduction of the noise that occurs during the braking of railway cars, as well as the mitigation of particles released during braking and, as a result, the reduction of their health-damaging effects. In more and more European countries, the so-called Noise Differentiated Track Access Charges (NDTAC) is being introduced, where the cost depends on the amount of noise emitted during braking. For this reason, the examination of the friction conditions of the materials used in railway brakes and the finding of materials with the most favourable properties is a priority area of research. In this paper, the initial investigations of a recently started research project on the subject are presented, the aim of which is to develop and test new layered composite materials that may be used in the future to produce railway brake blocks. The paper presents the main objectives of the project, the principles, and tools of the friction tests to be applied, as well as the test measurements carried out, during which the friction characteristics of copper alloy and aluminium control materials along with the currently used cast iron and composite brake blocks were examined.

Comparative Analysis of Track Access Charge (TAC) Calculation Using Full Costing and Pricing Methods for Cement Train in Java

Train operators that utilize state-owned railway infrastructure are obliged to pay a Track Access Charge (TAC). In Indonesia, the TAC formula employed is based on the full costing method. However, this TAC calculation formula does not currently accommodate the policies of multiple operators with varying types of train services and infrastructure. An alternative method for calculating TAC, known as the pricing method is available. In this research, TAC calculations were performed using both the full costing and pricing methods for freight trains in the Java region. From the TAC calculations using both methods, a comparison was made to determine the differences in the results, providing insights and references to the government in formulating policies and regulations related to the development of a relevant TAC formula for railway operators. The full costing method's TAC calculation is contingent on priority factors, while the pricing method's TAC calculation depends on axle load, axle count, unsprung mass, and train speed. Components of the pricing method's calculation directly influence the impact on railway infrastructure damage. In conclusion, the pricing method for TAC is considered fairer and more pertinent for all railway operators when making TAC payments to the government.

Damage or no damage from traffic: Re-examining marginal cost pricing for rail signalling maintenance

This paper re-examines the implementation of the short run marginal cost (SRMC) pricing principle with respect to rail infrastructure usage and empirically tests if there are rail infrastructure maintenance costs triggered by traffic but not caused by asset damage from traffic. This is important because current EU legislation stipulates that only costs related to infrastructure wear and tear from traffic are eligible for the direct cost-based element of track access charges. An econometric approach is applied to French panel data on signalling maintenance costs. The results show that the SRMC for infrastructure provision of these assets is not only related to asset damage costs caused by traffic, but can also be due to economic factors linked to increased line capacity utilisation: 1) higher cost per maintenance activity, and/or 2) increased preventative maintenance to curb delays. Our work offers an explanation as to why econometric and engineering approaches give different views of rail infrastructure cost variability and suggests that EU legislation on track access pricing may need to be revised.

The impact of access prices on train traffic: An econometric study for France

To guarantee fair and nondiscriminatory access to rail networks, European Commission raised the importance of regulation by promoting short run marginal cost. Thus, to recover the full cost of infrastructure, Infrastructure Managers may use mark ups over the marginal cost, using Ramsey pricing for example. However, a Ramsey pricing implementation for rail infrastructure is strongly limited by the lack of information about the demand elasticity of train paths. The aim of this article is to try to fill this gapby conducting an empirical research on the price sensitivity of the railway paths using a French dataset from 2003 to 2016. Preliminary results suggest that track access charges influence negatively the train path demand for high-speed trains and freight trains butdo not seem to influence the train path demand for regional trains under PSO. Nevertheless, if track access charges are related to the track category (UIC category) or to the kind of line (high speed or conventional) results may differ. Regarding regional and freight trains, the track category seems to determine the statistical significance of track access charges elasticity while the kind of line seems to explain the impacts on the demand of rail paths for high-speed trains.

How to Design Track Access Charges for Small Railways – A Montenegro Case Study

In 1991, the European Union decided on setting up a liberalized and single railway market. However, in the atomized European region, more than a half of railways can be designated as small railways. For the very reason of significant differences between the national railway systems, the EU legislation has laid broad grounds for track access charge (TAC) modelling, thus resulting in many different TAC models. Out of numerous papers in respect of TAC modelling, only a small number consider the specificities and the needs of small railways. The paper aims to answer the questions of how to design or set up an efficient TAC structure when it comes to small countries. Another objective is to answer how to develop a TAC structure allowing the infrastructure manager to manage its costs. The answers to these questions are provided through the case study of railway in Montenegro – small railways in the Western Balkans. The main contribution of this paper is on developing the TAC model based on the efficient ratio of the capacity and infrastructure wear and tear components.

Challenges of Track Access Charges Model Redesign

It has been exactly 20 years since the common grounds for the design of track access charges (TAC) were laid for the European railways by the publication of Directive 2001/14/EC. However, these grounds were defined broadly, thus resulting in significant divergence both in the models applied by countries and during the model redesign within one country over the course of time. The participants in the process of charge system redesign includes all stakeholders from a country’s railway sector (infrastructure manager, train operating companies, the ministries responsible for transport, finance and economy, government, and regulatory bodies). Their opinions and requirements are often opposed, and they all need to be acknowledged simultaneously. This paper aims to solve the issue of ensuring continuity in the charge model redesign while achieving a balance between the requirements of all stakeholders. Moreover, it tackles the issue of producing a sustainable long-term TAC model by using survey methods and statistical analysis. The proposed approach was tested in practice during the access charge model redesign for the railways of Montenegro. The results show the importance of continual enhancement in TAC model development as one of the challenges and key precursors for the harmonization of all stakeholders’ requirements.

Railway access charges in China: A comparison with Europe and Japan

Although Chinese Railways remains largely a government owned vertically integrated system, track access charges were implemented for passenger trains in 2005 and freight trains in 2017. In recent years, many joint venture railway companies and local railway companies have been set up to bring in funding from provincial governments, state-owned enterprises and private enterprises for the construction of new lines. The coexistence of different railway enterprises and the interconnected characteristic of the railway network make the proportion of inter-rail company traffic for both passenger and freight high in China. Therefore, Chinese railways have adopted a series of revenue/cost settlement regimes reforms, including new rail access charges regimes. This paper examines these reforms, finding that the current Chinese access charges are still mainly a way to balance the accounts of rail companies. Given the revenue model of joint venture railway companies in China, the level of rail access charges is crucial for their financial performance. Moreover, the Chinese government has announced its intention of permitting open access competition, so the level and structure of track access charges will become much more important in future. Finally, this paper produces recommendations about how to reform the Chinese rail access charges regime for better adapting to the market needs in the future, in the light of European and Japanese experience.

On the problems of lateral force effects of railway vehicles in S-curves

This paper deals with the lateral force effects of conventional four-axle railway vehicles in conditions of S-shape curves, which are represented especially by switches negotiated in the diverging direction. With the use of a multi-body model of an electric locomotive, a sensitivity analysis of selected vehicle parameters on the maximum guiding force in the S-curve is performed. Subsequently, a definition of so-called equivalent guiding force is proposed. This simplified parameter can be used for the purposes of a quantification of the damaging effects of a vehicle in switches, e.g. in wear-dependent track access charge systems. Attention is also paid to the particularities of systems for active radial bogie or wheelset steering in conditions of tight S-curves and relevant requirements on these systems. The problem of a punctual on-board recognition of the S-curve is demonstrated using experimental data measured on an electric locomotive.

A Theoretical Approach to Welfare-Optimal Calculation of Direct Costs in European Rail Regulation

The regulation of track access charges within the European Union is based on the economic principles of first and second best pricing. In order to obtain an allocative efficiency it is crucial to determine the marginal costs of operating the train services – the so-called direct costs. Even though the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/909 specifies the modalities for the calculation of direct costs, a broad range of different values for direct costs can be observed across Member States. However, the discussion of the level of direct costs is driven in particular by econometric, engineering and cost accounting aspects – an economic analysis is missing despite the welfare-economic concept of track access charges. For that reason, this paper discusses the welfare economic effects of different suitable values for direct costs.It will be shown that both a welfare maximising first best track access charging and, in most cases, also a second best charging will result in boundary solutions for direct costs. However, it also becomes obvious that from a welfare-economic perspective there is no general recommendation for adopting the lowest suitable direct costs. Any allocatively efficientregulation of track access charges must consequently consider the specific situation of each market segment separately.

European railway deregulation: an overview of market organization and capacity allocation

European railways have been reorganized to allow for market competition. Thus, train services have been vertically separated from infrastructure management which allows several operators to compete. Different ways have emerged for vertical separation, capacity allocation and track access charges. This paper reviews important deregulation aspects from a number of European countries. The study compares how competition has been introduced and regulated with focus on describing capacity allocation and track access charges. Although guided by the same European legislation, we conclude that the studied railways have different deregulation outcomes, e.g. market organization, capacity allocation. Besides, few countries have so far managed to have efficient and transparent capacity allocation. Although allowed by the legislation, market-based allocation is absent or never used. To foster more competition which can yield substantial social benefits, the survey indicates that most European railways still need to develop and experiment with more efficient and transparent capacity allocation procedures.

Estimating the marginal maintenance cost of different vehicle types on rail infrastructure

In this paper, we combine engineering and economic methods to estimate the relative maintenance cost of different types of damage on the Swedish rail infrastructure. The engineering method is good at predicting damage from traffic, while the economic method is suitable for establishing a relationship between damage and cost. We exploit the best features of both methods in a two-stage approach and demonstrate its applicability for rail infrastructure charging, based on a sample of 143 track sections comprising about 11,000 km of track. The paper implements for the first time the method previously proposed in Smith et al., whilst also enhancing the method in several respects. We demonstrate how the estimated relative maintenance costs related to different damage mechanisms can be used to calculate the marginal cost of different vehicle types. The results are relevant for infrastructure managers in Europe who wish to differentiate their track access charges such that each vehicle pays its short run-marginal damage cost, which can support more efficient use of the rail infrastructure and influence vehicle design to minimize system costs.

The potential of high-speed rail freight in Europe: how is a modal shift from road to rail possible for low-density high value cargo?

PurposeA fully electrified transport chain offers considerable potential for CO2 savings. In this paper, we examine the conditions necessary to introduce a fully electrified, large-scale, high-speed rail freight transport system in Europe in addition to high-speed passenger trains, aiming to shift goods transport from road to rail. We compare a novel high-speed rail freight concept with road-based lorry transport for low-density high value goods to estimate the potential for a modal shift from road to rail in 2030.MethodsTo characterize the impacts of different framework conditions, a simulation tool was designed as a discrete choice model, based on random utility theory, with integrated performance calculation assessing the full multimodal transport chain regarding costs, emissions and time. It was applied to a European reference scenario based on forecast data for freight traffic in 2030.ResultsWe show that high-speed rail freight is about 70% more expensive than the conventional lorry but emits 80% less CO2 emissions for the baseline parameter setting. The expected mode share largely depends on the cargo’s value of time, while the implementation of a CO2-tax of 100 EUR/tCO2eq has an insignificant impact. The costs of handling goods and the infrastructure charges are highly influential variables.ConclusionHigh-speed rail track access charges are a suitable political instrument to create a level playing field between the transport modes and internalize external costs of freight transport. With the given access charge structure, a reduction of the maximum operating speed to 160 km/h has a positive impact on the expected mode share of rail transport while it still reacts positively to a wide range of the cargo’s time sensitivity (compared to a maximum operating speed of 350 km/h). The flexibility of rail freight’s operating speed is important for an effective implementation. Further research should concentrate on time- and cost-efficient transhipment terminals as they have a significant impact on transport performance.

Review of environmental noise policies and economics in 2014-2016

This review has highlighted the important developments relating to noise issues performed by international organizations and the activities in some developed and developing countries to improve environmental noise management.
 The World Health Organization is in the process of finalizing the WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region as an update of the WHO Community Noise Guidelines of 1999/2000.
 The International Civil Aviation Organization, in Chapter 14, has lowered the current chapter 4 standards for subsonic jet aircraft and propeller driven aeroplanes.
 In 2014-2016 the European Parliament and the Council and the European Commission have achieved significant progress in amending laws and regulations and creating new legislation. Efforts referred to regulating the EU type-approval of all new buses and trucks with regard to their sound level and the introduction of noise-related operating restrictions at airports, in accordance with ICAO’s Balanced Approach. The EC amended the END and arranged for the evaluation of the END based on the criteria of relevance, coherence, effectiveness and impacts, efficiency, and EU added value. Two new regulations addressed the issues of technical specification for interoperability of high-speed trains related to sound emission levels and the implementation of provisions establishing noise-differentiated track access charges.
 The European Environment Agency published the ‘Noise in Europe’ report describing the impacts of noise exposure in terms of cases of premature death, hospital admissions, cases of hypertension and annoyance. In addition, the European Environment Agency developed a good practice guide on quiet areas, refined the methodology for a quietness suitability index, and published its report on “Quiet areas in Europe”.
 In the United Kingdom, the Civil Aviation Authority reported new and updated evidence on attitudes to aviation noise around airports in England, and the Airports commission published recommendations for development in the aviation sector around London. The Department of Transport formulated a draft Airports National Policy Statement on expansion options for South East England airports.
 Switzerland published its Environment Report 2015 and estimated the annual external costs of road traffic, railway and aircraft noise which are quite substantial.
 Developing countries become increasingly aware that noise levels have gone up abnormally high and can cause acute and chronic health impacts on the human population. In consequence, Costa Rica has lowered the permissible sound pressure levels, and India, Iraq and Mexico have set new daytime and night-time noise standards. Tanzania has approved permissible sound pressure limits, which were prepared by the National Environment Management Council almost a decade ago. The Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency developed a national plan to combat noise, which is currently implemented on a collaborative effort of 11 ministries, a rare phenomenon in developing countries. Kenya is currently committed to develop a strategy for environmental noise management.

A multi-objective optimisation model for train scheduling in an open-access railway market

ABSTRACT Liberalised railway markets bring into play the economic interactions amongst three dominant interest groups: passengers as system users; public entities providing the track; and private firms operating the trains. Problems that arise are multi-criteria with multi-decision-makers who may be in conflict. Our approach to this problem is similar to that of a cooperative game-theoretic non-transferable utility (NTU) to reach Pareto optimal resolutions in which the aspirations of all players are taken into account. The data are collected from the Istanbul-Ankara high-speed railway via a stated preference survey. A multi-agent system (MAS) is developed via GOLang, a programming language where the agents negotiate and interact with others based on a set of parameters such as ticket price setting and resource allocation. The results show better timetabling for trains and how to achieve higher compensation rates for the infrastructure provider by collecting higher amounts of track access charges from an optimised allocation of resources.

Modelling and simulation of damage mechanisms in railway vehicle-track interaction

This paper focuses on the estimation of damage contribution that each type of railway vehicle produces on the line Pescara - Ancona. The results of the numerical simulations provides fundamental information to understand the railway vehicle properties mostly influencing track damage mechanisms. The results have clearly shown the influence of the wheelset vertical forces on the damage indicators. The analysis of the specific contribution on damage by a specific railway vehicle will be particularly important to modulate track access charges by vehicle type. Moreover, simulation results will allow to adjust the unit maintenance cost of the line on the class of train, whose volumes are known.

Issues on modal shift of freight from road to rail in Japan: Review of rail track ownership, investment and access charges after the National Railway restructuring

When Japanese National Railways was privatized and separated in 1987, the government established a new freight train operation scheme where rail tracks were owned by six JR Passenger companies, and JR-Freight was allowed access to the JR Passenger company's tracks by paying an access charge under the avoidable cost rule, regulated by the national government. The aim of this scheme was to reduce the track costs for JR-Freight. We found that rail freight infrastructure investment had not been high enough because it was only conducted by JR-Freight, and it only included investment in a few facilities owned by JR-Freight but excluded investment in the rail tracks owned by the JR passenger companies. Additionally, the track access charges, calculated by the avoidable cost rule, could not compensate for the track maintenance costs and would induce an undersupply of rail tracks for rail freight traffic. In conclusion, the track access charges paid from JR-Freight to the JR Passenger companies were too low, causing difficulties in the promotion of a modal shift to rail freight.

Noise Related Rail Access Charges in Europe: Aspects of Interoperability and Competitiveness

Noise reduction of rail transport in Europe is an important step toward enhancing quality of life. According to the estimation of the European Environment Agency 14 million people are affected by rail noise in the European Union. Since the 1990s numerous measures have been taken by legislators but in practice noise levels did not lowered significantly. The changing regulations and upgraded standards have direct costs on rail freight transport and it is affecting its competitiveness. Some key countries in the European rail freight transport – Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands – have already introduced Noise Differentiated Track Access Charges (NDTAC), which makes higher noise traffic more expensive, and encourages wagon owners to invest in low noise braking systems. Railway undertakings will face higher costs either due to higher network access charges or due to higher costs of low noise braking system. The higher costs will affect the competitiveness of rail freight transport compared to other modes of transport. Furthermore, the diverse regulation of European countries will restrict the interoperability and selective funding favors local corporations and can reduce competition. The aim of this paper is to show the possible effects of the current NDTAC regulation on the European rail freight market.

Lightweighting of railway axles for the reduction of unsprung mass and track access charges

The potential for lightweighting of railway axles was investigated to primarily reduce the unsprung mass of rail vehicles. The reduction of unsprung mass equates to an overall lighter train, which will help to reduce track damage, energy consumption and total operating costs. Two approaches were considered for the lightweighting of railway axles, which include a hollow axle design and material substitution using advanced composite materials, to offer a more track-friendly design. The first approach showed that if the outer diameter of a hollow axle is increased by 30% over that of the solid axle diameter, a mass reduction of 56% is achievable for a hollow steel axle design. The second approach explored further mass savings that could be achieved through material substitution of a hollow axle. A systematic approach to material selection for the design requirements and constraints of a railway axle was considered to identify the candidate materials for the application. The optimum material identified was a ‘bismaleimide matrix + carbon fibre composite.’ A hollow axle manufactured from this composite material offered 64% savings in mass when compared to a hollow steel axle, and 84% savings in mass when compared to a solid steel axle. Estimates for the cost savings of lightweighting of an axle were quantified by utilising Network Rail’s variable usage charge calculator, to assess the track access charge savings that can be achieved. For the scenario described in this paper, a potential £5.58 million per year could be saved for an intercity 220/M Voyager train, in terms of variable usage charges, over the entire fleet of 34 trains (four carriages per train) by implementing hollow composite axles. This is an example of a costing approach to support the decision making of lightweighting of rail vehicles.

Principles of Calculation of Track Access Charges in Rail Freight Transport in Poland

Non-discriminatory rules for access to the railway infrastructure as well as transparent pricing system are the essential factors of ensuring that the freight transport in Poland is competitive enough. Infrastructure managers pass some categories of their costs (e.g. for maintaining of railway infrastructure) on railway undertakings in the form of access charges verified andaccepted by the Polish regulatory body. In general, approximately one – third of their costs shall be paid by railway undertakings. Given that access charges are treated as one of the most important factors for both railway undertakings and railway infrastructure man-agers. The aim of this article is to review the main principles of calculation of track access charges in rail freight transport in Poland. The article refers to the judgment of the Court of Justice, which stated that Poland failed to properly implement the direct cost principle in the meaning of directive 2001/14/EC. The direct costs principle expressed in article 7(3) of the Directive means that only the direct costs incurred as a result of operating the train services can be taken into account by the rail infrastructure managerwhen setting infrastructure access charges.

Railway line capacity utilisation and its impact on maintenance costs

In this paper, we analyse how railway maintenance costs are affected by different levels of railway line capacity utilisation. Previous studies have focused on the wear and tear of the infrastructure, while this paper shows that it is important to also acknowledge the heterogeneity of the maintenance production environment. Specifically, we estimate marginal maintenance costs for traffic using econometric methods on a panel dataset from Sweden and show that these costs increase with line capacity utilisation. The results are significant considering that current EU regulation (2015/909) states that track access charges can be based on marginal costs, with the aim of achieving an efficient use of available infrastructure capacity.