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Switches and crossings are the essential elements of railway lines. In 2016, the S-CODE (Switch and Crossing Optimal Design and Evaluation, Shift2Rail) project was initiated, which seeks radically new ways of changing trains between tracks with regard to the growing capacity and reliability. The fundamental objective of the research activity at this stage is to find reliable and robust designs with low life-cycle costs, low carbon footprint, and low maintenance. The use of new materials, manufacturing processes, electronic equipment, and signal processing and mechatronic solutions, is investigated.

This paper deals with guiding behaviour of a diesel-electric locomotive equipped with new three-axle bogies which were developed in co-operation of the company CZ LOKO and the Faculty of Transport Engineering of the University of Pardubice. At first, the design of the new bogie intended for the track gauge 1520 mm is shortly introduced. Then, the attention is paid to three different variants of secondary suspension design and their influence on lateral force effects of the locomotive on track in curves. The assessment is performed by means of the multibody simulation tool "SJKV" and it takes into account GOST standards. Possibilities of application of a system of active elements for bogie steering are also evaluated.