Juan de Dios Sanz Bobi

Protection High Speed Trains Against Lateral Wind Effects

The present paper, describe how to carry out the study of the influence of strong cross winds on high-speed trains, and how to draw conclusions to mitigate these effects by means of analysis with computer fluid dynamics. Due to the high speed increase mileage in the railway traffic and the lightening of the axis weight, the effect of the aerodynamic loads on the trains due to strong cross winds are becoming more important. These winds have a negative effect on the stability of trains travelling at high-speed. They can disturb the normal operation, cause damages in the infrastructures or even accidents like derailment or overturning. The objective of this paper is to provide, to study and to evaluate solutions and countermeasures, such as wind breaking structures with different morphologies, that mitigate the effects of the aerodynamic loads produced by the cross wind. The study is focused on the geographical and operative conditions of a high-speed line in Spain, the Madrid–Barcelona high speed line. The most affected zones by the cross wind effects have been selected [1] and the two high-speed trains that operate in this line have been considered in the study (they can circulate up to 350km/h). Infrastructures on which the train runs have also been taken into account: bridges and ground tracks or embankment. With two-dimensional analysis and static models, the aerodynamic forces acting on these two vehicles, and the improvements achieved in preventing the harmful cross wind effects by means of wind fence have been measured. A commercial CFD software (Computer Fluid Dynamics) has been used for this purpose and deep analysis of the aerodynamic loads have been carried out. Different wind fence shapes have been studied, with different heights, bending angles on the top and porosities. This made possible to compare multiple solutions, and to adapt the characteristics of the new devices to the specific situations in which higher protection is required. The result is a quasi-ideal wind fence. These fences minimize the aerodynamic loads on the surface of train. The results obtained have been compared with the experimental information of other studies and projects. Cost estimation has also been made to assess the viability of these countermeasures.© 2009 ASME

A Simulation Tool for Sizing Electrical Railway Lines

Railway transport market necessities demand a speed increase of medium and long distance circulations. The commitment with environment and the saturation of the European airspace explain the present success of the European high speed railway lines and specially the Spanish High Speed Lines thanks to the courageous plan of investments that foretells a promising future for this sector. In order to reach greater speed in a more rational, economic and systematic way, the use of mathematical model based simulation tools that allow simulating the behaviour of the system in a trustworthy and economic form are a must. Railway lines’ requirements until now were based in proven veteran designs. Nevertheless the current demands are enormous and the use of computer tools to study the electrical behavior to reach the objective is unavoidable. Thus, simulation tools permits the calculation of the technical characteristics of the electrification system by obtaining the necessary physical magnitudes to evaluate correct operation and correctly sizing of the elements that are part of the electrification system.Copyright

Advanced Tool for Railway Planning and Traffic Control Decision Making

This paper focuses on the difficulties noticed in Railway’s Decision Making processes according to schedule-making and to control tasks on the central operation post of principal railway lines. Traffic density, rail stations’ capacity and human criteria are main factors in order to develop and to obtain a useful tool for helping Railway Administrations in the decision making processes. In this sense, a tool is presented to operate off-line for planning and scheduling; and on-line for common operation on traffic central post. The architecture is oriented to save time in specific modules where operation tools are trained on different scenarios to solve particular ‘events’ which are defined to be critical for the line. The objective is the generation of an optimal operational plan to regulate the line with minimum train delay according to the characteristics of the line (stations, facilities) and vehicles. The results are proven useful for mass-transport, like underground, or open-line topologies with mixed traffic both passenger and freight.Copyright

Panama metro bus system and metro line 1: An externalities analysis of CO 2 emissions spectre

In recent years there is has been a need to reduce traffic congestion with the objective of contributing to the reduction of CO2 emissions or air pollution. This argument could be seen as a new tariif or tax to make society more aware and contribute to the care of the environment. Externalities are those effects of the production or consumption of some agents in order to producing or consuming others, for which no payment is made. In this sense, this paper presents some estimation of the socio-environmental externalities of the Metro Bus system and Panama Metro Line 1 for the years 2007, 2010 and 2015. These externalities correspond to variables such as: reducing of CO2 emissions and decreasing in the occupation of urban roads, among others. In others words, this paper presents an American Public Transportation Association (APTA) standards practical development about the C02 emissions estimation in Panama City.

FREIGHT RAILWAY TRANSPORT: CRITICAL VARIABLES TO IMPROVE THE TRANSPORT APPLIED TO INFRASTRUCTURE COSTS AND ITS ASSOCIATED TRAFFIC FLOW

The developed societies have as challenge, among others, to achieve a mobility development based on economic models of low carbon and energy efficient, making it accessible to the entire population. In this context, the sustainable mobility seems to meet the economic, social and environmental needs, minimizing their negative impact. There are three factors that are relevant: (1) infrastructures; (2) modes of transport more ecological and safe, and (3) operations and services for passengers and freights.The objective of this research is to provide guidance to investment in sustainable transport infrastructures that are truly useful and effective. In particular we have studied the case of the railway, using the following information: details of the infrastructure; cost of construction (per kilometre); maintenance cost, and life cycle. This information may be relevant to consider their possible business models.The methodology of this research was focused in the detailed analysis of the infrastructure use and maintenance criteria, the market opportunities for freight development and the available data to validate the obtained results from the software tool reached in this work. Our research includes the different following aspects:• Evaluation of the supported traffic by the rail line.• Relevant items to be considered in the rail infrastructure. Defining the track, we can group items in two sets: civil and rail installations.• Rolling stock available. Locomotives and wagons are modelled to introduce the data as convenience for the user.Besides our research includes the development of software, Decision System Tool (DST), for studying the construction and maintenance cost of railway infrastructure. It is developed in a common and open source program, providing the user the interaction with the critical variable of the line. It has been adjusted using the following references: MOM PlanCargorail; EcoTransIT, and Projects funded by Framework Program of EU (NewOpera, Innotrack and Sustrail). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/CIT2016.2016.3553

Sizing Solar Energy Components for Level-Crossing Facilities

Currently, there are a large number of level crossings on railway lines. These signaling facilities are necessary from the point of view of railway lines and also from the traffic of vehicles and people crossing them. This signaling system is built on a number of elements such as acoustic and lighting signals—barriers that prevent cars & pedestrians from accessing rail tracks. These level crossing facilities operate autonomously and they are not part of the security facilities (interlockings) when planning or building stages. Therefore, a major constraint for level crossings is the lack of a feasible electric supply primarily because of the high cost of cable running due to the great difficulty of transporting this energy to some areas. This high cost will make installation unprofitable where there is light traffic in trains and/or pedestrians and vehicles. This paper proposes that a solar photovoltaic supply system would make installation cost efficient instead of cable running. The research shows that the sizing method for this power supply and the measuring tool detailed below ease calculations. This proposed system provides both economical and environmental benefits. These benefits positively impact those areas where traditional cable supply is difficult to provide. In order to size the electrical feeding system for these level crossings facilities two calculations are necessary: 1) the calculation of the daily incident solar irradiation into a horizontal surface and, 2) the location where the facility is going to be set. The calculation of the theoretical energy consumption is determined by the integral of the instantaneous electrical power consumption of the system. Thus, the proposed solution in the paper provides a cost reduction to deploy level crossing facilities crossing existing railway lines. It allows the installation of level crossings with increased security features necessary for the correct signaling from the basic level crossing to configurations such as acoustic and light signals, or even protective barriers. These elements provide more information and safety to cars and pedestrians concerning train crossing, decreasing the risk of accidents. Additionally, this power supply system can be deployed easily and can be adapted to any topology minimizing costs. Furthermore these systems are environmentally friendly as they clear away the impact of the electrical consumption of the facility from the network and do not need cable running in order to transport this energy to the level crossing facility.Copyright