A Modelling Framework for Aligned Tactical and Operational Timetabling in Conventional and Digital Rail Operations

Railways are increasingly investing in their infrastructure to achieve sustainability objectives and meet expected growth in demand for rail transport services. Since building new physical infrastructure requires large-scale investments and long lead times, many infrastructure managers (IMs) are prioritizing upgrades to their signalling systems...

Rail wear rate on the Belgian railway network: a big-data analysis

This paper presents a big data-based analysis of the rail wear of the whole Belgian railway network measured in 2012 and 2019. Wear rates are reported, discussed, and quantitatively formulated as functions of critical factors in terms of curve radius, annual tonnage (rail age), high rail in curves, an average from both rails in straight...

Load Capacity of Low Speed Steel Wheels

Steel wheels are often essential parts for heavy construction equipment, such as constructed by Huisman. These steel wheels must endure heavy loads. In order to prevent downtime, costs and to guarantee safety, it is important that the steel wheels do not fail. One important failure mode is failure resulting from subsurface initiated cracks. This...

Dynamic behaviour of slab track on pile foundation: Analysis method based on dynamic behaviour of a high-speed slab track and settlements in the substructure

In this master thesis the behaviour of a high speed railway track constructed on top of a pile foundation with settlements under a dynamic load has been analysed. Therefore, a model was developed in the software program DARTS, dynamic analysis of rail track structures. In DARTS the railway track was modelled by stiff and elastic layers, which...

Inland Rail Freight Services With Less Fuel and Lower Emissions

Many countries have enhanced their air quality agenda (NOx, PMx etc.) by a climate change agenda (CO2 etc.). A direct way to lower these emissions is by using less energy (fuel) per activity. One of these activities is freight transport. Transport from supplier to factory relies on efficient and cost-effective means of transport. Road...

What employees do today because of their experience yesterday: How incidental learning influences train driver behavior and safety margins (a big data analysis)

Employee behavior plays an important role in the occurrence and prevention of incidents, affecting safety margins. In this study, we examine the potential impact of incidental learning on human behavior in the presence of variation in task design. Incidental learning is the day-to-day on-the-job learning that occurs unintentionally. This...

Transport safety and human factors in the era of automation: What can transport modes learn from each other?

One of the main aims of introducing automation in transport is to improve safety by reducing or eliminating human errors; it is often argued however that this may induce new types of errors. There is different level of maturity with automation in different transport modes (road, aviation, maritime and rail), however no systematic research has...

The influence of drone flightpath on photogrammetric model quality

In 2017 the Netherlands had 7146km of railways [Ramaekers et al., 2009], which are owned and managed by ProRail and have to be frequently surveyed, for quality inspection. Surveying is done using a variety of surveying techniques, many of which require surveyors to walk on or near the tracks, which could cause injuries. An alternative surveying...

Determinants of Rail Rolling Stock Value: An Analysis of the Determinants of Locomotive and Freight Wagon Value in the European Market

Rail vehicle valuation is traditionally performed by taking the book value of a vehicle, complemented with a deviation factor for technical characteristics and condition based on the experience of an appraiser. This process is costly and time-consuming for large and/or spread-out fleets and creates financial risks for all parties involved in the...

Remaining useful lifetime estimation on multi-modal failure in railway switches

In this day and age, failure of railway switches is managed using preventive and corrective maintenance, not predictive maintenance. These maintenance methods may allow for failure, where such a feailure could have been predicted. To combat this issue, this paper proposes a real-time predictive maintenance framework, which can identify the...

Estimating the capacity of a stabling yard with the implementation of 100% servicing

In this study an analytical model is created that estimates the capacity of a stabling yard with the implementation of 100% servicing. 100% servicing is a new concept developed by NS to increase the quality of trains by increasing the frequency of cleaning and maintenance of trains and improving planning of shunting movements at stabling yards...

Rainfall thresholds as a landslide indicator for engineered slopes on the Irish Rail network

Rainfall thresholds express the minimum levels of rainfall that need to be reached or exceeded in order for landslides to occur in a particular area. They are a common tool in expressing the temporal portion of landslide hazard analysis. Numerous rainfall thresholds have been developed for different areas worldwide, however none of these are...

The contribution to 3kV traction power supply system on railway capacity in the Netherlands

The current 1.5kV railway traction power supply system is reaching its limits in the Netherlands and therefore, ProRail is investigating the replacement of this system by the 3kV railway traction power supply system. This study will investigate how effective the 3kV traction power supply system can increase the capacity of the rail...

Usage of drones in the event of an incident on the rail: Measuring efficient and accurate

From this study can be concluded that using drones equipped with cameras a 3D model van be created of an incident on the rail. From the recordings, a 3D model van be made using photogrammetry. In this model it is possible to measure post distances with an estimated error of less than 1 centimeter. The distances between the laser scanner point...

Design for the railway worker: Relieving the physical load on railway workers

Working on the rail infrastructure is physically tough. Heavy tools are lifted and carried while in unfavourable postures and in a harsh environment. An integrated design of tool carrier and working process eliminates the toughest of the loads imposed on the body of railway workers.

Topological evolution of a metropolitan rail transport network: The case of Stockholm

The structure of transport networks is the outcome of a large number of infrastructure investment decisions taken over a long time span. Network indicators are widely used for characterizing transport network topology and its performance as well as provide insights on possible developments. Little is known however on how rail bound public...

Designing a framework for systems engineering in the rail sector in the Netherlands

This research consists of two parts: 1. Analysis of application of systems engineering at Movares and ProRail and the interaction between these organizations. 2. The design of a framework for systems engineering methods in the Dutch rail sector.

N/Z-Metro op Schiphollijn