Latest Technology towards Improvement of Rail-vehicle Safety

Safety enhancement was one of the four R&D objectives set out in the 2010-2014 basic plan for research of RTRI, ‘RESEARCH 2010'. This paper introduces three areas related to the latest technologies developed in the course of the authors' research aiming at enhancing railway vehicle-safety. The first introduces results of surveys on failure tendencies of on-board train-protection devices (ATS/ATC) in order to improve reliability of on-board electronic devices [1]. The second is the development of air wipe blowers, designed to increase wheel to rail adhesion in wet conditions [2]. The third area is modeling and evaluation approaches to meet standard value in induction interference tests [3].