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In response to the practical demands for data sharing and exchange in the field of rack railway systems engineering, as well as to address the gaps in the rack railway domain within the framework of the IFC4 standard, we extend and define the rack railway domain through entity extension and custom attribute sets. By utilizing the ongoing construction of the Dujiangyan to Mount Siguniang Railway as a case study, we validate the utility of this IFC extension and modeling approach. Leveraging IfcOpenShell, we incorporate the extended data content into the generated IFC file. We present a process for extension tailored to the characteristics of rack railway engineering. This study aims to provide broader information support for the digital construction of track structures in the design phase of rack railway engineering and to facilitate more efficient data exchange and sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective ground transportation modes linkage with the seaport plays a crucial role in facilitating smooth cargo movement from marine transportation mode to the inland areas and vice versa. Unlike road transportation, rail linkage is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly option. Inadequate sea rail connectivity within the seaport hampers cargo movement speed and impacts overall port capacity. This systematic review places emphasis on sea rail intermodal transportation at the seaport. The review categorizes and analyses previous research contributions to the sea-rail intermodal transportation system, and is organized into five categories: performance evaluation, problem-solving methodologies, planning issues, factors affecting sea rail intermodal transportation, and enhancement strategies within the context of sea rail intermodal transportation. The study discerns current research patterns and identifies gaps within the existing literature while also offering insights into potential future research avenues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Article PDF first page previewGraphGraphCloseBy Mark W Van WienenReported by Author [Extracted from the article]

Rack railway is a rail transportation that utilizes the gear-rack engagement to supply the traction forces on large-slope lines, primarily employed in mountainous regions where the conventional trains cannot operate due to the wheel-rail adhesion limitations. However, there is limited research on this system dynamics and further analysis is required to understand the interaction mechanism between the rack vehicle and track. Based on the typical vehicle-track coupled dynamics theory, the rack vehicle-track spatially coupled dynamics model is developed in this paper to evaluate the dynamic behaviours of the rack vehicle and the track system running on large-slope line with a detailed modeling of the longitudinal motion for the rack and sleeper, where the time-varying gear-rack mesh stiffness and the rail geometrical irregularity are incorporated. The excellent agreement observed between simulated and field-test results serves as strong validation for developed dynamics model. The results demonstrate that the vibration responses of the wheelset and the rack are dominated by the gear-rack mesh excitations. It should be noticed that the wheel loads are reduced by the presence of the gear-rack engagement. Furthermore, the vibration of the sleeper can explicitly reflect the gear-rack mesh characteristics through the transfer of the rack fastener. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the condition of urban rail transit uncertainty of passenger demand and the high frequency of departure intervals, this study presents an innovative real-time urban rail transit (URT) train service scheduling control framework. In the context of a bidirectional urban rail transit line, a high-fidelity urban rail transit simulation environment was constructed. Within this environment, an advantage actor–critic (A2C) reinforcement learning approach was utilized to train a suitable strategy aimed at minimizing both passenger waiting costs and transit authority operational expenses. Subject to specific constraints, the strategy is designed to generate real-time train schedule based on the representation of traffic state using station congestion levels and train positions. Experimental results on Lines 3 and S7 of Nanjing Metro demonstrated the agent's effectiveness in achieving high-performance schedules across various scenarios. This research integrates deep reinforcement learning into the optimization of dynamic traffic systems, showing great potential for enhancing the efficiency and resilience of urban transport systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When transport systems are accessible and inclusive, people with disability experience dignity. Alternatively, when personal mobility is constrained by physical, social and/or communication, barriers, people with disability experience exclusion and an increasing vulnerability to indignity. This study sought to qualitatively explore the role of trains and buses in an Australian city in supporting access, inclusion and dignified mobility experiences for people with disability. Twenty-six semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants with diverse visible and invisible disabilities and were analysed thematically using Framework Analysis. The findings highlight the complexities involved with navigating public transport systems while maintaining dignity for people with disability. Accessible and inclusive information, infrastructure, and interactions with staff ensured dignified mobility experiences. If any part of a journey was inaccessible, participants were vulnerable to indignity. Dignified mobility experiences represent a complex and dynamic interaction between personal experiences and preferences, impairment-specific requirements, transport infrastructure, interpersonal experiences, and information inclusivity. Points of interest: Public transport systems can play an important role in enabling, facilitating and sustaining dignity for people with disability. People with disability experience theoretical and practical gaps when using trains and buses. Gaps result from infrastructure, environment, information, and attitudinal barriers. Universal Design, access to accessible and inclusive information, and empathic attitudes help create dignified mobility experiences for people with disability when using buses and trains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of a new double‐track steel railway arch bridge over the Elbe river, which replaced the original single‐track bridge from 1966, has significantly increased the capacity, speed, and smoothness of railway traffic in Pardubice. This 140‐meter‐long, three‐span bridge was realized as part of the modernization and double‐tracking of the Pardubice ‐ Hradec Králové line between 2021‐2024. Its construction, coupled with the provisional use of the original bridge, represents a remarkable engineering feat [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rainfall-induced landslides, debris flows, and floods pose great risks to the operating service of the Chinese railway system. Evaluating their functional impact is crucial for guiding risk reduction action. Here, we generate an initial set of regional service fragility models and estimate the service risk of the Chinese railway system associated with rainfall-induced hazards. The results reveal noticeable regional differences in service fragility across China. Railways in northern China and western China are highly vulnerable to rainfall-induced hazards, while railways in southern and eastern China are robust. Nationally, 279,000 trains are expected to be affected annually, accounting for 6.45% of the total trains; ~80% of these incidences occur in May-September. In addition, the national railway lines prone to hazards are geographically widespread, especially in Southwest China and Southern China. Railway links such as Wuhan-Guangzhou, Guizhou-Guangzhou and the lines along the southeast coast exhibit higher risk due to their higher failure probabilities and higher train trip flow. An uncertainty and sensitivity analysis suggests that fragility models produce high uncertainty for service risk, which justifies the significance of generating detailed regional fragility models. The fragility models and risk maps produced in this paper can be used as an essential step in enhancing the resilience of the railway transport system and provide a data basis and theoretical basis for safe railway operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robustness of higher‐order network (HON) with dependency is different from first‐order network (FON), as the attack orders and the number of iterations are totally different. To measure the robustness of HON with dependency, this study proposed new attack strategies on node and edge failure through measuring the size of the giant component and global efficiency. And two real‐world systems of hazardous materials transportation accident causation system and Chinese high‐speed railway system with different network size were empirically studied. Results show that HON is more fragile to robustness attacks than FON. The number of attack iterations is uncertain in HON, which depends on the attack strategies and the network structure. Meanwhile, nodes and edges with high dependency have greater impacts on network robustness, providing valuable insights into capturing critical information. This study may be helpful to design the robust system, improve the system's reliability and serve as a valuable reference for future exploration of HONs robustness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trajectory-following control is the basis for the practical application of an articulated virtual rail train transportation system. In this paper, a planar nonlinear dynamics model of an articulated vehicle is derived using the Euler–Lagrange method. A trajectory-following control strategy based on the first following point is proposed, and a feedback linearization control algorithm is designed based on the vehicle dynamics model to achieve the trajectory following of the rear vehicle. Based on the target trajectory formed by the first following point and measured by virtual sensors, a vector analysis method grounded in geometric relationships is proposed to solve in real time for the desired position, velocity, and acceleration of the vehicle. Finally, a MATLAB/SIMPACK dynamics virtual prototype is established to test the vehicle's trajectory-following effectiveness and dynamics performance under lane change and circular curve routes. The results indicate that the control algorithm can achieve trajectory following while maintaining good vehicle dynamics performance. It is robust to variations in vehicle mass, vehicle speed, tire cornering stiffness, and road friction coefficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of incidences in railway systems leads to impediments and often delays. Because the railway is an anthropotechnical system, two factors are considered as the source of incidents: technical and human. Minimizing adverse incidents in the railway system is the subject of much discussion and research. One of the areas affecting the performance of railway systems is employees. This article presents a method for assigning railway employees to tasks and models for evaluating and classifying railway employees, consisting of two stages. The first stage involves using a survey method and a fuzzy logic model. Each type of service is assigned feature values, obtaining three parameterized employee-role profiles for the train traffic officer. In the second stage, the participant goes through two of the three available evaluation scenarios, during which errors made during the tasks are counted. Validation results of the proposed approach indicate that the method is 87% effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intrusion of objects into track areas is a significant issue affecting the safety of urban rail transit systems. In recent years, obstacle detection technology based on LiDAR has been developed to identify potential issues, in which accurately extracting the track area is critical for segmentation and collision avoidance. However, because of the sparsity limitations inherent in LiDAR data, existing methods can only segment track regions over short distances, which are often insufficient given the speed and braking distance of urban rail trains. As such, a new approach is developed in this study to indirectly extract track areas by detecting references parallel to the rails (e.g., tunnel walls, protective walls, and sound barriers). Reference point selection and curve fitting are then applied to generate a reference curve on either side of the track. A centerline is then extrapolated from the two curves and expanded to produce a 2D track area with the given size specifications. Finally, the 3D track area is acquired by detecting the ground and removing points that are either too high or too low. The proposed technique was evaluated using a variety of scenes, including tunnels, elevated sections, and level urban rail transit lines. The results showed this method could successfully extract track regions from LiDAR data over significantly longer distances than conventional algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-source fault working conditions may accelerate the deterioration of the axle box bearings on the high-speed train and worsen their dynamic performance. In the context, a coupling model including the high-speed train and axle box bearings was established. Combined with the wheel flat model and the axle box bearing fault model, the acceleration vibration response characteristics of the axle box bearing were obtained through the co-simulation under multi-source fault working conditions. The vibration properties of bearings on the same bogie were analyzed, and the stability of the bearings was further analyzed as the vehicle through a curve-line condition. According to the research, a defect on a wheel will affect all axle box bearings on the same bogie, but a fault on a bearing will not. The longitudinal and lateral directions of the vehicle's running are advantageous for detecting bearing faults. The motion instability of the bearing is increased if the wheel has a defect or the vehicle travels over the curve section. Besides, both the force on the axle box bearing and its internal contact force are significantly affected by the rail line conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expansion of the rail transit network has increased public transportation accessibility, and the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of ridership have become more complex. Herein, the characteristics of rail transit origin-destination (OD) ridership distribution were analyzed using a drift power law distribution model, and the robustness of ridership distribution in three periods (weekdays, weekends, and holidays) was investigated. A Louvain algorithm-based community detection method divided the rail transit network into different community structures. This division was generally consistent with the established rail transit line layout. However, central city communities were more dispersed, and the rail transit stations of different lines may have belonged to the same community, revealing the spatial correlation between different stations from the perspective of OD ridership. The outcomes of this division were stable for the different periods. This study contributes to the precise configuration of transportation facilities around rail transit stations and the formulation of rail transit operation management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we calculated the seismic intensity for the Baikal–Olekma section of the Baikal–Amur Railway based on data on seismicity on the northeastern flank of the Baikal Rift Zone in 1985–2021. During the analysis of earthquakes with an epicentral intensity higher than 4 (1484 events), we selected 270 earthquakes with Ms = 2.1–6.6, whose calculated intensity exceeded 4 points directly on the railway track from the total number of the recorded seismic events (more than 150 000 earthquakes with M ≥ 1.0). The highest intensity values (8–9) were obtained for large earthquakes close to the Baikal–Olekma section of the Baikal–Amur Railway (Δ < 10 km, Ms = 6.1–6.2). A recurrence interval of such seismic events along the considered section of the railway is 20–60 years. The data are agree well with the macroseismic data available, which confirms the correctness of the results. At the same time, macroseismic effects from strong (Ms ≥ 6.6) but remote earthquakes (Δ = 360–1000 km) were found to have no significant impact on the Baikal–Olekma section of the Baikal–Amur Railway. The calculated values of intensity and recurrence intervals of earthquakes should be taken into account when designing, constructing, and operating industrial and civil infrastructure within the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UK depression prevalence is increasing. In this study we appraised the relationships between psychological factors of derailment, self-criticism, self-reassurance and depression, to identify individual differences within the UK general population indicating those at higher risk. Participants completed self-report measures regarding these constructs. Relationships were assessed using correlation and path analyses. Derailment and self-criticism predicted depression positively, whereas self-reassurance predicted depression negatively. Self-criticism mediated derailment's relation to depression. Self-reassurance moderated derailment's relation to depression, with low self-reassurance indicating greater depression, though self-reassurance was not found to moderate the effect of derailment-associated self-criticism on depression. In depression treatment therefore derailment should be considered as a target factor to be reduced, since derailment indicates a risk of depression for individuals with high self-criticism or low self-reassurance.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Railway interlocking systems are essential safety components in rail transportation, designed to prevent train collisions. They regulate the transitions between sections of a railway station using rail traffic control elements. An interlocking system can assess whether the configuration of these control elements poses a collision risk. Over the years, researchers have developed various algebraic models to tackle this issue, highlighting the potential use of computer algebra systems in implementing interlocking systems. In this work, we aim to enhance these systems' capabilities. Not only will they indicate whether a situation is dangerous, but if it is, they will also provide guidance on how to configure certain rail traffic control elements to ensure safety. In this paper, we introduce an algebraic model that represents the railway station through polynomials. This approach transforms the task of identifying dangerous situations into calculating the residue of a polynomial over a set of polynomials. The monomials contained in this residue polynomial encode all possible configurations that would render the situation safe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, with the rapid development of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the passenger flow between cities in the region has increased rapidly, and the requirements for transportation efficiency of intercity railways are getting higher and higher. Moving block and automatic turn-back technology is an important development direction of signal system to improve railway transportation efficiency, which can effectively shorten the tracking interval between trains and the turn-back interval of turn-back stations, thus improving the transportation capacity and efficiency of lines. At present, moving block technology and automatic turn-back have not been applied in intercity railway. According to the technical status of moving block and automatic turn-back, the feasibility of function optimization of existing intercity CTCS2+ATO train control system in Pearl River Delta is deeply analyzed in this paper, and the overall framework of realizing moving block and automatic turn-back in the intercity CTCS2+ATO train control system in Pearl River Delta is put forward. Finally, the working principle and realization of CCS block mode switching, driving permit calculation, automatic turn-back function optimization and turn-back process are introduced emphatically. The results show that it is feasible to realize moving block and automatic turn-back under the condition that the existing intercity CTCS2+ATO train control system in the Pearl River Delta is slightly changed, which is of great significance to improve the transportation efficiency of intercity railway lines in the Pearl River Delta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The matching between multiple disciplines of urban rail transit is a key link to determine whether the design ability can be fully realized and the investment benefit can be brought into play. And the train speed is one of the crucial aspects and an important symbol for technical equipment, technical standards and operation management level of urban rail transits. For the problem of overlapping protection on speed control, this paper, by analyzing the influences of communication, signal, vehicle, track, environment and other restrictions on the train speed of fully automatic operation (FAO) lines, puts forward a speed matching control scheme under different operation modes such as ATO (automatic train operation) mode, ATP ( automatic train protection) mode, creep automatic mode and wash mode, discusses the method of determining the line structure design speed, vehicle construction speed, vehicle overspeed protection trigger speed, vehicle maximum dynamic envelope calculation speed, maximum ATP ceiling speed, and maximum ATO target speed according to the line grade speed, and defines the key speed recommendations of the matching design of multi disciplines. Meanwhile, by means of simulation and combined with the setting of different station spacing and the calculation of the minimum time speed curve, the design and selection principle of station spacing for lines with different speed grades ( i. e., 80, 100, and 120 km/ h) is investigated, and it is recommended that the distance between the three stations be no less than 1.0, 1.4 km and 2.5 km respectively. The optimization design of multi disciplines speed control and matching is helpful to maximize the performance of the system and equipment and ensure the overall operation level of the line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is a novel method of ground observation, which is widely used in fields such as surface deformation monitoring due to the fact that it is unrestricted of day and night, as well as cloud and rain. However, due to measurement errors, InSAR technology still has some limitations, especially in the densely vegetated southwest mountainous areas. Time series InSAR, such as SBAS-InSAR receives insufficient observation points, making it difficult to carry out deformation monitoring in mountainous areas. In response to the above issues, this paper considers the atmospheric characteristics of the southwest mountainous areas and designs an improved SBAS-InSAR method to optimize the interferometric phase. The Lijiang-Shangrila Railway is an electrified railway connecting Lijiang City and Shangri-La in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province. It is an important component of the Yunnan Tibet Railway in the Western Railway Network. In order to ensure the safety and stability of the Lijiang-Shangrila Railway and verify the availability of the above method, this paper takes a certain section along the Lijiang-Shangrila Railway as the experimental area, uses archived SAR data to estimate historical surface deformation, calculates the historical time series deformation of the target area for nearly six and a half years (May 16, 2015 to December 10, 2021), and analyzes their influence range, deformation factors, change patterns, and other information. Finally, the improved SBAS InSAR method proposed in this article is compared with conventional InSAR method, which fully demonstrates the superiority of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the problems existing in the current electronic sand table of railway industry, such as different expression methods, single application content, high risk of data leakage, low efficiency of data loading, etc., this paper researches the data processing, management and application methods of massive geological and BIM models, and establishes a standardized electronic sand table with BIM+GIS as the technical core, so as to better serve the railway design and construction. Based on the practice summary of the projects such as Rizhao - Lankao High-speed Railway, Lhasa - Nyingchi Railway, Chengdu-Chongqing middle line high-speed railway and other projects, combined with the relevant standards of China Railway BIM Alliance and China Railway, this paper puts forward the data standards of terrain, image, BIM model and thematic map for the application of electronic sand table. And the establishment of it is completed through the processes of coordinate transformation, data transformation, data slicing, knowledge atlas establishment, model release and front-end data collection. Finally, the online efficient organization and management of hundred-kilometer-level and multi-specialty data is realized. The proposed methods and standards are applicable to the management and analysis application in railway design and construction processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the history of Morocco's railway network, from its creation during the French colonial period to its current state. Initially deployed to serve international economic, financial, political, and strategic interests, the network in question was first employed for military purposes, for the protection of mining and the economic development of the colonies, particularly in coastal areas and major cities such as Casablanca. Today, these regions, which have benefited from important historical infrastructures, have a considerable lead over the rest of the country, accentuating territorial disparities and complicating any land-use planning. This article analyzes these territorial dynamics, highlighting the dual impact of the rail network on economic development and regional disparities. Finally, it presents the evolution of the Moroccan rail network from independence to the present day, analyzing its orientation, impact, and limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of urban rail transportation, people's demand for subways has gradually manifested itself. The inherent complex attributes of subway project construction determine that subway project construction has a relatively high risk, resulting in huge losses. This paper takes the opportunistic behavior of the subway project as the research object, proposes the opportunistic behavior identification process, and constructs the opportunistic behavior identification model based on the BP neural network. Firstly, through the collection and analysis of subway accident cases, the main forms of opportunistic behavior are summarized, and the primary characteristic indicators for opportunistic behavior recognition are extracted using cluster analysis. Secondly, a recognition model based on a BP neural network is designed. The number of neurons in the input layer, hidden layer, and output layer of the model is determined, and the recognition model is subsequently trained and tested to validate its feasibility. Finally, the constructed opportunistic behavior recognition model is applied to an actual subway construction project, revealing that the construction enterprise of the project in question exhibits a high level of opportunistic behavior risk. Overall, the research results of this paper have important theoretical significance and practical value for the management level of subway project construction enterprises under the new situation and the identification and governance of opportunistic behavior of subway project construction enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher efficiency of rail transportation at the present stage of development of the transport industry necessitates the creation and introduction of rail vehicles with improved technical and economic characteristics among which is reduced tare weight. The issue of reducing the tare weight of wagons is quite urgent. It deals not only with the sprung mass of the wagon but also with the load on the rail track, which is under the influence of constant cyclic loads. Therefore, the present study deals with the development of a wagon covered with tarpaulin for carrying goods requiring protection against the environment. The loads inherent for operation on 1520 mm gauge lines are considered. The covered wagon mod. 11-217 is chosen as a prototype. The profiles of the covered wagon frame components are selected according to the moment of resistance of their cross-sections. It is found that the proposed design has a 16% lower tare weight than that of the prototype. The results of the strength calculation for the wagon under the main design operating modes have proved the feasibility of its structural design. The motion of the covered wagon over a track irregularity has been assessed as 'excellent'. The results of the study will contribute to the creation of recommendations for the development of modern structures of covered wagons as well as improve the efficiency of railway transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of urban rail transportation, the environmental vibration problem caused by the running of metro vehicles has received attention. In order to reduce ground vibration near buildings caused by metro vehicles running on viaducts, this paper establishes the train–track–viaduct rigid–flexible coupling dynamics model and pier–soil–building finite element model and carries out the simulation calculation and analysis of ground vibration. The influence of train speed and fastener stiffness on ground vibration is explored, and the vibration reduction effect of the track vibration reduction pad and continuous support vibration reduction structure is studied. The results show that the ground vibration near the building caused by the train running on the viaduct decreases with the reduction in speed, when the speed is reduced to 40 km/h, the vibration attenuation is slower as the speed continues to be reduced; the reduction in the vertical stiffness of fasteners can reduce ground vibration; the arrangement of the vibration damping pad can effectively reduce ground vibration, and after installing a vibration damping pad, 0–23 Hz and 50–80 Hz ground vibration speeds are effectively suppressed. In order to meet the environmental requirements for ground vibration, the vehicle speed can be reduced to less than 35 km/h or vibration damping mats can be installed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses Muhammad Khudayyir's novel-memoir Basrayatha as a loose theoretical framework to explore the ramifications of a not-yet-built infrastructure, tracing how late Ottoman officials, intellectuals, and engineers thought about the not-yet-built Baghdad Railway and the land it was meant to transform. Examining how railway boosters, Ottoman officials, and engineers located the region's "truth" and future in a lost past, the article argues that making this connection depended on cultivating material and discursive absence in the "ruined" present. The article highlights how practical techniques for making place into the kind of "space" where homogenous time could march forward coexisted with grandiose visions of future prosperity inspired both by the distant past and by the present of places like Egypt. In contrast to analyses that have emphasized the uncertainty of past and/or future, this article argues that the present was the problem because it was fundamentally unknowable—and that this very unknowability allowed railway advocates to absent the extended present of ruin from an idea of the truth of Iraq, instead drawing a direct line between past and future prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This systematic review, part funded by Network Rail Ltd (UK), considers the role of transportation corridors in habitat connectivity within temperate climates, through verge habitat, surrounding matrix, movement along and across the corridor, the wider landscape context and management practices. PICO terms were developed for the bibliographic search on 15/11/22 using Web of Science (all databases), yielding 168 studies for review. The risk of bias was minimised by excluding non-peer reviewed papers. Large and exotic taxa were excluded due to a focus on temperate zones, as were studies on invasive species and climate change where the primary focus was not ecological connectivity. Emergent themes were used to structure the paper. Results indicate that transportation corridors have significant potential for habitat connectivity, especially for generalist and open-specialist species, which favour early to mid-successional habitats. However, physiology is a key determinant in dispersal ability. Vegetation management should consider representative communities rather than individual species. Gaps exist in the range of taxa studied, understanding of seasonal variations and lifecycle stages supported in verges, survival factors such as predation and disease and changes to community structure. Rail environments are under-represented and there is limited knowledge on the relative impacts of vegetation management regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis article discusses the history of efforts to shape passenger experience aboard urban railways through transport design. Taking Japan National Railways (JNR) trains as a case study, it examines the development of design interventions and organisational polices seeking to increase passenger comfort on Tokyo’s urban railway network in the second half of the 20th century. Industry and popular accounts have often tied the improvement of transport quality and passenger experience aboard JNR trains to its privatisation in 1987. In contrast, this article shows that passenger-oriented transport design has been an integral component in a continuous project to make urban railway travel more pleasant that long preceded this 1987 change in governance structures but has been held back by organisational and structural challenges. In doing so, it highlights that transport design involves the conscious shaping of both the “hardware” (i.e. physical transport infrastructure) and “software” (i.e. passenger-staff interactions) of service, as well as the backstage modification of organisational structures and processes that facilitate this framework. Built on a qualitative analysis of Japanese industry publications, newspapers, and secondary sources, the article thus contributes to literature on passenger experience, mobilities design, and transport history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1850s, Portugal initiated an ambitious public works program spearheaded by railroads. In this article, I analyze how policymakers (congressmen, government officials, engineers, and military officers) debated and managed the construction and operation of the Portuguese railroad network using the theoretical framework of critical infrastructure. I show that railroads were deemed critical to modernize the country, draw it closer to the European core nations and further from the periphery, and to attract traffic to the Portuguese harbors. The absence of railroads was considered a vulnerability that could jeopardize Portugal as a nation and it fostered a sense of urgency that motivated policymakers to act, to a large extent, hastily. The construction of the network brought about other vulnerabilities that, for different motives, could threaten the future of the country. In a parallel way, the implementation of the system was marked by vulnerabilities that originated within or surrounding it, which limited its technical potential. Balancing between a literature review and the use of primary sources (parliamentary debates, technical reports, the press, and photography), I argue that the criticality associated with railroads, as a sociotechnical construction, was central to motivate their construction, but different vulnerabilities, inherent or external to the system, limited their influence and the advantages touted by its promoters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The different rail transit systems, such as regional railway and urban rail transit, cooperate to form the syncretic railway network (SRN). With the rapid development of SRN, the limited transportation capacity is inadequate to meet the booming passenger flow during peak hours, where cascading failures caused by large passenger flow become a threat to SRN. This paper adopts a state equation to depict the failure‐restoration process and investigates detailed restoration strategies considering the characteristics of recoverable and repeatable failures of stations. Specifically, three different restoration strategies—spontaneous restoration strategy (SRS), active restoration strategy (ARS), and hybrid restoration strategy (HRS)—are proposed, and the varying effects of restoration time, restoration probability, restoration objective, and restoration priority for SRN with ARS are compared. These restoration strategies are applied to the actual SRN in Chengdu, where it is found that HRS has a better effect than other strategies. Furthermore, stations in the metro network with higher passenger flow allocate more restoration resources to improve the robustness of SRN, while the restoration effect of SRN increases noticeably with the restoration coefficient and the reserve coefficient. The restoration strategies presented in this paper can improve the safety management of SRN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The San Michele Bridge in Paderno, Italy, is a prime example of the refurbishment of a historic structure. An architectural and historical landmark, it is the last of a remarkable group of trussed arch bridges built in the late XIX century to be fully operational, and serves the Seregno-Bergamo railway line and the provincial road SP54/166 connecting Paderno d'Adda and Calusco. In 2014, after 130 years of service, the bridge was subjected to an extensive survey and inspection campaign to acquire a more profound knowledge of the structure and its reliability. Overall, the inspections revealed that the bridge was still in a decent state but needed refurbishment. This article will briefly present the challenges faced in the design and execution of the refurbishment works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metro transit is the core of urban transportation, and the mobility analysis of metro ridership can contribute to enhance the overall service level of the metro transit. Researchers studying metro ridership are focused on the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of the ridership in the underground system of metro station by metro smart card data. However, limited by lack of travel mobility chain of ridership integrity, their activity patterns cannot be used to identify the heterogeneity of metro ridership's origin and transfer travel mode. In our research, we applied full spatiotemporal coverage of mobile phone data to identify the complete travel mobility of metro ridership in the perspective of ground and underground transit. First, the mobility of the boarding and alighting stations was extracted and the order of the transfer station was then extracted. Second, relying on the ridership flow identification method, the aboveground origin and destination of the ridership outside the metro system were extracted, and their transferred traffic mode was identified. The empirical results have shown that our proposed framework can accurately analyze the mobility patterns of metro ridership in an aboveground area and underground station. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the construction methodology, design and analysis of cut and cover tunnel sections of the Bilaspur-Bhanupali-Beri broad gauge line by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) in Himachal Pradesh. The design was carried out during the industrial internship at Altinok Consulting Engineering Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi, India. The survey team developed the plan and profile of the alignment. Referring to the alignment, different L-sections were developed to identify the location of cut and cover section. To gain a clear understanding of the structural behavior and reinforcement needs, beam model and plate model of cut and cover section were created using STAAD Pro, and a comparative study of the forces between 2D and 3D models of cut and cover sections was done. The results indicate that the 2D model tends to be more conservative compared to the 3D model, which has been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using dynamic game theory, this paper analyzes the interest relationship between government supervision departments, railway passenger transport enterprises and integrated service agents in the service management system of railway passenger transport enterprises in China. A tripartite dynamic game model of government supervision department, railway passenger transport enterprise and integrated service agent is established. Inverse induction algorithm is used to solve the game model, and the expected return equilibrium solution of government supervision department, railway passenger transport enterprise and integrated service agent is analyzed. The results show that the cost of railway passenger transport service management and the intensity of management are important factors affecting the implementation of service requirements by railway passenger transport enterprises and integrated service agents. Therefore, the government supervision department should reduce the management cost, design a reasonable reward and punishment mechanism, and improve the enthusiasm of railway passenger transport enterprises and integrated service agents to strengthen service management and improve service quality. Railway passenger transport enterprises and integrated service agents should actively strengthen service management, improve service quality, reduce management pressure and cost at the next level, and promote the healthy development of railway passenger transport market through a virtuous cycle between the three. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The newly opened Trans-Asian Railway offers opportunities for trade logistics between China and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). This study selected six factors including cost, time, transport volume, reliability, safety, and environmental friendliness to investigate the impact on logistics for trade between China and ASEAN. It explores the most ideal solution for the Sino-Thai logistics route by using the AHP-TOPSIS approach and ranks the current five Sino-Thai logistics routes. The results indicate that the Sea-land transport (0.787) is still the best option, the Kunming-Bangkok Roadway (0.452) came in second, followed by the newly opened Trans-Asian Railway (0.431); The Nanning-Bangkok Roadway (0.373) ranks second to last, and the river-land transport service (0.249) is the last resort. In this sense, the newly opened Trans-Asian Railway would influence the current pattern of Sino-Thai logistics to some extent. The results will offer insight into the managerial decisions for the Sino-Thai trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigations into several recent railway safety incidents have concluded that failures of enabling systems contributed significantly to the root cause of those incidents, suggesting a tendency towards poor management of safety risk associated with subsystems outside the immediate System of Interest (SoI) boundary. This paper examines whether better application of systems thinking to the analysis of hazards, through use of the System‐Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) technique, could have enabled safety risk to be better identified and managed in the circumstances surrounding a serious derailment that occurred in Victoria, Australia in February 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Railways are a mode of public transportation that can carry large numbers of passengers and commodities and can cover long distances quickly. Based on these advantages, the railway is a mode of transportation that is in great demand by people as their choice of transportation. Thus, this will increase the intensity and frequency of departures, thereby triggering opportunities for errors to occur that threaten passengers' safety. Currently, the paper needs to present risk assessment activities in railways comprehensively. This paper will systematically review the literature on risk management concepts, risk assessment techniques, standards, and guidelines for risk management in railways. It also groups the literature to provide directions and recommendations for distances that future researchers can examine. This study encompasses a review of 60 publications on risk management, risk assessment, and risk analysis in railways from reputable and highly indexed journals over the last ten years. Subsequently, an analysis was conducted on the characteristics of models, methods, and techniques proposed in railway risk assessment. Several countries' standards, regulations, and guidelines on railway safety will also be described. The number of studies examining risk assessment at level crossings is minimal, whereas most accidents occur in this area. Many countries have legislation and guidelines but are still general and do not detail risk assessment activities in areas with a high level of risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting the tamping cycles of railway track sections based on track geometry deterioration rules is necessary to reasonably allocate the limited tamping maintenance resources. Existing research on track geometry deterioration modeling for tamping cycle prediction lacks simultaneous consideration of the deterioration characteristics including heterogeneity, uncertainty, and historical dependence, thereby limiting the accuracy of the prediction results. Thus, this study considers a 200 m track segment as the basic object and uses the power-time-transformed Wiener process to develop a deterioration prediction model for the longitudinal level of a segment between two adjacent tamping operations. Moreover, it individually estimates the model parameters for each track segment to predict the tamping maintenance cycle for each segment combined with the tamping maintenance threshold of the longitudinal level index. Finally, through a case study of the Chinese Lanxin Railway line, the effectiveness of the proposed model and different parameter estimation methods is assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Railway lines require a significant amount of natural raw materials. Industrial by-products can be used instead, reducing the costs of natural aggregate exploration. This work analyzes a ballasted track's short- and long-term performances when replacing conventional sub-ballast aggregate with steel slag. After an extensive laboratory characterization of the steel slag, the material performance was analyzed in a 3D numerical model of a ballasted track when included in a railway track. An empirical model was implemented and calibrated to predict the long-term permanent deformation induced in the track after many train passages. The results are compared with the allowable deformation limits required for conventional high-speed ballasted track railway lines. An additional analysis was conducted to assess the influence of steel slags on the critical speed of conventional railway tracks when used. The results show a residual impact on the critical speed value compared to the conventional sub-ballast made with natural aggregates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The British Railway Mania of the mid-1840s led to a massive expansion of the railway network, a socially beneficial legacy that however produced a collapse of profitability and dividends. Paradoxically, the majority of this expansion was carried out by established (and hitherto successful) railways, rather than Mania promotions. Campbell and Turner (2015) see this expansion as a rational, indeed optimal, response to the Mania: they would have been worse placed with alternative strategies. This paper contends that it was established railways which began the expansion in 1843–1844, and that the high returns they generated for their shareholders depended crucially on the rights issues that financed their projected lines. This helps to explain both shareholder support for expansion, and investor enthusiasm for Mania projections. But the new lines were unprofitable: the established railways' expansionary strategy was a major managerial failure with, in the longer term, disastrous consequences for shareholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]