What happens when the train wheel meets the rail, is one of the major factors in the making of a more comfortable and reliable train journey. The project is under way right now in In2Track3.
To increase the knowledge about what happens when the wheel of the train meets the rail, often in 200 km/h has proven to create possibilities to make the train journey more comfortable and the railway system more reliable. If the rail and the wheel are adapted to a certain distance the vibrations and shakings can be minimized.
Behind this new knowledge lies a new method to decide the standard of the railway system and the train wheel. This new way is called GIP and stands for Gradient Index Profil. It has been used by the CEN, the European Standardization organization, who will use it as a new standard for measure the distance between wheel and rail.
Matthias Asplund is senior rail specialist at Trafikverket in Sweden, and project leader of the project. He says:
– So far our results has been published in 15 technical reports which has been discussed in the industry. We will have to wait for the results to actually be placed in the train traffic for a couple of years. But it is now that the breakthrough scientifically has occurred.
Thanks to this new knowledge it will also be possible to separate the shakings and vibrations that are a problem of comfort and those that are a security risk. Today all vibrations over a certain level are regarded a security risk. This leads to lower speed and that the train is taken to maintenance. This new knowledge however can help to create a more comfortable and reliable train traffic.
Pär Söderström is technical specialist at Mechanical system at SJ. He says:
– We have found a fruitful cooperation within an area that is important for the passengers.
To understand what happens between wheel and rail becomes more and more important when the speed goes up. With this new knowledge even train trips with higher speed that 250 km/h will be a comfortable experience.
The project is run within the Shift2Rail, EU´s rail scientific program. The results of the project will be presented in 12 different reports and 4 scientific articles, available at Trafikverket.