Charge 4 Rail

Charge4Rail studies railway infrastructure charging systems in vertically-separated railway systems by presenting the state of the practice, and examining the impact of infrastructure charges on train operators, infrastructure managers and society.

Project Leader: P.F. Teixeira (IST)

Opening the market to private competition in the high-speed rail corridor Madrid-Levante - Feasibility analysis

“Análisis de viabilidad de la apertura del mercado a la competencia privada en el corredor de Alta Velocidad Ferroviaria Madrid-Levante”

Examined the financial feasibility of opening the Spanish railway market to competition.

Project Leader: P.F. Teixeira (IST)

Capacity4Rail

CAPACITY4RAIL aims at paving the way for the future railway system, delivering coherent, demonstrated, innovative and sustainable solutions for track design, freight, operation and capacity, and advanced monitoring

Project Leader: L. Schmitt (UIC)

More Information: C4R Website »

MODURAIL - Modelling Dynamic Uncertainty of Railway Track Life-Cycle Costs

The main objective of the MODURAIL research project is to improve current methodologies to assess the track deterioration, maintenance and cost prediction, both for existing conventional lines and for future high-speed lines to be built.

Project Leader: P.F. Teixeira (IST)

More Information: MODURAIL Website »

Decision Support Model for the Prediciton of Maintenance and Renewal Needs on the Portuguese Railway Track Infrastructure Network

The objective of the project supported by REFER, E.P.E. (Portuguese Railway Infrastructure Manager) was to develop a decision support software application that predicts railway track maintenance and renewal needs in the entire Portuguese Railway network. A total of 14 technical reports on the analysis and modelling of track degradation were produced along the project. The first version of the innovative application developed is now already being used by REFER and has contributed to considerably improve the whole M&R data management and planning process. The project started in June 2009 and was completed in June 2014. Further developments of the DSS tool are planned.

Project Leader: P.F. Teixeira (IST)

Dynavoie Project - Numerical train-track model

The objective of this project supported by SNCF (French National Railways) was to support the development of the dynamic train-track model Dynavoie on the improvement of its capabilities to predict short-term response at high speed in transition zones between ballast and ballastless tracks. The project started in Nov. 2012 and finished in March 2014.

Project Leader: Patricia Ferreira (IST)

UIC Study of European Railway Infrastructure Charges for Freight

The primary objective of this study is to provide a snapshot of existing conditions in the industry and to see if the objectives of the railway reform are being met and which direction the industry is heading in. Additionally, the report analyzes other industry-important issues, such as energy/electricity and noise charges. The main goals of the report include: - A presentation of the state of the industry for infrastructure charges, including charging principles and philosophy and for each evaluated country; - An evaluation of charging levels for each charging system; - A comparison of charging systems between countries; - Analysis of charges for European Freight Corridors that are prioritized in European Regulations 913/2010 and 1316/2013.

Project Leader: P.F. Teixeira (IST)

More Information: UIC High Speed Website»

Railway Station Charges and Auxiliary Services in Europe

An important part of the liberalization of the railway market in Europe is liberalization of access to stations and auxiliary services. Performed in 2013 for the International Union of Railways (UIC), this study focused on how charges are structured in 27 European countries with vertical separation between Infrastructure Management and Train Operations in the railway sector, focusing mainly on passenger services. More information, including the final report are available on UIC's website. Completed in 2013.

Project Leader: P.F. Teixeira (IST)

More Information: UIC High Speed Website»

More Information: UIC High Speed Reports and Brochures»

INFRACHARGES

Over the past 20 years, the railway industry in Europe has been undergoing a reform, where Infrastructure Management has been split from Train Operations. Train Operators are now required to pay Infrastructure Managers for using infrastructure capacity. INFRACHARGES is a study that was performed in 2012 for the International Union of Railways (UIC). The study looked at how infrastructure charging systems are set up, and how much passenger high-speed trains have to pay for using infrastructure in 27 European countries. The study also looked at the importance of infrastructure charges for Infrastructure Managers and Train Operators, and addressed the profitability of high-speed lines for both IMs and TOs. More information, including the final report are available on UIC's website. Completed in 2012.

Project Leader: P.F. Teixeira (IST)

More Information: UIC High Speed Website»

More Information: UIC High Speed Reports and Brochures»

BITURAIL - Optimization of high-speed railway track using bituminous sub-ballast

BITURAIL works to improve the structural design of high speed railway tracks in order to reduce maintenance costs through the incorporation of a new material: the bituminous sub-ballast, instead of the traditional granular sub-ballast. Completed in 2011.

Project Leader: P.F. Teixeira (IST)

More Information: BITURAIL Website»

Infrastructure Charges for New High-Speed Lines in Portugal: Evaluation of the Pricing Model - RAVE Pricing Model

This project completed in 2011 was supported by RAVE (Portuguese High-Speed Railway Administration) and aimed to develop an infrastructure charges model to be deployed in the different sections of the future Portuguese High-Speed Lines Lisboa-Spanish Border and Lisboa-Porto. The pricing model was developed based on both the current research state-of-the-art and taking into consideration European best practices, current and expected future legal framework and the Portuguese Administration cost-recovery goals.The project was completed in April 2011.

Project Leader: P.F. Teixeira (IST)

Life Cycle Cost (LCC) Model for the new Portuguese high-speed lines Lisboa-Porto and Lisboa-Madrid

This project supported by RAVE (Portuguese High-Speed Railway Administration) developed a whole Life Cycle Cost (LCC) model for all the railway infrastructure sub-systems. The model include degradation modelling of all main components, with a more detailed module for the track system. The model validation process involved the participation at different stages of the project of REFER expert groups for each sub-system. The project started in June 2007 and was completed in June 2008.

Project Leader: P.F. Teixeira (IST)

RAILCALC: Calculation of charges for the use of rail infrastructure

Supported by the European Commission (DGTREN), the RailCalc project aimed two main objectives: to develop a best practice guide to set and verify compliance of rail infrastructure charges with the rules of Directive 2001/14/EC in close collaboration with rail infrastructure managers, national regulatory bodies and the UE Commission, and to analyse the estimate of infrastructure charges in the Member States, in particular the estimates of charges and the calculation of mark-ups and to harmonise step-by-step the accounting practices in this domain. Partner: CENIT, TIS.pt, IWW, HERRY. The project started in Oct. 2006 and was completed in Mar. 2008.

Project Leader: P.F. Teixeira (CENIT-UPC)

More Information: European Commission Website »

More Information: Project Presentation »

Evaluation of the impact of the longitudinal profile design on the operation of the Portuguese high-speed lines
Commissioned by: RAVE, S.A. Portuguese High Speed Railway Administration
Project leader: A. López Pita (UPC)
Year(s): 2009

Effects of Spanish railway infrastructure charges on operation and comparative analysis with other infrastructure managers
Commissioned by: ADIF (Spanish Railway Infrastructure Manager)
Project leader: DELOITTE. IST (P.F. Teixeira contracted as External Advisor)
Year(s): 2009

INNOTRACK - Development of cost-effective high-performance track infrastructure for heavy rail systems
Commissioned by: European Commission, 6th Framework Programme
Partners: 36 partners from 11 european countries
Notes: Project no. TIP5-CT-2006-031415. P.F. Teixeira was responsible for ADIF (Spanish Railway Infrastructure Manager) work on Sub-projects SP1 and SP6 and leader of WP6.2 "Life Cycle Cost Methodology"
Year(s): 2006-2009

Experimental Development of bituminous mixes for subballast layers in high performance railway tracks
("Desarrollo experimental de mezclas asfálticas para la formación de la capa de subbalasto bituminoso que se dispone en las infraestructuras ferroviarias de altas prestaciones")
Commissioned by: Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology. Partners: FCC Construcción, UPC
Project leader: FCC Construcción. P.F. Teixeira (CENIT-UPC) advisor responsible for Deliverables SP0, SP1 and SP3
Year(s): 2007-2009

New technologies for designing very high speed lines (300/350 km/h): use of bituminous subballast for the reduction of maintenance costs
Commissioned by: Spanish Ministry of Education
Partners: CENIT-UPC (Center for Innovation in Transport, Technical University of Catalonia)
Project leader: P.F. Teixeira (CENIT-UPC)
Year(s): 2006-2008

EURNEX - European Railway Research Network of Excellence
Commissioned by: European Commission, 6th Framework programme
Year(s): 2003-2007

More Info: EURNEX website »

Study on the short and long-term behaviour of ballasted and ballastless railway infrastructures
Sub-project 5: Life Cycle Cost Analysis
Commissioned by: Spanish Ministry of Public Works, Project ref. PT-2006-024-19CCPM
Sub-project 5 scientific leader: P. F. Teixeira (CENIT-UPC)
Year(s): 2006

REVA - Reduction of the vertical stiffness variations: establishment of criteria for the design, monitoring and maintenance of railway infrastructures
Commissioned by: Spanish Ministry Public Works, Project ref. PT-2006-046-17IAMPM
Partners: CENIT-UPC, ADIF, COMSA, University of Birmingham, University of Linkoping
Project Leader: A. López Pita / P.F. Teixeira (CENIT-UPC)
Year(s): 2006

Study of infrastructure charges for high-speed railway services
Commissioned by: UIC - International Union of Railways
Partners: CENIT-UPC, TRI
Project Leader: A. López Pita / P.F. Teixeira (CENIT-UPC)
Year(s): 2005-2006

Viability of using a bituminous sub-ballast layer on high-speed ballasted tracks
Phase 1: Technical feasibility
Phase 2: Track degradation analysis and economical feasibility (LCC)
Commissioned by: Repsol YPF S.A.
Partners:  CENIT-UPC, DITS-UNIROMA
Project Leader: A. López Pita / P.F.Teixeira (CENIT-UPC)