Lecture 2 - Classification - Comparison

Question 1

What are wheeled vehicles and how are divided?

Answer 1

Vehicles supported by wheels, divided in flanged and flangeless vehicles

Question 2

Suspended Monorail

Answer 2

Monorail track that is fixed and elevated, from which the vehicle is suspended
S: Elastic, G: Horizontal roller wheel, D/B: wheel track traction (adhesion based)
Systems: H-Bahn, Sky Train
advantages: fully automatic
disadvantages: high requirements on track quality, for comfort reasons vmax < 50 km/h, relative low passenger capacity

Question 3

Upright standing monorail

Answer 3

Monorail track that is fixed and elevated, from which the vehicle is suspended
S: Elastic, G: Horizontal roller wheel, D/B: wheel track traction (adhesion based)
Systems: Airport railways, Osaka, Singapore, Amusement park shuttles
advantages: fully automatic, track cheaper than H-Bahn
disadvantages: for comfort reasons vmax < 50 km/h

Question 4

Double beam vehicles

Answer 4

Vehicles that are available to drive on tram and road, guided by guiding rollers, supported by load-bearing wheels
S: Elastic, G: Horizontal roller wheel, D/B: wheel track traction (adhesion based)
advantages: bus share track with tram, able to drive on road
disadvantages: elements for track guidance cannot submerge in the street

Question 5

Cable car

Answer 5

Is a one-rail track where the vehicle is pulled by a cable
S: Elastic, G: Horizontal roller wheel, D/B: Cable
Advantages: economical track, light, quiet, economical vehicles
Disadvantages: low passenger comfort ( low vmax), only one vehicle per track

Question 6

Guide rail-vehicles

Answer 6

Vehicles guided by rail guidance, supported by load-bearing wheels
S: Elastic, G: Adhesion, D/B: Adhesion

Question 7

What are flangeless vehicles and name them

Answer 7

Vehicles supported by wheels that don’t use a flange
Guide rail-vehicles
Beam guided vehicles
• Single beam vehicles: Suspended Monorail, Upright standing monorail,
• Double beam vehicles: Cable car

Question 8

What are flangled vehicles and name them

Answer 8

Vehicles supported by wheels that use a flange
Aerial cableway
Rail vehicles
• Two rail vehicles: Adhesion (Railway, Tramway), Steep track (Cable railway, Rack railway)
• Single rail vehicles: Suspended railway, Giro monorail

Question 9

Trammway

Answer 9

A tram is a rail vehicle that runs on tramway tracks along public urban streets
S: Steel wheel (rigid), G: Flange, D/B: Adhesion

Question 10

Cable railway

Answer 10

Is a two-rail track where the vehicle is pulled by a cable

S: Bearing wheel (Rigid), G: Flange, D/B: Cable

Question 11

Rack railway

Answer 11

Is a two-rail track where the driving function work thanks to a gear wheel/rack system
S: steel wheel (rigid), G: Flange, D/B: Adhesion

Question 12

Suspended Railway / Giro Monorail

Answer 12

Monorail track that is fixed and elevated, from which the vehicle is suspended
S: Steel wheel (rigid), G: Double flange, D/B: Adhesion

Question 13

Monocab

Answer 13

S: steel wheel / steel rail
G: double flanged steel wheel
D/B: wheel/rail adhesion

Question 14

Rail Vehicle

Answer 14

Rail vehicles are track bound vehicles that are guided by flanged wheels and are supported on a track that is constituted by rails separated by a certain constant distance. Some examples could be conventional railway vehicles, trams and metros and other similar vehicles.

Question 15

Comparisson of Traffic Systems

Answer 15

Tram / City bus
Light rail, transit metro / Bus rapid transit
Suburban, reigonal transport / Interurban bus
Long-distance transport / Intercity bus, airplanes

Question 16

Advantages and disadvantages of the Railway System in Comparison with the Road Traffic

Answer 16

+ High transport capacity
+ Low space requirement
+ Less energy consumption
+ Lower environmental impact
+ Short traveling time between stations
+ High safety
- (Compulsory) maintenance of an own infrastructure (track)
- Especially suited for coincidently big demand as for location, time and transported goods (too much focused-on states)
- Steps gradients cannot be overcome cost-effectively
- Additional time through arrival to the station and changing trains (no door-to-door transport)
- When an accident occurs, the consequences are often catastrophic and usually affects the other party

Question 17

High safety in trains

Answer 17

• Mechanically safe guidance
• Train protection system
• Driver vigilance system

Question 18

Railway transport has a good future because:

Answer 18

• Air and road transport have reached their capacity limits
• Europe and the world can only achieve their climate protection goals by increasing rail traffic
• Our countries would be more livable with less cars

Question 19

What are the problems of railbound freight transport in Europe compared to the other countries?

Answer 19

Long transport times, laborious train formation, missing sidings, political aspects (costs).