Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Asian Evolution Of High Speed Rail, Philip G. Laird

Dr Philip Laird

In Australia, in 2001, the Howard government released an East Coast HSR Scoping Study. This followed two major investigations by the private sector into HSR options for Australia; the first being a Sydney Canberra Melbourne Very Fast Train as proposed in 1984 by CSIRO, and the second being the Sydney Canberra Speed HSR proposal.

Too Many Loads On Our Roads When Rail Is The Answer, Philip Laird

Dr Philip Laird

“Without trucks, Australia stops” is now a fact of modern life. But when all costs are considered, road freight is an expensive way of moving large amounts of freight. And, as shown by ongoing fatal crashes involving large trucks, road freight can also be dangerous. The main beneficiaries of road freight are not the truck drivers who work hard in a dangerous occupation, but the companies that choose to consign large quantities of freight by road. Road freight has seen strong growth, in part, due to good service levels and major road improvements that include highways with dual carriageways and …

High Speed Rail In Australia - Much Studied And Slow To Start, Philip Laird

Dr Philip Laird

High Speed Rail or HSR with electric passenger trains operating at speeds of 250km/h or more is now operational in 11 countries and has been under recent consideration in Australia for future operation between Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane. The paper outlines HSR studies in Australia and conditionally quantifies the potential reduction of aviation fuel use at up to 0.5m litres per annum from the introduction of HSR by 2020 in Australia with a reduction of external costs at $540m per annum by 2020. In addition, HSR in Eastern Australia by 2020 could allow for some 300 slots to be …

Shifting Freight To Rail Could Make The Pacific Highway Safer, Philip G. Laird

Dr Philip Laird

Articulated trucks such as semi-trailers and "B-Doubles" are involved in about 30% of fatal road accidents on the Pacific Highway. As the number of trucks carrying freight between Sydney and Brisbane increases, we will see more tragic incidents like the fatal crash involving a B-Double on 8 January 2012 near Urunga.

Faster Out Of The Station: Asia Surges Ahead On Rail, Philip Laird

Dr Philip Laird

It is interesting to see the progressmade by Asian countries since 2001 in developing high-speed rail (HSR),while Australia is missing out.

Government Rail Asset Sales, And Return To The Public Sector, In New Zealand And Tasmania, Philip G. Laird

Dr Philip Laird

The paper outlines the sale, with a track lease, in 1993 of the state owned New Zealand Railways Corporation to a consortium, TranzRail Holdings formed by the United States and New Zealand interests. It also notes increases in productivity and traffic levels to 1999 with subsequent problems leading to the New Zealand Government agreeing in 2003 to repurchase and rehabilitate the track. The paper then outlines transfer of effective ownership of the trains and related services in 2003 to an Australian company, and in 2008 back to the New Zealand Government at appreciable net cost.After a brief outline of railways …

Effects Of Geosynthetic Reinforcement On Performance Of Ballasted Rail Track, Pongpipat Anantanasakul, Buddhima Indraratna, Sanjay S. Nimbalkar, Tim Neville

Buddhima Indraratna

The 'field' performance of different geosynthetics to reinforce ballasted rail tracks was investigated. An extensive monitoring program was undertaken on fully instrumented track sections constructed near Singleton, New South Wales. Four types of geosynthetics were installed at the ballast-subballast interface of track sections located on subgrades with three distinctly different values of stiffness. It was found that geogrids could decrease vertical settlements of the ballast layer with obvious benefits of improved track stability and decreased maintenance cost. It was also found that the effectiveness of reinforcing geogrids increased when the subgrade stiffness decreased. Keywords: Geosynthetic, Reinforcement, Rail track, Ballast.

Rail Track Infrastructure For Enhanced Speed - Analysis Design And Construction Challenges, Buddhima Indraratna, Sanjay Shrawan Nimbalkar, Jayan Sylaja J S Vinod

Buddhima Indraratna

Rail is one of the largest transportation modes offering freight and passenger traffic in rapidly developing nations, including India. Conscious efforts to improve productivity, modernization and technology upgrading have led to an impressive growth in railways. Large-scale physical modeling, sophisticated numerical modeling and full-scale field monitoring often provide significant knowledge to better understand track performance and to extend the current state-of-the-art in design. A series of large-scale laboratory tests were conducted to establish relationships between (i) ballast breakage and train speed, (ii) ballast fouling and strength and (iii) interface strength and geogrids. Comprehensive field trials were carried out on instrumented …

From Theory To Practice In Rail Geotechnology, B Indraratna, Sanjay Nimbalkar, N Tennakoon, Q D. Sun

Buddhima Indraratna

In recent times the increase in axle loads and train speeds have posed serious geotechnical issues with ballasted railway tracks, both in Australia and the world. The large deformations and degradation of ballast under cyclic and impact loads, and the low bearing capacity of compacted ballast and impaired drainage often exacerbate track maintenance. In recent times in Australia, geosynthetics have been trialed in ballasted tracks constructed on soft and saturated formations to help improve stability and longevity. Comprehensive field studies on instrumented tracks at Bulli (near Wollongong) and Singleton (near Newcastle) supported by RailCorp and ARTC, were carried out to …

Effects Of Fouling On The Stress-Strain-Degradation Behaviour Of Rail Ballast, Buddhima Indraratna, Nayoma C. Tennakoon, Sanjay Nimbalkar, Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn

Buddhima Indraratna

Ballast is most commonly used as a structural component of rail track due to its high load bearing capacity, resiliency and rapid drainage. However, ballast along coal freight corridors often becomes fouled due to spilling of coal from moving wagons, in addition to further track deterioration attributed to particle breakage and pumping of soft subgrade. Highly fouled ballast needs to be cleaned or replaced to maintain the desired track resiliency, load bearing capacity and the track alignment. In order to identify the risk associated with fouling, it is important to accurately assess the amount of fouling. In this paper, the …

Building A Railway For The 21st Century: Bringing High Speed Rail A Step Closer, Max Michell, Scott Martin, Philip G. Laird

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

High Speed Rail (HSR) operating at maximum speeds of above 250km/h with electric passenger trains are now operational in at least 11 countries. As the feasibility of building an Australian East Coast HSR network between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane is once again being examined, governments at Federal, State and Local levels need to develop complementary transport infrastructure and services to ensure the long-term financial and operational success of HSR. The lengthy time frame currently envisaged for completing the first stage of an Australian East Coast HSR network by 2035 provides a 20-year window for improving and upgrading urban and regional …

A Tool To Estimate The Wheel/Rail Contact And Temperature Rising Under Dry, Wet And Oily Conditions, Khoa Vo, A Kiet Tieu, Hongtao Zhu, Prabuono Buyung Kosasih

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

In this paper, finite element method (FEM) has been applied to evaluate the wheel/rail contact stress under different contact conditions. The elastic-plastic model coded in ANSYS/LS-DYNA includes a whole wheel, 680 mm of the canted rail, and sub-components of the track (railpads, sleepers, and ballast). The three values of friction coefficient 0.4, 0.2 and 0.07 have been chosen to model the dry, wet and oily environmental contacts, respectively. The high mechanical stresses exerted at the contact area will cause the temperature rise, which results in decreasing of the yield strength of the wheel/rail. The growth of temperature is a major …

Residual Stresses In Rail-Ends From The In-Service Insulated Rail Joints Using Neutron Diffraction, Vladimir Luzin, Chandrahas Rathod, David Wexler, Paul Boyd, Manicka Dhanasekar

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Insulated rail joints (IRJs) are an integral part of the rail track signaling system and pose significant maintenance and replacement costs due to their low and fluctuating service lives. Failure occurs mainly in rail head region, bolt-holes of fishplates and web-holes of the rails. Propagation of cracks is influenced by the evolution of internal residual stresses in rails during rail manufacturing (hot-rolling, roller-straightening, and head-hardening process), and during service, particularly in heavy rail haul freight systems where loads are high. In this investigation, rail head accumulated residual stresses were analysed using neutron diffraction at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology …

Too Many Loads On Our Roads When Rail Is The Answer, Philip Laird

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

“Without trucks, Australia stops” is now a fact of modern life. But when all costs are considered, road freight is an expensive way of moving large amounts of freight. And, as shown by ongoing fatal crashes involving large trucks, road freight can also be dangerous.

The main beneficiaries of road freight are not the truck drivers who work hard in a dangerous occupation, but the companies that choose to consign large quantities of freight by road. Road freight has seen strong growth, in part, due to good service levels and major road improvements that include highways with dual carriageways and …

Impact Of Ballast Fouling On Rail Tracks, N Tennakoon, B Indraratna, S Nimbalkar

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Ballast fouling is understood as major cause of track deterioration in many countries over the world. It decreases the drainage and load bearing capacity of the ballast layer. A series of large scale hydraulic conductivity tests were conducted with different proportions of fouling to access the drainage capacity of the track. A numerical analysis was conducted using SEEP/W to quantify the drainage capacity of ballast under different degrees of fouling. Subsequently, track drainage classification in relation to the degree of fouling, which is a very useful tool for practical engineers, is presented in this paper. The analysis showed that both …

A Competitive Interstate Rail Freight And Passenger Network, Philip Laird

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

An outline is given of the East - West rail corridor linking Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and the North - South corridor between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The competitiveness of freight services on the North - South corridor is limited due to 'steam age' alignment and low clearances. Both corridors have lower axle loads and restricted train lengths when compared with mainlines of the two Canadian Class I railroads. The Brisbane Cairns corridor is cited as an example of where rail deviations completed during the 1990s have allowed for faster and heavier freight trains and the effective introduction of tilt …