Assessment of the possibility of modernization of passenger cars for freight transportation on high-speed lines

Purpose: establish the possibility of using freight cars equipped with variable-gauge wheel sets on high-speed railways. Methods: an analysis of modern designs of freight cars created on the basis of passenger cars was carried out, and an analysis of designs of wheel pairs with variable track width was carried out. Results: analysis of the conducted research showed that, due to the practical absence of world analogues, the rolling stock is supposed to be created on the basis of existing passenger electric trains. For high-speed freight railways, it is advisable to use Jacobs bogies and have the same distance between the tracks throughout the entire length of the project, but if the participating countries cannot reach a common agreement, then the rolling stock will require special bogies with wheel pairs that can change the distance, adjusting to the track. Designing freight rolling stock based on existing models of electric trains will reduce costs in design and production, due to the unification of a number of elements of the rolling stock. Practical importance: the use of modern freight cars on the Eurasia high-speed railway, designed on the basis of passenger cars using variable-gauge wheel sets, will significantly increase the speed of freight transportation, increase revenue from the operation of the line, and create a new branch of rail transport — high-speed freight trains.