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Rail Articles

The journey of ballastless track

23 August 2005 | By Günther Leykauf, Professor and Director, Institute for Construction of Roads, Permanent Way and Airfields, Munich University of Technology

When the new high speed line Nüremberg-Ingolstadt is opened for service in 2006, more than 800km of ballastless track will be in operation in Germany. The different systems have undergone extensive laboratory and field tests before implementation on grade, bridges and in tunnels. Available measurement results indicate the expected favourable…

The ÖBB life cycle cost

23 August 2005 | By Dr. Peter Veit, Professor, Institute for Railway Engineering and Transport Economy, University of Technology, Graz and Gregor Girsch, Technical Customer Services, Technology, voestalpine Schienen GmbH

In a joint project, Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), the Institute for Railway Engineering and Transport Economy of the University of Technology, Graz and voestalpine Schienen GmbH have developed a (LCC) life cycle cost-based evaluation model for track components – rail profiles and steel grades.

Continuous growth of the Spanish high speed network

23 August 2005 | By Ignacio Barrón de Angoiti, Charge de Mission Grande Vitesse, UIC

The precedent Spanish government started an ambitious plan for the construction of new high speed lines and the upgrade of some existing ones. Now, the new government (which came into power midway through 2004), has decided to continue the project, albeit with some changes.

A vital instrument in asset management

23 August 2005 | By Gerlof den Buurman, Advisor Management, ProRail Inframanagement, and Arjen Zoeteman, Researcher, ProRail Inframanagement and Delft University of Technology

In the last two years the roll-out of the innovative weigh-in-motion (WIM) system Quo Vadis has taken place on the Dutch rail network. This system, developed by ProRail, Baas R&D and NedTrain Consulting, has been installed in 38 locations, allowing the measurement of 80% of traffic movements and 96% of…

The bogies for Desiro DMU UK Class 185

23 August 2005 | By Johannes Hirtenlechner, Project Engineer Bogies, Andreas Kienberger, Bogie Engineer and Johann Kothgasser, Bogie Engineer, Siemens Transportation Systems

Siemens Transportation Systems (STS), formerly Simmering Graz Pauker (SGP), has almost 150 years experience in the railway business. The product range covered the development and manufacture of locomotives, freight and passenger cars – mainly for the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). In the 1990’s SGP started the development of a high…

JIT: delivery is key

23 August 2005 | By Corus

The eyes of the railway world are on France as it builds the latest addition to its successful high speed network – the TGV Est line that will link Paris with eastern France and beyond. The €3 billion first phase of the programme, which commenced in spring 2002, is placing…

Intensified focus on network maintenance

31 May 2005 | By Hansjörg Hess, Head of Infrastructure and Member of Management Board, SBB

SBB Infrastructure has started an extensive programme to improve the availability and reliability of its network in order to guarantee the service level after the substantial expansion of the train schedule.

Alpine stream of rolling stock orders

31 May 2005 | By James Abbott, Technical Editor

Switzerland and Austria are investing heavily in new locomotives for trans-Alpine freight work, along with regional trains for local passenger networks.

Assessing infrastructure development

31 May 2005 | By Martin Huber, Chief Executive Officer, Austrian Railways-Holding AG

Austrian Federal Railways (Österreichische Bundesbahnen – ÖBB) has embarked to gradually complete Austria’s rail infrastructure, based on the requirements specified for the 2020 target network to enable it to cope with current and future transport demand. Capacity, cost efficiency and maximum customer benefit are the main drivers of all initiatives…

brakes on train wheels
brakes on train wheels

Train braking performance determination

31 May 2005 | By Hans Paukert, Charge de Mission, UIC (International Union of Railways)

During their historical development, the railways in Europe have adopted their own technical standards and operating rules according to national requirements. As a result, the European railways use different train control systems (INDUSI, KVB, LZB, TVM, ATB etc.) and have different warning distances (400m to 6,000m). This situation constitutes a…

Projects in the Pan-European Corridor IV

31 May 2005 | By Ernst Schraud, Head of International Transportation and Railway Services Department, DE-Consult GmbH

The DE-Consult (Deutsche Eisenbahn-Consulting GmbH) a subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn AG (German Railways) with its vast worldwide experience, has for more than one and a half decades supported the development of railway sectors in Middle and Eastern European countries.

Development of freight wagons

31 May 2005 | By Evert Andersson, Professor and Per-Anders Jönsson, Researcher, KTH Railway Technology

European freight wagon designers have for a long time been guided by the principle that wagons must be capable of being used on all standard-gauge railway networks in Europe. For more than 50 years the International Union of Railways (UIC) has standardised many freight wagon components – in particular their…

LCC – an R&D project

31 May 2005 | By Jürgen Siegmann, Head of Track and Railway Operations, University of Berlin

Since 1997, the Department of Track and Railway Operations of the Technical University of Berlin has been led by Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Jürgen Siegmann, a distinguished expert in the field of railway operations who is frequently asked for his expertise by the industry. His department currently employs 13 assistants who…

Lateral separation cracks in concrete track slab

31 May 2005 | By Sascha Lay, Material Technologist, Pfleiderer track systems

This article will cover the effects of lateral separation cracks in the concrete track slab on the durability of the RHEDA 2000® ballastless track system. The RHEDA 2000® ballastless track system consists of a jointless concrete track slab with bi-block lattice-truss concrete sleepers, on a hydraulically bonded layer (HBL), as shown in…

Turning the tracks around

31 May 2005 | By Jesper Rasmussen, Chief Executive Officer, Rail Net Denmark (Banedanmark)

The challenges are plain for Danish rail infrastructure manager, Rail Net Denmark. A somewhat outdated rail and signal infrastructure are ripe for thorough renewals. The task is put in the hands of an organisation in the process of change, moving from being household of the state to a more independent…