Although railways are known as an energy efficient transport system, it is required to further decrease energy consumption needed for train operation from the viewpoint of global environment and cost saving. In order to fulfill such requirements, we have to know what type of train driving maximizes energy saving. This paper introduces an algorithm to calculate train performance curves at minimum energy consumption. A couple of distinguished features of the algorithm are that it works fast enough to be equipped onboard and is applicable to railway lines with complicated speed limits. Through a comparison between actual train operation data and performance curve data calculated by this algorithm, we have confirmed that a considerable amount of energy consumption could be reduced in several cases.

Copyright (c) 2002 Railway Technical Research Institute