A Study on the Possible Running Time Estimation of Tilting Train on the Gyeongbu line

Abstract

-A rising attention is paid to the railway system in many countries. KOREA is also of the opinion that the railway has to play a more important role in the near future to face up to the problems that increase gradually in the transport sector. To attract more traffic to the rail networks, it is important for rail modes to have running time competitiveness. Tilting trains, where it is possible to tilt the car-body towards the center of the curve, are a less expensive alternative to shorten travelling times on existing lines. Running time for tilting train is one of the most important factors, with which passenger demand forecasting or economic feasibility analysis will be done. This paper evaluates the speed limitation of tilting train around curves and also presents calculation process of its simulated possible running time. Then the adequacy of estimated time is verified with running time for Korean protype tilting train TTX (Tilting Train eXpress) by actual test run. As a case study, the estimated running time for the production version of tilting train and its time saving are presented compared with 2012's conventional Saemaul trains and non-tilting trains on the Gyeongbu line in the Korean rail network.