TDHrail, September 2017, Issue 65

ISSUE 65 SEPTEMBER 2017

NEWS – FATIGUE FAILURE TRACK ALIGNMENT – WHEEL LOADS COMPONENT STANDARDISATION The Official Magazine of the Asian Railway Operators Association and Rail Solutions Asia 2018

KUALA LUMPUR MAY 2 – 4 2018

Trackbed Information for Maintenance Planning

Rail corridor asset mapping

Trackbed inspection report Switch wear

Surface mud

Ballast deficit

Track geometry

Structure clearance Ballast particle size

ZT 123

Sleeper spacing Sleeper quality

Ballast surplus

Track drainage Free draining layer

Wet bed Ballast fouling

2D Laser 360° Point Cloud

Multiple Survey Platforms

GPR Trackbed Condition

Ballast thickness Ballast pockets

3D Laser Surface Imaging

Rail Corridor Mapping

Track Geometry

www.zeticarail.com

CO N T E N T S News 04

East Coast Rail Link is a game changer for Malaysia, Alstom inaugurates Lucknow Metro, Bombardier to provide monorails for Bangkok, Solytek rail grinder supplied to Manila

Rail Solutions Asia 2018 KUALA LUMPUR MAY 2 – 4 2018

Asia’s Premier Railway Event for 2018 The 19th Exhibition and Conference for Railway Professionals in the Asia Pacific region Incorporating the 15th Annual Congress of the Asian Railway Operators Association Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre May 2–4 2018

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Following another record-breaking show earlier this year, the region’s premier railway event will return to Kuala Lumpur from May 2 – 4 2018

Centralised Management Systems

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Developing an optimized response to critical railway infrastructure to help railway operators ensure an optimal rail network. By Wesley Lim – DCIM Business, Asia, Vertiv

Wheel Loads on Rolling Stock

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The importance of correct wheel loads and the methods of adjusting them to avoid derailing. By Walter Kellenberger – VP Railway Technology, Nencki

Standardisation of Railway Components 16 Industrial standardisation, with railway pre-approval, can help reduce the cost of railway proprietary components and improve efficiency for solution providers. Phutisarn Usanakornkul – Industry Specialist, Railway, Pilz South East Asia

Fatigue Failure in Railway Equipment

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IEC 61373 Standards Review on its adequacy in addressing fatigue failure assessment of railway equipment. By Ravindran Kalidas – Project & Business Manager, VibraTec Asia Pacific

New Standard for Track Alignment

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Possible advantages for Asia with the new European Standard EN 13803 for Track Alignment. By Dr Björn Kufver – Director, Ferroplan Engineering AB

Improving Track Quality

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Under Sleeper Pads (USP) in railway tracks as a means to improve track quality. By Thomas Dorfner – VP Asia Pacific Getzner Werkstoffe magazine, is published by TDH Exhibitions Ltd. TDH Exhibitions Ltd PO Box 139 Cranleigh GU6 7WD, UK Tel. +44 (0)1483 548290 Fax. +44 (0)1483 548302 Email: tdh.norm@gmail.com

NEXT ISSUE

UK Office +44 1483 548 290 Malaysian Office +603 4024 7717 info@tdhrail.com

www.tdhrail.com

Issue 66 will be published in November 2017. Editorial content will include: Asian Regional A comprehensive review of current and Roundup planned railway projects in several South East Asian countries, including: Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, The Philippines, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Indonesia Network Control The fundamentals of design for the command centre Rolling Stock Rolling stock procurement The above is in addition to news, AROA updates and extra features. The features listed may change.

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NEWS HIMA to supply safety equipment to Indonesia’s rail industry HIMA, the process safety expert, has signed a contract with PT Len Industri (Persero) to supply rail safety solutions, including the HiMatrix and HiMax safety contollers. PT Len Industri is state-owned and produces railway systems, including railway signal systems, for the rail industry in Indonesia.

A major factor in the awarding of the 26.4 billion rupiah (1.74 million euros) project to HIMA, is that the HIMA equipment uses open architecture and this allows PT Len Industri to seamlessly integrate HIMA’s technology with its own legacy systems and with technology from other vendors.

HIMA has developed Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) open safety controllers that system integrators and end-customers can integrate into their own safety systems, independent of other providers. The controllers can be easily installed and quickly supplied with spare parts. Because of their modular design, COTS equipment allows users to scale their safety system as needed at any time to easily meet future requirements.

According to Friedhelm Best, Vice-President, HIMA Asia Pacific: "In the railway industry, COTS safety controllers are becoming the standard, particularly for interlocking and signalling technology as they have considerable advantages over proprietary technology.

The decentralized interlocking and signalling systems offer greater flexibility and are not burdened by the unnecessary, overly complex functions that so often plague proprietary systems. Our smart control systems offer maximum safety at a cost efficient point. In the long term, these COTS solutions will become the Indonesian railway industry’s go-to choice.”

HIMatrix and HIMax COTS safety controllers, which are vibration and shock resistant, are available in extended operating temperature range versions. They fulfil the requirements of EN 61373 Category 1 Class B. Both systems are certified by TÜV in accordance with CENELEC standards EN 50126, EN 50128 and EN 50129 for deployment up to safety level SIL 4.

Bombardier JV to Provide Propulsion & Control Equipment for Nanchang Metro

Alstom appoints new MD for India & South Asia

Bombardier Transportation has announced that its Chinese joint venture Bombardier NUG Propulsion System Co. Ltd. (BNP) has signed two contracts with the Chinese New United Group (NUG) to provide BOMBADIER MITRAC propulsion and control equipment for Nanchang Metro Line 3 and the Line 2 Extension Project. Together, the two contracts are valued at approximately 204 million CNY ($30 million US, 26 million euro), with Bombardier Transportation’s direct share in the contracts valued at approximately 23 million SEK ($3 million US, 2 million euro). Bombardier owns 50% of the shares in BNP, which was established in 2003 and is jointly controlled by Bombardier and the Chinese New United Group.

Jianwei Zhang, President of Bombardier China, said, “We are very proud to support the Chinese market by equipping metro cars with our MITRAC propulsion equipment and to continuously power the rapid development of Chinese urban mass transit systems with our proven and reliable technology.”

Nanchang Metro aims to accommodate an increase in passengers by extending lines and adding additional vehicles. In support of this project, Bombardier’s joint venture will provide engineering, manufacturing, testing, commissioning as well as the initial delivery of spare parts for the propulsion systems of 264 metro cars. This includes 192 metro cars on Nanchang Metro Line 3, as well as another 72 cars for the Nanchang Metro Line 2 Extension.

With the latest contracts won in Nanchang, a total of 22 cities in mainland China have chosen Bombardier propulsion technology to power their growing urban mass transit networks, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Xiamen, Lanzhou, Chengdu, Urumqi, etc. The equipment for the contract will be supplied from Bombardier Transportation’s facilities in Västerås, Sweden and Changzhou.

Alstom has announced the appointment of Mr Alain Spohr as the Managing Director for India & South Asia cluster based in Bengaluru, India. He joins Alstom from GE Energy India where he was the MD & CEO of the GE/Bharat Forge Joint Venture and also the India Country Leader for Steam Power Systems. Mr Spohr brings with him more than 35 years of experience in various roles in Country Business Leadership, Unit Management, Project Management, Engineering, Construction and Commissioning, coupled with strong exposure to industrial/factory operations. His career in India spans more than 14 years, which not only gives him a keen understanding of the country’s business environment, but also its culture and growth trajectory. Mr Spohr said, “Strengthening our existing portfolio and timely execution of all our current contracts are of utmost importance to me.”

Mr Bharat Salhotra, his predecessor, has been elevated to the office of Vice President Sales & Business Development, Asia Pacific region based in New Delhi. Talking about his new role, Mr Salhotra said “As the Government looks to modernise and develop the infrastructure in the public spaces, together with Alain, my focus will be to build a thriving partner ecosystem to accelerate this transformation and to unlock new opportunities with the best of innovation across our portfolio. Not just in India, but throughout South East Asia.”

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NEWS New East Coast Rail Link will be a game changer for Malaysia A groundbreaking ceremony for the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) was held at the ECRL KotaSas Central Station Project site on the 9th August. The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who described the ECRL as another historic infrastructure for the people of Malaysia. Following on from the rail projects announced in recent years, including the 3 new MRT lines in Kuala Lumpur, with a total track length of 150km and the high speed line from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, this latest project demonstrates Malaysia’s strong determination to improve and increase its rail transport infrastructure.

The ECRL, which will have a total length of 688km, was announced in the 11th Malaysia Plan and Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) is the entity of the Ministry of Finance Inc, which will administer the implementation of the project. The contract to build the RM 55 billion line has been awarded to the China state-owned China Communications Map courtesy of SPAD www.spad.gov.my/land-public-transport/rail/east-coast-rail-line-ecrl-project Construction Company Ltd (CCCC).

The groundbreaking ceremony was also attended by senior Chinese officials, including China State Council Vice-Premier Wang Yang, China CCCC Executive Director and Chairman Liu Qitao, along with MRL chairman Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah.

With its slogan of “Connecting Lives, Accelerating Growth”, the combined freight and passenger line will connect the Klang Valley around Kuala Lumpur on the west coast, with the states along the east coast of peninsular Malaysia. 70% of the revenue generated from the operation of the new line is expected to come from freight, with the remaining 30% coming from passenger travel. 85% of the project cost will be financed with a soft loan from the Exim Bank of China, while the remaining 15% is to be funded through a sukuk programme managed by local investment banks. Despite having some detractors, the economic case for the ECRL seems more than sound, with an estimated 5.4 million passengers and 53 million tonnes of cargo using the service as their primary transport between the east and west coasts each year by 2030.

With current transport links between the two coasts inadequately served by roads, highways and a few local rail lines, travelling times range from a typical 7-8 hours, up to 12 hours during festive seasons. The new line is expected to cut this time to less than 4 hours. In addition to the reduction in travel times and the reduction in carbon emissions, there will be considerable economic benefits for the areas served by the ECRL. During his speech, the Prime Minister commented that the ECRL “will be a catalyst for economic equality between the west and east coasts, as it will stimulate investment, spur commercial activities, create ample jobs, facilitate quality education and boost tourism in Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan."

Local content for the project has been secured, with an agreement to have at least 30% of contractors coming from Malaysia, while 3,600 Malaysian students will be trained through the industrial training programme and automatically be offered work on the ECRL on the completion of their training. The ECRL will also bring multi-modal benefits, as it will link with Kuantan Port, which is continuing to develop its facilities to accommodate larger container ships. The proposed 22 stations along the line will include 12 passenger stations, 3 freight stations and 7 combined passenger and freight stations.

The government is committed to meeting the project’s expected completion date of 2024 and the Prime Minister thanked the East coast state Governments for their support, especially in relation to acquiring the land required for the project.

HSS Engineers win Malaysia East Coast Rail Link contract Engineering and project management consultant HSS Engineers Berhad has announced that its associate HSS Integrated Sdn Bhd has secured a RM 16.5 million contract to provide preliminary design consultancy services for the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL).

HSSI was appointed as the Design Consultant by a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (M) Sdn Bhd group to provide services for infrastructure work from KM0 to KM220 of the ECRL. The project works are targeted for completion by the end of 2017.

According to Dato’ Sri Ir. Kuna Sittampalam, Executive Director, HSS Engineers Berhad, “Being entrusted with the pivotal role of executing the preliminary design for this high-impact, national project speaks volumes about the HEB Group’s sound technical expertise. These works will kick start the subsequent phases of this crucial rail link project, which will bring about greater connectivity between east and west peninsular Malaysia.”

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NEWS Bombardier Wins Contracts for the First Monorails in Thailand Bombardier Transportation has announced two contracts for its BOMBARDIER INNOVIA Monorail 300 system for two mass rapid transit lines in Bangkok.

This will improve the commute for more than 400,000 people – every day. The contracts are with the Northern Bangkok Monorail Co. Ltd. (NBM) and the Eastern Bangkok Monorail Co. Ltd. (EBM), responsible for the turnkey construction and 30-year concession of the new, elevated lines.

Richard Hunter, President of Rail Control Solutions and South East Asia at Bombardier Transportation said, “Bombardier is helping cities across the world address their congestion issues and these iconic monorails will be an important addition to Bangkok’s growing rail network, providing comfortable, quick travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers daily.”

Bombardier will design and supply the mechanical & electrical elements for the two monorail lines and deliver a combined total of 72, four-car INNOVIA Monorail 300 trains (288 cars) equipped with BOMBARDIER CITYFLO 650 automatic train control technology for driverless operation. The NBM contract is for the new 34.5 km Khae Rai-MinBuri (Pink) Line, which will operate with 42 trainsets. The EBM contract includes 30 train sets for the 30.4 km Lat Phrao-Samrong (Yellow) Line. The contracts also include providing the project management, systems engineering and integration, testing and commissioning for the new trains and systems.

Operating in the city’s northern and eastern areas, the monorails will integrate with the existing transportation network and run at speeds up to 80 km/h, with a maximum capacity of over 28,000 passengers per-hour, per-direction. The INNOVIA trainsets will be manufactured at the Bombardier Joint-Venture Puzhen Bombardier Transportation Systems (PBTS) in China, working with Bombardier’s global Monorail Product and Engineering Experts. Since establishing its Bangkok site in 1997, Bombardier has grown its local team to over 450, working on transportation needs for Thailand, Asia Pacific and globally. Bombardier is also committed to the development of Thailand’s future talent and is working with two universities on Railway Engineering Degree programmes.

MRT3 Manila acquires new Road Rail Grinder from SOLYTEK In June 2017 Solytek delivered a Road Rail grinder to MRT3 in Manila, Philippines, in order to restore current rail defects and extend track life on its network. The compactness and features of the Road Rail 10 stones grinder means that it is perfectly adapted for the MRT3’s configuration and track length (17km).

With this new delivery Solytek is proving to be a key player for grinding machines supply within the ASEAN region, following the delivery of a previous machine to Thailand for the ITD-ETF JV in 2015, which served on both the Bangkok MRT Purple and Blue Lines.

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Alstom inaugurates Lucknow Metro Alstom has inaugurated the Lucknow Metro – the first project for the company in Uttar Pradesh. The Alstom-built metros are designed in Bengaluru and manufactured at Sri City and Coimbatore, supporting the Government’s ‘Make in India’ campaign. The event was held in the presence of honourable Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Shri Yogi Adityanath.

Alstom was awarded the €150 million contract in September 2015 by Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) to provide 20 metro trainsets, each of four cars. The Metropolis trainset for Lucknow has 186 seats arranged longitudinally and includes two dedicated zones for passengers with reduced mobility. These trainsets will circulate on the city’s new metro line, which will be around 23 km long and will include 22 stations, of which 19 are elevated and 3 underground. The line is estimated to carry about 430,000 passengers per day at first, increasing to more than 1 million by 2030.

The project also includes Alstom’s Urbalis Computer Based Train Control (CBTC), the second such signalling system installed by the company in India. It is jointly supplied by Alstom's sites in Bangalore and Saint-Ouen in France. The first system was rolled out in Kochi in June 2017.

Bharat Salhotra, Vice President – Sales & Business Development, Asia Pacific commented that “Alstom welcomes the commencement of commercial operations of Lucknow metro. It is an honour for us to contribute towards the Government’s ‘Make in India’ plans. The project is a testimony of our commitment to make India a world leader in urban mobility – both in terms of technology and flawless execution.”

RAIL SOLUTIONS ASIA 2018 Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2 - 4 May 2018

19th Annual Event 2500 m² of Exhibition Space 2000 Participants 160 Conference Delegates 10 Asian Railway Operators

• • • •

Asia’s premier railway event  

•  •  • 

 Asia accounts for 30% of the total investment in railway projects worldwide US$51bn will be spent on urban and mainline projects in Malaysia by 2020

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

  



THE EXHIBITION This major exhibition attracts many of the world’s top railway suppliers covering all aspects of railway activity.

• T otal exhibition area of 2500 m. sq, with stands sizes from 9 to 90+ sqm.

KUALA LUMPUR MAY 2 – 4 2018

• T he event layout and social functions are designed to maximise networking and business opportunities, with immediate and regular access to the conference delegates and AROA members, as well as general trade visitors.

• C onference coffee breaks and social functions are held in the exhibition hall

EXHIBITOR PICTURES AND TESTIMONIALS FROM RAIL SOLUTIONS ASIA 2017 • Great meeting point for all rail people interested in doing business in SE Asia

ArcelorMittal

• The show had a great turnout, right till the end of Day 3

Bombardier

• RSA gives us an opportunity to network with Asean’s key rail personnel, all under one roof

Delkor

• For many years Rail Solutions has been the place to meet in Asia

Rail Personnel

• Very well managed and effective event for the railway sector in Asia

Talgo

• Well organised and interesting show for exhibitors and visitors alike.

Tiflex

During their tour of the exhibition the VIPs visited many of the stands and showed a keen interest in the exhibits, including:

Bombardier

Vossloh

CRRC

Senior Managers from other Asian rail operators and authorities visited the exhibition stands, including:

Keen interest from Indonesia’s PT Kerata Api on The India Thermit Corporation stand

All 5 delegates from Ho Chi Minh City MAUR with Tan Wee Choon on the CAF stand

Engineers from KL Rapid Rail discussing rail milling technology with Linsinger

A TRULY REGIONAL EVENT

The event covers much more that just the Malaysian market and the inclusion of the Annual Congress of the Asian Railway Operators Association means that participants have the opportunity to meet senior managers from up to 10 railway operators from eight Asian countries. Delegations to our 2017 event included the following:

Hanoi MRB and Ho Chi Minh City MAUR

Manila LRMC

Indonesian Railway Society & Jakarta LRT

CONTACT US NOW TO BOOK YOUR STAND AT THIS IMPORTANT EVENT UK Office Tel: + 44 1483 548290 Malaysian Office Tel: +603 4024 7717 Email: info@tdhrail.com 10

THE CONFERENCE The conference attracts more than 150 delegates, including up to 50 members of the Asian Railway Operators Association. This comprises delegations of up to five Senior Managers, sent by 10 of the region’s leading railway operators to represent the five designated key areas of railway activity;

KUALA LUMPUR MAY 2 – 4 2018

• Projects & Planning

• Permanent Way & Infrastructure

• Rolling Stock

• Signalling & Communications

• Operations & Maintenance

CALL FOR PAPERS FOR 2018

If any Operators, Consultants, Equipment Suppliers, Sevice Providers etc, are interested in presenting a paper or workshop, please email TDH Exhibitions Ltd at info@tdhrail.com with a brief outline of your subject. Terms and Conditions Apply.

For conference subjects at our 2017 show & PREVIOUS EVENTS visit our website at www.tdhrail.co.uk/rsa/conference.php.

MORNING SESSION (Day 1)

Conference papers presented by Asian Railway Operators on the subject of PROJECTS & PLANNING, giving detailed information of upcoming projects on urban and mainline rail systems. Also papers by some of the world's leading railway companies. Presentations at this year's show were given by: SPAD MRTA Vietnam Railways LRMC MASKA BOHSR

Government Government Operator Operator Railway Society Government

AFTERNOON SESSION

Malaysia Thailand Vietnam The Philippines Indonesia Taiwan

(Day 1)

Three simultaneous workshops with presentations: on the following subjects:

■ ■ ■

PERMANENT WAY & INFRASTRUCTURE ROLLING STOCK SIGNALLING & COMMS

MORNING SESSION

(Day 2)

Papers presented by Operators, Consultants & Manufacturers on

■

IMPROVING YOUR RAIL SYSTEM

AFTERNOON SESSION

(Day 2)

Specialised workshop involving all delegates with presentations on:

■

OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE

• A maximum of six topics will be discussed during each two-hour workshop on the Wednesday and Thursday afternoons • The conference is open to non-AROA members, through a payment of the delegate fee of GBP 525

NETWORKING IS THE KEY

Rail Solutions Asia brings together many of the world's top railway suppliers and most of Asia's most influential railway personnel.

With so many people sharing the same interests, all under one roof, we maximise networking and business opportunities through • T he conference and AROA Workshops are held in rooms close to the exhibition hall • C onference delegates and AROA members pass through the exhibition hall several times each day • T he Networking Area in the exhibition hall provides a more relaxed atmosphere for discussions • E xhibition areas dedicated to Rolling Stock, Permanent Way and Signalling, help create a focused environment

CONTACT US NOW TO BOOK YOUR DELEGATE PLACE AT THIS IMPORTANT EVENT UK Office Tel: + 44 1483 548290 Malaysian Office Tel: +603 4024 7717 Email: info@tdhrail.com 11

Developing an Optimized Response to Critical Railway Infrastructure Wesley Lim Director – DCIM Business, Asia, Vertiv

M

odern railway operation, like any other critical infrastructure, faces an increasing degree of complexity. The growing demand for convenient mobility in megacities and emerging urban areas places great pressure on rail networks to maintain round-the-clock reliability in the most efficient way possible. Asia Pacific is predicted to become a critical market for connected rail – it is projected to be the largest connected rail market in 2022 in terms of value. The region is also home to major rail and technology manufacturing firms and they, along with foreign players, will have a major role in addressing the region’s railway needs, further driven by a combination of increasing urbanization and upward population growth.

Given the market outlook and the results of recent studies, the impact of downtime in rail transportation is more localized and immediate, causing societal disorder among commuters who depend on rail for basic transportation. Downtime can take a heavy toll on large operations, especially with transportation, as these failures not only cost money to the operator, but also to the businesses that rely on transporting goods and services across long distances. Lost revenue, loss of productivity, and the additional recovery cost, can negatively impact all industries and ultimately the economy. For the railway industry, losses could go up by billions of dollars a year.

It is therefore vital for operators to maintain a bird’s eye view of their entire networks and it would provide more benefits and a higher value to their business operations if they can anticipate possible operational failures so that preventive maintenance can be executed.

What Rail Operators Need to Look Out For? Operators must manage everything: from the on-board power supply and back up of their rolling stock, video surveillance on 12

their stations, signaling and crossing controls, to communication from the control room to their on-the-ground monitors.

Additional requirements for passenger information and safety protocols are also adding to the complexity of the entire process.

One dilemma for operators in a station’s control room is working on multiple computer systems serving different purposes.

A railway network’s control center, as the central operational hub of the network, covers the coordination, information management and emergency command of the whole system. The large scope of this work requires the sophisticated management of multiple sets of critical desktop peripherals, which cannot smoothly switch between systems. This is further complicated by the need for constant, real-time communication between the control center and its respective stations – and distance should not be an excuse for missing out on pertinent information.

Furthermore, rail operations now start running very early in the morning and close late at night. Others operate 24/7,

which requires more extensive and reliable infrastructure.

Should there be a need to expand the operations on either a conservative or aggressive scale, the set-up must be scalable and flexible.

Operators must also monitor what is happening at the trackside, such as signaling and crossings, as well as the communication infrastructure. Normally, trackside enclosures are populated with various hardware, such as; network equipment, workstations and other appliances. Each specific piece of hardware has its own mode of access, making it challenging to manage. If the worst scenario happens – when the network goes down – it would require physical access, which will take more time and resources, not to mention the loss in revenue due to increased downtime.

Given this level of complexity and criticality in today’s train systems, how should rail operators respond to hiccups in their critical network infrastructure in the most efficient manner, with minimal downtime and use of physical resources?

How to Ensure an Optimal Rail Network?

Know Your Centralized Management System

A centralized management system (CMS) is a combination of hardware equipment and software applications, used to maintain and organize information stored in critical infrastructure. Its core objective is to facilitate cost and energy efficiency by enabling service availability and optimal operational reliability. It also reduces – if not eliminates – sources of downtime by identifying possible risks in system hardware and bugs in the software. IT administrators would be alerted by these risks and address them before incidents happen. As storage requirements within organizations increase, it also provides cost structure modeling for building and maintaining data centers. By monitoring the lifecycle of IT systems, CMS can ensure infrastructure reliability and reduce losses due to downtime.

As with growing concerns over the environmental impact of IT, CMS implementations can provide insights on the sustainable and efficient use of operational resources.

Standards and metrics are in place, such as power usage effectiveness (PUE), energy productivity, and carbon usage effectiveness (CUE), among others.

Realizing the benefits of a Centralized Management System

In line with the ongoing trend to roll out modern rail networks, there is significant investment in upgrading rolling stock, deploying top-of-the-line communication systems and passenger information systems and provision of upgraded system precautions for track and tunnel safety. But there is also a need to invest in an intelligent infrastructure management system to be able to remotely access and control the IT assets that these top-of-the-line systems run on, while having visibility to be able to operate in the most efficient manner possible.

An adequate management system is a combination of having proper hardware in place, complemented by powerful software, that ensures real-time insight on the performance of your equipment. For access and control many industries today use secure, remote management systems, which utilize sets of hardware and software infrastructure that connect various consoles. This enables them to securely manage the IT infrastructure in a more productive, standard way, allowing them to address configuration, provisioning and maintenance.

In addition, its helps mitigate the IT risks (agility, accuracy, access and availability) arising from the implementation of key initiatives and improves operational efficiency and ability to scale, in order to meet their business requirements.

With the complexity arising from the implementation of initiatives, operators seek centralized problem management tools and processes of heterogeneous environments. This gives them the ability to have remote access to conduct configurations, such as patching, maintenance and incident actions and ultimately, to be able to provide timely “service level agreement responsiveness” in a secure manner.

Previous deployments of centralized management still have several physically connected servers in a control room, lined up together to manage different remote systems. While this is still efficient on its own, the control room would still have several administrators, operating different stations and reporting to the head administrator. However, in a scenario where a centralized management system is deployed, the network administrator can monitor several machines with one centralized platform, with access to multiple displays. With just the click of a button, the administrator can smoothly access between systems within one interface.

Traditional deployments cannot afford that kind of convenience.

In most cases, with traditional IT management systems, it would take about 90 minutes to fully restore a network from the time that a critical failure is detected. This is because the IT engineer who is tasked to restart the critical system is unable to resolve problems remotely and would need time and effort to reach the machine in question. By then, the company would have already lost a tremendous amount of time and money from the long downtime.

However, the best-case scenario for centralized management is to reduce the downtime ideally to just 30 minutes – one-third of what traditional servicing can deliver. Most critical failures are also due to software problems rather than hardware and being able to remotely resolve these failures is a relevant feature of centralized management systems. As previously stated, management systems are also equipment agnostic, thereby safeguarding past and future IT investments.

Ideally, a railway service will benefit from deployment of centralized management systems in areas ranging from monitoring power consumption and load, station uninterruptible power supply and air conditioning units and surveillance, down to access and control of their IT infrastructure. Railway operators must also be ready to scale up their IT systems alongside their investments in railway technologies. They must also be prepared for inevitable complexities and issues of sustainability, which is why utilizing a centralized management system is necessary.

Downtimes due to critical failure of equipment are always certain to happen, but they can always be managed and result in lower financial and operational losses.

With rail transport increasingly becoming a critical economic backbone, using the latest technologies in IT management would ensure continued operation.

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Correct wheel load.

The importance, influences and methods for adjustment Walter Kellenberger Vice President Railway Technology, Nencki Ltd.

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egardless of whether it is a freight, highspeed, normal speed or mass transit train – nobody wishes for an accident caused through derailing. In the event of an incident, due to a faulty bogie, the operation of a complete metro line can be interrupted, followed by immediate negative news headlines in the press and social media. In addition, the reduction of wheel wearing in order to minimize the life cycle costs of a train is a worldwide topic.

An important factor in reducing the problems and the risks related to both of these issues is to adjust and control the correct wheel load.

The importance of the wheel load

Accordingly, the wheel load is also influenced by the evenness of the track, the train weight and load distribution, as well as the aerodynamics, in the case of trains at higher speeds etc.

Components and correction methods: The following gives more details regarding some of the vehicle components and possible correction methods.

The influence of different wheel diameters

Ensuring the safety against derailing depends on two important forces: the lateral force (Y) on a wheel, caused by lateral forces in curves, the sinus movement, side wind etc. In contrast is the vertical load, the wheel load (Q), which must be strong enough to withstand the lateral load. The typical maximum ratio between Q/Y should be < 0.8.

What influences the correct wheel load?

The main factors influencing the vehicleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wheel load are the diameter differences amongst the wheels, the primary suspension, a possible twisted bogie frame, the height differences from the top of the rail to the top of the secondary suspension, between the bogieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s left and right side, or the front and rear bogies. And finally it is also the load distribution within a vehicle body, as well as the flatness of the supporting surfaces, contacting the bogies.

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There are different instruments for measuring the wheel diameters and profiles on a bogie or vehicle. If the diameters between the left and right side wheel, or amongst all 4 wheels are out of tolerance, EN 15313 < 0.3 mm, the wheels must then be reprofiled or exchanged. The difference in diameter is often several millimetres.

To explain this in a simpler way, imagine sitting on a four-legged chair, with one leg shorter than the others. While less weight is on the shorter leg, more is on the other three legs. Therefore, the weight (load) is not distributed equally to the other chair legs.

The primary suspension Springs with different characteristics may have a negative influence on the wheel load, so the springs of the primary suspension should therefore be checked by a spring test press during heavy maintenance. It is important to have springs with similar stiffness characteristics and heights within a bogie. The heights under load can be corrected with primary shim plates.

Standards such as UIC 822, EN 13298 or EN 13913 are guidelines for how and what is to be tested. Experience has shown that springs are often still in good condition and can be reused, saving a lot of money.

It is also known that helical springs in particular move sideways under increased vertical load. This is often called “chaise effect” or bowing of springs. If some primary springs, under load, are moving in the same lateral direction, then the above described side force (Y) will increase automatically and the ratio of Q/Y becomes worse and the derailing safety is reduced. The consequence of these circumstances will be more wear on the wheels.

EN 13298 (2003) 5.2.3.3 specifies this effect. There are spring test presses available, which can determine the bowing direction of springs. The springs can then be marked and installed accordingly so that side forces are neutralized.

Frame check

After several years of operation, or after crashes, the geometry of a bogie frame should be checked. Possible criteria to consider are the flatness and the positions of the primary spring guide shafts. The German State Railway “Deutsche Bahn DB” has issued special guidelines, which take the DIN 27201-9 standards into consideration.

Function and quality control of bogies

Nowadays, most bogie manufacturers and also many bogie maintenance workshops are equipped with bogie test benches.

After assembling the bogie with all of its components, the load of the specific vehicle body is simulated by PLC control onto the bogie.

The distribution of the load between the wheels and each single wheel can now be determined. Possible corrections on the primary suspension with automatic calculated shim plates can be carried out. Additionally, the heights of the secondary suspension can be adjusted or corrected under simulated tare load. This is very important, because if one bogie side has a big height difference, it can influence the wheel load of the bogie at the other end of the vehicle in a negative manner.

Under load simulation, it is also possible to adjust the correct heights of antenna, emergency brakes, coupling heights, etc.

The DIN standard 25043-7 is a useful guideline and it is already taken into consideration in bogie workshops outside Europe.

Sophisticated bogie test benches enable the measuring of axle distances, mainly the axle parallelism. This is a very important criterion, which should be checked on bogies.

A bogie with non-parallel axles, as shown on the above image, tends to always move in a curve and consequently has increased lateral forces and less safety against derailing. There will also be more wheel wear, noise and vibration. The only way of recognizing such a situation and making corrections is on the bogie test bench, before the bogie leaves the workshop and causes damage.

The 4- corner weighing of the vehicle body

How does the workshop know the correct load, which should be applied onto the bogie for testing? It can be either from the rolling stock or the locomotive manufacturer, often to be found in the maintenance manual, but in the case of refurbished vehicle bodies or repairs after accidents, it is recommended to apply the method of 4-corner weighing described e.g. in the DIN 25043-4 standard. The results of this give the specific load forces, which

need to be applied onto the bogie contact points. Another useful result from this test is the calculation for secondary shim plates, to equalize the flatness of the contacting points to the bogie.

The final check of complete vehicles

Before a vehicle leaves the workshop, after overhaul or a preventive control, the balance of the wheel loads of the complete vehicle must be checked. This is the final check against the derailing safety of the complete vehicle. There are several testing methods available, such as mobile wheel weighing cells, stationary installed wheel weighing bridges. DIN 27201-5 offers the required calculation methods for the maximum differences of wheel loads within a vehicle. Maximum differences between wheels on a bogie of < 5% are common.

Simulation of the situation at the end of curves or uneven tracks A challenging situation for the wheel load occurs in the case of uneven tracks or at the end of curves. The left front wheel on the left (in the driving direction) as sown in the below photo, receives the smallest wheel load, so called “unloading”.

Situation of the train at the end of the curve

The EN standard 14363, chapter A.9.1. describes a method, which allows testing of the wheel load with twisting track, or in other words the simulation of an uneven track, or the end of a curve, in a workshop. The unloading simulation and determination of the smallest wheel load can be tested on each single wheel, either manually or even better by an existing fully automatic test bench. If the difference between all bogie wheels, ∆ Q/Q is out of tolerance, this then indicates that the vehicle is no longer safe against derailing on uneven tracks, or at the end of curves. It should therefore undergo immediate maintenance before risking lives or damage. However, if a vehicle passes this test, it is safe against derailing and can continue operation, postponing a scheduled and costly maintenance. This is therefore a very good tool for condition based maintenance.

What are the challenges?

There are still many workshops or maintenance concepts, which do not take enough care regarding the importance of the wheel load.

Safety, reliability and reduced life cycle costs must be some of the most important targets in workshops. The described practice should therefore be applied and the necessary test equipment should be made available. The necessary investments should be budgeted for – with the benefits being the re-use of springs, less wheel wear and re-profiling, less unscheduled maintenance, etc. Consultants should implement these technologies into the design of workshops. In some countries authorities have applied regulations regarding wheel loads etc., but in many countries, they are still missing.

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Industrial Standard to Railway-Specific

Industrial standardization, with railway pre-approval, can be an alternative way of reducing the cost of railway proprietary components and improving efficiency in the areas of development and maintenance for solution providers.

Phutisarn Usanakornkul Industry Specialist, Railway – Pilz South East Asia

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n today’s rapidly developing railway business railway operators are looking for quicker installation, more reliability and an easy maintenance system for railway operations.

Time is a critical factor in railway operation; a delay of 5 to 10 minutes can greatly affect the satisfaction of customers and have significant consequences on railway operators in terms of cost. Therefore, downtime reduction is one of the key factors for solution providers during project proposal. Downtime during railway operation is inevitable, however, the aim is to minimize the amount of downtime faced and to avoid the rescheduling of train arrival and departure times.

To improve time performance, it is important to first identify the causes and explore a different approach to prevent future occurrences. The equipment utilized in rail applications are largely proprietary, they have been designed, developed and manufactured specifically for the industry. This is due to the stringent requirements and the need to fulfill the Safety Integrity Level (SIL) imperative for railway certification. The development of this equipment takes a lot of effort and it can be difficult to find resources to provide maintenance support.

Normative requirements, project-specific features and a very low level of standardisation are costrelated factors in today’s applications. Existing signalling technology, particularly on regional lines, is largely based on old signal box technology, operating purely mechanically, or via relay technology. Even today, classic relay technology

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with positive-guided contacts is still widely used in railway and signal engineering. As part of modernisation measures, it is becoming a trend to replace wearing, cable-intensive hardware with powerful software. Some solutions from industry can be considered for these modernisation projects. In practice this means that common programmable logic controllers (PLC), which are used to control industrial plants and in engineering, need to be qualified to the railway’s safety level and must satisfy the high safety requirements for rail transport.

PLC control systems can provide a safe platform for control tasks, replacing relay groups. As they are widely available in an industrial environment and utilize standardized industrial components, they have lower acquisition costs. Software tools reduce the configuration work, improve diagnostic options and simplify maintenance and repair. The advantage for railway technology in building on a pre-approved control system, is that the development time can be significantly reduced, compared to developing a railway control system from scratch.

Experiences from industrial manufacturers The specific requirements of railways make it challenging for a product-specific application to gain enough long-term exposure under various conditions in the field. Products used in industrial manufacturing have proven to be reliable and stable based on their long-term operation and statistical data.

The automation industry has many components and machines that operate continuously for a period of weeks, even up to a month. Compared to train operation, the automation industry can provide proof of a productâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quality and reliability for a much greater length of usage and amount of data from testing.

Thus, equipment that has been tested in multiple industries can demonstrate the quality assurance that would be required for a railway application.

Simple access to the information you need.

Standardization for flexibility The trend towards standardization is increasing in various industries, for instance, an open communication protocol between PLCs. Two PLCs from two different suppliers can pass and access information between each other, using the open communication protocol. This enables increased flexibility for end users in finding the right solution, without limiting them to only proprietary products.

An example of safe communication between devices is the SafetyNET p. This protocol is a fail-safe, real-time Ethernet communication system proven in many industrial applications.

SafetyNET p can be transmitted via standardized network components such as Ethernet switches or DSL modems.

The SafetyNET p uses Ethernet RJ45 cable as its medium and can connect to other utilities based on the IP protocol, such as web browsing, email, file transfer and messaging. The network can be set-up in three different topologies; linear, tree or start structure, with the flexibility of expansion using a switch.

SafetyNET p has been approved by TĂ&#x153;V and is certified SIL 3 and can be utilized in both industrial and railway systems.

Standardization also aids with the development of equipment.

A product compliant with IEC 61131-3 is necessary to reduce additional training for engineers. Programmers with experience in ladder diagram, or another standard industrial programming language, possess the capability to write a program into a new standardized platform. This significantly reduces the time taken to gain the essential knowledge and skills required. Another benefit of standardization is that an existing software application can be easily adapted to another system with minimal effort. This removes the dependency on the system provider, with emphasis placed on the quality of the program and not the migration of the program from one platform to another. Without a need for proprietary programming skills, it is easier for employers seeking personnel with experience in the field.

Ease of scalability Many contemporary industrial products are designed with modularization in mind. Modularization enables installation of a

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unit in a centralized and decentralized setting.

This makes it easier for connection to a remote I/O that is a distance from the main control unit. Remote I/O modules are accessible over an Ethernet network, providing the opportunity for scalability in terms of capacity. This gives the solution developer the flexibility to upgrade and expand the application in future. In the scenario that a module fails, it would not require replacement of the entire system.

Support functionalities

When an issue occurs with a machine, it is critical for engineers to identify the underlying cause and resolve the issue efficiently. As a result, many industrial PLCs come with an easy diagnostic message display. This is a key function on PLCs for the maintenance team. The diagnostic function is timesaving; it promptly identifies the issue and exact location of the error, effectively reducing down time when maintenance work is executed. Information on the fault detected is forwarded via a linked network to the main controller, connected to each subsystem, which continuously monitors their status. Furthermore, the network system enables the maintenance team to monitor each system remotely.

Pre-approved railway certification

Not many products in the industrial automation market have been approved for use in the railway industry. The railway industry has specifications with stringent requirements and conditions for operation. Most automation equipment is developed and produced in accordance to the standard EN 61508, specific to industrial automation systems. To comply with railway specifications, the manufacturer has to develop their product in accordance with the CENELEC standard: EN 50126, EN 50128 and EN 50129, which are specific to a railway application. Once the product complies with a railway specification, it aids the system integrator, by reducing certification work required and accelerating time taken for commissioning.

Railway application with industrial PLC

In Switzerland, the Gossau-Appenzell railway line passing through the village of Herisau has a level crossing system called Hofegg. The Hofegg level crossing system uses an industrial PLC, with railway approval, to control the lighting signal, barriers and sound generator for the level crossing

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control. The outcome makes crossing safer for both pedestrians and cars within the area.

The PLC transmits information about the status of various components through a safe Ethernet protocol, via a fiberglass connection (FOC) to a signal box located at a distance, allowing the possibility for remote monitoring. The control box installed near the level crossing system benefits from a modernized compact hardware, compared to the conventional relay based control system. This reduces the space required, allowing more equipment to be installed within the control box, significantly reducing difficulties in maintenance work.

The Hofegg level crossing system includes a visual operator and diagnostic device that allows the operator to visually inspect the status of the level crossing system. Should a fault occur, clear diagnostic information can be called up via the device for rapid troubleshooting. Moreover, this level crossing system is connected to the traffic light signaling system, where the traffic situation is being coordinated and both the train and cars can pass safely within the area. The ease of the steps taken in system integration for industrial PLC make it easy to duplicate the system for other usage. The benefits from industrial PLC, with railway approval, create an opportunity for system integrators to meet the requirements of end users in the railway industry.

Movement to COTS from industrial practice

Many system providers continue to use railway proprietary equipment for their railway applications. This reduces the flexibility for system integrators to develop and maintain the system when equipment is not readily available. Products developed for the industrial automation industry are more readily available due to the size of the market. This provides more flexibility for system integrators when purchasing for developing equipment, or for maintenance engineers when replacing a broken unit. This is the real advantage of using a CommercialOff-The-Shelf (COTS) product in the system, especially when it is railway compliant.

Trains are moving at a faster pace and this requires many railway system integrators to look for railway pre-approved products, with certified functions, that are readily available.

The experience and standardization from industrial manufacturing can be useful for the railway industry and the use of railwayapproved products, based on industrial standardization can greatly benefit its future growth.

IEC 61373 Standards Review on its Adequacy in addressing Fatigue Failure Assessment of Railway Equipment Ravindran Kalidas Project & Business Manager – VibraTec Asia Pacific

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ailway vehicle mounted equipment is subjected to high fatigue failure, as a result of fatigue occurring through long term exposure to time-varying loads associated with dynamic effects. In order to safeguard these items of railway equipment, they are subjected to the IEC 61373 durability certification standards prior to production.

The IEC 61373 focuses on qualification tests based on three specific types of tests: (1) shock tests, based on half-sine time signals, and (2) functional and (3) accelerated tests, based on Power Spectral Densities (PSD). In the interest of this article we will only concentrate on tests (2) and (3) and review their adequacy in dealing with equipment fatigue failure assessment.

The PSDs derived in (2) and (3) have been generated using a frequency domain approach, by calculating the Fourier transform of the time signal. They are then used to drive the test bench time signal, assuming a Gaussian distribution.

However, based on VIBRATEC’s experience, these specifications alone are not conservative enough and can lead to poorly designed equipment. An alternative approach is therefore required to calculate PSDs with the objective of having more reliable design specifications, which are representative of its inservice loads.

We are therefore introducing the transient approach, a methodology developed by VIBRATEC, which is derived with a measured time signal initially and ends with a new time signal that will be carried out on a test bench. Two test types are usually considered: ‘functional’ tests aiming at demonstrating functionality during operating conditions and ‘accelerated’ or ‘long life’ tests, aiming at testing the effective robustness of the equipment with respect to operating life.

The transient approach takes the assumptions that: • Inertial stresses are supposed to be predominant over other stresses, such as pre-stress related to construction, or mounting process, or thermal stress, so that for a given frequency, internal stresses are proportional to acceleration levels applied by the equipment supporting structure.

• The dynamic behaviour of the supporting structure is not affected by the equipment, i.e. the presence of equipment

does not significantly change the dynamic behaviour of the structure.

• The equipment dynamic behaviour is reasonably linear.

• The deformations are elastic.

Figure 1: Overview of Transient Approach

Now let’s dig deep into the process of building a random time acceleration signal, defined by its Power Spectral Density that generates the same damage as the measured time signal.

The first step (see Figure 2) is based on the BIOT Single Degree Of Freedom (SDOF) assumption. The component is assumed to be responding like a single degree of freedom model. By sweeping the natural frequency of this SDOF model and computing the model response to the measured time signal, Response Spectra can be obtained. BIOT used this method to elaborate what is now called the Shock Response Spectrum (SRS). The time signal in this case is a shock and the maximum response value of the SDOF, tuned at sweeping frequency, is extracted to generate the SRS. In the case of a random vibration time signal the spectrum is called the Extreme Response Spectrum ERS. With the same SDOF model response, it is possible to count cycles and evaluate a relative damage, using Miner’s Law, for 19

Figure 3: Shock response spectrum and fatigue damage spectrum

Figure 2: Shock response spectrum and fatigue damage spectrum calculation from a time signal

each natural frequency. This generates a relative fatigue damage spectrum (FDS), as presented in Figure 3 and the spectrum on the right indicates the relative damage that would be undergone by the component, depending on its main natural frequency.

For an accelerated test, the full life is reduced to a short test of a few hours – typically 120 to 5 hours. To do this, the PSD levels, obtained in the previous step for the same duration as the initial signal, are amplified by a factor, which is calculated based on the Wöhler curve slope of the material (or piece of assembly as in Eurocode 3).

Assuming a unique slope ‘-1/b’ of the Wöhler curve of the piece of study, the reduction factor is expressed by equation (1): Where: Gaccelerated is the acceleration PSD level for each frequency

band, for the specification of an accelerated test with associated duration Taccelerated, Greal is the acceleration PSD level for each frequency band of the equivalent damage PSD, obtained from the measured time signal with associated duration Treal. In practice the measured time signal is short and is repeated several times in order to obtain the full life period and the associated ISO-damage PSD.

The whole iso-damage PSD is hence multiplied by this reduction factor, as illustrated in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Example of PSD for accelerated test

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The mechanical vibration measured on-board for the axles, bogies or coaches of rolling stock is generally composed of stable phases, when the train runs on smooth track sections and unstable phases, when the train runs on irregularities such as rail joints, transition zones, switches and crossings.

Figure 5 gives an example of measured on-board accelerations. The stable running phase is a stochastic process, generated by the wheel and rail surface irregularities (roughness) at the contact point. The unstable phases are usually composed of successive shocks that are followed by oscillations at the different natural frequencies of the system (e.g.: bounce of wheel set unsprung mass on the track stiffness…

In the next section, it will be shown that the stable phases are likely to be Gaussian and can be described by a simple PSD of the recorded time signal (from Fourier transform), whereas unstable phases are not Gaussian and need to be represented by an ISO-damage PSD in order to get robust equivalent loadings.

The ISO-damage PSD (computed with the transient approach) and the classical PSD (computed with the conventional frequency approach) are presented for both time signals in Figure 6. The stable signal shows almost identical PSDs from both methods, so that either method can be used to generate the PSD, with reasonable discrepancies. On the other hand, the unstable signal presents higher discrepancies between both PSDs. The ISOdamage PSD is higher than the classical PSD by a factor of up to 6.

The fatigue damage spectra (FDS) of these PSDs are also calculated and plotted on Figure 7. By construction, the isodamage PSD has the same FDS as the initial time signal. The

Figure 7: Fatigue damage spectra of iso-damage PSD (blue) and of classical PSD (red) – stable phase (left) – unstable phase (right)

Figure 5: in-service acceleration measurement: stable phase (left-hand bottom) – unstable running (right-hand top and bottom)

Figure 6: PSD from transient approach (iso-damage PSD in blue) and from frequency approach (classical PSD in red) – stable phase (left) – unstable phase (right)

fatigue damage spectra of the stable time signal are hence close to each other, indicating that the classical method is equivalent to the transient method for this type of signal. By contrast for the unstable signal, the FDS of the classical PSD is lower than the time signal FDS, by a factor of about 4, below 100 Hz, and up to 10, above 100 Hz. In conclusion, it can be said that tailoring design specification is a difficult task and one that requires robust data and method.

While the IEC 61 373 can be used a good benchmark, it also requires further scrutiny as: (1) The functional test specifications are based on a frequency approach, but we know from experiments that this classical approach only covers Gaussian distributed time signals, as illustrated in this article. On board measured data is generally not Gaussian, so this approach should not be used. On the other hand, the equivalent damage PSDs obtained from the transient approach provide robust loads that must be used for test bench and numerical design.

(2) For each project, the reduction factor must be thoroughly defined with the knowledge of the profile life of the equipment and its material mechanical properties. Once the reduction factor is calculated, a check on the amplified PSDs must be performed by comparing the reduction factor. This ensures that the same damage process is involved in an accelerated test as in real life.

If the reduction factor is higher than the threshold value, the test duration must be increased and the reduction factor recalculated until it respects the indicative threshold value.

The final value will be a trade-off between practical aspects (short test duration for low cost) and mechanical constraints (remain in linear domain).

For more insights on this article, contact: Ravindran Kalidas, Project & Business Manager, VibraTec Asia-Pacific Sdn Bhd ravindran.kalidas@vibratec.my

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21 24.08.2011 16:08:58 Uhr

A new European Standard EN 13803 for Track Alignment

By Dr Björn Kufver Ferroplan Engineering AB, Sweden

Introduction

The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) has a Technical Committee TC256, defining European standards for the railway sector. A new alignment standard EN 13803 was published on the 26 April 2017 and replaced two older standards. The new standard has updated limits and is applicable for a wider speed range than the superseded standards.

The new standard EN 13803 is applicable for lines, or dedicated parts of railway infrastructure, which are interoperable with railway vehicles tested and approved according to European Standard EN 14363. That means for example that the lower limit for horizontal radius is 150 m, however, other criteria in the standard may be applicable for metro lines, tram lines etc., which are designed with smaller radii. Several limits in the alignment standard are functions of speed. The speed range covered by the standard is 0-360 km/h. EN 13803 applies to nominal track gauge 1435 mm and wider. It defines conversion rules for limits, which shall be applied for gauges wider than 1435 mm.

The limits in EN 13803 are defined for normal service operations. The European Standard EN 14363 requires tests at speeds and cant deficiencies that exceed those used in normal operations. Hence, if permissible, speed on a curve is calculated as 100 km/h (using the criteria in EN 13803), there is no requirement to specify an operational speed below 100 km/h to achieve “margins”.

The Working Group for track alignment

Working group TC256/SC1/WG15 contains experts from around 15 countries. Some countries send several experts to the working group and since 2005, the convener and secretary are from Sweden. Most experts work for the national railway operator or infrastructure manager, but in a few cases the experts come from the national standardization body, or a consultant company.

Since practice varies between countries, all criteria have been carefully analysed. A too liberal criterion may cause severe discomfort, excessive track deterioration, or in worst case a derailment. A too conservative criterion may cause unnecessary speed restrictions, unnecessary land take (increased construction 22

Western Main Line from Stockholm to Gothenburg, at the station Skebokvarn. The first three turnouts are placed on straight track, but the fourth turnout is placed on a transition curve. If it had not been accepted by the alignment standard, it would have been necessary to push both turnouts 3 and 4 to the circular curve in the background, where the radii are smaller and the applied cant and cant deficiency are higher.

costs) or unintentionally push other criteria away from optimal values (for example, excessive requirements for lengths between transition curves may lead to unnecessarily short transition curves).

Umbrella approach and two levels of limits

The limits in the standard are based on practical experiences of European railways (mainly operational experiences, but for the higher speed range experiences from tests). The limits are applied where it is necessary to compromise between train performance, comfort levels, maintenance of vehicle and track, and construction costs. According to the standard, unnecessary use of design values close to the limits should be avoided.

At an early stage in the work of TC256/SC1/WG15, it was decided to avoid introducing criteria and limits that would require a change of existing track alignments that have been proven to be workable and safe while being used in operation. For each criterion, the least conservative limit among European railways defines an “exceptional limit” (the umbrella approach). If this limit is relatively far away from limits used by most European railways, the European standard also defines a “normal limit”, which better reflects the practice among the majority of the railways.

Some alignment criteria are used in only one, or a few countries and there is no interest from other countries to introduce them (not even with a very liberal limit). Such criteria are not presented at all in the European Standard, or they are presented in informative annexes (and hence do not belong to the normative part of the standard).

What is sometimes missing in Asian track alignment criteria?

The upper limit for cant on small radius curves is a derailment related criterion. Where the radius is small, there will be a large angle of attack (between the wheel and the rail). The first wheelset is steering towards the outer rail, and, if conditions

are unfavorable, its outer wheel may climb over the rail. A high vertical force on the wheel may prevent this process, but high cant excess results in reduced vertical force on the outer wheels, hence, there is a risk for trains running at a low speed (worst case is starting from a stop) on the curve. The risk for derailment depends on vehicle suspension, wheel and rail profiles (worn profiles to be considered), friction conditions, etc. It is sometimes claimed that the criterion is only applicable for freight vehicles, but light rail vehicles have also derailed where applied cant has exceeded the European limit.

The derailment may be prevented if a check rail is provided along the inner rail on a small radius curve (or if grooved rails are used), but this requirement appears to be missing in some cases.

Upper limit for abrupt change of curvature and lower limits for lengths between abrupt changes of curvature are also derailment related. Where there Reverse curves on the Western Main Line from Stockholm to Gothenburg, at the station are small radius curves in opposite directions Katrineholm. In EN 13803 there are no recommendations to avoid reverse curves and (without transition curves, or with exceptionally there is no requirement that the cant gradients must be the same before and after the inflexion point. short intermediate elements), the differences in end throw between two adjacent vehicles may lead to buffer locking and derailment. For vehicles by a lowered permissible speed for the trains, but that is normally without buffers, the risk is that high lateral forces on couplers lead not preferred. to derailment, or damaged couplers and/or gangways.

In some Asian alignment standards, there is a lower limit for the cant gradient. It may be assumed that it has been considered Where are Asian track alignment criteria more unnecessary to use cant gradient below this limit. However, there conservative than the EN Standard? are many situations where a lower cant gradient not only gives It should be recognized that an unnecessary criterion (or an less transient vehicle response, but also is preferred for other unnecessarily conservative criterion) should not be considered as reasons. There may be both slow and fast trains on the line. something “good to have”. An unnecessary criterion pushes away Applied cant is chosen to avoid cant excess for the slow trains, the alignment solution to a “compromise” where at least one of but transition lengths will be dictated by the cant deficiency for the the other criteria becomes non-optimal. fast trains. Another case is where a long circular curve leads into a station, where all trains are stopping. In the beginning of the One such example is the lower limit for a length of an element with constant cant (placed between cant transitions, also called curve the trains are running at high speed, but at the end of the curve, the train speeds will be low. The constant cant on the curve “superelevation ramps”). This criterion, when it becomes should minimise cant excess at low speed, but the length of the binding, pushes the transition curves to be shorter than otherwise possible. Research (simulations of dynamic vehicle response and first transition curve should be designed for trains running at high speed and high cant deficiency. measurements in field tests) shows that short transition curves Some Asian alignment standards specify that on a reverse generate high forces between the wheels and the rails as well as curve with transition curves (a “reverse transition”), the cant passenger discomfort. Off course, these effects can be reduced gradient shall be the same on both sides of the inflexion point. If this cannot be achieved, the two transition curves (and their corresponding cant transitions) shall be separated with a certain length of tangent track.

In many practical design situations, such a requirement causes unnecessary problems. For example, where train speeds vary, cant may be chosen as low as possible in order to avoid (or at least minimise) cant excess for the slower trains.

That means that the length of each transition curve will be dictated by the upper limit for rate of change of cant deficiency for the faster trains. Hence, the requirement to have a constant cant gradient over a reverse transition is counter productive.

Summary

Up Fast and Up Slow on the 4-track railway from Stockholm to Uppsala and Arlanda Airport. In order to minimize land take, the tracks are parallel and running at the normal track spacing. Hence, the transition curves in the two tracks must have the same length. Applied cant is much lower on the Up Slow track (with a platform) than the Up Fast and the cant gradients on the Up slow track are therefore far lower than the lower limit specified by several Asian railways.

There are several criteria which are usually not included in Asian standards for track alignment, which should be taken into consideration. There are criteria in certain Asian standards that are not used in EN 13803. Such criteria may push the design solutions to combinations of alignment parameters that are not preferred.

23

Under Sleeper Pads (USP) in Railway Tracks as a Means to improve Track Quality Thomas Dorfner, VP Asia Pacific Getzner Werkstoffe GmbH, Austria Summary

Modern ballasted railway tracks are faced with a number of challenges in their operations e.g. availability at increased train frequencies and higher velocities, reduction of noise and vibration, increased comfort and smooth train operation, all at reduced maintenance costs, to name just a few. In order to achieve these high operational demands within a feasible cost structure, one has to look into the main causes and the cost drivers.

Under Sleeper Pads (USP) are a logical development among all of the elastic components used today in ballasted railway tracks.

They are a very cost effective and efficient means of alleviating causes like accelerated ballast deterioration, premature change of sleepers, formation of rail corrugation, or component stress fatigue. In addition to the aforementioned applications, they are a technically sound solution, providing required resilience for noise and vibration mitigation.

What are the influencing factors within ballasted railway tracks?

This editorial tries to shed light on the influence of various technical and commercial aspects on the long-term behaviour of ballasted tracks by the use of USP. In today’s omnipresent discussion to reduce costs in all kinds of railway operations, a closer look has to be taken into the root causes. The main cost drivers within track operations according to TU Graz, Institute for Railway Engineering and Transport Economy are: • Initial quality of the track – low standards will lead to premature, frequent maintenance actions, exchange of individual components e.g. rail pads and a significant shortage of the expected life.

• Quality of the subgrade – any shortcomings will contribute to an accelerated deterioration of the super structure and deficiencies will occur repetitively (“Memory Effect”). Any subsequent rectifications are laborious, disruptive and costly.

• Operational hindrance costs – any unforeseen interruptions will cause significant unexpected costs reducing profitability • Type of traffic and quality of rolling stock – will have a mid- to long-term effect on the overall track quality, its maintenance and consequently the cost structure.

24

The overall service life is influenced significantly by the abovementioned parameters, but also by the quality of various individual components, namely ballast, rails and sleepers.

Considering all these causes, parameters and cost factors, a number of measures have already taken place within modern track designs and operational maintenance regimes, such as the use of head-hardened rails, or heavy-duty concrete sleepers. Additionally, data from track recording cars will allow interventions, specifically in areas where attention for special maintenance is required (spot maintenance).

USP as a cost effective means in modern track maintenance economics However, as one of the most significant components, the ballast is still unprotected and receives stress levels through the uneven distribution of dynamic forces occurring during train operations.

As one effective measure, Under Sleeper Pads (USP) have proven to be a cost efficient and effective solution at the interface between the rear side of the PC sleeper bottom and the ballast itself. By using a designed elastic component, various benefits (depending on the problem) are achievable.

For noise and vibration issues, highly elastic USP types with superior dynamic properties are chosen, whereas in areas with severe ballast deterioration or in transition zones, plastic-elastic types are the preferred choice. (see picture 1) However, the working principal for all USP is always the same.

An elastic or plastic-elastic pad introduced between the interface of the sleeper and ballast, is engineered towards increasing the contact area in both, the individual sleeper as well as the adjacent sleepers resulting in a longer, smoother bending line, while SLB Types – Elasto-Plastic USP‘s Indentations from ballast grains, immediately after removal

Indentations from ballast grains, 3 weeks after removal

plastic

elastic

Available from:

MELVELLE EQUIPMENT CORP PTY LTD ABN: 55 123 570 356 10 Rogilla Close WALLSEND NSW 2287 AUSTRALIA P: +61 2 49 515 244 F: +61 2 49 501 291 W: www.melvelle.com.au E: sales@melvelle.com.au

Spike Driver

Spike Puller

Screw Spike

MELVELLE EQUIPMENT

Woodborer

Trackpack System used for Rail Construction and Maintenance

Fast Clipper

Features: • • • •

• • • •

One hydraulic power unit can power 7 different work heads Quick change boom allows easy change over from one work head to another Adjustable counterbalance positioning, minimal operator effort to lift Choice of electric start Honda Petrol or Yanmar Diesel engines Night light option Emergency Stops Guarding Braked machine trolleys, available in any gauge

E-­‐Clip Remover

E-­‐Clipper

Robust / Reliable / Versatile / Counter-­‐balanced work heads / Emergency stops / Quick change over / Dual trigger operation

Distribution of load over higher number of sleepers

Sleepers without USP

Sleepers with USP

maintaining a defined rail deflection. (see picture 2) Hence, all dynamic forces are distributed not only more evenly, but also more homogeneously throughout the track, leading to significantly less stress on the individual components. As a consequence, all individual components within the “Track System” will last longer, require less maintenance and contribute to a better life cycle cost management.

Overall, despite the one-off initial investment for the USP, the cost benefits are seen in the durability of the individual components (exchange of component), in particular the ballast and in reduced maintenance requirements i.e. tamping or ballast cleaning. What must also be taken into account is that a track can only be tamped a maximum of 8 times before the ballast needs to be replaced.

The benefits of USP can be summarised as such: • Increase the contact area between sleepers and ballast from 2-8% to more than 30% (see picture 3) • Stabilising the ballast bed by embedding the top layer of ballast grain into the USP • Eliminate “Voids” between sleeper and ballast causing sleepers to bend laterally beyond their max. design values and break, ballast to deteriorate much faster and consequently destabilise the track (see picture 4) • Reduction in maintenance requirements e.g. tamping or ballast cleaning • Cost effective & initial investment only • Durability (life of the sleeper) • Even load distribution throughout the ballast bed • Levelling different deflections and reduction of torsion effects with turnouts • No limitations in the application i.e. standard straight lines and turnouts as well as in all types of railways e.g. LRT, main lines, heavy haul and high-speed lines • Installation during the sleeper manufacturing (highly industrialised process) Ideally, the total track network should be equipped with USP in order to achieve the most sustainable results and a prolongation in service life at a high track quality. However, in most cases this is either unfeasible or only possible over a long period, during standard maintenance procedures, e.g. sleeper exchange. programs, ballast cleaning procedures or track renewal programs.

One material type that has proven particularly beneficial for this kind of application is Sylomer, a durable Polyurethane (PUR) elastomer, providing versatile, tailor-made properties to meet individual requirements targeted for specific solutions within different ballasted track systems used today.

One way of obtaining an economical approach are “Hot Spot Strategies” aimed at the most critical areas within a given track network. These are areas such as bridges and viaducts, tunnels, narrow curves, transition zones, turnouts, or where counter Increase of contact area between concrete sleeper and ballast

unpadded: 2-8% contact area

26

Increase of contact area between concrete sleeper and ballast ① Load distribution over higher number of sleepers ② Reduction of dynamic forces ③

padded: up to 30-35% contact area

Better Track Quality

Reduction of Voids

measures for noise and vibration issues, which are causing a nuisance to the adjacent environment, are required.

On the other hand, above-average ballast deterioration (e.g. white spot formation), individual component failures, where extensive rail corrugation in tight curves occur, or simply areas of frequent, extraordinary requirements for maintenance due to local circumstances (e.g. rail breakage, drainage issues) are prime additional locations for the application of USP. Within such areas of concern, a positive trend reversal is observed within a relatively short period e.g. 6 to 12 month.

For the best techno-commercial solution, the individual problem areas need to be investigated in order to select the most appropriate type(s) of USP. This will happen quite often in conjunction with an exchange to high quality, stiffness adjusted rail pads.

According to independent research institutes i.e. Institute of Railway Engineering and Transport Economy at University of Technology, Graz, a reduction in life cycle costs of up to 30% is achievable. Tamping intervals and the extension of time between two required tamping operations serve as indicative values for the obtained increased track quality, as demonstrated in the table. (see table 1) Bt/day, track

R < 600

600 > R > 400

400 > R > 250

80.000

2,5 ➔ 5,5

2,0 ➔ 4,5

1,0 ➔ 2,5

55.000

3,0 ➔ 6.5

3,0 ➔ 6,5

2,5 ➔ 5,5

33.000

6,0 ➔ 13,5

5,0 ➔ 11,0

4,0 ➔ 9,0

75.000

2,5 ➔ 5,5

2,0 ➔ 4,5

1,0 ➔ 2,5

70.000

2,5 ➔ 5,5

2,0 ➔ 4,5

1,0 ➔ 2,5

35.000

6,0 ➔ 13,5

5,0 ➔ 11,0

4,0 ➔ 9,0

18.000

8,0 ➔ 18,0

6,0 ➔ 13,5

5,0 ➔ 11,0

Change of tamping intervals [from ➔ to years]

Conclusion

Under Sleeper Pads, undoubtedly provide a modern, cost efficient solution to addressing shortcomings related to track design and track operations. They have proven their efficiency in many different railway tracks worldwide and under various environmental conditions. Related articles, case studies and technical documentation can be obtained upon request.

As a final note on the subject of track quality: “Price does not equal cost”. More importantly cost reduction does not come from using cheaper or low-quality components, it comes from having to replace them (prematurely), not to mention the interruption caused by any extraordinary replacement and the costs of labour connected with it.

For further information, please contact the author at thomas.dorfner@getzner.com.

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