Sustainable Rail Transport

The material discussed in this book consists of recent research work of the authors, which was presented during RailNewcastle Talks 2016. It is a joint publication that includes a discussion on rail developments, policies and practices from all over Europe and beyond. Although it has a rail research focus, the material is excellent for the preparation and delivery of rail, transport and logistics-orientated courses and university-based programmes. This book is written with the support of UIC, which is the International Union of Railways.

The chapter deals with different aspects of modern rail operations and traffic management in combination with energy consumption issues. In the first part of this discussion, a systematic approach on different influence levels of rail traffic management will be outlined and different kinds of tasks and conflicts are allocated to these influence levels. The approaches for conflict resolution are not in the focus of this chapter. Instead it is outlined that traffic management has its entirety as a comprehensive task. A traffic management cycle, developed and presented in the chapter is an overview intended at providing a common understanding. The second part of this discussion  provides an overview on how changes in train driving and timetabling can affect energy consumption. It first analyses the potential changes to driver behaviour and their potential influence on energy consumption. Next, it focuses on how vehicles and fixed installations design can affect energy consumption and finally applies these principles to Mass Rapid Transit. The third part of this discussion looks at the aspect of influencing the driving behaviour. Driver Advisory Systems (DAS) can support drivers to ensure energy-efficient driving. A systematisation of DAS in three levels regarding the range of influance is given and explained. It is outlined that an efficient energy-saving measure can be integrated in early stages of the systematic approach of rail traffic management.

The competitiveness of rail transport depends on many factors. This chapter describes the supply and demand patterns in the rail market and discusses the factors that influence them. It deals with the optimisation of business processes and services in the rail transport market from the viewpoints of management and economic efficiency. The chapter also analyses the influence of train performance parameters on the costs of traction fuel, energy and railway infrastructure.

This chapter deals with the controversial yet important issue of infrastructure access charges. It outlines the current systems for calculating infrastructure charges and considers problems with the current way of how this is dealt with. It considers possible solutions to these problems with a focus on efficiency and process simplification. A case study was made to discuss the current situation in Croatia.

Rail transport plays an increasing role in addressing the transport demand posed by increased population and urbanisation. Commuter trains have particularly been useful in addressing the urban mobility problem. A challenge, however exists because the demand for this service has outstripped the rate at which rail systems can be expanded. One solution is to increase the seating capacity through reduced seat pitch. Another way is to increase the standing capacity, at the expense of passenger comfort. This chapter examines how standing seats can be a solution—a compromise between the comfort of sitting, and also increasing the seating capacity. While standing seats may result in capacity increase of over 50%, it is also imperative to consider other legal requirements that may be a limiting factor. This chapter considers the effect that allowing for wheelchair seating space—a legal requirement—has on the increase of train seating capacity (and potential revenue) through installation of standing seats.

Recent developments in different types of technologies enabled the development of new performant systems that can successfully be employed for various applications and subsequent functions related to railway operations, including safety and security aspects. Functions such as real-time monitoring, tracking and tracing of railway vehicles can improve the overall rail system reliability and provide better harmonised traffic for freight and passenger trains. These would also contribute to the improvement of interoperability, by enabling the use of the captured data in real time. Furthermore, the potential benefits of GNSS applications in the rail sector are examined alongside past attempts and recent new rail research in relation to the implementation of a GNSS system for security purposes.

In order for the railways to be “competitive”, their operating efficiency is imperative. In the context of railway carriage interior design and planning, this is often made subordinate to other substantial aspects such as, for example, expediency, which in practice, leads to a poor result. Misunderstood operating efficiency concepts such as a maximal utilisation of space for seating can, in reality, lead to a decline in operating efficiency, operational problems and incidents due to serious safety risks. Luggage is one of the main reasons why people choose their car instead of public transport. In order to support more sustainable and active forms of mobility, it is necessary to develop ground-breaking logistic systems not only for travellers themselves but also for their luggage.

Now for the construction of railway tracks for subway or tram, new designs of spring rail fastenings are used. These units are quite difficult to calculate, because they contain a number of contact connections. In this chapter, a  technique of numerical analysis for the study of  these fastenings is developed, based on the use of the finite element method. The developed technique has been used for the analysis of SB-3 rail fastening. The authors also present a brief discussion on fastening the rails to the sleepers used in the past and present on Polish rail network. This research aims to create a computational model of the SB-3 rail fastening using the FEM (Finite Element Method) from which further research can be developed.

Today integrated travel planning takes account of different transport modes, the current state of the transport system and to some extent the preferences of the user. Thus those systems are able to plan a travel as well as give advice during the travel. This chapter shows how to enhance the calculation model of an integrated travel planner to allow not only taking account the usage of vehicles but also the rest of infrastructures like station, including elevators, stairways, crossings, etc. Thus, it allows the creation of a travel planner that enables users using public transport in an intermodal personalized way, particularly those who are mentally or physically impaired. The testing area is in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in particular the area of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) transport authority.

The central thrust of this chapter is focused on the need for demonstrable innovation to make rail freight a more competitive, attractive and cost-effective option for shippers. The chapter focuses on the need for genuine and measurable benefits flowing from the adoption of new technologies, commercial and operational systems, materials and asset management systems which will in turn have been identified by close contact with shippers, forwarders, hauliers and a wider spectrum of cargo interests. The chapter focuses on the need to move away from a supply-side position in terms of the provision of rail and intermodal service options to one driven by commercial imperatives driving much higher levels of asset productivity, reliability, availability and agility. The need for intermodal and conventional terminals to up their game by changing and modifying existing routines and systems to make them a more efficient and cost-effective component of intermodal service offers is also an integral part of this chapter. Issues of terminal technology, management, resource allocation, productivity and attractiveness to end users are reviewed and options proposed as to how these may be achieved.

This chapter focuses on the operational performance of rail freight terminals and security of intermodal interfaces in a framework of integrated transportation network. In an increasingly competitive and commercialised world, there is an increasing demand to be able to rank transport options and routes in some way. Drawing on new material, this study attempts to outline possible methods for assessing performance by key performance indicators. Intermodality demands for going beyond safeguarding the individual modes to ensuring the security of the intermodal interfaces (terminals), the nodes that link and integrate passenger and freight flows. That demands for an integrated holistic approach built on the collaboration between international, national organisations and operators. The study put emphasis on the security challenges and threats to freight transport generally and in rail–sea interfaces more specifically. It moves into the regulations already governing security in rail–sea interfaces. Finally, it focuses on the role that infrastructure planning can play in improving security and offers some conclusions and recommendations for the future.

The chapter briefly explains the marketing mix in a rail context and then discusses marketing strategies to promote rail from two perspectives. Firstly, rail is perceived as a transport service offered to potential users and various marketing tools are used to maximise rail companies’ profit. Secondly, rail is seen as a career path and variety of marketing, skills training and public engagement actions are targeting potential talents, already within the industry as well as those beyond the railway sector. The pool of talented individuals includes students, graduates, academics and professionals who are exposed to recruitment and retention activities of the railway sector. Various activities and projects run by the rail industry, targeting audience at school, university, professional and general public’s levels, are presented with their success stories as well as challenges some of the initiatives faced. Also, results of a survey focusing on skills and jobs for rail (and transport sector) of the future are presented and commented on.

This chapter presents the new technologies which can be applied in Railway Transport Systems to improve the efficiency and facilitate multimodality in the sector. The authors start  this discussion with the description of the safety principles and the new technologies from data collection (sensors) to data processing and providing information. A multimodality approach has to be considered to ensure the interoperability and integration of all ITS systems from different transport modes. The main result of applying new technologies and ITS in Railway is the digitalisation of this sector.