Thermal studies of vacuum panels of cellular structure of a passenger car

Aluminum alloys and composite materials are used in the body structures of modern passenger railway cars, which required the use of new manufacturing technologies: extrusion, pultrusion, etc. The use of new materials and new production technologies is changing the design requirements of passenger rail cars. The use of computer-aided design systems, in particular, SolidWorks Simulation, allows you to optimize the profile of cellular panels used in the construction of the body of a passenger railway car and obtained by extrusion or 3-D printing. Purpose of this work is to optimize the design stage of the enclosing structures of the body of a passenger railway car made of cellular profile panels, which can significantly reduce the heat transfer coefficient of the body walls and their mass, as well as provide the necessary strength conditions. Optimal profile of the vacuum panel, consisting of two rows of hexagonal cells, provides, according to calculations, the value of the specific thermal resistance R = 2.922 (m2 K)/W, which is 16.5% more than that of the existing body structure of a passenger rail car.

The Mathematical Analysis of Demands for Railway Passenger Transport in Kosovo

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the railway transport of passengers in Kosovo, to determine its intensity and structure, to analyse which factors have the greatest impact on the demand for regular rail transport. Furthermore, the paper will examine which trend, which model fits best in moving this mode of transport based on data from 2011 to 2019, and then predict future trends in transport demand. The existence and strength of the dependence among the selected factors, which are assumed to have an impact on passenger rail transport will be examined by the mathematical method of regression analysis.

Barriers to Transnational Passenger Rail Services in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina – A Qualitative Perspective

Railway infrastructures and services in the countries of former Yugoslavia have been in a downward spiral since the early 1990s. There have been scattered investments to lift services up to appealing levels after the war, but a continuous downward trend persists in all important performance indicators. After war-attributed abandonment, numerous lines lost services permanently, numbers of services dwindled, especially across borders, and service speeds decreased. This research takes Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina specifically as survey objects. It aims to identify the barriers in these two countries that withheld passenger rail from a positive development as in other European countries during the same period. For this purpose we carried out 11 interviews with stakeholders in various railway-related institutions. The transcripts are analysed qualitatively with thematic analysis to gain an overview of organisational and institutional barriers for development of railways. This is followed by a cause-effect analysis with Causal Loop Diagramming. The result: ad-hoc decision-making is clearly connected to the insignificance of railways. As immediate measures to counter the downward spiral by means of strategic long term planning, we identify (1) service benchmarking, (2) a clear vision for improvement of service quality, and (3) empowerment of ministries in a long term.

Use of measured accelerations from a passenger rail car to evaluate ride quality and track roughness – A case study

Increasing traffic and speeds on passenger rail lines, and a short season for maintenance work, have motivated the industry to find new methods to assess the condition of existing infrastructure and determine where upgrades are required. In this study, acceleration data from the car body and axle boxes of a revenue car over 92 km of a Canadian passenger rail route in Ontario were collected for two purposes: first, to apply weighted filtering method according to ISO 2631-1997 standard as a technique to determine the locations which highly impact the ride quality and to investigate the effect of type of track features and speed on the ride quality; second, a new analytical method called the envelope of acceleration was applied to use the recorded accelerations to evaluate the alignment and surface roughness along the track. Since the alignment and surface roughness values are always positive and are calculated over a specified length (e.g. 9.5 m, 18.9 m, 38 m) an envelope technique was employed which uses spline interpolations over local maxima of the absolute magnitude of accelerations at every separated n samples corresponding to best fit with track roughness. The regression analysis between the envelope of accelerations and alignment and surface roughness presented a meaningful correlation and showed the applied method is a promising analytical technique to indicate rough sections of the track. The limitations to the application of envelope of acceleration are also discussed.

Passenger rail station safety improvement and analysis of end-of-track collisions based on systems-theoretic accident modeling and processes (STAMP)

Purpose At the US passenger stations, train operations approaching terminating tracks rely on the engineer’s compliant behavior to safely stop before the end of the tracks. Noncompliance actions from the disengaged or inattentive engineers would result in hazards to train passengers, train crewmembers and bystanders at passenger stations. Over the past decade, a series of end-of-track collisions occurred at passenger stations with substantial property damage and casualties. This study’s developed systemic model and discussions present policymakers, railway practitioners and academic researchers with a flexible approach for qualitatively assessing railroad safety. Design/methodology/approach To achieve a system-based, micro-level analysis of end-of-track accidents and eventually promote the safety level of passenger stations, the systems-theoretic accident modeling and processes (STAMP), as a practical systematic accident model widely used in the complex systems, is developed in view of environmental factors, human errors, organizational factors and mechanical failures in this complex socio-technical system. Findings The developed STAMP accident model and analytical results qualitatively provide an explicit understanding of the system hazards, constraints and hierarchical control structure of train operations on terminating tracks in the US passenger stations. Furthermore, the safety recommendations and practical options related to obstructive sleep apnea screening, positive train control-based collision avoidance mechanisms, robust system safety program plans and bumping posts are proposed and evaluated using the STAMP approach. Originality/value The findings from STAMP-based analysis can serve as valid references for policymakers, government accident investigators, railway practitioners and academic researchers. Ultimately, they can contribute to establishing effective emergent measures for train operations at passenger stations and promote the level of safety necessary to protect the public. The STAMP approach could be adapted to analyze various other rail safety systems that aim to ultimately improve the safety level of railroad systems.

Analyzing the Newest Interchange Connection at Cairo Metro Network Pertaining to Passenger Flow

The French standard governing occupanckes dedicated for gatherings of individuals and institutions receiving the public, including railway stations and tunnels was used in the design of Cairo’s transit network, which consists of three lines connected through three existing interchange connections and one that is currently under construction. There is a lack of studies quantifying passenger evacuation in relation to Cairo transit, especially with regard to the interchange connections. This study assessed the viability of the evacuation methods applied to the design of interchange connections in Egypt. The emergency evacuation procedures for the future interchange connection layout between Lines 1 and 3 were assessed using the French standard and NFPA 130 Standard for Fixed Guideway Transit and Passenger Rail Systems analytical methods. The analysis accounts for the traffic forecast as presented in the Egyptian company for operation and maintenance report for Line 1 and the feasibility study of Line 3. The results demonstrated that the connection was compliant with the French standard, but it did not fully meet NFPA requirements. It was concluded that there is still room for enhancement and for gaps to be considered. Recommendations include undertaking investigations into passenger characteristics and behavior in the context of passenger flow in emergency situations using approaches such as virtual research and field surveys, and simulation techniques.

A closer look at rail methodology in the BTS National Transportation Noise Map

In 2017, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics released the inaugural national, multi-modal transportation noise map prototype. The noise modeling and mapping effort was envisioned as a way to facilitate the geographic tracking of national trends and provide insight into transportation noise-related questions as changes occur over time - changes between modes, types of vehicles within modes and the geographic shifts of populations. How do changes in aircraft technology change the transportation noise landscape? Does increased high speed rail availability affect highway-related noise? How does a population shift away from urban centers affect the soundscape? The inaugural model included aviation and highway sources. The first update, released in November 2020, includes passenger rail-related noise in addition to aviation and highway sources. Operations in this new mode include commuter rail mainline, high-speed electric, light rail, heavy rail and streetcars, along with commuter rail horns at highway-rail grade crossings. The data for this noise map were modeled based on USDOT methods, with adjustments and simplifications to model on a national scale. This paper focuses on the modeling methods and geospatial approach used to develop the passenger rail noise data layer.

A Model for Integrating Rail Services with other Transportation Modalities: Identifying the Best Practices and the Gaps for California’s Next State Rail Plan

The California State Rail Plan (CSRP) is among the best rail plan documents published by any jurisdiction in the United States to date. As such, the CSRP is used in this paper as the basis of comparison to other state rail service plans. These plans will have been submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on record as of June 2020—as required under Section 303 of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) of 2008. The purpose of this paper is to identify the best practices and gaps that may inform California and other states in their future rail service plan development. This paper is grounded in the realization that, while the general outline of FRA requirements is uniform for all states, the actual content and inclusion of these requirements in the myriad state plans varies greatly. For example, California was granted an exception to help update FRA Rail Plan Guidance for its 2018 Rail Plan, other states have complained that FRA guidance and requirements on rail service planning have put state rail agencies in the position of constantly writing plans with little or no time to implement them. Throughout this research, the authors identify all the elements of FRA guidelines as reflected in the CSRP and rail plans of other states. This report also identifies the best features and planning strategies that may inform and improve the state rail planning process going forward, steps that will positively contribute to the public benefit of enhanced rail systems.