Research of European railway operators to reduce the environmental impact of high-speed trains

Abstract

This article presents the results of several research projects to reduce the environmental impact of high-speed traffic on rails. The most prominent keywords relating to environmental friendliness are energy saving and noise reduction. To follow national as well as European Union (EU) requirements and to empower the environmental friendliness of the European railway traffic, the railway companies and manufacturers are joining together more and more to perform research projects in this area.

At about 280km/h travelling speed flow-induced noise becomes important, so areas with flow separation on the train must be avoided, thus reducing the aerodynamic drag of the train at the same time. Bogie fairings lead both to a reduction in aerodynamic resistance and locally generated aerodynamic noise resulting from the high level of turbulence in the bogie area. In a similar way, streamlining of the frame structure of the pantograph leads to a reduction of the noise generated at high velocities.

A high-speed train entering a tunnel generates a pressure wave. When it is reflected at the tunnel exit a part of the pressure wave is audibly emitted into the surrounding environment. A number of technical solutions were advanced to circumvent noise annoyance. In situ tests showed that an acoustically soft head of a sound barrier works very well and that the barrier effect can be improved.

Keywords

high-speed train operation low-noise train aerodynamic drag reduction reduced energy consumption infrastructure design for low environmental impact

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