Consolidation of technical, safety and human resources in Eurasian railway transport corridors

The monograph is based on the outcomes of the considerations that took place within the ambit of the project NEAR 2 – Network of European-Asian Rail Research Capacities — from 2012 to 2014. The monograph serves to bridge the gaps in knowledge and technology to improve the technical interoperability of railway, rail traffic safety regulations and risk assessment, and rolling stock maintenance system. It also analyses different railway infrastructure and identifies interoperability problems of the Eurasian Railways. This research considers three railway systems (geographical regions): first, the railways of the countries in the European Union; second, the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian railways; and third, the railways of Asian countries. The monograph comprises seven chapters dealing with the particularities of rail safety regulation in different countries, technical aspects of safety and interoperability, infrastructure and signalling, track-side equipment and traffic management, locomotive slip and slide control rolling stock maintenance problems, and staff training & educational issues of Eurasian Railways. Overall concluding remarks identify future research needs and priorities that support the formulation of a relevant research agenda for the Eurasian land bridge; ascertain the common future research projects concerned with the main topics of the monograph, as well as to the combination of the interests of the Eurasian rail industry and undertakings.