With considerable investments, mainly from local government budgets, the construction and operation of urban rail transit (URT) can exert significant spillover effects on the surrounding land use and land prices. In particular, China’s local governments are actively committed to developing their URT systems and promoting large-scale transit-oriented development (TOD) projects under the public land leasing policy. However, the connection between the land premium effects and TOD policy and practice is still lacking, particularly in the local government contexts, which exhibit significant policy and spatial heterogeneity. Thus, this research represents an attempt to better address this issue using the city of Ningbo as a case study. First, the premium effects of URT on land prices are examined, after which three crucial policy insights (land value capture [LVC], public–private cooperation [PPC], and urban regeneration) are proposed to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of TOD, demonstrating its strong connection with the potential premium effects. The findings demonstrate that (1) local governments have adopted different innovative policies—with the ambition—to implement LVC; (2) assisted by PPC, the local rail transit authority can significantly amplify the premium effects, although it must still address the fair distribution of premiums across multiple stakeholders; and (3) transit-oriented urban regeneration can significantly influence land prices/land rents and subsequently generate significant gentrification, which will be further addressed by the TOD policy and practice.

Rail transit is a primary transport mode in Tokyo and has become the backbone of its urban development. Tokyo rail transit networks consist of the subway in the central area, private railways in the suburban area, and Japan Railway (JR) in both central and suburban areas. Prior research revealed that JR has better coordination of transit node functions and station-area development than subway and private railway stations, but how Tokyo's JR station-area development integrates with its network growth is less explored. This work investigates how JR station-area development grows in tandem with network expansion, by revisiting different historical phases. The results show that, in the beginning of the twentieth century, JR connected major urban nodes in both central and suburban Tokyo, and therefore became the skeleton of Tokyo's transit systems. During the post-earthquake and post-war period, central subway and suburban private railways gradually met JR on the Yamanote line, enabling the major interchange stations to develop into urban centers. In the 1960s, JR increased its services to alleviate passenger congestion and undertook grade separation projects to reduce conflicts with road networks. The 1987 JR privatization marked a turning point of massive station-area redevelopment. JR station areas have been transformed from underutilized industrial land into high-density commercial use, and major JR stations were comprehensively replanned for identity and place-making. After a centennial development, JR stations have become important interchange and express-service nodes on Tokyo transit networks with intensive land use and different urban functions. The Tokyo JR case can provide insights for metropolitan cities on how to integrate rail transit infrastructure with station-area development, including matching critical nodes in transit networks with urban functions and high-density land use and connecting these urban functions through express line services.

Transit-oriented development (TOD) mode refers to the integrated development of high-density and multi-functional land in the vicinity of core public transportation stations to increase public transportation rates and address problems such as traffic congestion and land shortages. Therefore, it is crucial to comprehend the relationship between TOD areas and the travel behavior of rail transit residents. However, the income level and occupation of residents have a significant impact on their travel behavior, as people tend to choose their residential, work, and entertainment areas based on their economic characteristics. This paper focuses primarily on two aspects: how to distinguish TOD areas from non-TOD areas (specifically, rail stations) and the variations in the travel behavior of the people residing in these areas. Rail stations were first classified via cluster analysis according to the selected TOD indexes; then, a propensity score matching method was applied to control the influence of self-selection behavior. Based on this, the matched results were analyzed to study the difference in the travel behavior characteristics of residents in TOD and non-TOD areas. The results indicate that residents in TOD areas are more likely to travel by public transportation than those from non-TOD areas. The findings of this study promote a people-oriented urban planning concept and would have practical implications for applications of TOD modes on urban public transportation systems.

A study has been conducted to measure uniform corrosion due to the tunnel environment in the mass rapid transit North East Line (NEL) in Singapore. The study was aimed at investigating the corrosivity of the atmospheric environment in the NEL to enhance understanding on the maintenance of metallic components in a tunnel. The corrosivity levels at the buffer areas of ten stations along the NEL were monitored over a period of two years. The measurements were based on physical metal coupons as well as real-time monitoring systems using electrical resistance sensors. The corrosivity levels measured at different exposure sites showed differences, but were generally low and could be generally categorised as G1 according to ISA standard 71.04:2013. The reason for the low corrosivity levels was likely to be due to the relatively mild temperature and low (<60%) average relative humidity.

Railway disc brake is vulnerable to surface damages including fade, wear, squeal, thermal cracks and fatigue being just few of them. To counteract these negative consequences, reliable thermal model that can accommodate space and time variables is essential. The aim of this study is to develop new non-axisymmetric moving heat source and compare its efficiency with pre-existing traditional models. Factors responsible for temperature spatial and temporal variation are identified first and then programmed in ANSYS APDL similar capability to a FORTRAN. Heat flux and convection coefficients are calculated by empirical equations and stored in parameters and arrays for later use, based on small time and pad angular increment. The modelling is to successfully solve the problems in traditional models by estimating surface temperature difference as high as 49 °C, within acceptable computation time. Besides, its consideration of radial distance reported variations from traditional models as high as 10% and 60% in moving heat source and axisymmetric, respectively. And, it is also verified with the literature within acceptable variation. Finally, it is suggested that the model can be applied in conducting pad geometry optimization, thermal stress and fatigue life of disc brake.

This paper presents a formal model-based methodology to support railway engineers in the design of safe electronic urban railway control systems. The purpose of our research is to overcome the deficiencies of existing traditional design methodologies, namely the incompleteness and the potential presence of contradictions in the system specification resulting from non-formal development techniques. We illustrate the application of the methodology via a case study of a tram-road level crossing protection system. It was chosen partly because it has a simple architecture and a small number of elements, thus it fits the scope limitations of this article. At the same time, it is suitable for presenting all essential features of our methodology. The proposed solution provides a specification/verification environment that facilitates the construction of correct, complete, consistent, and verifiable functional specifications during the development, while hiding all the formal method-related details from the railway engineers writing the specifications. Using this formal model-based methodology, a high-quality functional specification can be achieved, which is guaranteed to be more exhaustive and will contain fewer errors than traditional development.

The urban mass rapid transit (UMRT) Line HN2A is the first light rail transit line in Vietnam. It is also the first time the operational safety assessment for the whole life cycle of a railway project is applied and assessed by an applicable scientific tool. While various industry standard methods have been deployed in many countries, their application is not appropriate for assessing the outdated railway infrastructure in Vietnam. This article proposes a method for generating safety risk models for train collisions using the fault tree analysis (FTA) technique. The FTA method comprehensively evaluates the fundamental error and failure probability that could potentially lead to accidents in general and train collisions in particular on Line HN2A. The study describes the procedure for establishing FTA and determining assumptions based on technical specifications and similar railway systems. Compared with the statistical failure results using data from operational tests and commissioning (2018–2021) of the metro line, the results here indicate that this is a reasonable theoretical model applicable to UMRT in Vietnam. The theoretical model will be processed to generate the first-ever scientific risk assessment system based on empirical evidence. In addition, real-time accident and operation data will continue to be collected and compared to the theoretical model to improve its accuracy. The findings of this study could serve as a starting point for risk management on current and future freight, passenger, and metro lines in Vietnam.

In order to improve the running quality of trains on a ballastless track, the influence of the CRTS I ballastless track with different structures (flat-type and frame-type tracks) is investigated with respect to the aerodynamic characteristics of high-speed trains. In the present paper, the aerodynamic force changes on the head, middle, tail, and whole car of the high-speed train were studied under two conditions, with crosswind and without crosswind, and the influence of different crosswind speeds (10, 15, 20, 25, 30 m/s) on the aerodynamic force of the train was analyzed. The pressure and flow field distribution characteristics were also studied, and the reasons for the different aerodynamic characteristics of different track structures and trains running in different wind environments were analyzed, respectively. The results indicate that the ballastless track structure obviously influences the aerodynamic characteristics of the high-speed train. When there is no natural wind, compared with the flat track, the frame track reduces the drag and lateral forces of the train but increases the lift force. The frame track causes the drag force of the whole vehicle to decrease slightly (the maximum ratio is 2.15%), the lift force increases significantly (the maximum ratio is 12.55%), and the lateral force obviously decreases (the maximum ratio is 52.43%). The lift and lateral forces of the middle car are most affected, which is because the frame structure changes the vortex motion state of the middle car. Compared with the flat track, the drag force of each car on the frame track is reduced under the crosswind; the lift force of each car is increased, and the maximum increase in the lift force of the head, middle, and tail cars is 5.60%, 2.55%, and 3.63%, respectively; the lateral force of the tail car increases greatly at a wind speed of 15 m/s, reaching 6.84%. Due to the existence of the frame structure, the space under the vehicle increases, resulting in a decrease in the airflow rate and an increase in local pressure, which leads to changes in the train’s aerodynamic force. Meanwhile, the train’s aerodynamic change under the crosswind is smaller than that when there is no wind.

Currently, most ballastless tracks in Chinese subways are traditional cast-in-situ concrete structures, which require long construction progress. In contrast, prefabricated ballastless tracks can greatly reduce the construction period. However, there are few theoretical and experimental analyses on the prefabricated new type of subway slab track. Hence, to study the mechanical properties of the new type of subway track slab, static bending crack tests of one standard slab track and nine prefabricated full-scale track slabs with basalt fiber were carried out in this paper. The influence of the reinforcement arrangement method and the basalt fiber content on the performance of the track slabs was studied. Results showed that with the increase in the basalt fiber content in the range of 0.1–0.3%, the load–strain curve growth rate increased, the stiffness decreased, and the flexural resistance reduced. All the specimens exhibited a linear portion (elastic) and then a nonlinear portion (plastic) followed by flexural failure. During the elastic stage, the basalt fiber helped to improve the rigidity of the track slab. During the plastic stage, the influence of the basalt fiber content on the failure load varied with different reinforcement arrangements. With the reinforcement arrangement F2 and 0.1% basalt fiber content, the specimen had the smallest load–strain curve growth rate and the best overall flexural performance and crack resistance, and its strain was 23.35 με at an elastic limit of 95 kN. The results can provide a reference for the design of the prefabricated slab ballastless track.

The economic implications of high-speed rail (HSR) cannot be overlooked in China. This paper studies the impact of HSR on the advancement and rationalization of industrial structure and the tertiary industry aggregation through theoretical derivation and multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) by improving the theoretical framework and empirical methods according to the characteristics of China's HSR and economic development. From analyses on urban heterogeneity and inter-industry spillover effects, the transmission mechanism and expressions of the industrial structure are also discussed. The findings show that HSR promotes tertiary industry aggregation and contributes to the transformation of the industrial structure from the primary to secondary and tertiary industry sectors, as well as realizing industrial structure advancement but irrationalization. Furthermore, HSR has a more significant influence on tertiary industry aggregation in large cities and high-density cities. Additionally, the aggregation of the transportation, warehousing, and postal sectors has been reduced, with a significant spillover effect on neighboring cities, proving the siphon effect and conduction mechanism, resulting in a structural shift in the tertiary industry, from basic to advanced sectors. The movement of human resources is a key mediator in the economic impact of HSR.