This textbook provides, in a compact form, the very basic knowledge in the science of railway operation in a close connection to signalling principles and traffic control technologies. It was written both as a tutorial for students of railway-related programs and as a reference for people in the industry. Although written from an European point of view, this book tries an independent look at railway operation without concentrating on the operating philosophy of a single railway.

In a rapidly changing world, with increasing competition in all sectors of transportation, railways are in a period of restructuring their management and technology. New methods of organization are introduced, commercial and tariff policies change radically, a more entrepreneurial spirit is required. At the same time, new high-speed tracks are being constructed and old tracks are renewed, high-comfort rolling stock vehicles are being introduced, logistics and combined transport are being developed. Awareness of environmental issues and search for greater safety give to the railways a new role within the transportation system. Meanwhile, methods of analysis have significantly evolved, principally due to computer applications and new ways of thinking and approaching old problems. Therefore it becomes necessary to come up with a new scientific approach to tackle management and engineering aspects of railways, to understand in-depth the origins and inter-relationships of the various situations and phenomena and to suggest the appropriate methods and solutions to solve the various emerging problems. This book aims to cover the need for a new scientific approach for railways. It is written for railway managers, economists and engineers, consulting economists and engineers, students of schools of engineering, transportation and management. The book is divided into three distinct parts: Part A deals with the management of railways, Part B deals with the track and, Part C deals with rolling stock and environmental topics. Each chapter of the book contains the necessary theoretical analysis of the phenomena studied, the recommended solutions, applications, charts and design of the specific railway component. In this way, both the requirement for a theoretical analysis is met, and the need of the railway manager and engineer for tables, nomographs, regulations, etc. is satisfied. Railways in Europe have separated activities of infrastructure from those of operation. In other parts of the world, however, railways remain unified. The book addresses both situation. Railways present great differences in their technologies. Something may be valid for one such technology, but not for another. To overcome this problem, regulations of the International Union of Railways (UIC) as well as European Standardization (CEN) have been used to the greatest extent possible. Whenever a specific technology or method is presented, the limits of its application are clearly emphasized.

Originating from presentations at the 17th International Conference on Railway Engineering Design and Operation, this volume contains selected research works on the topic. It is important to continue to update the use of advanced systems by promoting general awareness throughout the management, design, manufacture and operation of railways and other emerging passenger, freight and transit systems. The included papers help to facilitate this goal and place a key focus on the applications of computer systems in advanced railway engineering. These research studies will be of interest to all those involved in the development of railways, including managers, consultants, railway engineers, designers of advanced train control systems and computer specialists.

This book updates the use of computer-based techniques, promoting their general awareness throughout the business management, design, manufacture and operation of railways and other advanced passenger, freight and transit systems. Including papers from the Tenth International Conference on Computer System Design and Operation in the Railway and Other Transit Systems, the book will be of interest to railway management, consultants, railway engineers (including signal and control engineers), designers of advanced train control systems and computer specialists. Themes of interest include: Planning; Human Factors; Computer Techniques, Management and languages; Decision Support Systems; Systems Engineering; Electromagnetic Compatibility and Lightning; Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety (RAMS); Freight; Advanced Train Control; Train Location; CCTV/Communications; Operations Quality; Timetables; Traffic Control; Global Navigation using Satellite Systems; Online Scheduling and Dispatching; Dynamics and Wheel/Rail Interface; Power Supply; Traction and Maglev; Obstacle Detection and Collision Analysis; Railway Security.

This book promotes the use of mathematical optimization and operations research methods in rail transportation. The editors assembled thirteen contributions from leading scholars to present a unified voice, standardize terminology, and assess the state-of-the-art. There are three main clusters of articles, corresponding to the classical stages of the planning process: strategic, tactical, and operational. These three clusters are further subdivided into five parts which correspond to the main phases of the railway network planning process: network assessment, capacity planning, timetabling, resource planning, and operational planning. Individual chapters cover: Simulation Capacity Assessment Network Design Train Routing Robust Timetabling Event Scheduling Track Allocation Blocking Shunting Rolling Stock Crew Scheduling Dispatching Delay Propagation