Exploring the Factors Affecting Sustainable Human Resource Productivity in Railway Lines

This study aimed to identify the critical factors and items affecting the productivity of sustainable human resources in a Railway Operation Company based on the perceptions of employees and managers in the Human Resources Department. The study was motivated by research which was applied in terms of the objectives of the study and a descriptive survey was employed as the method. The statistical population of the current study consisted of all employees and managers of the Human Resources Department of the company. Random sampling was employed to collect data and the sample size was 191 people according to Morgan’s Table. Methods including the correlation coefficient, multivariate regression, and factor analysis were employed for data analysis. The findings highlight the main factors and items affecting labor productivity in the Urban and Suburban Railway Operation Company as perceived by the Human Resources Department, which were mainly related to human resources management and could be attributed to motivation and requirements for their effective contribution to the improvement of public welfare. Organizational Attitude and Culture, Leadership Style, and Bonus and Ergonomics were extracted as factors affecting productivity or as independent variables. This study is the first study that has aimed to discuss the perceptions of the Human Resources Department active in a company. As such, the study highlights the standpoint of the main decision makers in the Urban and Suburban Railway Operation Company with regard to labour productivity in the urban and suburban sector.

Defects systematization of reinforced concrete bridges of ukrainian railways as the result of their inspection

Visual inspection is the important part of the bridges management. Many defectscan be detected that determine the traffic conditions, service life, and operation cost. Thedeterioration of bridges calls for effective methods for condition evaluation and maintenance as wellas suitable methods of their repair and recovery. This article aims defects systematization ofreinforced concrete bridges to define the effective method for recovering of their technical state. Morethan 100 reinforced concrete bridges in Ukrainian railways were inspected from 2017 to 2021.Ultrasonic pulse velocity, penetration resistance, reinforcement corrosion tests, and rebar locatingwere performed on beams, bed block, and piers of reinforced concrete bridges. It is shown that themost probable reasons of defects are natural impacts (freezing-thawing, moisturizing-drying),technogenic factors (train vibration, leakage current), and technological disadvantages(unsatisfactory production or setting). During the inspection, there are three categories of defectswere defined. The first one does not influence the train traffic (for example, deficient protectiveconcrete layer). The second one can limit the train traffic (for instance, crack width more than 0.3mm). The third category endangers the safe railway operation (such as an intense leaching of cementstone at an area more than 2 m2). It is made a proposal to match external signs of damage withreasons their appearance and methods of recovery. Three main types of repairs are used in Ukrainianrailways: torkret process, steel hooping, waterproof layer. However, the relationship between thetype of defect and the method of recovery has not been estimated before. It is important that themethods of repair and protection will be assigned according to their operation state (a disabled staterequires immediate recovery of the structures) as well as the reasons of appearance (destructiveacts). These methods must prevent a future destruction or protect of the structures.

Refinement of the rail–wheel contact pair to improve rail–wheel interaction conditions for railway vehicles with an increased axle load

At present, one of the global trends in railway transport development, which becomes clearer and clearer, is increasing the axle load of freight cars, which gives a considerable economic benefit. In this connection, of importance is not only the car design, but also the car capacity utilization factor: the higher this factor, the more economically efficient the car use. Because of this, one of the priority global lines in increasing the volume of fright traffic and the railway operation efficiency is increasing the carrying capacity of freight cars. Preparing the railways for cars with increased axle loads calls for the development of measures to decrease the track deformability, in particular by choosing appropriate wheel and rail profiles. The aim of this work was to develop recommendations on refining the wheel?rail contact pair to improve curve negotiation by railway vehicles with an increased axle loads on the Ukrainian railways. This paper presents the proprietary R-ITM wear-resistant railhead profile. The effect of the new profile on wheel?rail interaction in negotiating a curve of radius 300 m at a constant speed was studied for different cars. In doing so, emphasis was on wheel?rail interaction for a new-generation freight car on 18-9817 trucks with an axle load increased to 36 tf. The studies conducted made it possible to formulate the following recommendations: to improve curve negotiation by railway vehicles with increased axle loads, reduce the adverse effect on the track and improve traffic safety, new proprietary contact pair profiles are recommended: the ITM-73-03 wheel profile for cars, and the R-ITM railhead profile for outer rails together with the standard R65 railhead profile for inner rails.

Research on high-speed railway operation adjustment model based on priority

Purpose This paper aim at providing decision support for operational adjustment. In order to effectively reduce the external interference impact on train operation. Design/methodology/approach According to the reality that there are two kinds of high-speed trains running in China, considering the reality that there are two speed level train running in Chinese high-speed railway, this paper proposed the high-speed railway operation adjustment model based on priority, and the objective function is to minimize interference impact on train operation. Findings Adjustment strategy based on priority than based on sequence can effectively reduce the interference influence on train operation, which makes the train resume the planned operation back on schedule more quickly. Research limitations/implications The solution of large-scale cases is too slow, and the practical application is limited. Originality/value The model was verified by a case, and the case results proved that adjustment strategy based on priority than based on sequence can effectively reduce the interference influence on train operation, which makes the train resume the planned operation back on schedule more quickly.

Reliability and Inspection Modelling of Railway Signalling Systems

The railway is one of the most prominent models of transportation across the globe and it carries a large number of people, thus requiring high reliability, maintainability and safety. The reliability of railways mostly depends on an effective signalling system, making it one of the critical parts of railway operation. A signalling system is part of a large array of systems with interconnected components and subcomponents. Therefore, there is a need to make the signalling system more reliable and optimised with enhanced fault detection. Proper inspection and maintenance are required to make the signalling system reliable and safe. In this study, different inspection modelling techniques are applied to find the reliability of the signalling system. The signalling system has been divided into subsystems (signal unit, track unit, point-and-point machine) considering their importance and their effects on the failure rate of the entire signalling system. Inspection modelling of each subsystem has been conducted to provide the basis for the entire signalling system. A case study has been investigated to validate the model developed in one of the busiest tracks in eastern India. The obtained data thus are used to analyse the inspection pattern of signalling subsystems. Special attention to maintenance for inspection activities and logistics support has been taken into consideration, which is required to improve the reliability and maintainability of signalling subsystems and systems to make the railway signalling system sustainable in the long run.