Abstract: This article presents British Rail Research's pioneering work, to establish the requirements for light rail vehicles (LRVs) that share the same tracks as conventional trains in the UK. It has now produced guidelines, to enable potential users to develop applications for approval by the Railway Inspectorate and British Rail. This work was conducted for Greater Nottingham Rapid Transit, and had a wide variety of sponsors. The Railway Inspectorate provided valuable advice, and the guidelines incorporate its latest thinking. They will also form the basis for a standard, to be created by British Rail's Group Standards organisation, that will be passed on to Railtrack as the future rail infrastructure owner. The main guidelines on safety and practical feasibility cover: (1) types of signalling specified and key problems such as LRV detection; (2) electrification system options and requirements; (3) track requirements; (4) design features and other aspects of stations; (5) wheel profiles of LRVs and general advice on LRV specifications. Sophisticated control systems will be needed to prevent collisions between trains and LRVs. Shared stations need to be adapted to low- floor LRVs. Conditions favouring track sharing occur when: (1) alternative options are costly or politically difficult; (2) a substantial part of the LRT system is shared track; (3) heavy rail traffic is relatively infrequent or localised.
Publication Year: 1993
Publication Date: 1993-11-01
Language: en
Type: article
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