Investigation of the Track Gauge in Curved Sections, Considering Hungarian Railway Lines

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The article analyzed the evolution of railway curve gauges under different transportation density conditions in Hungary. Based on the characteristics of data distribution, the authors proposed the evolution function of track gauges. The results showed the difference of track gauge degradation rates between mainline curves and secondary line curves, and the authors tried to explain the cause. The main problems of the article are as follows:
(1) In the introduction, the introduction of the history and measurement methods of the track gauge is tedious, which has a poor correlation with the research content of this article. In addition, the shortcomings of the existing research need further analysis.
(2) Figure 2 does not provide specific units for the loading values.
(3) It is recommended to simplify the introduction of the conventional background information of the railway lines in the form of a table or a graph.
(4) The chapter organization is unreasonable. For example, Section 2.3 is too thin on content, and the methods of measurement and data analysis should be further explained. Besides, there are a large number of direct quotes of existing standard and regulations in Section 2.5, which should be simplified.
(5) The analysis of track gauge data of the article is relatively shallow, mostly concentrated in the analysis of distribution characteristics and statistical information, and lacks consideration of the deep influencing factors for the evolution of track gauges.
(6) The guiding significance of the conclusions for the actual operation is relatively limited, and it needs to be deepened and refined.

Author Response

See the attached PDF document. In the end of it, you can find a comparison section in which all the changes are tracked.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear authors,

the article is well-written and clearly articulated. I was able to find only the following, easy to fix, issues:

−    row 76 (fig. 1) the sign of point P on the right rail is missing

−    row 119 the sentence 'Liebowitz and Margolis, as well as Arthur's theories.' is incomplete

−    rows 220 – 248 paragraphs have no further contribution to the topic

−    row 385 correct track number

−    row 460 add a brief explanation of the method of measuring the track gauge with these measuring cars

−    rows 490 - 507 add to the text and table titles that the upper limits for tracks in TC and CC are mentioned, if relevant

−    row 568 correct image number 46

−    rows 616-617 add a description of the influence of a vehicle loaded with significant lateral forces on the track gauge

−    rows 560, 576, 580 (fig. 7, 10, 12) the color of the graph lines is not identical to the line colors in the legend

−    rows 833, 838 add the name of the source also in English translation

−    row 885 bin B.

Author Response

See the attached PDF document. In the end of it, you can find a comparison section in which all the changes are tracked.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf