Publisher's Synopsis
Modern railways have moved a long way from the slow, noisy, polluting and poor safety record of their earlier ancestors and offer speed, comfort, convenience and enhanced safety approaching those of air travel these days. This is largely driven by incorporation of many modern innovations into the infrastructure, rolling stock and operations comprising advanced computing on-board and track side, high-speed communications, energy efficient traction systems and new track materials. These evolutionary changes have rendered railways a highly attractive mode of transportation in today's world. Electric railway traction chains (ERTCs) emerged at the end of the nineteenth century. Over the years, they have been consolidated as a better solution than their counterparts, i.e., the traction systems with generating power on board. In terms of performances, ERTCs show the highest power-to-weight ratio, fastest acceleration and highest traction effort on steep gradients of the railway traction scenario. They also offer other advantages; such as: less noise, lower maintenance requirements of the traction units, and a higher rational use of energy respecting and preserving the environment (e.g., energy harvesting systems as regenerative brakes or no greenhouse gasses' emissions). However, their drawback is the electrification line cost, which always entails an economical viability study according to a trade-off between line distance and volume traffic. This book Safety and Reliability Issues in Railways covers railway traction fundamentals, providing engineering students and professionals with a collection of state-of-the-art methodological and technological notions to support the development and certification of 'real-time safety-critical' railway control systems, as well as the protection of rail transportation infrastructures. The book approaches the concerns over safety and security of modern mainline and light railways from a systems perspective. It addresses key concerns from the view point of systemic emergence arising from the interaction between all the principal constituents of the railway system, namely infrastructure, rolling stock, energy and human element comprising workers, passengers and the neighbors of the railways. It presents a system level perspective on the requirements of the railways that impact on all design, development, operations, maintenance and upgrades. It also offers a classification system for the requirements that includes safety and security concerns amongst in excess of twenty other requirement categories. The book reviews the trends in railway safety and security, and the impact of new control and command technologies on the safety performance of railways including a view of the emerging issues. The intention of the book is to serve as a valuable reference for students, educators, scientists, faculty members, researchers, and engineers. Modern railways have moved a long way from the slow, noisy, polluting and poor safety record of their earlier ancestors and offer speed, comfort, convenience and enhanced safety approaching those of air travel these days. This is largely driven by incorporation of many modern innovations into the infrastructure, rolling stock and operations comprising advanced computing on-board and track side, high-speed communications, energy efficient traction systems and new track materials. These evolutionary changes have rendered railways a highly attractive mode of transportation in today's world. Electric railway traction chains (ERTCs) emerged at the end of the nineteenth century. Over the years, they have been consolidated as a better solution than their counterparts, i.e., the traction systems with generating power on board. In terms of performances, ERTCs show the highest power-to-weight ratio, fastest acceleration and highest traction effort on steep gradients of the railway traction scenario. They also offer other advantages; such as: less noise, lower maintenance requirements of the traction units, and a higher rational use of energy respecting and preserving the environment (e.g., energy harvesting systems as regenerative brakes or no greenhouse gasses' emissions). However, their drawback is the electrification line cost, which always entails an economical viability study according to a trade-off between line distance and volume traffic. This book Safety and Reliability Issues in Railways covers railway traction fundamentals, providing engineering students and professionals with a collection of state-of-the-art methodological and technological notions to support the development and certification of 'real-time safety-critical' railway control systems, as well as the protection of rail transportation infrastructures. The book approaches the concerns over safety and security of modern mainline and light railways from a systems perspective. It addresses key concerns from the view point of systemic emergence arising from the interaction between all the principal constituents of the railway system, namely infrastructure, rolling stock, energy and human element comprising workers, passengers and the neighbors of the railways. It presents a system level perspective on the requirements of the railways that impact on all design, development, operations, maintenance and upgrades. It also offers a classification system for the requirements that includes safety and security concerns amongst in excess of twenty other requirement categories. The book reviews the trends in railway safety and security, and the impact of new control and command technologies on the safety performance of railways including a view of the emerging issues. The intention of the book is to serve as a valuable reference for students, educators, scientists, faculty members, researchers, and engineers. Modern railways have moved a long way from the slow, noisy, polluting and poor safety record of their earlier ancestors and offer speed, comfort, convenience and enhanced safety approaching those of air travel these days. This is largely driven by incorporation of many modern innovations into the infrastructure, rolling stock and operations comprising advanced computing on-board and track side, high-speed communications, energy efficient traction systems and new track materials. These evolutionary changes have rendered railways a highly attractive mode of transportation in today's world. Electric railway traction chains (ERTCs) emerged at the end of the nineteenth century. Over the years, they have been consolidated as a better solution than their counterparts, i.e., the traction systems with generating power on board. In terms of performances, ERTCs show the highest power-to-weight ratio, fastest acceleration and highest traction effort on steep gradients of the railway traction scenario. They also offer other advantages; such as: less noise, lower maintenance requirements of the traction units, and a higher rational use of energy respecting and preserving the environment (e.g., energy harvesting systems as regenerative brakes or no greenhouse gasses' emissions). However, their drawback is the electrification line cost, which always entails an economical viability study according to a trade-off between line distance and volume traffic. This book Safety and Reliability Issues in Railways covers railway traction fundamentals, providing engineering students and professionals with a collection of state-of-the-art methodological and technological notions to support the development and certification of 'real-time safety-critical' railway control systems, as well as the protection of rail transportation infrastructures. The book approaches the concerns over safety and security of modern mainline and light railways from a systems perspective. It addresses key concerns from the view point of systemic emergence arising from the interaction between all the principal constituents of the railway system, namely infrastructure, rolling stock, energy and human element comprising workers, passengers and the neighbors of the railways. It presents a system level perspective on the requirements of the railways that impact on all design, development, operations, maintenance and upgrades. It also offers a classification system for the requirements that includes safety and security concerns amongst in excess of twenty other requirement categories. The book reviews the trends in railway safety and security, and the impact of new control and command technologies on the safety performance of railways including a view of the emerging issues. The intention of the book is to serve as a valuable reference for students, educators, scientists, faculty members, researchers, and engineers.
