VERY HIGH SPEED RUNNING AND TRACK DESIGN

Since the opening of the TGV-Atlantique in 1989, the maximum speed on a commercial operation has been in Europe of 300 km/h. In Japan, the mentioned level of performance was reached in 1997. However, the new line Madrid-Barcelona has been projected to allow maximum speeds of up to 350 km/h. This decision has not been motivated by the wish of breaking a record. It has been simply the consequence of a commercial need: reach a journey time of 2h15 between both cities, located at a distance of 680 km. Only with this level of performance it will be possible to obtain a market share of 60% with respect to the airplane, justifying, at least partially, the investment done on railway. In this context, the current paper has a double purpose: the first, to expound, within the actual state of the knowledge, the theoretical reflections carried out to have a track and a vehicle the most suitable possible to the mentioned speed of 350 km/h; the second, to show the results obtained during the tests at 350 km/h, regarding track vertical loads. The conclusions deduced from the research accomplished show that, with the measures adopted for the track and vehicle, it will not be expected a relevant increase on the maintenance costs of the Madrid-Barcelona line, compared to the ones found on the Madrid-Sevilla high speed line. For the covering abstract see ITRD E123761.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0947644512
• Corporate Authors:

  ENGINEERING TECHNICS PRESS

  46 CLUNY GARDENS
  EDINBURGH,   United Kingdom  EH10 6BN
• Authors:
  • LOPEZ PITA, E A
  • FONSECA TEIXEIRA, P
• Publication Date: 2003

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 8 p.
• Monograph Title: EMBEDDED SLAB TRACK TEST TRACK IN SPAIN: CONSTRUCTION OF A LOW MAINTENANCE CONCRETE SLAB TRACK
• Serial:
  • PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION RAILWAY ENGINEERING 2003, HELD LONDON, UK, 30 APRIL - 1 MAY 2003 - CDROM
  • Publisher: ENGINEERING TECHNICS PRESS

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Conferences; Consumer preferences; Design; Economic factors; Economics; High speed ground transportation; High speed vehicles; Modal split; Mode choice; Railroad tracks; Railroad trains; Railroad transportation; Speed; Transportation; Travel demand; Travel time; Trip length
• Geographic Terms: Spain
• ITRD Terms: 287: Attractiveness (transp); 8525: Conference; 9011: Design (overall design); 263: Economics of transport; 1163: High speed; 697: Journey time; 675: Modal split; 1173: Rail bound transport; 1062: Railway track; 8105: Spain; 1268: Train
• Subject Areas: Design; Economics; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00985587
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• ISBN: 0-947644-51-2
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Feb 4 2005 12:00AM