Challenges of the Performance Standards of the International Finance Corporation in Financing the African Integrated High-Speed Railway Network and the Way Forward: The Case of Standard Gauge Railway in Tanzania

Financing of the African Integrated High-Speed Railway Network (AIHSRN) through Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) Projects is very expensive. As a result, most of the African countries seek financial supports from the International Financial Institutions (IFIs). However, conditions provided by the IFIs through the Performance Standards (PS) of the International Financial Corporation (IFC) increase cost of the projects and thus, it becomes a burden to most of the African countries. This study aimed to explore the causes of IFC-PS through the SGR Projects that escalate costs and how to address them. The Tanzania SGR Lot 1 Project that covered 205 km from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro was selected as a case study. The methods used for data collection involved literature review, focus group discussions and interviews. The results and findings show a gap between the IFC-PS and the National Laws and Regulations that escalates costs of the projects if funds from the IFIs were to be secured. To bridge the gap, it is recommended that the African countries should engage into negotiations with the IFIs to agree to waive IFC-PS conditions that escalate costs provided they are adequately covered in the national laws and regulations;engagement of locally established national and regional financial institutions;and the responsible government institutions in the African countries should sit together for assessment and review of the IFC-PS against the national laws and regulations.

A discussion about the limitations of the Eurocode’s high-speed load model for railway bridges

High-speed railway bridges are subjected to normative limitations concerning maximum permissible deck accelerations.For the design of these structures,the European norm EN 1991-2 introduces the high-speed load model(HSLM)—a set of point loads intended to include the effects of existing high-speed trains.Yet,the evolution of current trains and the recent development of new load models motivate a discussion regarding the limits of validity of the HSLM.For this study,a large number of randomly generated load models of articulated,conventional,and regular trains are tested and compared with the envelope of HSLM effects.For each type of train,two sets of 100,000 load models are considered:one abiding by the limits of the EN 1991-2 and another considering wider limits.This comparison is achieved using both a bridge-independent metric(train signatures)and dynamic analyses on a case study bridge(the Canelas bridge of the Portuguese Railway Network).For the latter,a methodology to decrease the computational cost of moving loads analysis is introduced.Results show that some theoretical load models constructed within the stipulated limits of the norm can lead to effects not covered by the HSLM.This is especially noted in conventional trains,where there is a relation with larger distances between centres of adjacent vehicle bogies.

Influence of pier height on the safety of trains running on high-speed railway bridges during earthquakes

Sudden earthquakes pose a threat to the running safety of trains on high-speed railway bridges,and the stiffness of piers is one of the factors affecting the dynamic response of train-track-bridge system.In this paper,a experiment of a train running on a high-speed railway bridge is performed based on a dynamic experiment system,and the corresponding numerical model is established.The reliability of the numerical model is verified by experiments.Then,the experiment and numerical data are analyzed to reveal the pier height effects on the running safety of trains on bridges.The results show that when the pier height changes,the frequency of the bridge below the 30 m pier height changes greater;the increase of pier height causes the transverse fundamental frequency of the bridge close to that of the train,and the shaking angle and lateral displacement of the train are the largest for bridge with 50 m pier,which increases the risk of derailment;with the pier height increases from 8 m to 50 m,the derailment coefficient obtained by numerical simulations increases by 75% on average,and the spectral intensity obtained by experiments increases by 120% on average,two indicators exhibit logarithmic variation.

Field survey and analysis on near-fault severely damaged high-speed railway bridge in 2022 M6.9 Menyuan earthquake

The 2022 M6.9 Menyuan earthquake caused severe damage to a high-speed railway bridge,which was designed for high-speed trains running at speeds of above 250 km/h and is located right next to the fault.Bridges of this type have been widely used for rapidly constructing the high-speed railway network,but few bridges have been tested by near-fault devastating earthquakes.The potential severe impact of the earthquake on the high-speed railway is not only the safety of the infrastructure,trains and passengers,but also economic loss due to interrupted railway use.Therefore,a field survey was carried out immediately after the earthquake to collect time-sensitive data.The damage to the bridge was carefully investigated,and quantitative analyses were conducted to better understand the mechanism of the bridge failure.It was found that seismic action perpendicular to the bridge’s longitudinal direction caused severe damage to the girders and rails,while none of the piers showed obvious deformation or cracking.The maximum values of transverse displacement,out-of-plane rotation and twisting angle of girders reached 212.6 cm,3.1 degrees and 19.9 degrees,respectively,causing severe damage to the bearing supports and anti-seismic retaining blocks.These observations provide a basis for improving the seismic design of high-speed railway bridges located in near-fault areas.

Reflection on methodology of the correlation between electromagnetic interference and safety in high-speed railway

Purpose – In the continuous development of high-speed railways, ensuring the safety of the operation controlsystem is crucial. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) faults in signaling equipment may cause transportationinterruptions, delays and even threaten the safety of train operations. Exploring the impact of disturbances onsignaling equipment and establishing evaluation methods for the correlation between EMI and safety isurgently needed.Design/methodology/approach – This paper elaborates on the necessity and significance of studying theimpact of EMI as an unavoidable and widespread risk factor in the external environment of high-speed railwayoperations and continuous development. The current status of research methods and achievements from theperspectives of standard systems, reliability analysis and safety assessment are examined layer by layer.Additionally, it provides prospects for innovative ideas for exploring the quantitative correlation between EMIand signaling safety.Findings – Despite certain innovative achievements in both domestic and international standard systems andrelated research for ensuring and evaluating railway signaling safety, there’s a lack of quantitative and strategic research on the degradation of safety performance in signaling equipment due to EMI. A quantitativecorrelation between EMI and safety has yet to be established. On this basis, this paper proposes considerationsfor research methods pertaining to the correlation between EMI and safety.Originality/value – This paper overviews a series of methods and outcomes derived from domestic andinternational studies regarding railway signaling safety, encompassing standard systems, reliability analysisand safety assessment. Recognizing the necessity for quantitatively describing and predicting the impact ofEMI on high-speed railway signaling safety, an innovative approach using risk assessment techniques as abridge to establish the correlation between EMI and signaling safety is proposed.

A review of artificial intelligence applications in high-speed railway systems

In recent years,the global surge of High-speed Railway(HSR)revolutionized ground transportation,providing secure,comfortable,and punctual services.The next-gen HSR,fueled by emerging services like video surveillance,emergency communication,and real-time scheduling,demands advanced capabilities in real-time perception,automated driving,and digitized services,which accelerate the integration and application of Artificial Intelligence(AI)in the HSR system.This paper first provides a brief overview of AI,covering its origin,evolution,and breakthrough applications.A comprehensive review is then given regarding the most advanced AI technologies and applications in three macro application domains of the HSR system:mechanical manufacturing and electrical control,communication and signal control,and transportation management.The literature is categorized and compared across nine application directions labeled as intelligent manufacturing of trains and key components,forecast of railroad maintenance,optimization of energy consumption in railroads and trains,communication security,communication dependability,channel modeling and estimation,passenger scheduling,traffic flow forecasting,high-speed railway smart platform.Finally,challenges associated with the application of AI are discussed,offering insights for future research directions.

Influence of span-to-depth ratio on dynamic response of vehicle-turnoutbridge system in high-speed railway

For high-speed railways,the smoothness of the railway line significantly affects the operational speed of trains.When the train passes through the turnout on a long-span bridge,the wheel-rail impacts caused by the turnout structure irregularities,and the instability arising from the bridge's flexural deformation lead to a strong coupling effect in the vehicle-turnout-bridge system.This significantly affects both ride comfort and operational safety.For addressing this issue,the present study considered a long-span continuous rigid-frame bridge as an example and established a train-turnout-bridge coupled dynamic model of high-speed railway.Utilizing a selfdeveloped dynamic simulation program,the study analysed the dynamic response characteristics when the train passes through the turnouts on the bridge.It also investigated the influence of different span-to-depth ratios of the bridge on the vehicle dynamic response when the train passes through the main line and branch line of turnouts and then proposed a span-to-depth ratio limit value for a long-span continuous rigid-frame bridge.The research findings suggest that the changes in the span-to-depth ratio have a relatively minor impact on the train’s operational performance but significantly affect the dynamic characteristics of the bridge structure.Based on the findings and a comprehensive assessment of safety indicators,it is advisable to establish a span-to-depth ratio limit of 1/4500 for a long-span continuous rigid-frame bridge.

Risk assessment of high-speed railway CTC system based on improved game theory and cloud model

Purpose-In order to solve the problem of inaccurate calculation of index weights,subjectivity and uncertainty of index assessment in the risk assessment process,this study aims to propose a scientific and reasonable centralized traffic control(CTC)system risk assessment method.Design/methodologylapproach-First,system-theoretic process analysis(STPA)is used to conduct risk analysis on the CTC system and constructs risk assessment indexes based on this analysis.Then,to enhance the accuracy of weight calculation,the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process(FAHP),fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory(FDEMATEL)and entropy weight method are employed to calculate the subjective weight,relative weight and objective weight of each index.These three types of weights are combined using game theory to obtain the combined weight for each index.To reduce subjectivity and uncertainty in the assessment process,the backward cloud generator method is utilized to obtain the numerical character(NC)of the cloud model for each index.The NCs of the indexes are then weighted to derive the comprehensive cloud for risk assessment of the CTC system.This cloud model is used to obtain the CTC system's comprehensive risk assessment.The model's similarity measurement method gauges the likeness between the comprehensive risk assessment cloud and the risk standard cloud.Finally,this process yields the risk assessment results for the CTC system.Findings-The cloud model can handle the subjectivity and fuzziness in the risk assessment process well.The cloud model-based risk assessment method was applied to the CTC system risk assessment of a railway group and achieved good results.Originality/value-This study provides a cloud model-based method for risk assessment of CTC systems,which accurately calculates the weight of risk indexes and uses cloud models to reduce uncertainty and subjectivity in the assessment,achieving effective risk assessment of CTC systems.It can provide a reference and theoretical basis for risk management of the CTC system.

High-speed railway track components inspection framework based on YOLOv8 with high-performance model deployment

Railway inspection poses significant challenges due to the extensive use of various components in vast railway networks,especially in the case of high-speed railways.These networks demand high maintenance but offer only limited inspection windows.In response,this study focuses on developing a high-performance rail inspection system tailored for high-speed railways and railroads with constrained inspection timeframes.This system leverages the latest artificial intelligence advancements,incorporating YOLOv8 for detection.Our research introduces an efficient model inference pipeline based on a producer-consumer model,effectively utilizing parallel processing and concurrent computing to enhance performance.The deployment of this pipeline,implemented using C++,TensorRT,float16 quantization,and oneTBB,represents a significant departure from traditional sequential processing methods.The results are remarkable,showcasing a substantial increase in processing speed:from 38.93 Frames Per Second(FPS)to 281.06 FPS on a desktop system equipped with an Nvidia RTX A6000 GPU and from 19.50 FPS to 200.26 FPS on the Nvidia Jetson AGX Orin edge computing platform.This proposed framework has the potential to meet the real-time inspection requirements of high-speed railways.

Key technologies of earthquake early warning system for China’s high-speed railway

Purpose–The purpose of this study is to introduce the top-level design ideas and the overall architecture of earthquake early-warning system for high speed railways in China,which is based on P-wave earthquake early-warning and multiple ways of rapid treatment.Design/methodology/approach–The paper describes the key technologies that are involved in the development of the system,such as P-wave identification and earthquake early-warning,multi-source seismic information fusion and earthquake emergency treatment technologies.The paper also presents the test results of the system,which show that it has complete functions and its major performance indicators meet the design requirements.Findings–The study demonstrates that the high speed railways earthquake early-warning system serves as an important technical tool for high speed railways to cope with the threat of earthquake to the operation safety.The key technical indicators of the system have excellent performance:The first report time of the P-wave is less than three seconds.From the first arrival of P-wave to the beginning of train braking,the total delay of onboard emergency treatment is 3.63 seconds under 95%probability.The average total delay for power failures triggered by substations is 3.3 seconds.Originality/value–The paper provides a valuable reference for the research and development of earthquake early-warning system for high speed railways in other countries and regions.It also contributes to the earthquake prevention and disaster reduction efforts.

Study on the Influence of Lanzhou-Urumqi High-Speed Railway on Regional Accessibility and Economic Development

The Lanzhou-Urumqi high-speed railway is an important part of the railway network connecting Gansu,Qinghai,and Xinjiang,and it is of far-reaching significance in facilitating China’s western development.An accessibility model and a double difference model were built to analyze the impact of the Lanzhou-Urumqi high-speed railway on regional accessibility and economic development of the areas along the line before(2012-2014)and after(2017-2019)its opening.The results show that the regional accessibility remains unchanged before and after the operation of this railway line.However,there is a spatial difference in improvement,that of central cities being better.The opening of the high-speed railway is conducive to driving the overall economic development of the region and promoting the comprehensive and coordinated development of regional economies.

TCP-LTE/5G Cross-layer performance analysis tool for high mobility data networking and a case study on high-speed railway

Nowadays,high mobility scenarios have become increasingly common.The widespread adoption of High-speed Rail(HSR)in China exemplifies this trend,while more promising use cases,such as vehicle-to-everything,continue to emerge.However,the Internet access provided in high mobility environments stllstruggles to achieve seamless connectivity.The next generation of wireless cellular technology 5 G further poses more requirements on the endto-end evolution to fully utilize its ultra-high band-width,while existing network diagnostic tools focus on above-IP layers or below-IP layers only.We then propose HiMoDiag,which enables flexible online analysis of the network performance in a cross-layer manner,i.e.,from the top(application layer)to the bottom(physical layer).We believe HiMoDiag could greatly simplify the process of pinpointing the deficiencies of the Internet access delivery on HSR,lead to more timely optimization and ultimately help to improve the network performance.

KL-SG High-Speed Rail-a catalyst for national economic development Sri Viknesh Permalu and Karthigesu Nagarajoo

Purpose-In an increasingly interconnected world,transportation infrastructure has emerged as a critical determinant of economic growth and global competitiveness.High-speed rail(HSR),characterized by its exceptional speed and efficiency,has garnered widespread attention as a transformative mode of transportation that transcends borders and fosters economic development.The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore(KL-SG)HSR project stands as a prominent exemplar of this paradigm,symbolizing the potential of HSR to serve as a catalyst for national economic advancement.Design/methodologylapproach-This paper is prepared to provide an insight into the benefits and advantages of HSR based on proven case studies and references from global HSRs,including China,Spain,France and Japan.Findings-The findings that have been obtained focus on enhanced connectivity and accessibility,attracting foreign direct investment,revitalizing regional economies,urban development and city regeneration,boosting tourism and cultural exchange,human capital development,regionai integration and environmental and sustainability benefits.Originality/value-The KL-SG HSR,linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore,epitomizes the potential for HSR to be a transformative agent in the realm of economic development.This project encapsulates the aspirations of two dynamic Southeast Asian economies,united in their pursuit of sustainable growth,enhanced connectivity and global competitiveness.By scrutinizing the KLSG High-Speed Rail through the lens of economic benchmarking,a deeper understanding emerges of how such projects can drive progress in areas such as cross-border trade,tourism,urban development and technological innovation.

Transformer-Based Macroscopic Regulation for High-Speed Railway Timetable Rescheduling

Unexpected delays in train operations can cause a cascade of negative consequences in a high-speed railway system.In such cases,train timetables need to be rescheduled.However,timely and efficient train timetable rescheduling is still a challenging problem due to its modeling difficulties and low optimization efficiency.This paper presents a Transformer-based macroscopic regulation approach which consists of two stages including Transformer-based modeling and policy-based decisionmaking.Firstly,the relationship between various train schedules and operations is described by creating a macroscopic model with the Transformer,providing the better understanding of overall operation in the high-speed railway system.Then,a policy-based approach is used to solve a continuous decision problem after macro-modeling for fast convergence.Extensive experiments on various delay scenarios are conducted.The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in comparison to other popular methods.

A time-space network-based model for transportation service optimization of China Railway Express

This paper describes the development and optimization plans for the China Railway Express(CR Express).As a new type of international land transport organization,CR Express has emerged with the continuous expansion of China toward European investment and trade,and in particular,has expanded with the continuous progress of the One Belt and One Road(OBOR)initiative.In addition to improving the service quality of CR Express,the operating costs must be reduced for developing“smart railways”that serve“smart cities”.We propose a dualobjective-based function mathematical optimization model;the satisfaction of the cargo owner is considered,and the timeliness,transportation capacity,and goods category constraints of CR Express transportation are designed.Moreover,we present the normalized equivalent method of the two-objective function of the model.Finally,a case study is conducted against the background of certain trains in the western corridor of CR Express to validate the effectiveness of the model and research methods proposed in this study.

System architecture and basic platform for intelligent high-speed railway

Purpose-This paper aims to provide top-level design and basic platform for intelligent application in China high-speed railway.Design/methodology/approach-Based on the analysis for the future development trends of world railway,combined with the actual development needs in China high-speed railway,The definition and scientific connotation of intelligent high-speed railway(IHSR)are given at first,and then the system architecture of IHSR are outlined,including 1 basic platform,3 business sectors,10 business fields,and 18 innovative applications.At last,a basic platform with cloud edge integration for IHSR is designed.Findings-The rationality,feasibility and implementability of the system architecture of IHSR have been verified on and applied to the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway,providing important support for the construction and operation of the world’s first IHSR.Originality/value-This paper systematically gives the definition and connotation of the IHSR and put forward the system architecture of IHSR for first time.It will play the most important role in the design,construction and operation of IHSR.

Key technologies and applications of intelligent dispatching command for high-speed railway in China

Purpose–The intelligent Central Traffic Control(CTC)system plays a vital role in establishing an intelligent high-speed railway(HSR)system.As the core of HSR transportation command,the intelligent CTC system is a new HSR dispatching command system that integrates the widely used CTC in China with the practical service requirements of intelligent dispatching.This paper aims to propose key technologies and applications for intelligent dispatching command in HSR in China.Design/methodology/approach–This paper first briefly introduces the functions and configuration of the intelligent CTC system.Some new servers,terminals and interfaces are introduced,which are plan adjustment server/terminal,interface for automatic train operation(ATO),interface for Dynamic Monitoring System of Train Control Equipment(DMS),interface for Power Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition(PSCADA),interface for Disaster Monitoring,etc.Findings–The key technologies applied in the intelligent CTC system include automatic adjustment of train operation plans,safety control of train routes and commands,traffic information data platform,integrated simulation of traffic dispatching and ATO function.These technologies have been applied in the Beijing-Zhangjiakou HSR,which commenced operations at the end of 2019.Implementing these key intelligent functions has improved the train dispatching command capacity,ensured the safe operation of intelligent HSR,reduced the labor intensity of dispatching operators and enhanced the intelligence level of China’s dispatching system.Originality/value–This paper provides further challenges and research directions for the intelligent dispatching command of HSR.To achieve the objectives,new measures need to be conducted,including the development of advanced technologies for intelligent dispatching command,coping with new requirements with the development of China’s railway signaling system,the integration of traffic dispatching and train control and the application of AI and data-driven modeling and methods.

Image-Aided Analysis of Ballast Particle Movement Along a High-Speed Railway

As a core infrastructure of high-speed railways,ballast layers constituted by graded crushed stones feature noteworthy particle movement compared with normal railways,which may cause excessive settlement and have detrimental effects on train operation.However,the movement behavior remains ambiguous due to a lack of effective measurement approaches and analytical methods.In this study,an image-aided technique was developed in a full-scale model test using digital cameras and a colorbased identification approach.A total of 1274 surface ballast particles were manually dyed by discernible colors to serve as tracers in the test.The movements of the surface ballast particles were tracked using the varied pixels displaying tracers in the photos that were intermittently taken during the test in the perpendicular direction.The movement behavior of ballast particles under different combinations of train speeds and axle loads was quantitatively evaluated.The obtained results indicated that the surface ballast particle movements were slight,mainly concentrated near sleepers under low-speed train loads and greatly amplified and extended to the whole surface when the train speed reached 360 km.h-1.Additionally,the development of ballast particle displacement statistically resembled its rotation.Track vibration contributed to the movements of ballast particles,which specifically were driven by vertical acceleration near the track center and horizontal acceleration at the track edge.Furthermore,the development trends of ballast particle movements and track settlement under long-term train loading were similar,and both stabilized at nearly the same time.The track performance,including the vibration characteristics,accumulated settlement,and sleeper support stiffness,was determined to be closely related to the direction and distribution of ballast particle flow,which partly deteriorated under high-speed train loads.

Power supply arm protection scheme of high-speed railway based on wide-area current differential

When fault occurs on cross-coupling autotransformer(AT)power supply traction network,the up-line and down-line feeder circuit breakers in the traction substation trip at the same time without selectivity,which leads to an extended power failure.Based on equivalent circuit and Kirchhoff’s current law,the feeder current characteristic in the substation,AT station and sectioning post when T-R fault,F-R fault,and T-F fault occur are analyzed and their expressions are obtained.When the traction power supply system is equipped with wide-area protection measurement and control system,the feeder protection device in each station collects the feeder currents in other two stations through the wide-area protection channel and a wide-area current differential protection scheme based on the feeder current characteristic is proposed.When a short-circuit fault occurs in the power supply arm,all the feeder protection devices in each station receive the feeder currents with time stamp in other two stations.After data synchronous processing and logic judgment,the fault line of the power supply arm can be identified and isolated quickly.The simulation result based on MATLAB/Simulink shows that the power supply arm protection scheme based on wide-area current differential has good fault discrimination ability under different fault positions,transition resistances,and fault types.The verification of measured data shows that the novel protection scheme will not be affected by the special working conditions of the electrical multiple unit(EMU),and reliability,selectivity,and rapidity of relay protection are all improved.

Earthquake Emergency Response System of High-speed Railway by Least Square Method

This paper studies the Least Square Method to define high-speed railway(HSR) earthquake risk and solve the problem of its emergency response mechanism. Based on the construction of a monitoring system for HSR earthquake emergency response, the technical operational procedures for HSR seismic emergency response are proposed. The quantity, scale, and location of HSR earthquake emergency response mechanism are defined, and the corresponding emergency response system is built. In particular, the earthquake emergency response system can conduct real-time continuous dynamic monitoring of seismic activity along the railway. When earthquake occurs, the intensity of the ground motion is detected by the system. When the earthquake monitoring value reaches the earthquake alarm threshold, it will send an alarm signal to the dispatch center, and the emergency power supply will be forced to cut off. The earthquake emergency response system will continue to monitor the follow-up ground motion acceleration. The system provides the operation scheduling center with a basis for train operation control to resume operation after stopping. The monitoring result of the system reduces the disaster, and the secondary disaster is caused by the earthquake. This paper improves the HSR response mechanism in detecting earthquake disasters. The result improves the ability of HSR to deal with earthquake disasters, and reduces casualties and economic and property loss caused by earthquake disasters.