We develop a model to determine the optimal structure and size of a rail car fleet at a chemical company under uncertainty in demand and travel times as well as substitution between rail car types. First, we formulate an MILP model that accounts for the substitution relations between the types and minimizes the total direct rail car cost under given rail car availability constraints and a prede...

the planning of a rail transit system is a complex process involving the determination of station locations and rail line alignments connecting the stations. There are many requirements and constraints to be considered in the planning process, with complex correlations and interactions, necessitating the application of optimization models in order to realize reliable and cost-effective rail tra...

In present study, a mathematical model of the vehicle–floating slab track (FST) interaction is established to investigate the coupled behaviour of vehicle–track system. The FST is modelled as the double Euler -Bernoulli beam including the rail and slab. The railway vehicle is simplified as a multi-rigid-body model. The wheel–rail interface is treated using a nonlinear Hertzian contact model, co...

Using multiple independent networks (also known as rails) is an emerging technique to overcome bandwidth limitations and enhance fault-tolerance of current high-performance clusters. This report presents the limitations and performance of static rail-allocation approaches, where each rail is pre-assigned a direction for communication. An analytical lower bound on the number of networks required...

This paper proposes a low voltage (±0.55V supply voltage) low power (44.65µW) high common mode rejection ratio (CMRR) differential amplifier (d.a.) with rail to rail input common mode range (ICMR), constant transconductance (gm) and enhanced frequency performance. Its high performance is obtained using a simple negative averaging method so that it cancels out the common mode input signals at th...

the ability to perform rolling contact fatigue (rcf) experiments in wheel–rail material is provided by a new small–scale test rig, manifesting the actual dynamic behaviour of the railway system. in this paper, a multi-body dynamics (mbd) model is proposed, simulating the vibration behaviour of the prescribed rig. the new testing facility is modelled using a three-dimensional model of the vehicl...

As state transportation planners seek to build or support sustainable transportation systems in an era of economic challenges, they find few publicly available rail analysis models for stakeholders to examine the environmental impacts, socio-economic effects and costs associated in investing in rail infrastructure. This paper, taken from a University Transportation Center Program (UTCP Region 6...

This report evaluates criticism of rail transit systems. It examines claims that rail transit is ineffective at increasing public transit ridership and improving transportation system performance, that rail transit investments are not cost effective, and that transit is an outdated form of transportation. It finds that critics often misrepresent issues and use biased and inaccurate analysis. Th...