Report published: Guidance on limits of freight train trailing length as governed by tractive effort (T1302)

20 February 2024

Aether contributed to a RSSB project led by Railfreight Consulting to develop a new methodology for calculating maximum trailing loads for freight trains. Current maximum loads for a locomotive’s tractive effort are contained in the industry’s Freight Train Loads Book. The last major update to this document was in the late 1990s and often imposes conservative limits that were calculated with limited data. This means that freight trains might not always be loaded to their potential, especially when using newer, more powerful locomotives.

This research project developed an updated methodology for calculating maximum loads, using sophisticated modelling that calculates the forces acting on a train over 10 m sections along the route, taking account of track gradient, linespeed, loading, and the individual characteristics of locomotive and wagons. The work was overseen by an industry project steering group representing infrastructure and train operators. The more scientific and quantitative methods developed will allow for easier and more frequent updates of the Loads Book in the future, which are essential for it to reflect the on-going changes and improvements in assets. With an updated Loads Book, freight operators will be able to use locomotives to their full capabilities, increasing the efficiency, reliability, and sustainability of each freight journey.

The report is available from the RSSB website, Project Reference: T1302.

 

See all news

Testimonial

Don't just take our word for it...

“Saint Lucia embraces the professional approach with which this project was undertaken by Aether, particularly their ability to develop mentorship relations with local government experts. This provides a basis for ensuring that the pool of local experts remain engaged and recognized over successive processes.”

Annette Rattigan-Leo, Chief Sustainable Development and Environment Officer

“A heartfelt thank you to all the Aether team for this very comprehensive review – this is certainly turning out to be one of the most beneficial capacity building projects I have ever been involved in.”

Saviour Vassallo, Senior Environment Protection Officer, Malta Resources Authority

“Engaging Aether to support us to develop the first GHG Inventory System and first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for the United Republic of Tanzania has been a rewarding experience due to their high level of professionalism, creativity, timeliness and value for money. We will definitely consider Aether in our future initiatives.”

Abbas Kitogo, Programme Specialist Energy and Climate Change, UNDP Tanzania

“The team at Aether works very professionally and communicates very well which makes working with them a pleasure. Outputs are delivered on time to high quality. The team brings the rigour of technical knowledge and expertise and finds innovative ways of communicating complex messages. I would be happy to recommend the Aether team to organisations working on analysing and presenting emissions information in the public domain.”

Fiona Glover, States of Jersey

“It is always an absolute pleasure working with Aether. I always know what is expected of me. Their work ethic is of a very high standard and projects are always handled in a very professional manner. I have learnt many skills in terms of project management, quality control and workshop training styles from Aether and I hope to carry these principles forward in my own work. I look forward to collaborating with Aether more in the future.”

Luanne Stevens, Gondwana

“The professional service provided by your company was of very high quality and completed within agreed timelines.”

Matthew Dudley, UNFCCC Secretariat

“The support provided by Aether for this project was especially remarkable considering the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tools and methods used in order to engage local stakeholders really added value to the capacity building of the national team.”

Shanna Emmanuel, Saint Lucia BUR Project Coordinator

“Aether delivered training workshops and generated learning materials for our SSN members, providing technical content in a manageable and comprehendible format. We particularly benefitted from their extensive knowledge and ability to interpret the needs of our members into the training materials.”

Jennifer Anderson, Sustainable Scotland Network

“If we have a need for any more reports in the future Aether will be first on my list.”

Alan Hardy, Kyson Design

“I must congratulate each of you for your professional and tireless efforts. Let me point out that this has been the 'neatest' in-country review expert review team I have coordinated, and it has been a real pleasure.”

UNFCCC Secretariat

Contact us

Get in touch

Call us on +44 1865 261 466, complete the short form below, or go to the Contact page

 Security code