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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Transportation and Future Mobility".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 April 2026 | Viewed by 3794

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jacek Kukulski

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Transport, Warsaw University of Technology, 00-662 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: railway infrastructure; diagnostic railway infrastructure; tribology; residual stress; railway vehicles
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Wioletta Jackiewicz-Rek

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Civil Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, 00-637 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: concrete; architectural concrete; photocatalysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Piotr Koziol

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Guest Editor

Department of Roads, Railways and Traffic Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Cracow University of Technology, Kraków, Poland
Interests: railway engineering; railway dynamics; maintenance and diagnostics; modelling and simulations; stochastic and nonlinear properties; moving load problems; railway transport problems; computational problems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The aim of this Special Issue of Applied Sciences is to focus on issues that arise in various areas of scientific research on rail transport, particularly design, construction, technology of works, operation, and maintenance. The issues and problems to be addressed herein are of particular importance due to requirement to implement European Union’s policy on rail transport, its decarbonization and environmental protection, the recycling of used materials, and the safety of rail transport systems—including cybersecurity in modern railway solutions. These areas reflect the latest trends in the development of technical transport infrastructure in individual countries and are, as such, important subjects of analysis. Hence, this Special Issue of Applied Sciences is dedicated to considerations on the design, modelling, and analysis of rail transport infrastructure, rail traffic control and management, rail transport safety, the predictive operation and maintenance of railways, and cybersecurity and the digitalisation of railway systems. The main goals of the conducted scientific research, developed technologies, and prepared technical and organisational/legal solutions are the widest possible application of the principle of sustainable transport development and increasing the safety of rail transport services. An important direction of contemporary research and analysis is the search for solutions that combine a range of important functions and technologies (the manufacture of new elements from waste materials, environmental protection, noise reduction, increasing durability, and the use of modern technologies).

Dr. Jacek Kukulski
Dr. Wioletta Jackiewicz-Rek
Dr. Piotr Koziol
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

railway infrastructure
maintenance and diagnostics
modelling and simulations
railway transport problems
environmental protection
cybersecurity
high-speed lines

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 4896 KB

Open AccessArticle

European Approach to Fire Safety in Rolling Stock

by Jolanta Radziszewska-Wolińska, Adrian Kaźmierczak and Danuta Milczarek

Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(23), 12671; https://doi.org/10.3390/app152312671 - 29 Nov 2025

Viewed by 413

Abstract

Public surface transport (which includes rail) is considered relatively safe. However, in the event of a fire, conditions for people inside the vehicles deteriorate rapidly, particularly due to the emission of smoke and its toxic components, which make evacuation very difficult and cause panic. The increased fire risk in rail vehicles has increased with the expansion of plastics used in their construction and equipment, which occurred in the second half of the 20th century, along with increased travel speeds and increased passenger interest in this mode of transport. The measures taken in the 1980s to ensure fire safety in the railway industry are undergoing systematic changes resulting from advances in vehicle design and production technologies, the introduction of new power sources, and safety systems. The aim of this article was to summarize the current knowledge regarding fire hazards in rail vehicles and methods for preventing them. The causes of fires occurring in trains are discussed, taking into account also the potential threats resulting from the introduction of alternative power sources. We also present efforts to develop tools for assessing the severity of the threat and then preventing it, including the contribution of the Railway Research Institute to the development of research methods and Polish and European standardization. Passive and active safety measures required by applicable regulations (TSI, EN standards) aimed at limiting the occurrence of fire and minimizing its consequences were described. As part of passive protection measures, the results of tests carried out at the Railway Institute regarding the fire properties of materials according to current European requirements are presented and discussed. The RAMS approach to risk assessment is also described. Furthermore, the impact of these measures on improving fire safety in rolling stock is analyzed, and new challenges that the development of new technologies poses to the railway industry and related fire protection engineering are presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Advances in Rail Transport Infrastructure)

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15 pages, 1410 KB

Open AccessArticle

Railway Transition Curves Curvature—Should It Be Smooth in the Extreme Points or Not, or Something Else?

by Krzysztof Zboinski and Piotr Woznica

Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(22), 12066; https://doi.org/10.3390/app152212066 - 13 Nov 2025

Viewed by 364

Abstract

This work addresses the features of railway transition curves’ curvature, especially at extreme points. In particular, should it be smooth at the extreme points or not, or something else? Such a question is not accidental. This is based on the main results that the present authors obtained while optimizing the shape of polynomial railway transition curves. It appeared for the same quality function that, depending on the transition curve degree, the optimum shapes represented curvatures either possessing bends or close to smooth at the extreme points. Such a discrepancy raises the question of its reason, i.e., the factor influencing the appearance of bends at the extreme points of the curvatures the most. The continuity of G₀ and G₁ at such points was considered. At the same time, the hypothesis was formulated that a long time taken while negotiating the curve is the most influential factor of the existence of the mentioned bends in the extremities of curvature. Two cases were considered to ensure the long time of vehicle passage through the curve, with a great curve length and a small vehicle velocity, respectively. To verify the hypothesis, the optimizations of the shape of the transition curves of 5th, 9th, and 11th degrees and the simulations of the railway vehicle behaviour were performed. The hypothesis turned out to be true, although easier in application to long transition curves. It was shown that the transition curves’ shapes obtained in assumed circumstances did not have bends at the extreme points. The tendency to smoothen the curvature can be univocally noticed. It resulted in calmer vehicle movement, expressed by vehicle body lateral dynamical characteristics. Corresponding results of the simulations and transition curve optimizations were presented and compared. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Advances in Rail Transport Infrastructure)

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30 pages, 11679 KB

Open AccessArticle

Procedure for Conducting Inspection Thermographic Tests of Electrical Heating Devices for Railway Turnouts

by Jacek Kukulski, Krzysztof Stypułkowski, Piotr Tomczuk and Piotr Jaskowski

Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(21), 11671; https://doi.org/10.3390/app152111671 - 31 Oct 2025

Viewed by 389

Abstract

The study presents original research focused on improving the reliability and energy efficiency of electric railway turnout heating systems under severe winter conditions. An innovative diagnostic methodology using high-resolution infrared thermography was developed and applied to evaluate heating uniformity and technical performance within the Polish railway infrastructure. Field investigations were carried out on operational turnouts at Gdańsk Osowa and Międzylesie stations, covering both conventional EOR systems and the advanced ESAR system. The results demonstrated that the ESAR system effectively prevented ice and snow accumulation while enabling up to a 30% reduction in active power supplied to heating elements, resulting in annual energy savings of approximately 750 kWh per turnout (29% compared with the reference system). Incorporating radiative overlays in ESAR allowed lower average surface temperatures and improved heat distribution efficiency. Temperature and energy indicators confirmed significantly higher performance of ESAR, with annual CO₂ emissions reduced by 447.75 kg and air pollutants (SO_x, NO_x, CO, particulates) by around 30%. The proposed thermographic approach proved to be a non-invasive and efficient diagnostic tool, supporting adaptive control, enhanced operational reliability, and reduced environmental impact of turnout heating systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Advances in Rail Transport Infrastructure)

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13 pages, 1956 KB

Open AccessArticle

Fire Resistance of Seats in Railway Vehicles

by Jolanta Radziszewska-Wolińska, Adrian Kaźmierczak and Danuta Milczarek

Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(17), 9565; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15179565 - 30 Aug 2025

Viewed by 864

Abstract

This article discusses the current requirements for laboratory testing of the fire properties of seating in railway vehicles and the criteria for their assessment. The results of flammability and smoke tests performed on selected passenger seats and samples of the upholstery systems used in their construction are presented in order to find connections between them. It was demonstrated that the composition of the upholstery fabric has a significant impact on the burning behavior of the seats and the upholstery systems themselves, assuming that the same foam was used in their construction. Based on the conducted research, material composition analysis, and results, a lack of correlation was also found between the results of tests using a cone calorimeter and a furniture calorimeter. This confirms that the fire properties of upholstered products depend on many factors, including composition, shape, materials used, type of upholstery, and the design solutions of the finished seats. The tested upholstered products intended for railway applications are characterized by stochastic variability resulting from their specific applications and functional and operational properties. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Advances in Rail Transport Infrastructure)

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Review

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17 pages, 655 KB

Open AccessReview

Passenger Service Time at the Platform–Train Interface: A Review of Variability, Design Factors, and Crowd Management Implications Based on Laboratory Experiments

by Sebastian Seriani, Vicente Aprigliano, Vinicius Minatogawa, Alvaro Peña, Ariel Lopez and Felipe Gonzalez

Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(15), 8256; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15158256 - 24 Jul 2025

Viewed by 1342

Abstract

This paper reviews the variability of passenger service time (PST) at the platform–train interface (PTI), a critical performance indicator in metro systems shaped by the infrastructure design, affecting passenger behavior and accessibility. Despite its operational importance, PST remains underexplored in relation to crowd management strategies. This review synthesizes findings from empirical and experimental research to clarify the main factors influencing PST and their implications for platform-level interventions. Key contributors to PST variability include door width, gap dimensions, crowd density, and user characteristics such as mobility impairments. Design elements—such as platform edge doors, yellow safety lines, and vertical handrails—affect flow efficiency and spatial dynamics during boarding and alighting. Advanced tracking and simulation tools (e.g., PeTrack and YOLO-based systems) are identified as essential for evaluating pedestrian behavior and supporting Level of Service (LOS) analysis. To complement traditional LOS metrics, the paper introduces Level of Interaction (LOI) and a multidimensional LOS framework that captures spatial conflicts and user interaction zones. Control strategies such as platform signage, seating arrangements, and visual cues are also reviewed, with experimental evidence showing that targeted design interventions can reduce PST by up to 35%. The review highlights a persistent gap between academic knowledge and practical implementation. It calls for greater integration of empirical evidence into policy, infrastructure standards, and operational contracts. Ultimately, it advocates for human-centered, data-informed approaches to PTI planning that enhance efficiency, inclusivity, and resilience in high-demand transit environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research Advances in Rail Transport Infrastructure)

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