Сurrent status and BAM’s development prospects

The growing demand for freight and passenger transportation and the growing interest of the population in improving the speed, quality and safety of transportation require a new approach to the development of the railway complex, taking into account systemic trends in Russia and the global economy. In the longer term, it is necessary to reduce the transport costs of the national economy, ensure the accessibility of transport to entities, increase the competitiveness of transport services and solve the systemic problem of increasing the speed of freight and passenger trains. In recent years Russia has been discussing the development of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, which in Soviet times was a grandiose construction project of the era and an embodiment of the country’s power. However, there are a number of problems related to the weak socio-economic development of the regions. The Baikal-Amur Mainline was a grandiose construction project of the era and the epitome of the country’s power. The article pays particular attention to the further development of the Baikal-Amur Mainline.

Construction Layout of Stations and its Impact to Train Delays

The paper focuses on construction layout of railway stations, mainly platforms for boarding passenger trains. Platform layout has significant impact to the operation of trains, because passengers cross some tracks horizontally, when the train boarding is necessary. Horizontal track crossings cause possible dangerous situations from passengers’ point of view as well as operational problems from dispatcher point of view, because other trains have to slow or stop their ride. It may cause delays and it negatively influences timetable planning too. The problem is deeply analysed and described in a case study of Opatov railway station.

Vehicle design – Influence on operational quality

The design of rail vehicles, in particular the boarding area and the interior, has a significant influence on the passenger exchange time. The vehicle design is overlaid with passenger-specific characteristics such as age, mobility restrictions and, in particular, baggage. Poorly designed vehicle layouts mean that some of the seats cannot be used and the degree of capacity utilization achievable and thus customer comfort are noticeably reduced. In particular, however, poorly designed vehicles significantly prolong passenger exchange times, which leads to frequent delays and thus to a decline in operating quality. Based on almost twenty years of intensive research in the field of passenger behaviour in passenger trains, the technical paper will show clear approaches to solutions, how a good design of rail vehicles can increase the degree of utilisation and at the same time the customer comfort, how the passenger exchange time and thus the dwell time can be significantly reduced and thus the operational quality can be significantly increased in addition to other important advantages

WNLA Train Disasters

In colonial dispensations, the transport of passengers separated by colour and class reflected the racist hierarchy within the larger society. Moreover, drivers designated to operate various types of trains were allocated duties in ways that reflected their experience and skills. White passenger trains got priority over those carrying black migrant workers. Under such circumstances, rail ‘accidents’—disasters—cannot be fully separated from the way that racism informed the operation of the system. The chapter examines two disasters, one in 1918 and the other in 1949, which show how the analysis of ‘accidents’ cannot be divorced from the underlying racist structures that shaped the transport system in the colonial society.

On the issue of increasing operational energy efficiency of eight-axle passenger DC electric locomotives

Mass of a passenger train and, accordingly, number of cars in its composition is selected based on the amount of passenger traffic on the section, determined by the seasonal demand for transportation in each direction. In one direction of the section serviced by an electric locomotive, the mass of a passenger train may differ several times from the opposite direction, which depends on the destination station of the train and the period of its circulation. At present, in addition to 6-axle electric locomotives of the ChS2T and EP2K series, more powerful 8-axle electric locomotives of the ChS7 series operate in the same schedule for traction of passenger trains on railway sections electrified with direct current with a voltage of 3 kV catenary. All three series of the considered electric locomotives are designed for a maximum operating speed of up to 160 km/h. In this regard, there is a situation with the underutilization of the maximum speed and excess power of the ChS7 electric ocomotives, especially when operating with passenger trains of medium and low weight and a limited speed of 120 km/h. The comparative data on the specific power consumption of the EP2K 6-axle electric locomotives and the ChS7 8-axle electric locomotives operating in the same schedule, presented in the article, indicate the need to find additional reserves for saving the specific power consumption when servicing passenger trains of medium and low weight with ChS7 electric locomotives. The electric locomotive power system includes traction and auxiliary electric machines. The article discusses ways to turn off part of traction motors, which can be carried out with a standard electric locomotive circuit. However, when one section of the electric locomotive is turned off, the power of the four traction motors remaining in operation is not always sufficient to drive a passenger train according to the schedule. Therefore, a variant of improving the power circuit of an electric locomotive in the process of carrying out its overhaul is proposed. This option represents the modernization of the power circuit of the ChS7 electric locomotive when operating on a series-parallel connection with a pair of traction motors disconnected. As a result, the power circuit of the 8-axle electric locomotive operates similarly to the circuit of 6-axle DC electric locomotives with a collector traction drive. The expected savings in specific power consumption can reach 15% in comparison with the operation of an 8-axle electric locomotive ChS7 in normal mode. Switching off one section of the electric locomotive and further running the train on four traction electric motors will reduce the specific power consumption by up to 25%.

Comprehensive optimization of passenger trains operation based on an automated system for managing the profitability of passenger traffic

The article is devoted to solving the problem of optimizing the tariff policy, which is relevant for the passenger complex, with the most rational use of the rolling stock. Principles of economic and mathematical modeling are presented in order to determine the optimal number of cars in passenger trains and prices for travel in a single calculation process called complex optimization. Developed models make it possible to form optimal train schemes in accordance with the predicted demand, balancing supply and demand for transportation, which, in turn, radically increases its economic efficiency. Simultaneously with finding the optimal schemes by the method of complex optimization, such fares are determined at which the balance of supply and demand is achieved with the maximum possible economic effect. The article discusses the analytical models of passenger demand, the principles of implementation of the complex optimization procedure, the problems of forecasting passenger demand and the features of calculating the forecast of demand for the example of train No. 17/18 “Karelia” on the Petrozavodsk—Moscow route, and also offers a solution to the problem of determining the optimal prices and train schemes. On the example of real data of the operation of this train, the effectiveness of the automated system for managing the profitability of passenger traffic, created on the basis of complex optimization algorithms, was evaluated. It is shown that the developed analytical models of passenger demand allow solving optimization problems that increase the efficiency of automated control systems for the economic indicators of the transportation process, and the multi-model forecasting system provides satisfactory accuracy with a high level of forecast detail. Due to the fact that the level of expenses for train journeys radically affects the result of optimization of the transportation process with variable train schemes, the adopted optimization criterion takes into account both income and transportation costs. The results of calculations are presented showing that the complex optimization procedure for the “Karelia” train could give a significant additional financial result.