00814205

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/1742-06

http://scholar.google.com...yton&publication_year=2001

The impacts on railway technical productivity, infrastructure, and costs created by the introduction of new railway technology to the movement of grain in Western Canada are evaluated. By creating a geographic information system model of the railway system and assigning grain traffic to individual railway lines, operational and maintenance parameters are determined for each railway segment under a variety of scenarios. The scenarios consider the implementation of new high-horsepower locomotives and heavier freight cars. Because four new trains can do the work of five current trains, new technology decreases the number of trains and amount of equipment required, decreasing the cost of transport. Although the new cars negatively affect the infrastructure through higher axle loads, decreases in the number of trains operated more than offset associated roadway maintenance increases. The benefits of the new technology are more apparent on Canadian Pacific than on Canadian National because of the steep grades and long trains associated with Canadian Pacific operations. Over the service life of the new technology, approximately $260 million [in Canadian dollars (C$1=US$0.65)] will be saved. Additional benefits can be obtained by performing additional upgrades to the railway infrastructure.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1742, Intercity Passenger Rail; Freight Rail; and Track Design and Maintenance.

English

p. 45-53

2001

Transportation Research Record

030907200X

Figures (3) ; References (10) ; Tables (4)

Axle load force; Forecasting; Freight cars; Freight transportation; Grain; Horsepower; Impacts; Locomotives; Railroads; Savings; Technological innovations

Canadian National; Canadian Pacific

Western Canada

Economics; Freight Transportation; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Railroads

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jul 31 2001 12:00AM

• APPLICATION OF BENEFIT-COST ANALYSIS TO THE PROPOSED CALIFORNIA HIGH-SPEED RAIL SYSTEM
• COMPATIBILITY AND CONSTRAINTS BETWEEN HIGH-SPEED PASSENGER TRAINS AND TRADITIONAL FREIGHT TRAINS
• CONCRETE SLAB TRACK STATE OF THE PRACTICE
• ESTIMATION OF INVESTMENT IN TRACK AND STRUCTURES NEEDED TO HANDLE 129 844-KG (286,000-LB) RAILCARS ON SHORT-LINE RAILROADS
• EVALUATION OF UNIAXIAL STRAIN TRANSDUCER FOR RAILROAD INFRASTRUCTURE
• FRANCHISING AND REFRANCHISING OF PASSENGER RAIL SERVICES IN BRITAIN
• FUNDAMENTAL NONLINEAR TRACK LOAD-DEFLECTION BEHAVIOR FOR CONDITION EVALUATION
• RAILROADS IN GREECE: HISTORY, CHARACTERISTICS, AND FORECASTS
• RISK AND TRAIN CONTROL: A FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSIS
• TRACK DEGRADATION ASSESSMENT USING GAGE RESTRAINT MEASUREMENTS