Curving and running resistance of freight trains: current experience with on-track measurements

Curving resistance affects the railway vehicle running through curves. For its estimation in train dynamics calculations, different empirical formulas are used in various countries. It is practically impossible to determine its exact value because of its dependency on various - to some extent random - parameters. In the framework of the experimental research of running resistance of freight trains at the Faculty of Transport Engineering of the University of Pardubice, measurements in regular operation conditions on the Czech railway network were realised in recent years. Because some of these results can be used to quantify the curving resistance, the applied evaluation methods and the relevant results are presented in this paper. Besides that, a new general formula of running resistance for freight trains, based on the measurement results, is proposed. Attention is also paid to the effect of track quality on the vehicle running resistance.