The Railway Engineer

In a rapidly changing world, with increasing competition in all sectors of transportation, railways are in a period of restructuring their management and technology. New methods of organization are introduced, commercial and tariff policies change radically, a more entrepreneurial spirit is required. At the same time, new high-speed tracks are being constructed and old tracks are renewed, high-comfort rolling stock vehicles are being introduced, logistics and combined transport are being developed. Awareness of environmental issues and search for greater safety give to the railways a new role within the transportation system. Meanwhile, methods of analysis have significantly evolved, principally due to computer applications and new ways of thinking and approaching old problems. Therefore it becomes necessary to come up with a new scientific approach to tackle management and engineering aspects of railways, to understand in-depth the origins and inter-relationships of the various situations and phenomena and to suggest the appropriate methods and solutions to solve the various emerging problems. This book aims to cover the need for a new scientific approach for railways. It is written for railway managers, economists and engineers, consulting economists and engineers, students of schools of engineering, transportation and management. The book is divided into three distinct parts: Part A deals with the management of railways, Part B deals with the track and, Part C deals with rolling stock and environmental topics. Each chapter of the book contains the necessary theoretical analysis of the phenomena studied, the recommended solutions, applications, charts and design of the specific railway component. In this way, both the requirement for a theoretical analysis is met, and the need of the railway manager and engineer for tables, nomographs, regulations, etc. is satisfied. Railways in Europe have separated activities of infrastructure from those of operation. In other parts of the world, however, railways remain unified. The book addresses both situation. Railways present great differences in their technologies. Something may be valid for one such technology, but not for another. To overcome this problem, regulations of the International Union of Railways (UIC) as well as European Standardization (CEN) have been used to the greatest extent possible. Whenever a specific technology or method is presented, the limits of its application are clearly emphasized.

A revision of the classic text on railroad engineering, considered the ``bible'' of the field for three decades. Presents railroad engineering principles quantitatively but without excessive resort to mathematics, and applies these principles to day-by-day design, construction, operation, and maintenance. Relates practice to principles in an orderly, sequential pattern (subgrade, ballast, ties, rails). Applicable to both conventional railroads and rapid transit systems.

This textbook covers the very wide spectrum of all aspects of railway engineering for all engineering disciplines, in a 'broad brush' way giving a good overall knowledge of what is involved in planning, designing, constructing and maintaining a railway. It covers all types of railway systems including light rail and metro as well as main line. The first edition has proved very popular both with students new to railways and with practicing engineers who need to work in this newly expanding area.In the second edition, the illustrations have been improved and brought up to date, particularly with the introduction of 30 colour pages which include many newly taken photographs. The text has been reviewed for present day accuracy and, where necessary, has been modified or expanded to include reference to recent trends or developments. New topics include automatic train control, level crossings, dot matrix indicators, measures for the mobility impaired, reinforced earth structures, air conditioning, etc. Recent railway experience, both technical and political, has also been reflected in the commentary.