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This contribution explores the role of political institutions in shaping railway policies in Italy between the war years and the early years of the Italian Republic. During this transitional period, Italy was faced with the need to rebuild and modernise its railway system after the devastating effects of the Second World War. The policies implemented reflected a commitment to upgrading existing infrastructure and building new railway lines in order to improve the connectivity and mobility of people and goods on a national and international scale. Railway policies adopted have contributed significantly to Italy’s socio-economic development, providing an important impetus for the modernisation and growth of the national railway system. However, much work remains to be done to address current and future challenges and to ensure that rail transport continues to play a central role in the country’s future sustainable development.

About half of all line haul freight capacity in Europe is on trucks, which generate congestion, high infrastructure costs, and environmental degradation. That does not detract from the fact that transport is indispensable to economic progress, which includes the growth in welfare. The technology of machine learning is rapidly maturing. This builds on the broad availability of relevant data in the physical sphere of road and rail freight transport. The state of the art in this technology and its application in supporting better-informed decision-making in transport, with particular reference to truck and rail freight, is reviewed. The nature of prediction, the importance, and the complexities of various paradigms of pattern recognition, clustering of dependent observations, and path optimization are explained. It is discussed how these can drive growth in capacity by rendering transport more efficient and hence more cost-effective, without the need to compromise on environmental and social cohesion goals. All this requires a professional mindset, the establishment of skill sets, and the solution to ethical issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many scientific studies related to the functioning of safety management systems, but they often focus on situations within business entities. The area of safety, however, is also shaped by advisory institutions, publishers, universities and regulators. In this study, we described the interface between the railway safety regulator in one of the EU Member States and the business entities supervised by it. In order to achieve this, we conducted 12 semi-structured interviews with the regulator's employees responsible for performing inspections. It can be concluded that an inspection resembles a theatre stage where everyone plays their part. During an inspection, inspectors adopt the approach of an advisor or a guard, depending on their subjective feelings about the course of the inspection. The obtained results were discussed along with the regulator's management and used to assess the effectiveness of the activities undertaken by the regulator in the given area during the last few years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the impact of rail market liberalization on the energy intensity of rail in relation to the export of goods, as well as the identification of multidimensional cause-and-effect relationships between rail energy intensity and the importing country's economic condition, transport performance, and transport distance. Three research questions were formulated: (1) Does the liberalization of the EU transport market and the implementation of a sustainable transport policy contribute to minimizing the energy consumption of rail transport? (2) Does the pursuit of economic growth allow for reducing the energy intensity of goods exported by rail transport in global trade? (3) Is there a justified paradigm for shifting long-distance freight transport from roads to rail? This study concerned 21 directions of the export of goods transported by rail from Poland to partner countries (worldwide) in 2010–2020. A panel model of rail transport energy consumption with random effects was constructed. As a result of rail market liberalization, the export of goods transported by rail across great distances occurs without harming economic development and leads to a reduction in energy intensity. On this basis, key strategies were formulated to promote rail transport in reducing the energy intensity of the transport sector. The authors filled the research gap by identifying the relationship between the energy intensity of exports of goods by rail transport in value terms, depending on the European transport market's liberalization process, the importing countries' economic situation, transport volume, and distance. The presented approach is innovative and can be adapted to the analysis of other modes of transport, including road transport, and other countries (and their structure and export directions). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of the study was to develop a method for identifying the components of a time series disrupted by crisis events, allowing for evaluation, comparison and short-term forecasting of the impact of such situations. The article, using mathematical modelling, analyses and evaluates the impact of the pandemic and war on rail transport using Poland as an example. Three methods of local trend matching were used: locally estimated trend, locally estimated trend with seasonal components, locally estimated trend with locally estimated seasonal components. The study showed that the effects of the crisis are still felt today, but their impact on individual types of transport varied, and what's more, differences were also visible depending on the item being transported. Passengers, despite the introduction of high sanitary standards, severely limited their mobility. The freight transport market turned out to be more resistant to the impact of the pandemic, but both the pandemic and the war in Ukraine affected the volume of goods transported. The article presents a method that allows to identify time series disturbed by crisis events and therefore difficult to describe and make reliable forecasts. The method proposed by the authors is an innovative answer to the problems of identifying very variable series and can also be used in the analysis of other issues in which time series have been disturbed in a sudden and unexpected way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tunnel Construction / Suidao Jianshe (Zhong-Yingwen Ban) is the property of Tunnel Construction Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The mainline railways in Australia were initially built in three different gauges, with 'breaks-of-gauge' where passengers and goods transferred between them. This paper studies how the gauge situation affected regional development and the railway network in the 20th century. Regional breaks-of-gauge caused substantial local growth, with population and employment increasing by around 50% within a decade of them opening. However, these effects were unwound within two decades of a break-of-gauge being closed. There is little evidence of gauge segmentation causing different paces of regional development. The gauge muddle also appears to have limited the extent of the railway network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Storms (thunderstorms or windstorms) are common meteorological phenomena in Europe. They produce rain, lightning, strong winds or hail and are capable of causing serious failures in rail transport. We identified 14,786 incidents associated with storms, which took place on the Czech rail network between 2002 and 2021. This represented 5% of all reported rail incidents in Czechia over the monitored period. Using the exact binomial test and a grid covering each combination of month and hour, we found that these incidents were concentrated between May and August in the early morning and afternoon hours. Most of the rail problems were concentrated on only a small number of days, indicating the significant impact of severe storms. The incidents (82%) were associated with rail device failures and/or power outages, such as malfunctions of switches, signals or communication and safety devices. In addition, tree falls on rail infrastructure were also common. The total train delay time exceeded 3917 h, and in some cases rail traffic was even completely disrupted. Based on the findings, which provide unique insight into the impacts of storms on railways, mitigation measures are discussed. This is particularly important given climate change, which may lead to an increased likelihood of severe weather and associated damage in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rail transport (RT) has a significant share in intermodal chains, so intermodal transport (IT) quality largely depends on RT services' quality. On the other side, the quality of these services depends on many infrastructural-technological, organizational and regulatory-institutional factors. The impact of these factors on the service quality and IT is not easy to precisely quantify. Fuzzy systems are a suitable mathematical tool for solving this task, considering that they provide the possibility of imprecise evaluation of variables. In this paper, a fuzzy system-based model for evaluating the impact of RT services' quality on IT quality is defined. Applying it to the example of Serbia, it was established that this influence in this country is neutral/dual.

This paper proposes a methodology aimed at identifying the main factors affecting the rail sector in the new normal scenario, referring to the post-pandemic era, where the transportation system has experienced significant changes. Indeed, a survey was designed, and a questionnaire was submitted to a sample of employees of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (Italian State Railway company). Then, a ranking of these factors was identified through the estimation of a Structural Equation Model (SEM). Results showed that the areas of Energy and Environment, Lifestyle, and Economy will positively affect the future of rail in the new normal scenario. This study offers insights into the dynamics of the rail sector's adaptation to post-pandemic conditions. By highlighting the factors that play a crucial role in shaping the future of rail transportation, this research suggests innovative strategies and policy initiatives to foster sustainable growth and resilience in the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this article is to examine if there is a correlation between the level of prosperity of Polish regions and their transport network. Design/methodology/approach: Literature studies were carried out, statistical data were analyzed, as well as selected case studies. Findings: There is a clear correlation between regions GDP and their transport network. Research limitations/implications: The author also sees interesting directions for further research in the future – related to the interconnection of macroeconomic and transport indicators. Practical/social implications: With the rapidly increasing level of motorization, the question of the efficiency of public transport is returning. While the role of public transport in urban centres is undisputed, it is much more difficult for agglomeration, metropolitan and regional transport to organise an efficient (cost and spatial) transport network. Thus, many questions arise: about the way of organising transport at the local government level or the possibility of financing. The author reviews two key public transport sub-systems: regional rail and air transport, and analyses the basic data on regional development, looking for interconnections. Originality/value: An attempt to link economic indicators (GDP level) with transport indicators (infrastructure use, passenger transport statistics). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution explores the role of political institutions in shaping railway policies in Italy between the war years and the early years of the Italian Republic. During this transitional period, Italy was faced with the need to rebuild and modernise its railway system after the devastating effects of the Second World War. The policies implemented reflected a commitment to upgrading existing infrastructure and building new railway lines in order to improve the connectivity and mobility of people and goods on a national and international scale. Railway policies adopted have contributed significantly to Italy's socio-economic development, providing an important impetus for the modernisation and growth of the national railway system. However, much work remains to be done to address current and future challenges and to ensure that rail transport continues to play a central role in the country's future sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides a comprehensive environmental impact assessment of different train types in Morocco, including passenger-only, goods-only, and mixed-use services. Through a comparative evaluation based on climate change, respiratory effects, and acidification/eutrophication, we find that passenger-only trains exhibit the highest environmental impact across all categories due to their high energy consumption and emissions. Conversely, goods-only and mixed-use trains display markedly lower environmental impacts, emphasizing the role of service type and operational efficiency in mitigating environmental harm. Our findings underscore the need for strategic optimization in train services, particularly passenger-only operations, and open the door for comprehensive economic and environmental assessments of alternative train technologies and fuel mixtures in the context of Morocco's decarbonization plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The connection between Europe and Asia has always been important for the flow of materials and intellectual goods. Hungary is in an important position in Central Europe to connect different key ports and logistics hubs. Therefore, this article aims to analyse the opportunities and impacts of the New Silk Road initiative on the supply chain and transportation network in Hungary. This result showed that the existence of the New Silk Road gives huge opportunities for different supply-chain-related activities and initiatives, especially for the Hungarian automotive industry. Specifically, the New Silk Road has the potential to enable the advantages and positive impact of rail transport activities in Hungarian automotive supply chains by providing a long-term competitive solution as an alternative to maritime transport while mitigating several related risks and increasing the domestic supply chain's resilience. Consequentially, the New Silk Road initiative may affect the supply chains and transportation route networks of several European and Asian nations, including Hungary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capital needs transportation channels. Following successful communication and cooperation with Central Asian and European states, the China railway express (CRE) has been built by central and western cities. This new international freight service will greatly enhance the transport conditions in the central and western cities. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct an in-depth analysis of the impact of CRE operations on foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in the central and western regions. For analyses, a panel data of 152 Chinese cities from 2008 to 2020 is used and staggered difference in differences (DID) model is applied as a quasi-natural experiment. The results demonstrated that the operation of the CRE had a positive and significant impact on FDI inflows in the central and western cities, particularly in western cities, large cities, and non-resource based cities in China. Mechanism analysis shows that CRE operations can enhance the ability to attract foreign investment in the central and western regions through the promotion of industrial agglomeration and the expansion of market size. Therefore, the government should actively optimize the layout of CRE transportation routes and establish an inter-regional coordinating mechanism for freight sources, thus allowing the radiating effect of CRE central cities to reach out to peripheral cities.

The road transport systems have a direct impact on both passenger and freight movements, leading towards negative environmental effects plus economical and societal costs. It has reached an alarming level. Afford to purchase more than one vehicle by an individual who can pay for it may solve the transportation problem for them; however, not everyone has a personal vehicle for movement. Moreover, providing public transport facilities to everyone on a demand basis or on time basis is not possible for several reasons. Further, personal or commercial vehicles are not being used all the time or not carrying passengers in full though it can afford with the number of seats available. One possible solution is to share these vehicles for minimising the number of vehicles and to ensure the effective use of vehicles. Thus, the shared transport systems, such as ride-sharing, car-sharing, car-pooling, or bike-sharing are the promising choice to facilitate good accessibilities to the city or urban living population, especially in a densely populated area. In this paper, we have worked with such shared transport options by collecting data through an online survey and analysed data in various ways. We have also designed and developed a decision support system for this data to offer the city planners in Western Australia to make informed decisions about the future transportation systems for their people. Finally, we have predicted on the use of rail transport, for example, how a train station can be used to facilitate the shared transport options for better accessibility.

Currently, unmanned aerial vehicles are increasingly being used in the oil and gas industry, agriculture, electric power, construction and architecture, mining, and urban economy. The number of works carried out using unmanned vehicles is increasing: aerial photography, laser scanning, gas analysis, multispectral photography and others. The organization of the functioning of unmanned logistics corridors on public roads is underway. Unmanned vehicles for technological transportation are increasingly being used in the territories of factories. The state sets a large-scale task for the specialists of the transport industry to develop unmanned transport. In order to conduct research in this area, it is necessary to clearly trace the main guidelines of state policy in the field of unmanned transport, to represent the field of development of the transport industry. The article analyzes the state policy aimed at the development and maintenance of unmanned systems in the aviation, railway, and automotive industries. The regulatory and legislative framework regulating the possibility of creating and operating unmanned vehicles in the Russian Federation is given. One of the problems of the use of drones is the lack of legal regulation of their use in the transport complex of the country. Currently, programs and documents regulating the development of unmanned systems are being implemented and planned for implementation at the state level: “Strategy for the development of unmanned aviation of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030 and for the future up to 2035”, “Transport Strategy of the Russian Federation up to 2030 with a forecast for the period up to 2035”, Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation “On the establishment of an experimental Legal Regime in the Field of digital innovations and Approval of the Program of an experimental legal Regime in the Field of Digital innovations for the Operation of Highly Automated Vehicles in relation to the implementation of the initiative “Unmanned Logistics Corridors” on the Federal Highway M-11 “Neva”, etc. For the possibility of using unmanned vehicles in the Russian Federation, interdepartmental interaction of federal executive authorities is necessary. The state policy in the field of creation, production and operation of unmanned systems is aimed, among other things, at the development of human resources, training of specialists with interdisciplinary knowledge.

As travel restrictions ease amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a revival of traffic congestion is observed caused by the increased use of private vehicles. To help alleviate this, return to public transport use is encouraged. Given the positive relationship between passenger satisfaction and their recurrent use of public transit, it is then recommended to improve the service quality offered by these systems. This paper illustrates the use of a combination of principal component analysis and ordinal logistic regression in determining how satisfaction with rail transport service quality affects passengers' usage frequency with Bangkok's mass rapid transit system as a case study. The results show that satisfaction with ticket sales, station facilities, station staff, public relations, and rolling stock significantly affect passengers' recurrent use of the rail transport system. It is also determined that among these indicators, the station facilities, rolling stock, and station staff are found to contribute greatly to the marginal effects on the probability of observing more frequent use compared to less frequent use. It is then recommended that these factors be prioritized and further improved to produce higher levels of passenger satisfaction, and consequently, increased ridership of the rail transport system. The findings of this study can also be beneficial for public agencies and rail transport operators with regard to policy and decision making amid and in the transition out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This article discusses the impact of rail market liberalization on the energy intensity of rail in relation to the export of goods, as well as the identification of multidimensional cause-and-effect relationships between rail energy intensity and the importing country’s economic condition, transport performance, and transport distance. Three research questions were formulated: (1) Does the liberalization of the EU transport market and the implementation of a sustainable transport policy contribute to minimizing the energy consumption of rail transport? (2) Does the pursuit of economic growth allow for reducing the energy intensity of goods exported by rail transport in global trade? (3) Is there a justified paradigm for shifting long-distance freight transport from roads to rail? This study concerned 21 directions of the export of goods transported by rail from Poland to partner countries (worldwide) in 2010–2020. A panel model of rail transport energy consumption with random effects was constructed. As a result of rail market liberalization, the export of goods transported by rail across great distances occurs without harming economic development and leads to a reduction in energy intensity. On this basis, key strategies were formulated to promote rail transport in reducing the energy intensity of the transport sector. The authors filled the research gap by identifying the relationship between the energy intensity of exports of goods by rail transport in value terms, depending on the European transport market’s liberalization process, the importing countries’ economic situation, transport volume, and distance. The presented approach is innovative and can be adapted to the analysis of other modes of transport, including road transport, and other countries (and their structure and export directions).

Background. This article identifies the main tourist centers of the Arkhangelsk region; developed options for tourist routes and additions to tours; describes the specifics of the application; assessed the relevance of the application for JSC “Russian Railways” and third-party organizations. Materials and methods. Methods of mathematical modeling, system analysis, comparison, systems theory, visualization, observation, statistical method were used. Results: it is established that the development of the scientific and technological potential and the innovative ecosystem of the holding allows ensuring the effectiveness of the company’s activities taking into account technical, technological, economic, socio-political challenges in the domestic and foreign markets. Conclusion. The article proposes the concept of a virtual platform in the field of passenger multimodal transportation, where the passenger himself could prepare a tourist trip taking into account individual needs.

The European Railway Agency has formulated assumptions for a target model of rail transport. Its important premise is digitalization to support the communication and transport services that the railways will make available to the public in the future. Part of the digitalization process is the digital description of the railway infrastructure in a formalized form to allow algorithmic processing. The formal description of infrastructure is not a new issue. However, attempts made so far have not resulted in a permanent definition of a generally accessible formalism allowing for a coherent representation of the physical railway infrastructure in a digital form. This paper presents the results of work carried out within the research project Digital Railway-The Digital Twin of the ETCS Application-Virtual Prototyping and Simulation of Operational Scenarios.

The purpose of the article is to identify the tasks of developing urban transport infrastructure and changing the transport behavior of passengers. Urban transport should allow solving the following tasks: the possibility of planning the travel time, ensuring the reliability and safety of the trip, creating conditions for the availability of transport services at their cost, safety and comfort, as well as providing transport services at minimal economic costs. In the process of applying analytical research methods, actual problems of urban infrastructure have been identified and directions for solving these problems have been proposed. Human transport behavior in the conditions of rapid development of information and communication technologies has been analyzed. The growing digitalization leads to the creation of a wide variety of proposals for the implementation of mobility and its use. In addition to multimodality, this also applies to suggestions for information support and organization of systems.

Rail transport is one of the branches of transport included in the group of land transport, and its operation is related to the transport of people and cargo by means of rail transport on a specially designated railroad built for this purpose. The article presents the classification of transported cargo in rail transport, the characteristics of the rail transport market in Europe, as well as the results of the analysis of the rail transport volume in Poland in 2010-2021. This analysis included an assessment of the following features: mass of transported cargo, performed transport and operational work, the average distance of cargo transport for a group of cargo transported by rail and the volume of intermodal transport. The obtained results allowed to conclude that the transport of goods by rail is systematically increasing. Moreover, intermodal transport is developing well.

The presented study is focused on the modification of commercially available epoxy resin with flame retardants by means of using natural substances, including quercetin hydrate and potato starch. The main aim was to obtain environmentally friendly material dedicated to rail transport that is resistant to the aging process during exploitation but also more prone to biodegradation in environmental conditions after usage. Starch is a natural biopolymer that can be applied as a pro-ecological filler, which may contribute to degradation in environmental conditions, while quercetin hydrate is able to prevent a composite from premature degradation during exploitation. To determine the aging resistance of the prepared materials, the measurements of hardness, color, mechanical properties and surface free energy were performed before and after solar aging. To assess the mechanical properties of the composite material, one-directional tensile tests were performed for three directions (0, 90, 45 degrees referred to the plate edges). Moreover, the FT-IR spectra of pristine and aged materials were obtained to observe the changes in chemical structure. Furthermore, thermogravimetric analysis was conducted to achieve information about the impact of natural substances on the thermal resistance of the achieved composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: The article presents the results of research carried out as part of one of the project's tasks, aiming to develop training scenarios for selected workstations related to the operation of passenger rail transport. The article aims to present the results of a training experiment to verify the effectiveness of the developed training scenario for conductors regarding lift operations for people with disabilities. (2) Methods: The study used an analysis of the execution times of individual training tasks, accompanying observation, face-to-face interviews, and a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of various training strategies. The research was carried out following the developed five-stage research procedure. (3) Results: The obtained research results confirm the benefits of using virtual reality in training conductors and allow for determining the most effective training strategy. The measurements of the execution times of individual training operations made it possible to identify the tasks in the training program that were the most time-consuming or characterized by highly diversified execution times. (4) Conclusions: Based on the research, it was possible to develop recommendations regarding the changes that should be introduced in the training tool to better adapt to the real conditions of service operations. The effectiveness of using this form of training in relation to the improvement of a selected group of employees was confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper first examines the UK Department for Transport's top-level planning for transport big data and UK rail data access, including the Department's proposed directions for big data applications, transport data sets and data fusion. It then summarizes such information as data statistics, Data Portal Services and data application developed and provided to the public by UK's rail regulator Office of Rail and Road and UK's rail operator Network Rail. It finally puts forward suggestions on the application and development of the big data in China's rail transport industry from the perspective of building the rail transport data set, constructing the data portal for rail transport, and promoting the opening sharing of relevant data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Producao Online is the property of Associacao Brasileira de Engenharia de Producao and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper presented studies on reducing traction energy consumption with a decrease in the weight of an all-metal gondola car. Based on the proposed mathematical criterion, a new form of a blind floor was obtained, which makes it possible to reduce the weight of an all-metal gondola car. The aim of the paper was to reduce traction energy consumption with a decrease in the weight of an all-metal gondola car. For an all-metal gondola car with a modified form of a blind floor, strength studies were performed based on the finite element method. The equivalent stresses of the blind floor of an all-metal gondola car were 140.6 MPa, and the equivalent strains were 7.08 × 10−4. The margin of safety of the blind floor of an all-metal gondola car was 1.57. The weight of an all-metal gondola car with a modified form of a blind floor was reduced by 5.1% compared to a typical all-metal gondola car. For an all-metal gondola car with a modified form of a blind floor, a comparison was made of the traction energy consumption with typical all-metal gondola cars. Traction energy consumption with empty all-metal gondola cars were reduced by 2.5–3.1%; with loaded all-metal gondola cars by 2.4–7.3%, depending on the travel time interval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents preliminary tests on a capacitively coupled wireless energy-transfer system (C-WET). Significant emphasis has been placed on discerning the fundamental characteristics of the system. This allowed the simulation model to be refined and the parameters of the physical prototype to be fine-tuned. Then, start-up tests of the prototype of the power supply system were presented, up to about 25% of the rated power. Selected simulation and laboratory test results are presented and directions for further work are set. The system is envisaged for underground mining applications, and the work is being carried out as part of the HEET II (High-Efficiency Energy Transfer) project, funded by the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As rail transportation continues to advance, it provides significant convenience to the public. However, the environmental vibration and noise generated during its operation have become major concerns for residents living near rail lines. In response to these concerns, the "Law on the Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution" was promulgated in China, bringing attention to this issue within the rail transportation sector. This review summarizes the regular features observed in environmental vibration and secondary structural noise tests on different sections, including embankment sections, bridge sections, underground railroads and vehicle sections. Furthermore, it introduces several physical models utilized in the study of environmental vibration and secondary structural noise, focusing on three key aspects: excitation sources, propagation paths and the modelling of building structures. This paper also explores the introduction of data-driven models related to big data and artificial intelligence to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of research in this field and provides an overview of commonly used measures to control train-induced environmental vibrations and secondary noise in buildings. These measures are discussed in terms of excitation sources, propagation paths, and receivers, offering insights into effective strategies for mitigating the impact of rail transportation on nearby residents. Finally, this study highlights the primary findings and offers pertinent recommendations. These recommendations include considerations regarding both laboratory and on-site testing procedures, challenges associated with the deployment of data-driven models and key parameters for designing and utilizing low-stiffness fasteners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although envisaged as the means of delivering an attractive and efficient mode of public transport, Sri Lanka Railways (SLR) has incurred a financial shortfall since the mid-1900s. To overcome this financial shortfall SLR, a government department needs to adopt strategies that enhance its total revenue or reduce recurrent expenditure. Passenger revenue and freight revenue are major components of the total revenue of SLR. These are determined by fares and the volume of passenger and freight transport. This study examines the impact of government controls on railway fares on the financial shortfall of SLR. To do this, it analyses the effects of the railway passenger and freight revenue components of the financial statements from 1977 to 2018. An in-depth descriptive and graphical analysis is performed using secondary data to find the impact of these variables. The study ascertains that the long-term financial shortfall of SLR is attributable to two factors: SLR charges relatively low passenger fares charged by SLR compared with public bus transport, and it does not revise its fares in line with changes in the bus. This study recommends that decision-makers and planners formulate a railway fare policy that is revised in line with bus fares and adopt measures to enhance the quality and level of service delivered by SLR.

Railway rolling stock must meet the requirements related to its use in the transportation process. The significance of these requirements can be determined using expert testing methods. The current research offers a framework of 9 criteria, which have been developed by the authors of the study, and which contribute to a comprehensive assessment of their importance and priority in relation to each other using expert evaluation methods. The normalised weights of the criteria were determined using Average Rank Transformation Into Weight Linear (ARTIW-L), Average Rank Transformation Into Weight Non-linear (ARTIW-N) and Direct Percentage Weight (DPW) methods. The criteria were given ranks and percentage weights by 18 experts with consistent opinions, which made it reasonable to consider the average of the experts’ opinions as the outcome of the task. The normalised weights of the criteria have shown that the most important issues for the experts included passenger and crew safety (0.1619), passenger and train staff ride comfort (0.1330) and environmental protection (0.1201). The least important criteria for the experts cover the range per one electric charge or full tank of fuel (0.0776), the dynamic performance of the traction rolling stock (0.0849), and the purchase price, the rebate system, the duration of the warranty period (0.0911). The other 3 criteria are of medium importance. The outcomes of this study can be used in deciding on the best alternative for rail traction rolling stock.

Detection of the current location of rail vehicles in the railway infrastructure network determines the safety, efficiency and reliability of rail transport. In addition, it indirectly affects the safety at rail-road crossings, i.e. also the BRD (Road Safety). In terms of efficiency and reliability of transport systems, the ability to detect a moving vehicle can improve the effective capacity of railway lines. As in the case of technical diagnostics, effective recognition of the current state of the transport network determines the efficiency of the transport system. The development of railways, with particular emphasis on high-speed railways, makes it necessary to modernize and improve railway traffic control devices and systems. A special area of development, ensuring the safe and effective use of rail transport, is the detection and location of rail vehicles moving on the railway infrastructure. The ability to determine the precise location of a rail vehicle is a key element in the reliable operation of rail transport. Therefore, in the field of devices and systems for the detection and location of rail vehicles, many studies and analyzes are carried out to develop existing or create new solutions dedicated to positioning rail vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Operating the China Railway Express (CRE) is a primary strategy for promoting international trade and investment between China and Europe. Since the inception of the CRE in 2011, the number of operational routes and connected cities has steadily increased. This study investigates the impact of the establishment of the CRE on foreign direct investment inflows in Chinese prefecture-level cities. To perform our analysis, we used panel data of 250 cities in China from 2004 to 2018, and applied the difference in differences (DID) model as a quasi-natural experiment. The results demonstrated that the operation of the CRE had a positive and significant impact on urban FDI inflows, particularly in small and medium-sized cities, low-income cities, and inland cities in China. The robustness of the results was verified using the DIDM and PSM-DID methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most-used railway track geometry measurement systems are considered in this study. The advantages and disadvantages of considered systems and the necessity and application of these technologies in European railways were examined. The decisive factors of the operation of measurement equipment were considered. Real-time railway track condition monitoring systems were evaluated by 14 experts according to a scale of 13 criteria. Questionnaire data were processed using Kendall's rank correlation method, and the mean ranks were normalized using the average rank transformation into weight method. The most relevant evaluation criteria describing the principles of operation and quality of the most promising technologies were defined. The most important criteria for assessing the suitability of technologies were determined by applying the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution. Finally, basic conclusions and recommendations were formulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The final model for rail transportation is the introduction of full digitalization to support communication and transport services, which will be available to the public in the future. The process of digitalization is based on models that reproduce the real physical structures present in the transport network. Due to the high complexity of the structure and its mapping, it is necessary to find methods that automatically verify the proposed created model. This approach supports manual activities that, at this moment, are not sufficient. Automatization's description requires a formal approach. Such a description has been developed as part of a research project, "The Digital Railway. The digital twin of the ETCS application. Virtual prototyping and simulation of operational scenarios." In this paper, a formal model of the ETCS application has been proposed, and a formal approach to its verification is described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]