scholarly journals Potential Scenarios of Concern for High Speed Rail Operations

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Carolan ◽  
Laura Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
High Speed ◽  
The United States ◽  
Operating Environment ◽  
System Safety ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Occupant Protection ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Rail Service

Currently, multiple operating authorities are proposing the introduction of high-speed rail service in the United States. While high-speed rail service shares a number of basic principles with conventional-speed rail service, the operational requirements on a high-speed rail system are typically more demanding than those for conventional-speed operations. The operating environment will require specialized maintenance and inspection procedures, enhanced protection or grade-separation of highway-rail crossings, effective separation of other rail traffic, and detection of potential hazards along the track to help ensure the safety of the system. With the required implementation of positive train control (PTC) by passenger-carrying rail operators, the frequency and/or severity of several types of railroad accidents can be decreased. While all of these measures will contribute to the overall system safety, incidents that pose a threat to passenger and crew safety may still occur that cannot be prevented through the design of the operating environment alone. It is important to consider these types of incidents when selecting the rail vehicles for use in a particular operation, and include appropriate crashworthiness and occupant protection measures. This paper presents a series of example scenarios of some of the potential hazards that may affect the safe operation of high-speed passenger trains in the United States. These situations are drawn from actual accidents that have occurred in the U.S. and abroad. The scenarios provide a starting point for discussing system safety features, which includes vehicle crashworthiness and occupant protection features. As an operating environment may be designed to limit the likelihood of certain types of incidents from occurring, three different hypothetical high-speed operating environments are discussed in this paper. While the number of potential scenarios varies with each operating environment, in all environments it is important to consider the need for a train’s crashworthiness features to mitigate the consequences of potential incidents.

Risk Acceptance and Application of the Common Safety Method in the United States

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Cockle
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
High Speed ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
System Safety ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Hazard Management ◽  
Safety Program ◽  
Risk Acceptance ◽  
Responsible Party

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that will require passenger rail operators in the United States to develop a System Safety Program using a risk-based hazard management approach. Identified as 49 CFR, Part 270 System Safety Rule [1], the NPRM describes the basic requirements for a system safety program plan, including the need for a method for accepting risk. The NPRM does not, however, identify how the responsible party should actually go about managing risk. That is left up to the railways themselves. In Europe, hazard management is applied in the railroad industry (including high-speed rail systems) under the regulatory authority of the European Union. European Commission Regulation 352/2009/EC [2] outlines a Common Safety Method (CSM) on Risk Evaluation and Assessment for Railways of the European Union, commonly known as the CSM Regulation and the heart of the railway safety program in Europe. The CSM Regulation includes the standard risk assessment process elements: identification of the hazards, corresponding risks, mitigation measures to reduce the risk, and the resulting safety requirements to be fulfilled by the system under assessment. What sets the CSM Regulation apart from other risk assessment programs is that it provides a methodology for determining when acceptable risk is achieved. The risk acceptability of the system under assessment is evaluated using one or more of the following risk acceptance principles: a) The application of relevant codes of practice; b) A comparison with similar systems (reference systems); c) Explicit risk estimation. In essence, the responsible party can accept risk that has either been regulated to an acceptable level by an authority having jurisdiction or a widely-accepted industry practice, or if the risk has been successfully addressed by a similar railway system through that railway’s engineering and operational controls. If neither of these cases applies the responsible party can estimate the risk and choose to accept it or not. A common approach, even internationally, is to develop an explicit risk estimation process based on the U.S. Department of Defense Military Standard 882E (MIL-STD-882E) [3]. Safety hazards are identified, analyzed for risk (severity and probability), and mitigations are progressively applied until a level of safety is achieved that is as low as reasonably practicable. The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has adopted a risk-based hazard management program to achieve an acceptable level of safety for the design, construction, implementation and operation of the California High-Speed Rail System. CHSRA has deliberately used both domestic and international guidance and standards in the development of this program in an effort to apply the most up-to-date processes and philosophies, and to draw upon the impressive safety legacy of international high-speed railway operators. This paper will describe the relevant regulations and guidance (both domestically and internationally), review the elements of a risk acceptance program based upon the CSM Regulation, and apply the program to a select set of hazards to demonstrate how appropriate mitigations can be determined and residual risk accepted. The paper will also identify potential future applications for the CSM Regulation here in the United States, and will challenge the reader to manage hazards using a risk-based approach that incorporates the basic framework of the CSM Regulation.

When is High-Speed Rail Fast Enough?

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth G. Sislak
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Hampton Roads ◽  
Capital Costs ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Rail Service

The vision for high-speed rail in America includes corridors that are “emerging” as candidates for investment in passenger rail service improvements including increasing maximum authorized speeds to 90 and 110 mph. Will increasing speeds up to 110 mph be cost effective in terms of attracting new riders? This paper will explore the results of studies examining incremental capital costs and the marginal ridership and revenue increases in the Richmond – Hampton Roads passenger rail project and other current emerging high-speed rail corridors throughout the United States.

scholarly journals Benchmark of the Trends of Spatial Inequality in World Megaregions

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6456
Author(s):  
Ziqi Liu ◽  
Ming Zhang ◽  
Liwen Liu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Investment Strategy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Spatial Inequality ◽  
Theil Index ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
International Learning ◽  
Regional Product ◽  
Index Measure

There have been growing concerns around the world over the rising spatial inequality (SI) amid fast and vast globalization. This paper presents an effort to benchmark the conditions and trends of spatial inequality in 37 megaregions in the United States, Europe, and China. Furthermore, the study selected three megaregion examples and analyzed the effect of developing high-speed rail (HSR) as an infrastructure investment strategy on reshaping the spatial pattern of job accessibility. The study measures spatial inequality with the Theil index of gross regional product and with the rank-size coefficient of polycentricity. Results show that spatial inequality exists and varies in magnitude within and between megaregions. On average, Chinese megaregions exhibited the level of spatial inequality about two times or more of those in the U.S. and European megaregions. The decade between 2006 and 2016 saw a decrease in the Theil index measure of megaregional inequality in China, but a slight increase in the United States and Europe. Fast growing megaregions exhibit high levels and rising trends of spatial inequality regardless of the country or continent setting. HSR helps improve mobility and accessibility; yet the extent to which HSR reduces spatial inequality is context dependent. This study presents a first attempt to assess and compare the spatial inequality conditions and trajectories in world megaregions aiming at promoting international learning.

scholarly journals Prospects for the development of high-speed railway communication in Russia based on the analysis of foreign experience

2021 ◽  
pp. 136-145
Author(s):  
Inna N. Rykova ◽  
Andrey A. Alaev
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
High Speed ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
High Speed Railway ◽  
Level Of Economic Development ◽  
Passenger Flows ◽  
The Moment ◽  
High Level ◽  
Transport Complex

The article is devoted to the experience of the implementation of high-speed railways in foreign countries and the possibility of its use in Russia. Particular attention is paid to the issues of financial and economic justification of such projects, using the criteria of commercial and budgetary efficiency. Particular attention is paid to China in the article, since this country today has the greatest experience in the implementation of projects in the field of high-speed rail communication. The emergence of high-speed rail in China not only became a technological breakthrough, but also played an important role in stimulating the country’s economy and enhancing domestic demand. At the moment, 57% of all high-speed railways in the world are in China alone. The experience of the United States is also of scientific interest, in particular, in the consideration and evaluation of high-speed rail projects. Despite the high level of economic development in the United States, high-speed rail transport is practically undeveloped, which is largely due to historical reasons. Cheap oil, along with improvements to cars and airplanes, and government subsidies for highway and airport construction, have made these vehicles more accessible to most of the population and highlighted them. Despite these circumstances, the authorities of many states are interested in the implementation of high-speed rail projects. At the same time, the question of the possibility and expediency of switching passenger flows from existing modes of transport remains relevant in the United States. In the final part of the article, using the example of specific projects, the prospects for the development of high-speed railway communication in Russia are assessed and proposals for the development of the transport complex as a whole are given.

Blended Approach

2016 ◽  
pp. 155-172
Author(s):  
Richard Harnish ◽  
F.K. Plous
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Building Block ◽  
High Speed ◽  
The United States ◽  
Network System ◽  
High Speed Rail ◽  
Interesting Topic ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Right ◽  
Block Approach

High Speed Rail development is an increasingly significant, interesting topic in the present and expected to continue to grow even more in the future. Implementation of high-speed rail would require the right type of track network system that would need to be maintained and/or built, as necessary. In this chapter, the author recommends that the United States will need to use the Blended or Building Block Approach to develop high-speed rail. He presents several examples of blended infrastructure worldwide for high-speed rail, which would offer a range of tools here in the United States for high-speed rail development.

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