Andrés López-Pita

Impact of High-Speed Lines in Relation to Very High Frequency Air Services

The Madrid-Barcelona air route constitutes one of the main aerial routes in the European corridor in terms of traffic demand (4.2 million passengers in 2003). To deal with such a high demand, three airline companies (Iberia, Air Europa, and Span Air) globally offer more than 60 flights per day either way. Currently, the construction of a high speed railway line between the two cities is under way. The line is expected to come into commercial service by 2007, covering the whole of the 625 km between the cities. This article analyzes the impact that high speed railway services have on air traffic demand. The results are then compared with real data corresponding to the Paris-London line, on the occasion of the launch of the commercial service of the high speed Eurostar train.

Parking management and modeling of car park patron behavior in underground facilities

Underground parking facilities in urban areas or central business districts have incorporated many information and communications technologies to provide better service, to achieve customer satisfaction, and to improve parking management. But the diversity of the off-street parking supply in terms of parking access and revenue control systems, the information offered, costs, and benefits suggests that the efficiencies of certain improvements in parking facility operations and the ultimate profitability obtained as a result of the corresponding investment made by the parking operator need to be compared. The present investigation focuses on the operations of and the behavior of parking patrons in underground parking facilities, a common type of facility in Barcelona, Spain. To model patron behavior, commonly known desegregated models based on the random utility theory were adapted to facilitate an understanding of how parking patrons decide to use a particular garage level and determine their preferences for a particular garage level. The decisions made depend on the accuracy and the convenience of the information offered. The study finds that an intelligent parking management system that tells a customer the exact locations of the available spaces is of great benefit to patrons and in the long run is a cost-effective alternative to operators because the operator can achieve financial profitability with small increases in the parking rate, and in competitive environments patrons will prefer facilities with these systems over others. The conclusions presented in this paper will be particularly useful to planners, developers, and managers.

Maintenance Costs of High-Speed Lines in Europe: State of the Art

Maintenance costs of high-speed lines in Europe—a subject rarely addressed in technical literature—are analyzed. The design characteristics of each line and of the traffic supported by these lines are discussed. A new classification specific for these types of lines is proposed to study the deterioration of various elements and the cost for conservation. This classification is based on the typology of the rolling stock instead of the product that it transports (passengers or freight). The structures adopted by the infrastructure managers to carry out the maintenance operations are also discussed. Moreover, numerical specific data on the maintenance cost of a kilometer of track per year, for a line on which only high-speed trains circulate, are presented. The influence of mixed traffic is analyzed, and the economical costs for the maintenance required for these lines are also quantified.

Improvements in High-Speed Ballasted Track Design: Benefits of Bituminous Subballast Layers

Track design plays an important role in high-speed rail performance. Increases in high-speed traffic demand and maximum rail speeds will necessitate the development of new, low-maintenance structural solutions for high-speed ballasted tracks. This paper shows that use of tracks with optimum resiliency can reduce railway system operational costs. Use of an alternative to the conventional granular subballast is discussed. The results with Japanese and Italian high-speed lines showing the effectiveness of bituminous subballasts formed the basis for a study focusing on the viability of this option. With Spain used as an example, a theoretical analysis of the characteristics of the bituminous track design is presented. The results of this analysis showed that structural performance was good when a 12-cm to 14-cm conventional bituminous subballast layer was used in lieu of the usual granular layers. Also discussed are ways that a bituminous subballast can reduce track maintenance needs.

Evolution of Track Geometric Quality in High-Speed Lines: Ten Years Experience of the Madrid-Seville Line

Abstract This paper analyses the deterioration process in track geometric quality on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line, during its first ten years of commercial operation. Both the maintenance operations carried out in this period as well as all the dynamic inspection records available have been analysed. In the latter case, vertical and transversal accelerations measured on axle boxes, bogies, and vehicle bodies of Spanish high-speed trains (AVE) have been considered. The discretization of the line throughout its total extension (471 km) into 10 m long sections has made it possible to find out and quantify the relative influence of track infrastructure (tunnels, viaducts, natural subgrade, embankments, etc) on geometric track quality deterioration. The effect of switches and expansion devices in this deterioration process has also been studied.

Optimization of Handling Equipment in the Container Terminal of the Port of Barcelona, Spain

Most studies concerning port operations focus on the operation between ship and wharf. However, other port activities may also lead to congestion. In general, the capacity of the handling equipment used to transfer the container between the wharf and the storage yard is critical. This paper analyzes the internal transport subsystem in a marine container terminal and investigates the effect of the type of handling equipment used. The aim is to analyze the behavior of the handling equipment and to model its optimization. Determining a better equipment type to use is not the main concern of this paper. Queuing theory is applied, and simulation is conducted to analyze the system. To perform the analyses, measurements of parameters related to the terminal are required. These parameters were obtained from the container terminal at Barcelona, Spain, one of the best-positioned logistic platforms on the Mediterranean Sea. The results indicate that assignment of the handling equipment resources to an individual wharf crane in a particular berth is not advisable, since any decentralized decision system involves more resources. The handling equipment resources must be assigned to the berth as a whole to obtain greater efficiency, but then a focus on operation planning and reliability is required. The availability of two or three wharf cranes in a berth is not crucial in terms of efficiency; however, it could increase productivity in the berth significantly.

High-Speed Line Airport Connections in Europe: State-of-the-Art Study

Throughout the history of the different modes of transport, the idea of intermodal competition has, until very recently, dominated viewpoints. In the past 10 years, however, recognition of the need for collaboration between rail and aviation transport has become increasingly evident, mainly as a result of increased mobility. Since the 1950s, in Europe, rail transport has been the prevailing method used to connect urban centers to their respective airports. With the introduction of high-speed rail service, however, a distinctly new type of collaboration between both transport modes has appeared, for through the use of high-speed rail connections, travelers from areas located as far as 300 to 400 km from the urban center can reach the airport with ease. Presented are the current transport solutions that have been adopted by certain European airports in regard to high-speed rail. There is also an objective to reach some conclusions that could be of interest to the airports in Europe or around the world that are not currently using high-speed rail service.

The Effects of High-Speed Rail on the Reduction of Air Traffic Congestion

Commercial air services in Europe have experienced a spectacular growth in the last 15 years. From 1985 to 2000, the main European airports doubled their operations. Moreover, in the last 20 years, the number of regional airlines grew from 32 in 1980 to 78 in 1999. This article presents results of studies undertaken for the Ministry of Public Works in Spain on the effect of new railway investments in reducing slot number needs at Madrid Airport. A total of 54,000 slots are compared to other studies carried out in France (40,000 slots in Paris-Charles de Gaulle) and Germany (20,000 slots in Frankfurt).

Compatibility and constraints between high-speed passenger trains and traditional freight trains

The effect of operation of mixed traffic, that is, specialized passenger transportation trains and conventional freight trains, on high-speed lines on the cost of maintaining the tracks of these lines is considered. In parallel, certain recommendations with regard to the characteristics (gradient and length) that the inclines of these lines should have so that the speeds of the freight trains are not significantly reduced are made. This phenomenon could have a negative effect on the capacity of the line and on its deterioration because of excess superelevation and the geometry of the track.

Effect of Very High-Speed Traffic on the Deterioration of Track Geometry

The new high-speed rail line between Madrid and Barcelona has been designed so that commercial vehicles can operate at maximum speeds of up to 350 km/h (219 mph). Criteria are outlined that have been adopted by the Spanish railways to ensure that the track geometry deterioration on the new Madrid–Barcelona line will be no greater than the track geometry deterioration found on the existing high-speed line between Madrid and Seville [300 km/h (187 mph)]. Attention has focused on two primary factors—(a) reduction of axle load and unsprung mass of the vehicles and (b) reduction of the vertical rigidity of base plates between sleepers and rails.