Sustainable Rail Transport

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a feasibility study to examine defects of turnouts using three-dimensional scanning. The turnout defect detection tools are rare and expensive. Three-dimensional scan of a new and a damaged turnout using Kinect device has been taken. Since the boundary condition in each turnout blade is different, image processing algorithm should begin with noise reduction and then find the damage location comparing the new and the damaged sample. Moreover, failure mode and effects analysis approach have been used for risk analysis. This method indicates the maintenance priority for each turnout. As a result, risk priority number calculated for maintenance management relies on reliability derived for each equipment. By this means, resource planning and maintenance system are optimized. Finally, failure forecasting related to local condition is possible.

Passenger comfort is an important issue in the evaluation of public transport. In railway vehicles, acceleration and vibration are major causes of discomfort in the passenger travel. This paper presents a collaborative development (academia–industry) of an acceleration/vibration monitoring system using an Arduino device based upon the microcontroller ATMEL AVR. Vibration data were analyzed with respect to the international standard ISO 2631:1/1997. Acceleration data in turn were obtained and compared to preview results referenced in the state of the art. This study was carried out in the Suburban Railway System of Salvador city (Brazil) which operates under poor infrastructure and vehicle conditions. Consequently, discomfort prevails in passenger travel as roughly 80% of measures on the floor and 98% of measures in the seat pan and backrest falls in the classification of “a little uncomfortable” or worse. The data was also geo-referenced with the assistance of a global positioning system device, allowing for the confirmation of train arrival at both Coutos and Itacaranha stations as the most uncomfortable situations. Data geo-referencing proved to be a powerful decision-making tool by evidencing prioritized sites for improvement.

This paper discusses the implementation of automated obstacle detection to British level crossings to improve safety and efficiency, reduce costs and analyse how successful this could be. There are over 6000 level crossings in Britain, and they are the largest single risk to the railways; one method to improve their safety is by introducing automated obstacle detection. Over the last ten years, there have been, on average, nine deaths a year at level crossings (Rail Safety and Standards Board in Annual safety performance report. Rail Safety and Standards Board Limited, SL, 2016) (excluding suicides), making them a high priority for Network Rail to improve. Obstacle detection would not just help improve the safety of level crossings, but it could also reduce the costs associated with level crossing signallers and operators and would lower the waiting times for road vehicles and pedestrians. With research also being done into the future possibility of introducing autonomous trains to the British railways, the combination of this and the obstacle detection system proposed could see a large improvement in safety across the level crossings.

Tao Poon station is an interconnected station of the MRT Blue line and the MRT Purple line in Bangkok, Thailand. However, for the first 12 months of the MRT Purple line operations the interconnection to the Blue line was not possible due to a “missing link” issue. The Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) provided a feeder system to facilitate the travel between the two lines. This paper presents the application of the simulation model using the PTV VISSIM/VISWALK software to study the impact of the two interconnected stations on passenger’s travel time. Modeling in this project includes three MRT stations: Bang Son station, Tao Poon station, and Bang Sue station. Then travel route choices are modeled for: a shuttle bus and a conventional train. By comparing the results generated by the software with the actual situation including the “blue line missing link,” the impact of the “missing link” on the passenger’s travel time was found. Overall, although the “missing link” distance was just 1.2 km, the impact of it on passenger’s travel time was huge. Normally, traveling in rush hour between Bang Sue and Tao Poon by MRT would take around 10 min, but traveling by a shuttle bus in the morning took up to four-times longer in the first 12 months of the MRT Purple line operations, before the “missing link” was finally fixed in August 2017.

In 2013, St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences started the training programme “Academic Trainer in Railway Services”. This innovative programme consists of two streams in which pedagogical skills, rail-related topics and interpersonal skills are trained. The target group of the programme are workplace trainers in railway companies. The initiative for the programme came from a railway company that identified a need for those skills and for such a programme. The course was started and was successful in the end. While planning the next courses, it became obvious that attendance during the course hours will be a very difficult if not unmanageable task for the participants. Therefore, it was necessary to find new ways to integrate course lessons into daily working lives. The solution presented here is modularisation and flexible design of courses, which seems to be imperative in an academia–industry collaboration.

A degree programme for transport and traffic engineering was established at the University of Zagreb in the Republic of Croatia in 1968, and a module for railway transport and traffic was added in 1982. In 1984, the university founded the Faculty of Traffic Sciences, thus creating an independent study programme. Beginning in AY 2005/2006, the University of Zagreb introduced the Bologna Process across all institutions and degree programmes. This paper presents the current curricula for both the undergraduate and graduate degree programmes at the Faculty of Traffic Sciences, as well as it offers proposals for modernizing them.

There is a new baggage transfer service suggested in Newcastle Central Station. In order to prove that this service is feasible, a simulation model can be developed to test the concept and operating pattern behind. For the purposes of this paper, we intend to organize a literature review on simulation modelling software packages employed to study service design. Specifically, this paper has compared five different simulation software packages used by the railway industry to study service-related challenges. As a result, it is suggested that SIMUL8, a macroscopic discrete event-based software package, should be used among the five compared ones because of its simplicity and the ability to give practical results for the design and performance of such a baggage transfer system.

The behaviour of passengers has a major influence on operational components such as passenger flows in railway stations, passenger exchange times and thus the punctuality of trains. This paper deals with the influence of passenger behaviour and passenger needs on the infrastructure facilities of transport stations. Passengers on long-distance transport arrive at the train station before departure early and would like to use the infrastructure at railway stations such as shops. In particular, bringing along luggage usually hinders them in this, which is why there is a need for short-term luggage storage. Regarding the behaviour during the use of stairs, escalators and lifts, different influences are noticeable particularly in terms of performance capacity. In the case of lifts, as a rule, a maximum of 50% of the maximum occupancy rates noted in the cabins is achievable. In the case of escalators, with the suggested parameters in the guidelines for dimensioning, the flow rates can in the ideal case be achieved. In railway stations with a high passenger and luggage volume, performance capacity can, however, amount to less than half. Passenger distribution along the platform has a significant influence on passenger exchange time and thus on hold time and operating quality. This shows that most passengers orient themselves to the deboarding situation, which leads in part to a very pronounced unequal distribution along the platform. This in turn results in the overloading of individual doors and significantly extended passenger exchange times.

The aim of this paper is to describe three different examples of cooperation between academia and industry in the field of railway transport that have been successfully carried out at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in the last few years. The first experience is the postgraduate course in “Railway Infrastructure and Systems Engineering” promoted by “La Sapienza” and funded by the major rail companies operating in Italy that for years represents perhaps the most important initiative in Italy to train and then hire young engineers in the rail sector. The second experience is a course on “Risk assessment in the Railway Sector” delivered by “La Sapienza” for engineers employed in Trenitalia, the main Italian Railway Undertaking, owned by FS Italiane Group. This type of training is more common, but it is interesting to note that companies in Italy require academia to train their engineers in a crucial and rapidly evolving field such as railway safety. The last experience is a specialization course in “Infrastructures and Railways System” designed and delivered together by “La Sapienza” and Italferr, the engineering service company of the FS Italiane Group, for the Sultanate of Oman Ministry of Transport & Communications, which is an interesting example of how companies and academia can work together to export Italian railway know-how to the world. It is possible to note that the three cases are examples of three different levels of collaboration between academia and companies: the first level concerns the recruitment and the basic training of young engineers to be employed in companies; the second the specialist training of engineers already employed in companies; the third a training activity for third parties useful to export Italian railway know-how and technology in the world.

Regional railway transport is one of the important aspects that on the one hand contributes to the economic development of a region, but on the other hand can reduce the quality of life with a disproportionate use of transport modes, mainly in larger agglomerations. In the view of society, regional transport is an important contribution to improving the quality of life of the citizens in the region, as well as its competitiveness and the optimal use of public resources. This paper examines regional railway transport in the Slovak Republic from the different indicators (transport performances, operators, regional railway line length, financing). It aims to understand the factors which influence the economic and social efficiency of regional railway transport. The research was focused on a regional railway line because on the main railway line the costs of the infrastructure for regional and other railway transport cannot be separated. The case study was performed in the Žilina region in which districts with different standards of living are located. The research shows interesting results. The regional railway line which is located in the region with a lower standard of living showed the best utilisation and the lowest loss. We suggest a synergy aspect for operating a regional railway line which takes into account the economic and social factors and interrelationships among subjects participating in the rendition of regional railway transport services.

The importance of modelling and simulation has recently increased in the field of railway systems. The necessity for design, analysis and performance evaluation of the railway systems requires the use of advanced computational techniques that use fully nonlinear formulations which permit accurate modelling through capturing significant details of these systems. The paper presents a comprehensive computational approach employed in flexible simulation tool for the dynamic analysis of vehicle–track interaction based on multibody formulations. The novel numerical approach in the presented paper enables the study of different configurations of railway vehicles and various track combinations. The presented simulation tool was verified for the analysis of the Manchester Benchmark, and the results were compared with those obtained using different commercial simulation packages. The main objective of the comparison was to test and validate the implemented computational approach and the developed simulation tool to check its reliability and flexibility in the dynamic analysis of different railway systems.

The rail freight sector has suffered a long-term decline in market share largely at the hands of road transport. Rail freight’s product and service offers have proved to be inappropriate and irrelevant for freight and logistics markets underpinned by wholly different imperatives, requirements and demands compared to bulk low-value commodities. Rail has to re-calibrate its offer to the market in operational, commercial, technical and managerial terms. The paper sets out details of a UK-based study which is examining ways in which a rail/inter-modal offer could be developed and implemented to allow rail to participate in growing inter-urban freight and logistics traffic flows. The study described in the paper is a collaboration between industry, academia and specialist experts. The output if successful could potentially be delivered into other national rail/inter-modal domains.

The RailExchange project has been developed in collaboration between two universities, one UK-based and one Thailand-based, to work on educational ideas for rail to benefit the rail industry in Thailand. At the same time, a new rail Master programme has been designed with a strong input from the rail industry in terms of technical and interpersonal skills necessary for a formation of a successful rail graduate. The new programme has been established at the Thai university and aligned with Thai and international higher education frameworks (AUN-QA and TQF). As part of the activities listed in the exchange project, the lecturers from the UK have been invited to conduct short experimental classes to teach on three different subjects, which are part of the new rail Master’s curriculum. The paper presents feedback received from participants of the three courses in terms of learning activities, academic activities and personal experience. The analyses of the feedback reveal that the UK visiting lecturers helped in broadening the perspective of the Thai academics and students in terms of educational content and active learning style, such as a hands-on approach and applied learning style with real-life scenarios and student-led learning. The English language was used to deliver the experimental classes to Thai participants, who represented academia and industry, and for majority of the participants, it was not a barrier in actively participating in a course. Feedback received highlighted differences between the UK and Thai approaches to higher education learning, but also suggested improvements, listed in recommendations, which should be taken into account in the delivery of the Master programme in rail in the near future.

The amazing development speed of innovative technologies especially in the field of ICT is the pavement for new applications in railway transport, and the benefits of these modern technologies are greater than the traditional technologies. These benefits are not measured at the application level but also at the integration of different systems and transport modes based on the exchange of data. The innovative approach is to link the railway vehicles to the infrastructure and to find the way to integrate infrastructures and vehicles from different transport modes. Digital railway is a new concept and new paradigm which is the way to change the architecture of the railway systems and to push a novel approach in designing and developing new railway systems.

Managing one’s career is becoming more complex as the external environment races towards increasing uncertainty. Rules that were familiar to individuals in the past are now opaque. This paper explores the career experiences of global rail professionals from a wide cross section of countries. It identifies findings that are applied to the development of a model for mentoring that could be utilised by organisations to development professionals. Related to ‘soft skills’, mentoring is a learning and development tool that is widely used in organisations through formal processes that develop skills for special groups including apprentices, graduates and those identified with talent. As a result of changing workforce demographics, it is argued that more focus on the soft side of a predominantly hard or technical industry would benefit rail industry organisations with this paper highlighting new insights into mentoring.

This paper presents the results from a rail-orientated researcher links workshop, which was organised in Joinville, Brazil. The aim of the workshop was to discuss congestion in Brazil. Thirty-four participants from the UK and Brazil attended the workshop. Feedback forms have been distributed. The information collected has been analysed statistically. The results from the statistical analysis show very positive views of the workshop.