Page 78 - 360.revista de Alta Velocidad - Nº 5

Piqueras, Anibal. Saura, Joan. Paños, Francisco.

The total length of the OGI changeover facility is about 33 metres. The reason why it is required
such a large length deals with the automatic gauge changeover operation. In passenger variable
gauge trains the length of the platform changeover facility is usually between 14-15 meters
because the changeover process is done in just one step for both right and left wheels. Wheels
change simultaneously to its new position and new track gauge.
In the case of the OGI operation changeover facility, the process is carried out in two steps.
The first step is the changeover operation of one wheel of the wheelset and the second step is
the changeover operation of the other wheel that belongs to the same wheelset. Due to this
operation, the exerted axial forces to the axle is minimized, what brings more stability to the
process.

3. Experimental analysis

3.1 European Rail freight Corridors - the problem of the different track gauge in
Spain

Regulation (EU) 913/2010, adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, enacted
the "establishment of international rail corridors for a European rail network for competitive
freight, with the overall purpose of increasing international rail freight attractiveness and
efficiency".
A list of 9 corridors are included in the Regulation, and Spain has 2 Core Network Corridors
established by the Trans-European transport Networks (TEN-T): the Mediterranean Corridor
(nº6) and the Atlantic Corridor (nº4).
One of the main challenges of both Corridors are the different track gauges between all the
European countries integrated in the Corridors that feature the 1435 mm standard UIC gauge,
and Spain, where coexist the 1435 mm track gauge (used on high-speed lines) and the 1668 mm
iberian gauge used on the conventional main network (freight transport lines).
As reflects the Implementation Plan of the Mediterranean Corridor RFC 6 , "the lack of standard
3
gauge in most of the Spanish sections of RFC6, prevents from dispatching international direct rail
freight trains, and forces to car load changing manoeuvres, which penalizes rail transportation".

Several projects have been proposed in order to provide the standard gauge to Spain to the
conventional lines. Projects such as the third rail and establishing new standard UIC gauge lines
try to solve the different gauge issue. In this sense, the global projects of "The implementation
of the standard track gauge between Castellbisball (Barcelona) and Almería" and the "Bobadilla
- Villaverde Bajo - Implementation of UIC track gauge" are the greatest challenges faced by the
Spanish infrastructure manager ADIF and the Transport Ministry to achieve this purpose.

3.2 The intended purpose of having a freight automatic variable gauge system

3.2.1 Track gauge migration in railway networks
In Spain, the migration to the standard UIC gauge 1435 mm is a priority for the core European
network . The final report of the study on the Mediterranean TEN-T corridor reflects that the
4
rail share of the freight flows in the corridor's market today is about 14,6% and that implemen-
ting the Corridor, the rail share will grow from 14,6% to a 27,1% by 2030. This shows the strong
potential for international rail traffic development on the Mediterranean Corridor, especially in
3 RFC 6 - Mediterranean Corridor Implementation Plan TT 2015/2016
4 Mediterranean Core Network Corridor Study. EU. Dec 2014

76 360.revista de alta velocidad