News Release 2022

The Railway Technical Research Institute (RTRI) and SNCF held their 10^th collaborative research seminar on November 30, 2022.

RTRI established the Railway International Standards Center, RISC, and has been promoting development of international standards for railway technologies together with member organizations of RISC. The International Organization for Standardization, ISO, has issued JP-Led international standards on “Running time calculation for timetabling”. RISC will continue making efforts to develop international standards for the technologies in which Japan has many years of experience.

RTRI and Nippon Densetsu Kogyo Co., Ltd. developed a device to measure wear of overhead conductor rails using a light-sectioning method. With this device, the amount of conductor rail wear can be measured accurately and continuously without being affected by the various section shapes of conductor rails.

RTRI developed geopolymer mortar for plastering. The developed mortar emits less carbon dioxide and has excellent acid resistance. It can be used to plaster the spots where existing cement mortar is not suitable.

RTRI established the Railway International Standards Center, RISC, and has been promoting development of international standards for railway technologies together with the other member organizations of the RISC. The International Electrotechnical Commission, IEC, issued Japan-led international standards on AC power compensators. RISC will continue making efforts to develop international standards for the technologies in which Japan has many years of experience.

Dr. Mitsuru Hosoda won the Award for International Standardization Contributor as one of the Year 2022 Awards for Contribution to Industrial Standardization. Mr. Hiroshi Tanaka was given IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) 1906 Award for the Year 2022. The award giving ceremony was held on October 24 in Tokyo.

RTRI developed a small-sized, light-weight, multi-directional penetration test machine. This test machine drives a rod in a horizontal direction from a drain hole of a slope and checks degradation of slope soil under concrete layer. With this machine, the survey can be conducted at lower cost compared to a large-scale horizontal boring survey.

Since the Railway International Standards Center (RISC) was launched, RTRI has been promoting development of international standards for railway technologies, together with member organizations of RISC. In August of this year, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) set out international standards on driving simulators for driver training. These standards are mainly being developed in Japan. RTRI will continue to address international standardization in the technical fields where Japan has a competitive advantage.

RTRI developed Ballast-Stabilizing Method to prevent track subsidence using mixture of ultra-fast hardening cement and polymer as repair material. By repairing deteriorated ballasted track with this method, track subsidence will be prevented and the frequency of maintenance work can be lowered, which will lead to cost reduction.

RTRI developed a ballast inspection system. With this system, ballast conditions can be evaluated by analyzing the sound transmitted through ballasted trackbed (Fig. 1). This system makes it possible to judge the necessity of ballast replacement based on scientific indices and it is expected that the efficiency in track maintenance will be improved.

WCRR 2022, the 13^th World Congress on Railway Research took place from June 6 to 10 in the International Convention Centre in Birmingham, U.K., co-hosted by RSSB and University of Birmingham.

Dr. Munemasa Tokunaga, Senior Researcher of RTRI, received the Young Scientist Award for 2022 by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. On May 24, Dr. Tokunaga was handed the commendation certificate by Dr. Masao Mukaidono, Chairman of RTRI.

Mr. Kazumasa KUMAZAWA, Assistant Senior Researcher, at RTRI, received the Year 2021 Award for Contribution to Standardization by the Railway Technology Standardization Survey Committee. The award ceremony took place on March 30 at Plaza F in Tokyo.

RTRI Developed an early repair method and aseismic reinforcement method for the embankment damaged by rainfalls and earthquakes. By applying these methods, the performance of embankments will be improved, while work period and repair costs will be reduced.

RTRI Developed an aseismic reinforcement method for steel bridges integrating steel girder, abutment and embankment (Fig. 1) and it has been applied to a commercial railway bridge. This method is particularly effective in reinforcing deteriorated steel bridges in urban areas where only little work space is available. Since this method does not require construction of a temporary track and only minimal under-bridge space is occupied during the reinforcement work, high seismic performance can be attained with a shorter construction period and smaller cost.

RTRI Developed a dynamic gauge and twist measurement device TRACK²er. This device is capable of measuring track displacement caused by passing trains. Since this device can be mounted on a maintenance vehicle instead of using a track inspection car, it is possible to measure track displacement more easily, with lower cost.