Railways transportation is the means of transfer of passengers and goods using railway systems. It is the safest mode of transit. A railways system is a complex form of engineering. Each system has two major components- the rolling stock or locomotives, and the rail tracks along with their supporting structures and ancillary buildings. Railway signalling is an essential aspect of railway transportation. Railway transportation engineering is responsible for the design, construction and operation of rail transport systems. It encompasses the design and implementation of train control systems, railway systems engineering, control and railway engineering, etc. Efficient railway transportation ensures the continuation of functional supply chain and population mobility. Railway reliability is threatened by an aging infrastructure, security threats, increasing freight costs and inadequate capacity, research in railways transportation systems and engineering is most pertinent in today's scenario. The objective of this book is to give a general view of the different railway transportation systems, and their engineering. It covers in detail some existing theories and innovative concepts revolving around railway transportation. This book is a resource guide for experts as well as students.

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.

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.