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Australian railway histories are dominated by narratives of engineering triumphs, colonial expansion into empty land, and bringing civilisation and development through railway infrastructure. These settler‐colonial stories can be read back on themselves as histories and geographies of Aboriginal dispossession and colonial possession. Indeed, Aboriginal people, lands, waterways, and cultures have always been implicated in railway infrastructures, willingly or not. Aboriginal people’s entanglements with the New South Wales railways, to which we refer as “rail relations,” have involved dispossession, removal, employment, mobility, and travel, including the forced removal of children known as the Stolen Generations. These are relations of harm, loss, and grief but also of pride, connectivity, and survival. We argue in this paper that when Aboriginal communities engage in storying the New South Wales railways as Aboriginal they reassemble this infrastructure otherwise: not just as a tool of dispossession but also as life affirming. Indigenous storytelling can therefore overcome settler colonial erasure and the oversimplification of railway infrastructure hi/stories. Research about how Aboriginal lives have been interconnected with railways expansion and development is limited. While Aboriginal railway stories are continuously told within communities, they remain almost entirely silenced elsewhere. Overcoming the invisibility of Aboriginal rail relations is crucial as both truth‐telling of the past and to ensure more just infrastructural outcomes now and in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the perspectives of passengers who were railway users and how railways as a service can be uplifted with technological advancements through the introduction of information and communication technologies (ICTs). For this purpose, a questionnaire was designed comprised of six sections related to information on socio-economic-demographics, travel, station facilities, train facilities, customer care, and familiarity with and benefits of ICTs. A total of 800 respondents were recruited on trains and in railway stations to collect data through a random sampling technique. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, factor analysis, bivariate correlation analysis, and ordered logistic regression analysis. The three hypotheses tested showed that (i) there is a correlation between socio-demographic factors, train frequency, and satisfaction levels, (ii) satisfaction with station and train facilities and customer care impacts users' travel likelihood with the train service, and (iii) users' familiarity with perceived benefits of ICTs influences passengers' travel likelihood with the train service. The results indicate that the users' satisfaction with attributes of station facilities, train facilities, and customer care and perceptions about ICTs significantly influences their travel frequency with the train service. This study is useful for multiple stakeholders, especially for railway management authorities, to provide inclusive services to passengers and to plan for future transportation, which should be well-equipped with ICTs, well-integrated with other transport modes, and well-connected with optimum stops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The opening of Spain's first railway in 1848 inaugurated a short-lived period of railway euphoria that consumed the imaginations of Spaniards and resulted in the rapid development of nearly 5,000 km of track. While most historians of Spain's nineteenth century concede that the effort failed to trigger the industrialization many had hoped for, it did stimulate the minds of those primed to fantasize about the Spanish future then being constructed with iron and steam. Fueling these dreams of a hyper-modernized future was the dark specter of Spanish decline, a narrative with roots in the seventeenth century and an influential cultural force in the nineteenth. Nineteenth-century railway boosters and journalists frequently conjured up stirring images of a prostrate Spain being lifted out of the mire of decline and re-joining the nations of Europe. This article explores how popular anticipation at the prospect of railways prompted an infectious feeling of possibility that echoed across Spain and promised, if only for a bright and fleeting moment, to ease Spanish insecurities and allow the nation to finally free itself of the terrible burden of its past failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: The presented results are intended for inclusion in the national methodology for the economic evaluation of railway infrastructure projects. This contribution is focused on the presentation of individual research results aimed at evaluating the socio-economic impacts associated with increasing the safety and reliability of the railway transport route. The goal of the research is to propose and subsequently verify an original approach for assessing the impact of the implementation of investment projects, including measures aimed at increasing the safety and reliability of railway transport routes, on the resulting number of occurrences that happen on the railway in the Czech Republic. The proposed procedure is based on several key documents. In addition to already existing national methodologies, these are mainly the database of occurrences managed by the Railway Administration of the Czech Republic, including approximately 1000 occurrences for each year of the evaluated period (2009–2018), and information on 33 projects on the railway transport route, where the effects of their implementation on the overall frequency of occurrences are examined events in the subject location. The output of the research is a methodical approach for assessing the impact of the implementation of projects aimed at increasing the safety and reliability of the railway transport route. We perceive the impact on the occurrences from the point of view of the frequency of their occurrence and from the point of view of the socio-economic impacts that are achieved as a result of the implementation of the projects. From the point of view of the frequency of occurrence, a reduction in its value of 4.63% was found. As part of the research, the impact on the occurrence of extraordinary events is also assessed in the context of the scope of the railway transport route, both with regard to the length of the reconstructed track and also with regard to traffic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa has a complex history of racialized (im)mobilities. During the social engineering of apartheid, the city became a racialized white space that was dependent on black migrant workers who were forced to live in the marginal spaces on the edge of the city. This daily commute was enabled through the construction of public transportation systems and commuter railways. This mundane and banal form of mobility became a key site of both repression and resistance during the apartheid era. The present article explores how these racialized railway mobilities were represented during the 'Drum decade' of the 1950s in South Africa. It explores how the short story, as a liminal genre positioned within local and transnational literary cultures, is mobilized to narrate railway mobilities during this transitional decade. Texts analyzed include the news reports and short stories by Can Themba, Es'kia Mphahlele, and Nat Nakasa. This article explores how the mobile public spaces of the railways and the mobile figures of railway passengers were mobilized in the Anglophone South African short story as a form of resistance to the repression of the apartheid era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Spanish passenger railway market saw the entrance of two competitors in 2022–2023: the full-service operator Iryo and the low-cost operator Ouigo. Using a unique dataset of Spanish ticket price collected throughout an entire year and the Diff-In-Diff method, this paper investigates the impact on incumbent's prices of newcomers' entrance on the less congested corridors Madrid - Alicante and Madrid - Malaga/Sevilla. The Spanish government's strategy seems to be successful: the decision to lead the liberalisation process and the choice of having up to three asymmetric competitors induced a significant decrease in price even on the less attractive corridors, stimulating the demand and addressing the problem of under-utilization of some high-speed infrastructure. The results show that prices decreased by 28%–30% after nine months of competition. The impact has been the same on both the analysed corridors, despite the competition environment has been different in terms of number of competitors, pricing strategy and market share of those. • Spain is the first country with three competitors in the high-speed railway market. • Competition in high-speed rail in Spain reduced prices by 28%–30% in nine months. • The impact on incumbent's first-class and second-class prices was the same. • Both low-cost and full-service competitors similarly affected incumbent pricing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a wheel passes over a rail surface irregularity, the resulting vehicle excitations lead to the application of additional system forces to both the track and the vehicle. These forces contribute to an accelerated track geometry deterioration, which in turn results in increased costs. In a recent paper, a clear correlation between the presence of rail irregularities and poor track geometry quality was demonstrated. Rail surface irregularities thereby were quantified by raw data of a chord-based optical measurement system mounted on the regular track recording vehicle in Austria. This paper deals with deconvolution of the recorded data in order to guarantee irregularity quantification without any distortion. Two different deconvolution approaches are developed and validated by additional measurements. Using the deconvoluted data, previously published evaluations were repeated, and the impact of using deconvoluted data instead of chord values was analysed. The correlation between short-wave effects and track geometry quality can not only be confirmed; it is even stronger than predicted by the chord data. The results of the analysis demonstrate that irregularities with amplitudes exceeding 0.08 mm contribute to an accelerated deterioration in track geometry. Amplitudes of a greater severity result in track geometry levels that are up to 120% inferior to the average. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article proposes a methodological approach to quantifying direct economic damage from unfavorable and hazardous natural processes and phenomena for railways—an element of the critical infrastructure of the Russian Federation. The methodology is based on a normative approach to assessing the replacement cost of railway lines, which varies depending on the cost of construction in the orographic and climatic conditions of a particular region. The results are presented in the context of municipalities, which makes it possible to better take into account intraregional differences and facilitates their comparison with parameters characterizing natural hazards (floods, hazardous slope-related and geocryological processes, etc.). The calculations showed that the maximum cost of replacing railway lines in the event of natural threats for the country as a whole is about RUB 11 trln in 2021 prices, or approximately 8.4% of Russia's GDP for this year. The first ten regions in terms of the maximum amount of probable damage—Irkutsk, Amur, and Sverdlovsk oblasts; Khabarovsk, Zabaykalsky, Krasnoyarsk, Altai, Krasnodar, and Primorsky krais; and the Republic of Buryatia—account for over 40% of the total replacement cost. It is in these regions that measures to protect the fixed assets of railway transport are particularly important. The obtained data can be used in studies of natural and man-made risk: by comparing them with parameters characterizing the impact of hazardous natural processes and phenomena, it is possible to predict the risk and probable damage to railway infrastructure facilities in certain territories. Using the example of snow avalanches and permafrost degradation due to climate change in the Russian Arctic, the possibilities of this type of assessment are demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating line impedance is relevant in transmission and distribution networks, in particular for planning and control. The large number of deployed PMUs has fostered the use of passive indirect methods based on network model identification. Electrified railways are a particular example of a distribution network, with moving highly dynamic loads, that would benefit from line impedance information for energy efficiency and optimization purposes, but for which many of the methods used in industrial applications cannot be directly applied. The estimate is carried out onboard using a passive method in a single-point perspective, suitable for implementation with energy metering onboard equipment. A comparison of two methods is carried out based on the non-linear least mean squares (LMS) optimization of an over-determined system of equations and on the auto- and cross-spectra of the pantograph voltage and current. The methods are checked preliminarily with a simulated synthetic network, showing good accuracy, within 5%. They are then applied to measured data over a 20 min run over the Swiss  16.7  Hz railway network. Both methods are suitable to track network impedance in real time during the train journey; but with suitable checks on the significance of the pantograph current and on the values of the coefficient of determination, the LMS method seems more reliable with predictable behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historian Raul Hilberg once observed of death trains: "It's just very regular traffic. Death traffic". Though subtle, his insinuation that this death traffic represented a "new normal" is, in fact, an astute observation of a largely unresearched process whereby Polish railway workers, and locals living near railway tracks, became witnesses to the Holocaust through observing the distinctive new "traffic" flowing by their spaces of home and work. In this case study, therefore, I examine these "death traffic witnesses" to reveal how their experiences highlight a critical reality about genocide in our modern world – its ability to transform relatively banal spaces (in peacetime) into horrific ones when employed for sinister purposes. In this case, those banal spaces are the railways that cut through our modern landscapes as symbols of connection, commerce and transport; their steel rails cutting through backyards and city centres linking even remote villages with major metropolises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Transportation process experiences continuous and often unpredictable changes in the operational situation at stations, sections and proving grounds of the network. Stabilisation of transportation process requires operative control decisions, which today are made by dispatchers and duty workers of various levels on the basis of knowledge, experience, abilities and intuition using information received at automated work stations from numerous information systems. Development and introduction of automated information and control systems instead of information systems will increase technical and economic efficiency of operational management of transportation and expand the control zones of the duty dispatchers.Materials and methods. The paper proposes to classify factors affecting transportation process as internal and external. It examines the reasons for their formation and the nature of their impact on operational work.Results. The work establishes time parameters for the development of operational control decisions and proves the necessity of technical and economic evaluations in the selection of rational decisions. The work justifies the stages of implementation of information and control systems in terms of selecting the categories of dispatchers and on-duty workers whose automated work stations are subject to priority development as information and control workplaces. The authors consider the conditions for the construction of hierarchical simulation models of the operation of controlled objects for the selection of rational operational control decisions at specific workplaces.Discussion and conclusion. The research results can serve as a basis for the Russian Railways to create a programme for solving the urgent problem of transition from information to automated information and control systems for operational management of transportation process on Russian Railways.

Introduction. The rational operation of the locomotive fleet is based on coordination of the locomotive turnover schedule with the train traffic schedule that assume unconditional fulfillment of standard transportation jobs and no less strict compliance with technical and technological standards for locomotive and train operations at locomotive turnover and re-coupling stations. Coordination is intended to set up balance of locomotives at traction interchange points. However, in the course of transportation, the intra-day dislocation of the operating fleet reaches significant unevenness and leads to imbalance. This requires a system for dispatching traction resources to their turnover and recoupling stations which will help to preserve traction balance at the interchange points to compensate for uneven intraday dislocation of the operating fleet, rationalise the locomotive fleet operations, and improve line capacity.Materials and methods. The balance of traction resources at locomotive turnover and re-coupling stations in intra-day intervals is achieved by interval regulation of traction resources.Results. The paper proposes an approach to establishing a balance of traction resources at current interlocking stations as the simplest type of turnover and recoupling stations (as a rule, they do not have additional adjacencies, using a one-to-one traction exchange). The approach applies the correlation between fluctuations in train traffic speeds and the amount of required traction reserves within daily three-hour intervals.Discussion and conclusion. This approach helps to improve the traction resource balancing technology at the current junction stations, and create a basis for building a mechanism for dispatching regulation reserves.

We use a DEA analysis to compare the efficiency of the railways of Western and Eastern Europe and find while most railways of Western Europe are on the efficiency frontier, those of Eastern Europe are typically a long way from it. One explanation may be that the reform process only started much later in Eastern Europe than in the West, although it appears that Eastern Europe has largely caught up. Secondly, Eastern Europe suffered a significant loss of traffic after the end of the communist regime, and this may still be resulting in an excess of labour and assets. There is some evidence that this remains the case for labour and freight vehicles. Although the excess of freight vehicles may be largely vehicles out of service, they still contribute to the poor efficiency scores for Eastern Europe. It is also the case that the countries of Eastern Europe suffer some disadvantages in terms of population density. However, we believe that two aspects of policy play an important role in the poorer performance of Eastern European countries compared with Western. Firstly, is the poorer infrastructure quality associated with lower levels of investment. This shows up as less use of electric traction and slower train speeds, resulting in lower productivity of staff and assets. Despite the efforts of the European Commission to overcome this problem, there is still a long way to go. Secondly, is the strong use of public service obligations to maintain high levels of service with relatively low load factors. If it is desired to raise the efficiency of Eastern European railways, governments in Eastern Europe will need to consider whether they are specifying excessively high levels of service.

Infrastructure investments are being undertaken to improve efficiency, economic activity, and growth. Therefore, policy makers are increasingly looking for modelling tools that can evaluate the impact of transport infrastructure on the economy, firms and households from the lens of economic activity and equity. We have developed a large scale national CGE model for India that is calibrated to economic data as well as validated to data observed from the Indian Railways. The novelty of this work lies in three main areas (1) The CGE model incorporates multi-modal transport with road and rail (2) It is the largest model developed so far with 33 regions, 29 industries, 312,530 kms of highways and 126,366 km of Railways (3) Validation of the CGE model. The CGE model was able to predict the tonnage freighted on the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor to within 3.9 % accuracy. The Dedicated Freight Corridor Network (DFC) contributes a 2.94 % increase in the revenue for the railways as well as a 0.08 % increase in GDP. This implies that DFC can directly contribute INR 160 billion to the 2019 GDP. The CGE model distributed the benefits of faster and cheaper alternatives to the entire economy. This was observed during the evaluation of the road projects that were found to improve GDP, household welfare and rail revenue for rail, as well as improved equity.

Purpose: This case study aimed to diagnose the cause(s) of a seasonal, and objectionable odour reported by travellers and drivers in the railway cars of Australian passenger trains. The research questions were to: (1) identify whether significant microbial colonisation was present within the air handling system of trains and causing the odours; to (2) identify other potential sources and; (3) remedial options for addressing the issue. Methods: A mixed-methods, action research design was used adopted. Sections of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems from odour-affected trains were swabbed for bacteria and fungi and examined for evidence of wear, fatigue and damage on-site and off-site. Insulation foam material extracted from the walls of affected trains was also subjected to a chemical assessment following exposure to varying humidity and temperature conditions in a climate simulator. This was accompanied by a qualitative sensory characterisation. Results: Upon exposure to a variety of simulated temperature and humidity combinations to recreate the odour, volatile chemical compounds released from the insulation foam by water were identified as its likely cause. In addition, a range of potentially serious pathogenic and odour-causing microbes were cultured from the HVAC systems, although it is considered unlikely that bacterial colonies were the odour source. Conclusion: The research has implications for the sanitising and maintenance policies for HVAC systems on public transport, especially when operating in humid environments. The sanitary imposition, especially in the wake of COVID-19 may be required to ensure the safety of the travelling public and drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Railways were an important driver of global economic growth in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Whilst their role is well documented in industrial economies, we know less about their macro‐economic impact in developing countries. In this paper, we first estimate the aggregate growth impact of Indian railways, one of the largest networks in the world in the early twentieth century. Then, we compare their impact in India to four emerging Latin American economies (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Uruguay) and the Cape colony. Using growth accounting techniques common to the cross‐country estimates, we argue that the aggregate growth impact of Indian railways was significant, increasing Indian gross domestic product (GDP) per capita by 13.5 per cent by 1912. We also find that the growth impact of Indian railways was similar to Brazil and Mexico, but smaller than Argentina and the Cape. Compared with the latter, India had a smaller size of railway freight revenues in the economy and lower wages to fares leading to lower passenger time savings. Railways were the most important infrastructure driver of economic growth in India during the first era of globalization from 1860 to 1912, but they contributed less than in richer and more dynamic developing economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sokoto Caliphate of northern Nigeria was the workshop of West Africa in the pre‐colonial nineteenth century, producing famous blue‐black cloth that reached many markets south of the Sahara as well as across it. Under British colonial rule this large handicraft textile industry was faced with the winds of foreign competition. We rely on a newly digitized set of colonial district reports to measure the impact of trade on northern Nigerian textile manufacturing and find that (contrary to British expectations) areas closer to railway stations were less likely to experience industrial decline. We argue that the resilience of local textiles relied on the low opportunity cost of dry‐season labour. Analysing a piece of tax microdata, we show that a low opportunity cost of labour outside of the rainy season was associated with a higher likelihood of engaging in textile by‐employment. Seasonal changes in relative factor prices were a trap as well as a refuge. Part‐time employment limited specialization and technological innovation, and can help to explain why northern Nigerian textiles eventually declined. Thus, beyond our particular case study, these results contribute to our understanding of the role of seasonality in determining the structure and pace of development of tropical economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A novel method is proposed for rail fastener detection based on millimetre‐wave (mmWave) radar, mmWave radar fastener counter (MMW‐FC), which can accurately detect and record the fasteners in real‐time as the train traverses its route. Under circumstances where GNSS signals remain unavailable for prolonged durations, precise train localisation can be accomplished by correlating the number of fasteners derived from this method with the corresponding track map. Initially, MMW‐FC utilises fast Fourier transform and adaptive beamforming to focus the energy reflected from fasteners. Subsequently, it applies an adaptive template‐matching algorithm to detect each fastener. Furthermore, by leveraging known fastener spacing and the average time for trains to pass adjacent fasteners, the Kalman filter can execute precise speed tracking, used as a speed reference when adjusting the matching template adaptively. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method can precisely count the fasteners the train encounters in diverse road and speed conditions. The fastener counter maintains the Counting Error less than 0.067%, the speed error stays below 1.8 km/h, and the maximum values of the mean absolute error and root mean square error for speed are 0.7337 and 0.9584 km/h, respectively.

Purpose – In an increasingly interconnected world, transportation infrastructure has emerged as a critical determinant of economic growth and global competitiveness. High-speed rail (HSR), characterized by its exceptional speed and efficiency, has garnered widespread attention as a transformative mode of transportation that transcends borders and fosters economic development. The Kuala Lumpur – Singapore (KL-SG) HSR project stands as a prominent exemplar of this paradigm, symbolizing the potential of HSR to serve as a catalyst for national economic advancement. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is prepared to provide an insight into the benefits and advantages of HSR based on proven case studies and references from global HSRs, including China, Spain, France and Japan. Findings – The findings that have been obtained focus on enhanced connectivity and accessibility, attracting foreign direct investment, revitalizing regional economies, urban development and city regeneration, boosting tourism and cultural exchange, human capital development, regional integration and environmental and sustainability benefits. Originality/value – The KL-SG HSR, linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, epitomizes the potential for HSR to be a transformative agent in the realm of economic development. This project encapsulates the aspirations of two dynamic Southeast Asian economies, united in their pursuit of sustainable growth, enhanced connectivity and global competitiveness. By scrutinizing the KL-SG High-Speed Rail through the lens of economic benchmarking, a deeper understanding emerges of how such projects can drive progress in areas such as cross-border trade, tourism, urban development and technological innovation.

Purpose – It aims to emphasize the importance of effective performance management practices in today's competitive business landscape, highlighting how they contribute to organizational success through enhanced employee motivation, engagement, and productivity. Aims(s) –The aim of this paper is to investigate various aspects of performance management, focusing on goal setting, feedback mechanisms, performance appraisals, recognition, and coaching. By examining the relationship between performance management and employee motivation, the paper aims to provide insights for organizations to design strategies that foster a motivated workforce and drive performance. Design/methodology/approach – it examines real-world examples and best practices to illustrate how organizations can implement these strategies to enhance employee motivation and ultimately achieve organizational success. Findings – The findings underscore the significance of goal setting within performance management, highlighting that specific and challenging goals increase employee motivation and performance levels. Moreover, performance management systems that emphasize goal alignment and regular feedback are found to further enhance motivation. Limitations of the study – Despite the comprehensive review of literature and empirical evidence, this paper acknowledges several limitations. Firstly, the findings are primarily based on existing research and may not encompass all possible perspectives or developments in the field of performance management and employee motivation. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge by synthesizing various theories and empirical evidence on performance management and employee motivation. It provides a comprehensive overview of key components of effective performance management practices and their impact on employee motivation and organizational success.

Abstract This paper provides an overview of the applications of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) in the railway maintenance industry. Our research covers specifically the subdomain of railway track maintenance. In this study, we have analyzed the state-of-the-art of CNNs applied to railway track maintenance by conducting an extensive literature review, summarizing different tasks and problems related to the topic and presenting solutions based on CNNs with a special emphasis on the data used to create these models. The results of our research show different applications of CNNs within the scope, including the detection of defects in the surface of railway rails and railway track components, such as fasteners, joints, sleepers, switches and crossings, as well as the recognition of track components, and the continuous monitoring of railway tracks. The architecture of CNNs is fitting to learning spatial hierarchies of features directly from the input data, making them of great use for Computer Vision and other applications related to the topic at hand. The implementation of IoT devices and smart sensors aid the collection of real-time data which can be used to feed powerful CNN models to recognize patterns and identify complex events related to the maintenance of railway tracks. This and more insights are discussed in detail within the contents of this paper.

Abstract This paper presents the development and validation of two artificial neural networks (ANN) models, utilising time and power‐based architectures, to accurately predict key parameters of a hydrogen hybrid train profile and its optimal trajectory. The research employs a hybrid train simulator (HTS) to authenticate the ANN models, which were trained using simulated trajectories from five unique hybrid trains on a designated route. The models’ performance was evaluated by computing the mean square normalisation error and mean absolute performance error, while the output's reliability was confirmed through the HTS. The results indicate that both ANN models proficiently predict a hybrid train's critical parameters and trajectory, with mean errors ranging from 0.19% to 0.21%. However, the cascade‐forward neural network (CFNN) topology in the time‐based architecture surpasses the feed‐forward neural network (FFNN) topology concerning mean squared error (MSE) and maximum error in the power‐based architecture. Specifically, the CFNN topology within the time‐based structure exhibits a slightly lower MSE and maximum error than its power‐based counterpart. Additionally, the study reveals the average percentage difference between the benchmark and FFNN/CNFN trajectories, highlighting that the time‐based architecture exhibits lower differences (0.18% and 0.85%) compared to the power‐based architecture (0.46% and 0.92%).

Abstract With the increasing concerns about railway energy efficiency, two typical driving strategies have been used in actual train operation. One includes a sequence of full power traction, cruising, coasting, and full braking (CC). The other uses coasting–remotoring (CR) to replace cruising in CC. However, energy‐saving performance by CC and CR, which can be affected by route parameters of gradients and speed limits, has not been fully compared and studied. This paper analyses the energy distribution of CC and CR considering various route parameters and proposes an improved strategy for different gradients and speed limits. The detailed energy flow of CC and CR is analysed by Cauchy–Bunyakovsky–Schwarz inequality and the generalised Hölder's inequality, and then, a novel driving strategy CC_CR is designed. To verify the theoretical results and the effectiveness of the proposed strategy, three simulators with CC, CR, and CC_CR driving modes have been developed and implemented into case studies of four scenarios as well as a real‐world metro line. Simulation results demonstrate that CR can only outperform CC on routes with steep downhill and CC_CR is always the best strategy. The energy savings of CC_CR can be as much as 15% more than CR and 42% greater than CC.

The demonstration of compliance of rolling stock against disturbance limits for railway signaling, and in particular track circuits, is subject to a large deal of variability, caused by the diverse values of the electrical parameters of the railway line and resulting transfer functions, as well as the operating conditions of the rolling stock during tests. Instrumental uncertainty is evaluated with a type B approach and shown to be much less than the experimental variability. Repeated test runs in acceleration, coasting, cruising, and braking conditions are considered, deriving both max-hold (spread) and sample (or experimental) standard deviation curves compared to the respective mean values (type A approach to the evaluation of uncertainty, as defined in of the Guide to the Uncertainty in Measurement. The major source of variability affecting a significant portion of the spectrum is caused by the superposed oscillations of the onboard LC filter, for which different choices of the transformation window duration are discussed. The test runs and the acquired data covered, overall, 1 day of tests along about 300 km of the Italian 3 kV DC railway network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until the 18th century, human history used a technology that had been going on for thousands of years and was characterised by its mechanical features, and social life was shaped accordingly. This process, which has been going on for thousands of years, witnessed significant changes in the 19th century, especially in transport technologies - railways and steamships - and this century witnessed the birth of today's modern technology. This process, which started in the field of transport, continued to gain momentum with developments in the fields of chemistry and electricity. In the 19th century, a period of rapid change and transformation, Ottoman society, as a technology importer, imported this technology from abroad. The product range and volume of the technology imported from abroad varied according to the years and the needs of the society. At this point, our research will try to examine how and in what way the Ottoman Empire, as a technology importer, used the imported technology by selecting samples from different neighbourhoods of Anatolia. As it is known, railways and steamships are among the most important technologies imported from the early period. Firstly, the use and effects of these transport technologies in the late Ottoman society will be investigated, and then the use and spread of agricultural tools such as threshing machines and ploughs will be emphasised depending on the developments in the agricultural field. Then we will focus on sewing machines, which had a significant impact on household production and became visible in the second half of the 19th century. Our research will try to investigate the use of technology in the late Ottoman society through such examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel method is proposed for rail fastener detection based on millimetre‐wave (mmWave) radar, mmWave radar fastener counter (MMW‐FC), which can accurately detect and record the fasteners in real‐time as the train traverses its route. Under circumstances where GNSS signals remain unavailable for prolonged durations, precise train localisation can be accomplished by correlating the number of fasteners derived from this method with the corresponding track map. Initially, MMW‐FC utilises fast Fourier transform and adaptive beamforming to focus the energy reflected from fasteners. Subsequently, it applies an adaptive template‐matching algorithm to detect each fastener. Furthermore, by leveraging known fastener spacing and the average time for trains to pass adjacent fasteners, the Kalman filter can execute precise speed tracking, used as a speed reference when adjusting the matching template adaptively. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method can precisely count the fasteners the train encounters in diverse road and speed conditions. The fastener counter maintains the Counting Error less than 0.067%, the speed error stays below 1.8 km/h, and the maximum values of the mean absolute error and root mean square error for speed are 0.7337 and 0.9584 km/h, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior studies indicate that expanding the length of roadways and railways has a beneficial effect on economic performance. Nevertheless, the requirement for land transport infrastructure, which offers different degrees of accessibility and mobility, to facilitate economic expansion differs based on a country's stage of development. The present study has two objectives. Firstly, it is essential to ascertain the required investment for different types of land transport infrastructure to facilitate different stages of economic performance. Secondly, the objective is to examine the impact of different forms of land transportation infrastructure on economic performance by means of urbanization and exports. To highlight these concerns, a fixed-effects panel linear regression analysis was conducted on a panel consisting of 50 countries spanning the years 1980–2018. In countries with lower levels of urbanization and exports, improvements to road infrastructure, especially roads with high accessibility, are of greater importance for economic performance compared to the improvement of railways. Nevertheless, as urbanization and exports rise, the comparative impact of improvements in road infrastructure on economic performance in relation to improvements in railway infrastructure diminishes. Railway improvements have a more significant effect on economic performance compared to road improvements, owing to increased urbanization and export rates. During these stages of development, high-mobility roads are more crucial for economic performance compared to high-accessibility roads. The conclusion of the research examined a variety of policy recommendations derived from our findings, which are applicable to different levels of urbanization and exports. • Evaluate the economic benefits of various land transportation infrastructure. • Assess the capital needed for various transport infrastructure to help the economy. • Low urbanization and export require high-access roads to boost economy. • High urbanization and export require railways to boost economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we analyse India's transport sector policy. The study examines the two important modes of transport, viz., road and rail, and analyses the efficiency of transport infrastructure from 2011 to 2019. Through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), we evaluate modes in terms of the capacity of registered road goods vehicles and railway goods wagons, truck km/train km and energy consumption and corresponding freight traffic. The analysis gives valuable insight into the fact that rail infrastructure is more efficient than road infrastructure. Still, current transport sector policies promote energy-intensive carbon-fuel road vehicles rather than energy-efficient alternative transport modes. The study suggests the changes that may be incorporated in inputs to improve the efficiency of the road infrastructure. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)-Malmquist Index analysis reports the need for total factor productivity improvement in rail transport and the introduction of technological innovations in road and rail transport sector management. The study employs a well-to-wheel (WTW) based index to ascertain the energy consumed and pollutants emitted by freight-carrying road and rail modes between two leading business hubs of India, i.e., Ludhiana and Mumbai. The paper identifies policy gaps and suggests a holistic approach for need-based roadway investment and a time-bound development of railway infrastructure in India. Our study generates valuable implications for India's policy planners and government authorities and provides new insights to other countries. • The study examines road and rail transport, and analyses the efficiency and energy consumption of these modes. • The study suggests the changes to improve the efficiency of the road infrastructure. • The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)-Malmquist Index analysis and well-to-wheel (WTW) based index have been employed for the analysis. • The paper suggests a need-based roadway investment approach and a time-bound development of railway infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the development of the Polish railway network in the interwar period. The then Polish state, the Second Polish Republic, had to face two challenges in particular: Firstly, the railway network, built before World War I, had been constructed by the partitioning powers Russia, Prussia, and Austria-Hungary according to their own needs. Secondly, the network had sustained extensive damage as a result of combat actions during the war. Accordingly, the paper analyzes, on the one hand, how the decisive actors of the Second Polish Republic attempted to repair this damage to the railway network. On the other hand, their endeavors to adapt the railway network to the infrastructural demands of the new state are explored, with a focus on the construction of new railway lines. Starting with an overview of the development of the Polish railway network in the interwar period in both temporal and spatial regard, the paper proceeds with an in-depth analysis of selected case studies. To sum up, the study shows that while many new railway lines were built in the interwar period, an adaption of the railway network to the needs of the new state was achieved merely in part. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the contents of a recently discovered list detailing steam and diesel locomotives used in Poland from 1956 to 1970 on narrow-gauge railways of the State Forests. The document includes information such as the markings of individual locomotives, their manufacturers, production years, technical specifi cations, and operational history on specifi c forest railways. This information is presented in tabular format and supplemented with commentary on locomotive marking practices specifi c to forest railways, as well as a comprehensive literature review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the multifaceted cultural history of ghost trains in Victorian fiction by situating three little-known ghost stories in the publishing and social history of the second half of the nineteenth century. The figure of the ghost train offers a route into the entangled history of publishing and railways by contextualising the anxieties presented in railway ghost stories with the real-world experiences of passengers. Taking ideas of mobility as a focal point, this paper brings together discussions of virtual travel and the supernatural to demonstrate some of the impact railways had on reading and writing about train travel. More so than tales of other haunted transport technologies, it is the ghost train's unnatural capacity for movement that disturbs both passengers and readers. By both enhancing and warping reality, railways are ripe source material for Victorian ghost stories to entertain and demand questions of spatio-temporal experience from their reading passengers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reappraises nature of technology transfer in a colonial context by underlining how the colonised mediated and shaped what was ostensibly an imposition by the imperial administration. This wider point is illustrated by demonstrating the ways in which in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, different groups of Indians used newly introduced railways to reconceptualise meanings of travel by adding new categories of travel while significantly modifying the extant ones. Crucially deviating from both ‘technology as imperialism’ and ‘technology as subversion’ historiographical paradigms, this article argues for a more nuanced appraisal of technology transfer, especially emphasising the role of users in shaping the impact of technology. Examining a diverse range of sources, viz., railway records (Annual Railway Reports and railway passenger statistics), newspaper reports and travelogues and pamphlets written by Indian railway travellers, the article claims Indians not only mediated the impact of trains on travel in late colonial India; but they shaped the outcome of this technology transfer in ways that reveals agency and remarkable involvement with a new mode of transit. In short, the article demonstrates dynamic interaction between imperial policies and responses of the colonised through the lens of technology transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is important to China's development vision. Under the BRI, Chinese policymakers have focused on exporting railway systems to developing countries, yet progress on some projects remains limited. This article focuses on delays associated with a planned railway project in Pakistan: the ML-1. It answers the following question: What explains delays in the ML-1 railway project despite strong Chinese interest in it? The article uses a two-step conceptual framework to answer this question. In the first step, it highlights the role of railway bureaucrats involved in project-level negotiations. It shows that local bureaucrats contribute to delays by actively negotiating technical parameters. Chinese firms have limited policy levers to ensure their acquiescence. In the second step, the article places delays in the context of Pakistan's political economy by analysing the role of the political and military elite. It also explores the impact of political change and economic factors on the project. Projects not in sync with the local political elites' development vision face delays. Domestic political changes also contribute to delays. Furthermore, a failure to gain major veto actors' support, coupled with economic problems and differences over financing terms, constrains China's ability to pursue large-scale projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing concerns about railway energy efficiency, two typical driving strategies have been used in actual train operation. One includes a sequence of full power traction, cruising, coasting, and full braking (CC). The other uses coasting–remotoring (CR) to replace cruising in CC. However, energy‐saving performance by CC and CR, which can be affected by route parameters of gradients and speed limits, has not been fully compared and studied. This paper analyses the energy distribution of CC and CR considering various route parameters and proposes an improved strategy for different gradients and speed limits. The detailed energy flow of CC and CR is analysed by Cauchy–Bunyakovsky–Schwarz inequality and the generalised Hölder's inequality, and then, a novel driving strategy CC_CR is designed. To verify the theoretical results and the effectiveness of the proposed strategy, three simulators with CC, CR, and CC_CR driving modes have been developed and implemented into case studies of four scenarios as well as a real‐world metro line. Simulation results demonstrate that CR can only outperform CC on routes with steep downhill and CC_CR is always the best strategy. The energy savings of CC_CR can be as much as 15% more than CR and 42% greater than CC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the development and validation of two artificial neural networks (ANN) models, utilising time and power‐based architectures, to accurately predict key parameters of a hydrogen hybrid train profile and its optimal trajectory. The research employs a hybrid train simulator (HTS) to authenticate the ANN models, which were trained using simulated trajectories from five unique hybrid trains on a designated route. The models' performance was evaluated by computing the mean square normalisation error and mean absolute performance error, while the output's reliability was confirmed through the HTS. The results indicate that both ANN models proficiently predict a hybrid train's critical parameters and trajectory, with mean errors ranging from 0.19% to 0.21%. However, the cascade‐forward neural network (CFNN) topology in the time‐based architecture surpasses the feed‐forward neural network (FFNN) topology concerning mean squared error (MSE) and maximum error in the power‐based architecture. Specifically, the CFNN topology within the time‐based structure exhibits a slightly lower MSE and maximum error than its power‐based counterpart. Additionally, the study reveals the average percentage difference between the benchmark and FFNN/CNFN trajectories, highlighting that the time‐based architecture exhibits lower differences (0.18% and 0.85%) compared to the power‐based architecture (0.46% and 0.92%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of the applications of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) in the railway maintenance industry. Our research covers specifically the subdomain of railway track maintenance. In this study, we have analyzed the state-of-the-art of CNNs applied to railway track maintenance by conducting an extensive literature review, summarizing different tasks and problems related to the topic and presenting solutions based on CNNs with a special emphasis on the data used to create these models. The results of our research show different applications of CNNs within the scope, including the detection of defects in the surface of railway rails and railway track components, such as fasteners, joints, sleepers, switches and crossings, as well as the recognition of track components, and the continuous monitoring of railway tracks. The architecture of CNNs is fitting to learning spatial hierarchies of features directly from the input data, making them of great use for Computer Vision and other applications related to the topic at hand. The implementation of IoT devices and smart sensors aid the collection of real-time data which can be used to feed powerful CNN models to recognize patterns and identify complex events related to the maintenance of railway tracks. This and more insights are discussed in detail within the contents of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]