Comparison of Passenger Rail Energy Consumption with Competing Modes (2015) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 84-95
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From page 84... ...
84 C H A P T E R 6 To date in the passenger rail industry, decisions about train types and operating patterns have not been strongly influenced by energy use and efficiency concerns. Instead, many technology and operations decisions have been motivated primarily by safety concerns, the ability to use proven equipment designs, initial implementation costs and the need to work within existing operating and infrastructure constraints.
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From page 85... ...
Barriers to Passenger Rail Energy Efficiency Innovation 85 including sustainability director, maintenance supervisor, chief engineer, rail operations supervisor, and rolling stock engineer. (Generic names have been used to describe these titles.)
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From page 86... ...
86 Comparison of Passenger Rail Energy Consumption with Competing Modes can be upwards of 30 years, and that of a passenger coach can exceed 40 years (Amtrak 2012a)
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Barriers to Passenger Rail Energy Efficiency Innovation 87 on an ongoing basis. As a result, it is difficult to provide feedback on their energy efficiency performance to field staff (e.g., locomotive engineers and maintenance staff)
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From page 88... ...
88 Comparison of Passenger Rail Energy Consumption with Competing Modes maintain passenger comfort, there is a desired upper limit to the load factor on any given train run, resulting in an upper limit to energy efficiency on a per passenger-mile basis. To ensure a minimum level of customer comfort, operators may set this upper limit at a load factor beneath the maximum possible load factor (i.e., crush load)
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From page 89... ...
Barriers to Passenger Rail Energy Efficiency Innovation 89 One respondent speculated that the coupling technology used on commuter rail services in North America, which involves separate brake air lines, may be one of the technical barriers. (European and Japanese-style couplers have integrated air lines for braking that do not need to be connected manually when railcars are coupled.)
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From page 90... ...
90 Comparison of Passenger Rail Energy Consumption with Competing Modes applicant [train operators] at the whim of authorities that may identify additional requirements due to unforeseen local circumstances or new lessons learned from novel accident scenarios" (Booz Allen Hamilton et al.
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From page 91... ...
Barriers to Passenger Rail Energy Efficiency Innovation 91 6.3 Approaches to Address Barriers 6.3.1 Improved Asset Management, Lifecycle Maintenance and Data Collection As discussed in the section on the cost of energy efficiency upgrades, addressing the SOGR backlog at passenger rail operators is a major challenge to providing capital funding for some energy efficiency improvements. Respondents were hopeful that the introduction of improved asset management strategies and increased use of lifecycle maintenance techniques in their operations could improve energy efficiency by: • improving energy efficiency directly through improved equipment performance; • improving reliability, allowing operators to enhance the service level provided to customers and thus improve load factor; and • freeing up capital funding over the longer term for use on energy efficiency improvements.
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From page 92... ...
92 Comparison of Passenger Rail Energy Consumption with Competing Modes efficiency improvements. Respondents generally cited the EPA requirements as the major driver of passenger rail energy efficiency improvements.
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From page 93... ...
Barriers to Passenger Rail Energy Efficiency Innovation 93 improve load factors during off-peak "backhaul" periods. Reverse commuting appears to be on the rise in certain urban areas.
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From page 94... ...
94 Comparison of Passenger Rail Energy Consumption with Competing Modes improving the energy efficiency of some rolling stock, notably EMUs/DMUs. Respondents were hopeful that ongoing development of design standards that allow use of CEM approaches in the design of North American rolling stock would allow for lighter-weight equipment in certain cases.
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From page 95... ...
Barriers to Passenger Rail Energy Efficiency Innovation 95 morning for work and returns to the city center at night) by making service and pricing changes; and 6.
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