Train Journey Research Articles

Teaching mobility, teaching gender in the ladies’ compartments of Mumbai local trains

The local trains of Mumbai, known for their excessive crowding and cramped conditions, are a popular public transport system due to the vast spread of the network and cheap pricing. These trains are also used extensively by women due to the provision of exclusive segregated ladies’ compartments. However, women still need to negotiate with crowds, and push and jostle as they struggle to board and deboard trains. Through an ethnographic study of women’s experiences of travelling by trains, I examine how women learn to be mobile and teach others, such as their children, to navigate the local train system. Analysing women’s narratives of how they learnt to use trains, I find that teaching mobility and teaching gender go hand-in-hand, as women simultaneously internalise codes of appropriate femininity to protect themselves from physical and sexual harm, but also subvert mainstream femininities, as they embark on their everyday train journeys.

High-speed railway in developing countries: mind the gap -lessons from Morocco-

ABSTRACT Conducted prior to the launch of the High-Speed Railway (HSR) in Morocco, this study aims to be the first research to assess the HSR project through the estimation of the value of travel time savings. We focused on inter-urban routes to assess the HSR project impact. We conducted a Discrete Choice Experiment in the cities impacted (directly or indirectly) by the HSR project, which are Tangier, Kenitra, Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakesh. Our results show that at the sample average points of each mode of transport, the values of travel time savings are approximately 94MAD/h for car users, 27MAD/h for train users and 25MAD/h for bus users. We performed a simulation for the Tangier-Casablanca route and obtained satisfactory results (93MAD/h, 26MAD/h and 24MAD/h, for private car, train, and bus journeys respectively). Finally, our results show that the pricing strategies of the national railway operator (Office National des Chemins de Fer) present a potential risk of eviction, which could counterbalance the positive impact of the time savings.

The Undocumented and Archipelagic Universal in Miko Revereza's No Data Plan

This article argues that the archipelagic serves as a potent cultural geographic figure challenging resurgent nationalisms in two specific ways. First, it enables us to explore a simultaneous proximity and distance in cultural politics; second, it leads us astray from the conceptual binary that would insist that it is simply other to the nation. In doing so, it arrives at a universalism that is fundamentally differentiated. The essay pursues this framework through an analysis of Miko Revereza's recent documentary film, No Data Plan (2019), which explores Revereza's undocumented status in the United States, and its repertoire of aesthetic techniques, including its erratic and partial framing of his train journey across the country as well as its disjointed soundtrack. Above all, the essay draws attention to the film's use of captions, through which Revereza's mother's story is narrated, and which cannot be reconciled with the rest of the film. Her captions hover in proximity to the filmic diegesis without seeking presence, rejecting a dialectical engagement with a presence in the film that stands in for a documented presence in the nation. By choosing instead to “speak nearby,” she disturbs conventional cultural political logics and dwells within an archipelagic relation to the film, her son, and the world.

A Psychoanalytical Approach to the Short Stories The Owner of the House, Summer Night and Train Journey by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar

The paper deals with the psychoanalytical approach to dreams and the unconscious in three short stories by the Turkish author Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar. Insight into the nature of the human psyche and language as a medium of expression will be based on the works of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan. The psychoanalytical literature that we will use in this research will represent the fundamental theoretical basis on which we will try to valorize the above-mentioned stories. As part of the reading of the short stories The Owner of The House, Summer Night and Train Journey by the Turkish author Ahmed Hamdi Tanpınar, the emphasis will be on elements such as time, the past, dreams, the unconscious, the other or the personal history of the characters about the world they build within themselves. The identity crises experienced by the protagonists of the analyzed stories have their roots in childhood traumas, and dreams represent the key to uncovering the unconscious. By applying Freud's psychoanalysis to the text, they tried to reveal the symptoms of the text and the unconscious mechanisms whose meaning is hidden in images, symbols, and metaphors. In his short stories, we find the story of the collapse of the inner world of the hero, of their escape from reality and continuous search, while the subject(s) of the text itself is constructed through its past, or more precisely, it is defined by a complex of events and people from the past.

Nobility from George MacDonald to C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis first discovered the works of George MacDonald when he read Phantastes, A Faerie Romance, a book he “unwittingly” picked up from a bookstall before a train journey (Surprised by Joy 219). He went on to read dozens of books by MacDonald and later wrote that “the quality which had enchanted me in his imaginative works turned out to be the quality of the real universe, the divine, magical, terrifying, and ecstatic reality in which we live” (George MacDonald preface). As Lewis’s career matured, he followed in the steps of MacDonald by writing on literature and faith and, ultimately, by writing fantasy. Lewis called MacDonald his master, and their shared concept of nobility makes a fascinating study of the themes that inspired both men. These themes include the value and costliness of nobility as well as the significance of belonging to a kingdom in order to become noble. The connections between their fiction and faith reveal an idea of goodness within reach of every person. As a result, MacDonald and Lewis created a particular type of fantasy that has endured into the twenty-first century.

Perspectives on Medical Education in Paraguay: Time Management, Mental Health, and Self-Awareness Strategies for Brazilian Students

Medical training is a demanding process that challenges students both academically and personally. This article explores some of these challenges based on an interview conducted during the "Brazilians Beyond Borders: The Journey of Medical Training in Paraguay" Congress in 2024. Eduardo Paglioni interviewed clinical psychoanalyst and medical student Kelton Oliveira, who shared his perspectives on crucial topics such as time management, mental health, resilience, and self-awareness.The study identifies and analyzes the main challenges faced by Brazilian students who choose to study medicine abroad, particularly in Paraguay, highlighting the importance of an integrated approach that encompasses both technical competence and emotional and psychological well-being. Kelton Oliveira emphasizes the need for effective time management strategies to avoid burnout, self-care practices to maintain balanced mental health, and the promotion of self-awareness to cope with the pressures of medical training.The methodology employed included the transcription and detailed qualitative analysis of the interview, contextualizing the challenges faced and extracting practical strategies to overcome them. To reinforce the importance of this topic, we also conducted a review of scientific publications that highlight the necessity and relevance of these issues for medical students.Although the analysis is based on a single interview, integrating information provided by other researchers in available scientific publications allows for correlating these contributions to obtain a broader and more comprehensive perspective. This provides a better understanding of the challenges faced by medical students in Paraguay and in other international contexts.This article aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the challenges faced by these students and present practical suggestions that can be applied to improve their academic performance and promote a healthy balance between their academic, personal, and professional lives.

Book Review: Roberto Castillo, African Transnational Mobility in China, Africans on the Move, London: Routledge, 2021

The prologue to this volume of the Routledge African Studies, entitled African Transnational Mobility in China, Africans on the Move, describes Roberto Castillo's experiences in China, focusing on a chance encounter with a man named Myers during a train journey. Myers, originally from Sierra Leone, shared his journey to China in search of opportunities, highlighting the challenges faced by foreigners in a new country. Castillo reflects on the uncertainties and difficulties Myers encountered in China, expressing concern for his well-being. This encounter with Myers and subsequent news events of a demonstration involving Nigerians in China, led the author to ponder the complex dynamics of immigration and cultural integration in China.

Poetic imagery in L. Tolstoy’s Resurrection [Voskresenie

The article examines three principal devices of L. Tolstoy’s poetics in the novel Resurrection [Voskresenie]: metaphorization, contrasts and oppositions, and repetition and rhetorical climax. Repetition of certain fragments marks a turning point in the plot, as well as a return to the true nature of things, with multiple arrangements gradually intensifying to amplify the effect. The use of such devices can be observed in the metaphorization of nature which accompanies transformations of the male and female protagonists, for example, in the description of the garden with lilac bushes and the nightingale, the ice breaking on the river, or a sweltering day on the train and in the city. The repeated images conjure up parallels between the fragments describing the characters’ falling in love and committing a sin, as well as between the scenes of train journeys — to the army and to the prison camp. The characters’ intellectual and spiritual development is expressed through tropes and repetitions of motifs and sounds, which shifts the focus from the ideological to the poetic dimension, and helps create new images that complement the narration’s ideological foundation.

Unveiling Disparities: Exploring Differential Attainment in Postgraduate Training Within Clinical Oncology

AimsDifferential attainment (DA) in post graduate medical training is a recognised challenge and refers to unexplained variation across groups when split by several protected characteristics. The Royal College of Radiology is committed to fostering diversity, inclusivity, and equality with the goal of narrowing existing gaps and improving training outcomes. Materials and MethodsThis was a mixed methods study aiming to understand the causes of DA with view to helping the RCR develop strategies to address this. A cross-sectional survey was completed by 140 clinical oncology trainees in September 2022. Trainees and trainers (17 and 6 respectively) from across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, took part in focus group and interviews from August to December 2022. Quantitative and qualitative data merged and interpreted. ResultResults showed international medical graduates and trainees from ethnic minority backgrounds were more likely to encounter challenges. The qualitative findings were used to identify three themes through which these problems could be framed. The trainee as a “space invader,” the hidden curriculum of clinical oncology training and the process of navigating and tacking the training journey. ConclusionDifferential attainment is the product of a complex interplay between the trainee, trainer, and the training environment. Therefore, interventions must be tailored to different people and contexts. At a national level, the RCR can adopt general policies to promote this such as mentorship programmes, protected time for supervision and cultural competency training. Efficacy of proposed interventions for trial and their impact on DA should be evaluated to drive evidence-based changes.

Measurement and Evaluation of Voltage Unbalance in 2 × 25 kV 50 Hz High-Speed Trains Using Variable Integration Period

This article addresses the need for a standardized method to measure power quality in railroad systems, which differ from distribution and transmission networks. It evaluates the applicability of existing standards in detecting variations and short-term disturbances in railroad networks powered by the 50/60 Hz AC grid or the 2 × 25 kV AC network used for high-speed trains. The objective is to propose a standardized algorithm capable of accurately identifying disturbances to assess power quality on railway traction substations. A new method is proposed to characterize voltage imbalances more precisely. Practical demonstrations confirm that a short integration period, as used in existing standards, provides a more accurate estimation of disturbance amplitude and duration. Field experiments validate the proposed solution, embedded in equipment installed on the 225 kV line supplying the 2 × 25 kV AC substation for high-speed rail. Comparative analysis of results obtained during high-speed train journeys confirms the algorithm’s potential to aid standards committees in reviewing and updating existing standards, as well as expediting the creation, approval, and implementation of new standards for railway installations. Experimental comparisons of other power quality parameters, such as frequency and voltage harmonics, also underscore the algorithm’s utility in railway power quality assessment.

Advocacy inquiry and circular questioning to maintain psychological safety in training, feedback, and conversations with residents

Abstract Training of emergency physicians through an emergency medicine residency program takes 5 years, that is, 3 years in junior residency and 2 years in senior residency. Throughout this period, residents will be exposed to a variety of educational methodologies and meet a spectrum of faculty, supervisors, and teachers, who will have different personalities, styles, and approaches to teaching and nurturing them. It is important to ensure the maintenance of psychological safety for these residents throughout their training journey and into the future years of practice s an emergency physician. Communications, interactions (which involve questioning), and presentations will be an important part of this training program. This article looks at two modes of questioning: advocacy inquiry and circular questioning, which can be applied as appropriate. These two methods are examples in which faculty may consider adopting in their many interactions, follow-up, feedback, tutorials, facilitation, partnerships, and counseling sessions with residents. These two techniques offer options to maintain psychological safety, which can facilitate learners sharing and opening up. It can be included in the faculty’s armamentarium of questioning techniques and applied where applicable.

The double whammy: Advanced medical training and parenting.

Clinicians may become parents during their clinical training and may be exposed to several challenges in career development, burnout and work-life balance. Previous research findings have reported that stressors facing trainees with children warrant greater attention from graduate medical institutions. Additionally, parenting-related information and considerations about the needs of trainees with children across clinical specialties are needed to inform institutional and national policies. A quantitative approach was used to examine clinical trainees' perceptions and experiences of parenting in relation to different specialties, sociodemographic traits, levels of support, and other potential factors influencing their residency and fellowship training and well-being. We used a survey that was distributed to all University of Toronto medical trainees (2214) via email correspondence and social media platforms. The trainees were asked to base their answers on their experience during the academic year of 2019 to 2020 (before the Coronavirus Disease 2019-related shutdown). Our study revealed that clearly, burnout is a concern for physicians who are raising children while in training. Notably, it was higher among younger aged trainees and those beginning their training journey including, first-year fellows and second-year residents, in addition to parents with toddlers. Moreover, female residents and male fellows showed higher burnout than their counterparts. Institutional support was associated with lower rates of burnout, evidenced by access to opportunities, allowing time to breastfeed/express milk and having access to medical care. We found multiple independent and significant factors affecting their rate of burnout including limited access to opportunities, lack of a self-care routine and absence of social community outside of work. The results show the importance of creating a positive learning experience for trainees juggling parenting and training needs, especially those starting their training both as residents and as fellows and those with younger children. Interventions can be categorized into those targeted at the individual and family levels, and institutional levels, with the overarching goal of balancing training and parenting. This can be achieved by fostering learning environments that prevent and decrease burnout and enhance the well-being of trainees and their families, which can start with ensuring trainees are aware of available resources and possible accommodations.

Az anya és a nyelv

Th“e third chapter of Kosztolányi’s volume of short stories is oŸften considered to be a coming of age story, in which the eighteen-year-old protagonist’s train journey symbolizes his transformation from a child into an autonomous and independent subject. My interpretation attempts to undermine this reading through exploring the various roles family relations play in the narrative. Although Esti leaves his biological mother behind in the beginning of his adventure, I argue that his story remains centred around the of image of the mother(s); he is surrounded by mother figures and figurations of maternity. Via presenting the mouth simultaneously as an organ of eating, feeding, speaking, and kissing, Kosztolányi’s writing explores the intimate, corporeal, somatic aspect of language shared by the mother and the child. However, the frequent references to school, classical authors and foreign tongues (Latin, Greek, Italian, French) also display language as an external medium of reading, writing and memorizing. “ese two aspects – in parallel with the biological and metaphorical understandings of motherhood – turn out to be inseparable in Kosztolányi’s work.

The effect of brief exposure to virtual nature on mental wellbeing in adolescents

Adolescence is a time of multiple transitions and a vulnerability period for mental health difficulties. There are many barriers to the treatment of mental health conditions which is one reason for developing alternatives to help improve efficacy in treatment and prevention. One approach is to use nature-based interventions (NBIs) to improve mental wellbeing. In this experimental proof-of-principle intervention study, we randomly allocated a sample of adolescents to brief exposure (6 min) to either a virtual woodland nature video or a busy train journey and tested the effect on mental wellbeing. Results showed beneficial effects in the nature condition on several self-reported outcomes including stress, relaxation, affect, mood, attention, nature connection and nature spirituality. The intervention was mainly acceptable and feasible to do suggesting that overall brief virtual nature interventions may have utility in a range of mental health contexts for adolescents including as self-help universal or targeted prevention strategies, adjunct to psychological therapy and as preparation for more intensive NBIs. Additionally, brief virtual nature interventions support accessibility for those who may be limited on time, unable to access real-life nature or who may be more biophobic.

Characterising a mobile reference station (MoRS) to quantify personal exposure to air quality

There is increasing clinical, epidemiological, and toxicological evidence linking exposure to air pollution with multiple health outcomes that lead to increased mortality and morbidity. Traditionally, fixed air quality monitors have been used to provide ambient air pollution measurements, but they have spatial and temporal limitations. Rapid advances in instrument miniaturisation have made novel sensing technologies more accessible but these are prone to high sensitivity and inaccuracies. To bridge the gap between fixed monitors and small sensors we have developed a Mobile Reference Station (MoRS) – a portable platform delivering high quality measurements of air pollutants using smaller, low power reference grade instruments at high time resolutions. MoRS enables the simultaneous measurement of a broad aerosol size distribution (10 nm–35 μm), gaseous pollutant concentrations (nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3)), environmental parameters (noise, relatively humidity (RH) and temperature) as well as collecting filter samples for laboratory analysis. The MoRS instrumentation is described and the major challenges in ensuring that high data quality standards are maintained are discussed. Laboratory and field tests were used to derive scaling factors for all the MoRSinstrumentation. Field testing of MoRS showed excellent intercomparability against reference instrumentation (R2 > 0.98) and good agreement with reference instruments in the ultrafine aerosol range, although there was an overestimation of fine particle aerosols. Measurements taken during example mainline train and London Underground (LU) journeys are displayed showing the value of the high-quality data derived from MoRS and how this can help to disentangle multiple confounding environmental pollutants and enrich epidemiological studies.

Journey to Liberation: Unveiling Feminist Narratives in Anita Nair’s Ladies Coupe

In Anita Nair's novel Ladies Coupe, the narrative unfolds within the confines of a single train compartment, but its impact resonates far beyond those railway tracks. This research paper embarks on a journey alongside the protagonist, Akhila, as she navigates the complexities of her life and the lives of the women she encounters during her train journey. Through a close reading of the text, this paper examines the individual stories of the women in the ladies compartment, highlighting the diverse backgrounds, struggles, and aspirations they represent. It explores how these women, including Akhila, challenge patriarchal norms and societal expectations, each in her own unique way. Furthermore, the study delves into the complex web of female relationships that develop within the confines of the train compartment. It analyzes the themes of friendship, sisterhood, and solidarity among women, shedding light on the bonds that transcend age, class, and cultural differences.

Forecasting passenger flows and headway at train level for a public transport line: Focus on atypical situations

This paper proposes a computer vision framework based on deep learning approaches for the real-time prediction of passenger loads and train headways in a metro line in an urban transit network. The short-term prediction problem is formulated as an image completion task. The train journeys on the metro line are represented as images, with the pixels denoting the train data, including the departure location, time, and load. Metro line applicative constraints, e.g., irregular time sampling of trains and univariate space, are considered in the images. Several deep learning-based architectures are investigated, including two new architectures based on transformers. Finally, an in-depth analysis and comparison of the models is performed based on a real test case of Paris metro line 9, for which a large database was collected over three years. This allowed us to include numerous instances with atypical transport system performance indicators (e.g., strikes, lockdowns, and disruptions) and to design a methodology (based on a latent space representation of the dataset) to identify and label interesting test cases. We evaluate and demonstrate the robustness of the proposed approaches numerically and study their limits for passenger loads and headways in atypical scenarios.

An optimal train journey with bounds on energy consumption during specified intermediate time intervals

In order to mitigate consumption of electrical energy during periods of peak demand it is common for electricity system operators to offer financial incentives that encourage large corporate consumers to reduce power usage at designated critical times. For train operators on large rail networks it may be more profitable to limit energy consumption during these times, for selected individual train journeys, rather than always implementing a true optimal strategy that minimizes overall energy consumption. In this paper we use classical methods of constrained optimization to find driving strategies for a single train that minimize energy consumption subject to constraints on energy usage within designated high-demand time intervals during the journey. We illustrate our results by considering a journey with realistic parameters and two different nominal sets of energy consumption constraints.

Space on the line

Abstract Cameron Patterson explains how, in these days of the complex interdependence of technologies, the Sun presents a decided threat to your train journey – and a great deal more besides

The cost differential for an optimal train journey on level track

The classic optimal train control problem is to drive a train on a track with known gradient over a fixed distance and within a specified time in such a way as to minimize tractive energy consumption. On level track the optimal strategies take two basic forms—a truncated strategy of optimal type with phases of maximum acceleration, coast and maximum brake which is typical of shorter metropolitan journeys, and an extended strategy of optimal type with phases of maximum acceleration, speedhold at the optimal driving speed, coast to the optimal braking speed, and maximum brake which is typical of longer journeys by freight trains and intercity passenger trains. The cost of these optimal strategies is uniquely determined by the journey distance and journey time. In this paper we extend a previously known formula for the partial rate of change of cost with respect to journey time to a formula for the full rate of change of cost that also incorporates the partial rate of change of cost with respect to journey distance.