How Will the Railway Look Like in 2050? A Survey of Experts on Technologies, Challenges and Opportunities for the Railway System
The railway system can fulfil society’s current and future transportation goals; compared to other transport modes, it does that with high energy, space and resource efficiency. It can deliver high-quality transport services, superior speed, safety and comfort to most competing modes. Nev...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IEEE
2024-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Open Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10373408/ |
| _version_ | 1797243514588758016 |
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| author | Michael Nold Francesco Corman |
| author_facet | Michael Nold Francesco Corman |
| author_sort | Michael Nold |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The railway system can fulfil society’s current and future transportation goals; compared to other transport modes, it does that with high energy, space and resource efficiency. It can deliver high-quality transport services, superior speed, safety and comfort to most competing modes. Nevertheless, its share of the total traffic is often relatively small. This study examines new technologies, their challenges and opportunities for the railway system to understand possible futures of the railway systems, allowing it to prepare ahead of time to prepare and exploit its competitive strengths and possible technological developments. In this paper, we report on multi-stage interviews of 30 experts concerning a holistic technological view of the railway system. The surveyed experts reported on perspectives from the railway operator, industry and research from Switzerland and Europe. The outcomes were categorized into supply, operation and technology aspects and evaluated by their potential for improvement, system impact of the changes, time horizon of possible implementation, and effects on modal shift. The results show that many aspects contribute to the further development of the technologies, but no single game changer could be identified. Developments are expected in automation; revolutionary changes are perceived as unlikely. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:56:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-87a80a1458644bc4ad62038134f56bae |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2687-7813 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:56:20Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Open Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems |
| spelling | doaj.art-87a80a1458644bc4ad62038134f56bae2024-03-26T17:34:30ZengIEEEIEEE Open Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems2687-78132024-01-0158510210.1109/OJITS.2023.334653410373408How Will the Railway Look Like in 2050? A Survey of Experts on Technologies, Challenges and Opportunities for the Railway SystemMichael Nold0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8790-3875Francesco Corman1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6036-5832D-BAUG, ETH Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandD-BAUG, ETH Zürich, Zürich, SwitzerlandThe railway system can fulfil society’s current and future transportation goals; compared to other transport modes, it does that with high energy, space and resource efficiency. It can deliver high-quality transport services, superior speed, safety and comfort to most competing modes. Nevertheless, its share of the total traffic is often relatively small. This study examines new technologies, their challenges and opportunities for the railway system to understand possible futures of the railway systems, allowing it to prepare ahead of time to prepare and exploit its competitive strengths and possible technological developments. In this paper, we report on multi-stage interviews of 30 experts concerning a holistic technological view of the railway system. The surveyed experts reported on perspectives from the railway operator, industry and research from Switzerland and Europe. The outcomes were categorized into supply, operation and technology aspects and evaluated by their potential for improvement, system impact of the changes, time horizon of possible implementation, and effects on modal shift. The results show that many aspects contribute to the further development of the technologies, but no single game changer could be identified. Developments are expected in automation; revolutionary changes are perceived as unlikely.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10373408/Future railwaytechnology assessmenttechnological developmentpull measuresrailway system 2050railway technology |
| spellingShingle | Michael Nold Francesco Corman How Will the Railway Look Like in 2050? A Survey of Experts on Technologies, Challenges and Opportunities for the Railway System IEEE Open Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems Future railway technology assessment technological development pull measures railway system 2050 railway technology |
| title | How Will the Railway Look Like in 2050? A Survey of Experts on Technologies, Challenges and Opportunities for the Railway System |
| title_full | How Will the Railway Look Like in 2050? A Survey of Experts on Technologies, Challenges and Opportunities for the Railway System |
| title_fullStr | How Will the Railway Look Like in 2050? A Survey of Experts on Technologies, Challenges and Opportunities for the Railway System |
| title_full_unstemmed | How Will the Railway Look Like in 2050? A Survey of Experts on Technologies, Challenges and Opportunities for the Railway System |
| title_short | How Will the Railway Look Like in 2050? A Survey of Experts on Technologies, Challenges and Opportunities for the Railway System |
| title_sort | how will the railway look like in 2050 a survey of experts on technologies challenges and opportunities for the railway system |
| topic | Future railway technology assessment technological development pull measures railway system 2050 railway technology |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10373408/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michaelnold howwilltherailwaylooklikein2050asurveyofexpertsontechnologieschallengesandopportunitiesfortherailwaysystem AT francescocorman howwilltherailwaylooklikein2050asurveyofexpertsontechnologieschallengesandopportunitiesfortherailwaysystem |