The management of terminal yards requires quite complex day-to-day operations when hundreds of trains could be entered and/or exited marshalling yards every day. More specifically, multi-dimensional decisions are necessary to be taken in daily basis for management of operations. Manual solutions might cause inefficiency in the yard’s operation and consequently to the network. Nowadays, many freight trains in Sweden fail to follow their scheduled plan. In particular, a small portion of trains are following the scheduled arrival and departure time while the majority of trains run ahead of schedule.This master thesis aims to conduct evaluation of internal procedures within a marshalling yard in terms of time, examine the magnitude of delays from the scheduled departure time, and to identify the key reasons causing the delay during departure and their main implications. Furthermore, the master this aims to investigate ways of optimizing operations to increase system punctuality. The Malmo’s marshalling yard was used as a case study.The methods are used for this master thesis are a qualitative as well as a quantitative assessment. A literature review has been conducted using journal papers, conference papers and technical reports from other relevant projects as well as on-site visit and interviews. In order to manipulate the data for the research, the software Planimate was used and a simulation model is built based on operations in Malmo’s marshalling yard. Three scenarios are performed. The first one is considered without any usage of automation. The second one, automation is applied in the case of the arrival yard and the third one, automation is applied in the arrival and the departure yard.The findings from the qualitative research show that there are several factors cause delays, either network failures such as the late arrival of trains in the yard or internal factors as the reduced railway capacity. Also, as the simulation model has been demonstrated, any application of automated processes within the marshalling yard’s operations will be beneficial because will speed up the internal processes. For instance, the third scenario turns out the best scenario among the others because time is reduced almost to half time compared to the first scenario.

High-speed railways provide fast, comfortable and environmentally friendly transportation for passengers. However, they are fraught with high investment costs that decrease the willingness of governments to construct new lines. This thesis proposes a new way of building high-speed railways to decrease investment costs, where power from overhead wire is, for the majority of a journey, substituted with power from batteries located on the train sets. Not only can the construction and maintenance costs for the overhead wire itself be reduced; as tunnels can be narrowed when no overhead wire is needed, tunnelling costs decrease as well. An algorithm using dynamic programming is devised which calculates the optimal placement of overhead wire given a velocity and altitude profile of a journey, which is then applied on the planned Swedish high-speed line Ostlänken. The cost savings amount in total to approximately 5.689 billion SEK. It is a significant reduction in absolute terms, but is likely even higher, as the cost estimates for electrification are conservative. More studies on this aspect is needed to obtain more exact estimates. / Höghastighetståg erbjuder snabba, bekväma och miljövänliga passagerartransporter. Dock kräver dess banor höga investeringskostnader som kan avskräcka för nybyggnationer. För att minska dessa kostnader föreslår denna uppsats ett nytt sätt att bygga höghastighetsbanor på, där kontaktledning byggs på endast delar av sträckan. Där kontaktledning inte byggs drivs tågen av batterier placerade ombord. Utöver lägre kostnader för konstruktion och underhåll av själva kontaktledningen kan också kostnaden för tunneldrivning reduceras, då diametern på tunnlar kan minskas när ingen kontaktledning krävs. I rapporten presenteras en metod med dynamisk programmering för att beräkna den optimala placeringen av kontaktledningssträckor givet en hastighets- och höjdkurva för en bana. Metoden appliceras på den planerade höghastighetsbanan Ostlänken, där kostnadsbesparingarna beräknas uppgå till ungefär 5,689 miljarder SEK. Det är en signifikant besparing i absoluta mått som troligen är ännu större i verkligheten, eftersom de uppskattade kostnaderna för elektrifiering är konservativa. Det behövs fler studier kring dessa kostnader för att kunna erhålla mer exakta uppskattningar av kostnadsbesparingar.

In a world with unlimited travel options, railways play a key role in transportation. In order to serve the demand at a satisfactory level, it is important that the infrastructure quality remains high and safe. Maintenance is then the most important aspect of railway infrastructure.  This project’s aim is to develop a tool that would evaluate the cost differences and maintenance needs during the life cycle of turnouts, bent with different radii to straight, as a crucial part of the infrastructure, not only technically but also financially. When the cost over a life cycle is provided then design decisions can get more efficient.  Maintenance history of seven years of preventive and corrective maintenance data from databases Bessy and 0felia for single turnouts across the Swedish rail network were studied, analysed and evaluated.  Along with information from interviews with key informants the cost driving parameters were specified. The calculator was developed in Microsoft Excel, giving results for bent turnouts in 4 different radii categories and the respective straight turnouts. An EV-UIC60-760-1:14 turnout was used as a case study for different radii categories and 3 different scenarios were run in order to test the robustness of the tool.  The results showed that bent turnouts have a higher life cycle cost than straight in the order of 1 to 3 mkr depending on the radius, the bigger share of which is usually the preventive maintenance cost, with the specifics to vary between the categories and different scenarios tested. The way maintenance data are registered and classified plays an important role in the analysis.

This thesis explores some aspects of the cultural history of the railway during the latter half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. It argues that the railway was of central importance in creating and shaping Victorian attitudes to the machine and to mechanized civilization in a world increasingly dominated by large scale-technologies. In particular, it explores the significance of negative responses to the railway - fear, anxiety, nervousness, alarm, revulsion - in influencing a range of social, cultural and medical responses to the perceived degenerative threat of technological civilization. The four chapters of the thesis are organized so as to provide a progressive tightening of focus on particular aspects of the railway's significance in this context. The first, most wide-ranging, chapter explores the ways in which the Victorian railway was perceived as both an icon of progress and civilization and as a disruptive, threatening, destructive force. In particular, it seeks to establish the deep-rooted, enduring and influential nature of the fear and anxiety which the railway provoked. The second chapter is concerned with the railway journey as an experience, relating the ambivalence with which the railway was viewed to the journey as a sensory, physical and mental experience. The third chapter focuses on the accident as the most dramatic instance of the dangers of the railway, and relates its significance in contemporary culture to the wider context of the fears provoked by increasingly powerful and potentially destructive technologies. The fourth and final chapter explores the phenomenon of 'railway spine', the obscure nervous condition supposedly suffered by railway accident victims who had seemingly received no actual organic injury, but nonetheless displayed nervous, mental and physical symptoms of serious bodily disorder.

This thesis Construction of the Single European Railway Area: Reforms of railway sector in the Czech Republic 2004-2014 deals with the europeanisation of the Czech railway policies through the lens of four subjects - government, regional governments, Czech railway and private railway companies. The work puts the issue of the European railway reform into the perspective of the concept of network industries liberalisation. The Czech Republic joined the European Union in 2004 and therefore had no chance in influencing its foundation. The thesis attempts to investigate the ways in which the EU affected the Czech railway environment and, simultaneously, if some kind strengthening of actors supporting liberalisation took place. The work concluded that although these actors have been strengthened, the railway market in passenger transport hasn't been created. As the work demonstrates, this was caused mainly by insufficient institutional and adjustment ability of the state that hasn't been able to successfully finish any public tenders. In the regions, the situation is similar - in 2009, a ten- year memorandum on operating of regional transport by Czech railways has been passed. Besides, each region has a different transport policy and the government will probably try to handle.

Os sistemas de transporte sobre trilhos são considerados por geógrafos e urbanistas elementos estruturadores das cidades, capazes de influir de forma muito intensa na localização das atividades humanas e na diferenciação do território. Há décadas os tramos urbanos ferroviários são uma promessa de solução para os muitos problemas de circulação enfrentados nas grandes cidades. Muitas, porém, são as dúvidas e os conflitos que envolvem o uso e adoção definitiva da ferrovia nos processos de planejamento de muitas das áreas metropolitanas brasileiras. Na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo as apostas foram feitas nas linhas ferroviárias e, desde a década de 1990, estão sendo aplicados substanciais investimentos para a sua modernização e transformação em serviços de alta capacidade e qualidade. Após quase vinte anos de sua criação, a CPTM tem batido recordes no crescimento do transporte de passageiros, porém, poucas foram as avaliações feitas sobre os resultados da política de investimento no tecido urbano e na vida dos cidadãos. Prover esta avaliação e validar a necessidade da continuidade dos planos e investimentos está na razão deste estudo, que trata da evolução operacional da malha da CPTM e a qualifica com a identidade social, econômica, entre outras variáveis demográficas, de seus usuários. A avaliação tem como base territorial os municípios atendidos pela ferrovia na RMSP, descrevendo o incremento dos fluxos de pessoas, avaliando indicadores operacionais e propõe a discussão dos limites de renovação que uma forma de transporte, ainda em transformação, gera no território. O crescimento relevante no número de usuários que acessam a CPTM por ônibus ou pelo Metrô indica relevantes melhorias na qualidade e eficiência do transporte produzido, que está mais integrado e oferece a um maior contingente de pessoas, que ingressaram mais recentemente no mercado de trabalho, maior acessibilidade às oportunidades. Ainda é incipiente o processo de transformação do uso do solo no entorno das linhas e das estações, mas pode-se afirmar que definitivamente a ferrovia na RMSP é elemento de requalificação e valorização do espaço urbano incorporado ao planejamento de Estado e municípios. / Rail transportation systems are considered by geographers and urban planners structural elements of the cities, which are able to intensively influence the way locations of human activities, provide territory differentiation. For decades, urban rail are a promising solution for the many traffic problems faced in major cities. Yet, there are many doubts and conflicts involving the use and definitive adoption of rail transportation on urban planning of many Brazilian metropolitan areas. In São Paulo Metropolitan Area the bets were placed on railway lines, and since the 1990s, substantial investments have been made for modernizing and transforming them. After almost twenty years of its creation, CPTM has hit records in the passenger transport growth; however, few evaluations have been made on the results of investment policy in the urban space and the citizens lives. Providing this assessment and validating the need of carrying on plans and investments is the reason for this study which deals with the evolution of the CPTM\'s operational fabric and qualifies it with the identity of its users regarding social, economical, and other demographic variables. The assessment is based on the territorial municipalities served by the railroad, describing the increased flows of people, evaluating operating performance and it proposes a discussion on the limits of renewal that a form of transportation, still in transformation, generates in the territory. The relevant growth in the number of users accessing the CPTM by bus or by subway indicates relevant improvements in quality and efficiency of the produced transportation, which is more integrated and offers a greater number of people who recently joined in the labor market, higher accessibility to transportation services. The process of transformation of land use in the vicinity of lines and stations is still incipient, but you can definitely say that the railroad in the metropolis is an element of retraining and upgrading of urban space built into the planning of state and municipalities.

A preocupação com o impacto ambiental decorrente da implantação e operação de novas linhas metroferroviárias faz com que seja necessário o uso de sistemas que amorteçam as vibrações e atenuem os ruídos secundários oriundos deste modo de transporte. Uma solução de atenuação largamente empregada é o sistema massa-mola, composto por lajes de concreto armado, apoiadas sobre materiais resilientes. Este trabalho tem como objetivo o estudo de alternativas para mitigação da vibração da via permanente por meio do conhecimento da variabilidade das respostas dinâmicas e frequências naturais de sistemas massa-mola criados computacionalmente. Entre as soluções propostas tem-se o uso de concreto pesado na construção da laje flutuante. A avaliação foi realizada utilizando modelos numéricos calibrados com dados experimentais presentes nas revisões bibliográficas. Os resultados do estudo indicaram que as soluções propostas podem ser consideradas nos projetos de atenuação de vibração de via permanente. / The concern with the environmental impact resulting from the implementation and operation of new subway lines makes it necessary to use systems that cushion the vibrations and attenuate the secondary noises from this mode of transportation. A widely used attenuation solution is the mass-spring system, composed of reinforced concrete slabs resting on resilient materials. The objective of this work is to study the alternatives for permanent vibration attenuation through the knowledge of the variability of the dynamic responses and natural frequencies of computationally created mass-spring systems. Among the proposed solutions is the use of heavy concrete for construction of the floating slab. The evaluation was performed using numerical models calibrated with experimental data from bibliographic reviews. The results of the study indicated that the proposed solutions can be considered in permanent vibration attenuation projects.

A preocupação com o impacto ambiental decorrente da implantação e operação de novas linhas metroferroviárias faz com que seja necessário o uso de sistemas que amorteçam as vibrações e atenuem os ruídos secundários oriundos deste modo de transporte. Uma solução de atenuação largamente empregada é o sistema massa-mola, composto por lajes de concreto armado, apoiadas sobre materiais resilientes. Este trabalho tem como objetivo o estudo de alternativas para mitigação da vibração da via permanente por meio do conhecimento da variabilidade das respostas dinâmicas e frequências naturais de sistemas massa-mola criados computacionalmente. Entre as soluções propostas tem-se o uso de concreto pesado na construção da laje flutuante. A avaliação foi realizada utilizando modelos numéricos calibrados com dados experimentais presentes nas revisões bibliográficas. Os resultados do estudo indicaram que as soluções propostas podem ser consideradas nos projetos de atenuação de vibração de via permanente. / The concern with the environmental impact resulting from the implementation and operation of new subway lines makes it necessary to use systems that cushion the vibrations and attenuate the secondary noises from this mode of transportation. A widely used attenuation solution is the mass-spring system, composed of reinforced concrete slabs resting on resilient materials. The objective of this work is to study the alternatives for permanent vibration attenuation through the knowledge of the variability of the dynamic responses and natural frequencies of computationally created mass-spring systems. Among the proposed solutions is the use of heavy concrete for construction of the floating slab. The evaluation was performed using numerical models calibrated with experimental data from bibliographic reviews. The results of the study indicated that the proposed solutions can be considered in permanent vibration attenuation projects.

<p>The growth of private motor vehicle grows rapidly each year have negative impact not only forthe extra contribution of air pollution but also to time wasting. That impact can lead todecreasing of people quality life. Public transportation is one of the solutions for the problem.Therefore, the shift from private motor vehicle user to public transportation, in other wordincreasing market share of public transportation, is necessary. One of the public transportationthat can attract more market share is railways. It has large capacity, high safety level, and freefrom traffic jam. Those characteristic makes railway as primary public transportation.Indonesian railways nowadays have lot of problems and receive many complaints from thepassenger. Train travel is still colored with the delay, limited well-condition vehicle, and uncleartrain travel information that often disadvantage passengers, and many of services offered werefailed to attract passengers. These conditions result in decreasing quality of services andinsufficient railways operation. This will be a barrier to Indonesian railways accomplishment inmaking it to be a reliable and sustainable transport mode. Therefore, to improve market shareand to improve the railway condition, it necessary to have contractual governance withstandard that can lead to costumer satisfaction and making the process improve therelationship between the stakeholders. This lead to the problem of what is the customersatisfaction factors in using railway as their transport, what service quality item that satisfiedthe passenger, and how contract can maintain the relationship between the stakeholders.Finding in this thesis consist of several point. First, from the customer satisfaction index, thecustomers of Jabodetabek commuter train are not satisfied with the service. Second, theanalysis discovered that there are four factors that have high correlation with overallsatisfaction. The four factors are equipment and facility, assurance, competency, and traveltime and appearance. The attributes is grouping into five SERVQUAL dimension. Fromregression analysis of SERVQUAL dimensions there are two service items that influence thecustomer satisfaction; assurances and tangibles. Third, from gap analysis there are gaps inservice process that need to be closed in order to deliver service quality which lead tocustomer satisfaction in railway operational. Fourth, from contract analysis can be concludedthat present condition PT.KAI as the operator cannot perform as it is stated in contract. Thiscan be influenced by many factors such as; the lack of infrastructure, the lack of vehicle,customer misbehavior, staff misbehavior and external factors. In delivering service qualitywhich can lead to customer satisfaction, it is recommended to improve the service that relatedto assurances and tangible items and to involves passengers in controlling and improvingrailway operational. The result expected from the improvement is the increase of overallperformance of railway operation which can lead to the increase customer satisfaction andmarket share. From side of contractual governance, the research discovered that there areproblem in contract clausal and relationship between DGR, PT. KAI and people as customer ofrailway service. The recommendation is to include customer complains in setting contractclausal that can make DGR, PT. KAI and people as customer in mutualism developingrelationship.</p>

Syftet med den här avhandlingen är att förbättra möjligheter till miljöledning av järnvägens infrastruktur genom att utveckla en metod för att rikta in ansträngningar på att minska miljöpåverkan från infrastrukturens produkter. Metodens används i ett byggprojekt och dess robusthet blir testad. Den använder den materialrelaterade energianvändningen för att studera miljöpåverkan från infrastrukturen. Vidare studeras vilka förutsättningar och hinder det finns för att införa ett livscykelperspektiv i Banverkets organisation. Först analyserades de miljömässiga försättningarna genom en jämförande studie med vägtransportsystemet. Fokus låg även på infrastrukturens del i miljöpåverkan i jämförelse med själva transporterna i de bägge systemen. Sedan presenterades metoden och analyserades med avseende på användbarhet och robusthet. I de senare testen gavs materialtransporternas del av miljöpåverkan samt energiindikatorns miljörelevans extra utrymme.Slutligen studerades de organisatoriska förutsättningarna för att introducera metoden och införa ett livscykelperspektiv vid materialhanteringen. De organisatoriska förutsättningarna präglas mycket av Banverket miljöhistoria som främst handlar om miljögifter kopplade till lokala eller regionala miljöproblem. Dessutom finns det få miljörelaterade krav utifrån, vilket delvis kan förklara att livscykelperspektivet i mångt och mycket saknats inom organisationens materialhantering. Miljökraven på Banverkets inköp av produkter är oftast lagkrav, men eftersom de lagkrav som har anknytning till de globala miljöproblemen, vilka främst kan kopplas till uppströms produktframställning, inte är tillräckligt specifika, har organisationen svårt att översätta dessa till relevanta miljökrav vid upphandling. De avdelningar inom Banverket som är mest berörda av upphandlingen och arbetet med kravspecifikationer kräver mer stöd och kunskap för att kunna införa livscykelperspektivet i materialhanteringen. De upplevda miljöfördelar som järnvägen tycks ha över vägtrafiken är inte helt självklara. Vikten av indirekt miljöpåverkan från infrastrukturen är större för järnvägstrafiken än för vägtrafiken och detta i kombination med att den materialrelaterade energianvändningen är nästan uteslutande fossilbaserad leder till att miljöförsprånget minskar jämfört med trafikens miljöpåverkan. Om vägtrafiken minskar sitt fossilberoende i användningsfasen så måste järnvägssektorn antingen minska energianvändningen eller fossilberoendet i produktionen av järnvägsprodukter för att fortfarande kunna sägas ha miljöfördelar. För att kunna göra det senare måste nya perspektiv introduceras i Banverkets organisation. Metoden som presenteras i denna avhandling kan användas för att introducera dessa nya livscykelperspektiv och bidra till att Banverkets ansträngningar fokuseras på att minska infrastrukturens miljöpåverkan. Denna nya kunskap kan användas vid design av nya järnvägsprodukter och vid upphandlingen av dessa. Dessutom visar avhandlingen på var utförligare miljöanalyser av produkter kan behövas. Metoden använder en energiindikator för att uppskatta miljöpåverkan från materialanvändningen. Denna indikator är lätt att använda för miljöanalysen vilket gör det möjligt att enkelt introducera och inrikta livscykeltänkandet i organisationens miljöledning. Något som annars kan ligga utanför dess expertis, budget och tidsresurser. Metoden identifierar de tre produkter som är absolut viktigast att fokusera på om man vill minska miljöpåverkan från materialanvändningen i infrastrukturen. Dessa är räl, slipers och ballastmaterial där räl har överlägset störst användning av uppströms materialrelaterad energi. Genom att introducera miljökrav tidigt i designprocessen vid införande av dessa produkter kan stora miljövinster göras. Teknikavdelningarna samt upphandlarna behöver därför stöd för att introducera dessa starkare krav på uppströms miljöpåverkan. / The aim of this thesis has been to develop an approach for the scoping of environmental aspects regarding material use in the Swedish railway infrastructure in order to contribute to strategic environmental management. This is done through the development of a method based on the concepts of embodied energy and material flows, which is then tested for its robustness. Furthermore, a study has been made on which preconditions for life-cycle considerations there are for the manager of the Swedish railway infrastructure and how this relates to the actual environmental pressures from the product. The study has used the Swedish National Rail Authority, Banverket, as a case. First the environmental context was studied by an analysis of how the environmental pressure from material use compares to the operations phase and to other transport systems. Secondly, a scoping method for environmental pressure from material use in a large organization was developed and tests performed on its use and its robustness. Special focus was on the importance of materials transports and the environmental relevance of the energy indicator used. Finally, an organizational context was presented which showed the possibilities and hindrances to implementing life-cycle considerations in the environmental management of the Swedish railway infrastructure. It seems difficult to incorporate life-cycle considerations in an organization whose history is characterized by its work on solving specific local environmental issues. In addition, there seem to be limited pressures either from outside or inside the organization to adopt life-cycle environmental management. There is a need for clearer and more specific policy instruments governing many of the global environmental issues pertaining to upstream environmental pressures in order to make it easier for organizations to translate these into something useful in their environmental management. The departments with the most capacity to influence the environmental pressures from material use are demanding support and more knowledge about life-cycle considerations in order to set more relevant environmental requirements on the products. The perceived environmental advantage of the rail transport sector over road transports should not be taken for granted. The importance of the indirect environmental pressures for the rail infrastructure decreases this advantage, since its material-related energy use is almost entirely from non-renewable sources. Thus the rail transport sector needs to start decreasing the use of energy for production of railway infrastructure products or its reliance on nonrenewable energy sources for production. In order to start working with the environmental management of the railway products there is a need to adopt and introduce new perspectives. The approach developed in this thesis can be used to introduce these new perspectives, such as upstream environmental pressures, to the organization’s environmental management. It can also be employed to identify hot spots in the organization’s material use. Consequently, this new knowledge can be used in the design of new products, to set environmental demands in purchasing, and to focus further environmental analyses of the hot spots. It can also be used to broaden the perspectives in, for instance, environmental impact assessments, strategic environmental assessments and environmental reviews. The relative ease with which this indicator is collected and calculated can make it possible for the organization to include new environmental dimensions in their environmental management, which could otherwise be outside their expertise, budget or time frame. The scoping of environmental pressures, by using the approach presented in the thesis, pointed to three important railway infrastructure products. These are the products that Banverket needs to focus on first. One of the most important tasks in incorporating life-cycle considerations for products is to set environmental requirements when introducing new products to the material supply process. The requirements should already be present in the design phase of the products. Thus it is essential that the product developers get the support needed in finding relevant environmental criteria for the new product. One way to accomplish this is to employ an environmental coordinator with sufficient knowledge in the technical departments to work together with the design teams as an integral part of the design process. The overall environmental pressures from the railway transport system depend substantially on the upstream environmental pressures generated by the production of the infrastructure products. These pressures are totally dominated by three products. There is a large improvement potential in focusing the environmental management on these products by posing environmental requirements on their suppliers, in order to decrease the overall environmental pressures generated by the railway transport system.