Energy-Efficient Train Operation: Conclusions and Future Work

Abstract

The increasing mobility, congestion and environmental impact of transport is a major concern to societies worldwide. The railways offer a sustainable mode of transport to face these societal challenges and are facing a significant growth in demand. Railway transport is the most energy-efficient means of transport due to the low friction of the steel wheel-rail interface, and specifically electric trains-representing 75% of the passenger-kilometres by rail worldwide [2]-are a sustainable means of transport, both in terms of energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions. The increasing railway transport demand and saturating railway capacity motivate further research and deployment of energy-efficient train operation. Train headways are getting much shorter by modern signalling and control technology, as well as planning for optimal usage of infrastructure to accommodate the growing train frequencies. This gives additional challenges to maintain stable railway traffic without unnecessary braking and re-accelerating, while also opportunities arise to re-use regenerative braking energy by nearby trains.Train drivers can use a variety of driving strategies to operate a train from stop to stop and as such use the available running time supplements in different ways. Energy-efficient train operation makes use of optimal cruising speeds (speed holding