Preparation of Railway Infrastructure for the Operation of Tilting Trains

Abstract

The tilting technology appeared as an idea more than 50years ago. The idea started to be applied in the design of transportmeans in a more significant manner during the 80s of thelast century, and has experienced major development duringthe last decade. The trains featuring tilting technology occupytheir place on the market segment as the possibility of improvingthe conditions (speeds commercially 10-20%) on windinglines with curve radii not less than 250 m. They do not representan alternative to the development of railway lines on trafficroutes, but rather a span between the present and the future.The work studies the basic technical elements of the tiltingtechnology with the emphasis on the area of infrastructure andwhat is recommended and should be done on the infrastructureso that the tilting technology could render the optimal results. Itis concluded that the use of tilting technology does not seek anyspecial technical solutions, but that certain elements of the raildesign require attention and should be designed in the appropriateway, at the same time not making any significant changesin the construction nor making it more expensive, but still improvingthe results of implementing the tilting technology intrains.The mentioned theoretical frames are implemented inpractice on the Zagreb - Split railway line where it has beenfound that along with the planned works on the modernizationof the rail, tilting trains result in additional improvement of theriding quality and render railway passenger transport competitiveto other transport modes.

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