Emerging Challenges and Opportunities for U.S. High-Speed Rail Development

Author(s):  
Francis P. Banko ◽  
Jackson H. Xue

As we witness the advancement of U.S. high-speed rail initiatives, the country can look towards its European and Asian counterparts for best practices and lessons learned from their decades of high-speed rail design and operations. These experiences gained may be applicable towards projects such as the Texas Central Railway and the California High-Speed Rail Project. This chapter will address the events of 2009 that have brought domestic high-speed rail to the forefront of U.S. rail transportation. This includes the new FRA Tier I and proposed Tier III criteria, challenges associated with each FRA tier of operation, overseas interoperability efforts, snapshots of international experiences (from policy and technological perspectives), the holistic system-based approach to safety, ongoing efforts of the FRA Engineering Task Force, and additional challenges and opportunities moving forward.

Author(s):  
Francis P. Banko ◽  
Jackson H. Xue

As we witness the advancement of U.S. high-speed rail initiatives, the country can look towards its European and Asian counterparts for best practices and lessons learned from their decades of high-speed rail design and operations. These experiences gained may be applicable towards projects such as the Texas Central Railway and the California High-Speed Rail Project. This chapter will address the events of 2009 that have brought domestic high-speed rail to the forefront of U.S. rail transportation. This includes the new FRA Tier I and proposed Tier III criteria, challenges associated with each FRA tier of operation, overseas interoperability efforts, snapshots of international experiences (from policy and technological perspectives), the holistic system-based approach to safety, ongoing efforts of the FRA Engineering Task Force, and additional challenges and opportunities moving forward.


2009 ◽  
pp. 203-251
Author(s):  
Claudio Virno

- Cost overruns are common in large and complex projects, especially in high speed rail ones. Budgeting for cost escalation is a major issue in the planning phase of these projects. This paper describes lessons learned on high speed rail in Italy and focuses on problems such as initial poor design, tactical budgeting, inadequate cost estimation and risk assessment, etc. The paper discusses possible means to avoid major flaws in the initial conceptual design of mega-projects. There is a growing understanding of the need to focus on the front-end phase in order to achieve more successful and cost-effective projects.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koorosh Gharehbaghi ◽  
Kerry McManus ◽  
Kathryn Robson ◽  
David Paterno ◽  
Matt Myers

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9527
Author(s):  
Kyujin Lee ◽  
Woojin Kim ◽  
Junghan Baek ◽  
Junghwa Kim

In this study, the factors influencing the choice of the type of urban railroad transportation in the metropolitan areas of Korea were analyzed. As the populations of metropolitan areas are expanding, the importance of rail transportation, which has a high travel reliability in terms of travel time, has increased, and various types of railroad systems have emerged accordingly. This study was focused on the choice behavior of travelers on local and express trains that use the same track and differ only in the number of stations and operating times. To compare the choice behavior of travelers between local and express trains, factors such as the waiting time on the platform and the in-car travel time were considered. We also investigated the system choice behavior for an existing express subway and high-speed rail trains in tunnels at a great depth in terms of horizontal access time (walking), vertical access time, in-vehicle travel time, and travel fare. For a high-speed rail built underground at a great depth of 50 m, the stated preference survey was designed, and data were collected in consideration of the Great Train Express being promoted in the Seoul metropolitan area by the Korean government. The results of this study are expected to be considered important data for improving the rail system design from the user’s perspective to increase the demand for urban rail transportation in metropolitan areas.


2020 ◽  
Vol 164 ◽  
pp. 07013
Author(s):  
Dmitry Kuzmin ◽  
Vera Baginova ◽  
Andrey Baginov

The article analyzes the experience of organizing high-speed rail services in China, the current state and development prospects. An analysis of open sources and publications on this topic is carried out. The characteristics of the infrastructural support of the most significant transport facilities of high-speed rail transportation are given and the question of further development of high-speed rail service in People’s Republic of China is considered. An assessment is made of the economic and social significance of China’s high-speed railway lines.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 168781402110662
Author(s):  
Yan Liu ◽  
Xiujie Jiang ◽  
Qiutong Li ◽  
Huan Liu

With the development of rail transportation, the fatigue failure of rail clips has become an issue, which affects the operational safety of trains. In this study, reasons for the fatigue failure of rail clips were investigated to improve their service life. A digital image correlation (DIC) technique was conducted to obtain strain fields, vibration modes, and natural frequencies of a rail clip. The strain and displacement of a rail clip under dynamic cyclic loading were also obtained. A fastener system refinement model was developed to analyze the static, dynamic, and modal responses of the clip. The experimental tests and modal simulation results were mutually verified. The fatigue life was analyzed based on the verified FE model. The results revealed that the maximum strain and minimum fatigue life occur at the heel of the clip, in good agreement with the actual fracture position. As the amplitude and frequency of dynamic cyclic load increased, the fatigue life of the clip decreased sharply. Moreover, the normal wheel–rail force accompanied by high-frequency rail corrugations accelerated crack initiation and reduced the fatigue life. The findings of this study provide guidance for improving the service life of rail clips.


IFLA Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 034003522110230
Author(s):  
Carolyne Ménard

Parliamentary libraries play a crucial role in providing information support to decision-makers around the world. These institutions have faced an unprecedented situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. Many have had to modify their practices considerably to keep serving their users. This article explores how the National Assembly of Quebec Library has responded to this issue and redefined its services during the pandemic. The author presents the challenges and opportunities met while adapting virtual services, redefining document handling and improving team communication, and foresees future obstacles for the institution. This case study shares best practices and the lessons learned in the hope of informing and advising similar institutions facing challenges during this pandemic.


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