Page 398 - 360.revista de Alta Velocidad - Nº 6

Watson, Inara. Amer, Ali. Bayyati, Ali.

Table 3.2 Comparison of different corridors for HSR in terms of minimum radii of curve

Length Type of Radii of Track
Country Corridor Track
km Line Curve m Gauge m

Japan Tokyo -Osaka 515.4 Double Dedicated Minimum 2500 1,435
France Paris-Lyon 425.0 Double Dedicated Minimum 4000 1,435
Spain Madrid-Barcelona 620.9 Double Dedicated Minimum 7000 1,435
Italy Rome-Florence 254.0 Double Dedicated Minimum 3000 1,435
Germany Cologne-Frankfurt 177.0 Double Dedicated Minimum 3,350 1,435
Sweden Stockholm- Gutenberg 455.0 Double Mixed Line n/a 1,435

USA Washington C.D. -Boston 729.5 Double Mixed Line Absolut minimum 76 1,435
China Beijing-Shanghai 1,318.0 Double Dedicated Minimum 7000 1,435

Source: Data taken from several sources
Horizontal and vertical curves are important parts of the railway alignment. Minimum radii
of curves depend on the maximum speed of the rolling stock, technical characteristics of the
rolling stock, topography of corridor, safety standards, and constructional and operating costs.
Large radii of curves are more comfortable for passengers to travel. New HSR lines built with a
minimum curve radius of 7000 m will allow railway speed of up to 350-400 km/h. The amount
of land needed to construct HSR depends on the geographic region and specific needs of the
project. Also, there is a need to strike a good balance between the needs of the project and the
local communities. The amount of land taken by a HSR depends on certain factors, such as; is
it a new railway line or upgraded one, is it a single or double track line, what is the maximum
speed, size of embankments, radii of curves, etc. The amount of cutting and embankments can
influence the amount of land that is needed to build HSR. Embankments reduce the noise level,
but the negative impact is that it reinforces the separation effect and it reduces the available
living space.
For example, in the proposed project of HS2 in the UK, for deep cuttings and higher embankments
of 16m, a safeguarding corridor of 70m from the central line was suggested. Therefore, the land
needed to build a HSR would increase from 5 m to 67.5m from the centre of the outer tracks.
The safeguarding boundaries can be wider for more deeper cuttings and higher embankments
(www.gov.uk, 2014b).

Newly constructed high-speed lines are designed with a minimum of 7000m curve radius but in
some cases the radius would need to be 10000m in order to accommodate higher future speeds
and to improve the passenger comfort (Revolvy, 2017). Higher speed means more needed land
and more distance between centres of the main tracks such as the case of 4.2 m used in Tokyo-
Osaka lin. For a speed above 300 km/h, the UIC recommended a minimum value of 4.5 metres
distance between track centres (www.uic.org). However, land-use and environmental impacts
can be minimised by placing railways in tunnels and on viaducts.

4. Energy Consumption

It is widely accepted that oil production has now peaked and that in future it will become both
costlier and more difficult to produce. Economic dependence on oil translates into political
dependency on oil-exporting states. The oil reserves are concentrated in a very specific location.

396 360.revista de alta velocidad