Railway test track

Test routes for rail vehicles are non-public railways that are used for testing purposes.

description

As a rule, there are only a few test tracks for rail vehicles. They are mostly operated by railway infrastructure companies , railway companies and rail vehicle manufacturers or their subsidiaries . They usually consist of circular courses and / or straight rail routes. They usually contain various technical equipment for simulating different route situations. For example different power systems or inclines .

List of test tracks

The following is an incomplete list of the planned, current and former worldwide test tracks for rail vehicles:

China

Test track of the "China Academy of Railway Sciences" (circuit length 9 km, radius 1.43 km) ( location )39.993298 116.532412

Germany

Test route for trams and light rail vehicles in the Bautzen plant by Bombardier Transportation (850 m circuit, 800 m straight track) ( location )51.16978 14.41217

Test track Hennigsdorf – Velten from Bombardier Transportation (6.2 km) ( location )

Test track at the plant Salzgitter of Alstom Transport Germany (1,4 km)

Wegberg-Wildenrath test center from Siemens (two circuits 6.1 km and 2.5 km long, 19.4 km additional track systems)

planned and never realized:

National test facility for traffic technology between Dillingen and Donauwörth (Germany)
Railway test facility Rheine – Freren (Germany)

formerly:

Transrapid test facility Emsland (31.8 km circuit, closed in 2011) ( location )52.87167 7.34923
Porta Westfalica – Häverstädt railway line

Japan

JR Maglev test track at Tsuru in Yamanashi (18 km length)

France

Aérotrain test track (6.7 km long - closed in 1974)
Center d'Essais Ferroviaire - test track by Alstom , Bombardier and RFF in Petite-Forêt , near Valenciennes (three circuits 2.7 km, 1.8 km and 1.6 km in length)

Poland

Test track of the Polish Railway Institute near Żmigród (commissioned in 1996) ( location )51.463981 16.855817

Romania

Test ring Făurei . Large ring (13.7 km in length) for up to 200 km / h, small ring with a minimum radius of 180 m (2.2 km in length) for 60 km / h. Completely renewed in 2008 by the track construction company Wiebe .

Russia

Test track of the All-Russian Research Institute for Rail Transport near Shcherbinka . It is considered the oldest such test facility in the world.

Sweden

Rail Test Nordic (planned, Arvidsjaur - Jörn , 75 km long)

Spain

planned and never realized:

Railway test ring Antequera (three circuits 55 km, 20 km and 5 km in length)

Czech Republic

Railway test ring Velim of the VÚŽ (Railway Research Institute), with an associated research center of the VÚKV (Research Institute for Rail Vehicles) - two circuits of 13.27 km and 3.95 km in length

United Kingdom

Old Dalby test track (13 miles)

United States

Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo (Colorado) (total length 77 km, seven sections: high-weight test route for 39 tons of axle load , wheelset test route (5.6 km), test ring (21.7 km, maximum speed 265 km / h), local traffic test route (14.6 km , with conductor rail), impact test track (1.2 km), precision measurement track (10.0 km) and driving dynamics test track)

Public railway lines as test tracks

In addition to these test routes, rail vehicles are also frequently checked on public railways. For example, interference current measurements or approach attempts on inclines are carried out. To ensure comparability between the measurements, these sections are measured particularly precisely. These include the Straubing – Plattling railway line or the Inclined Plane in Upper Franconia . Various world speed records were also achieved by high-speed trains between 1981 and 2007 on high-speed lines shortly before or after their opening.