Department of railway transport (O45)

The Railway Transport Department deals mainly with topics related to rail transport and thus develops conceptual activities in research planning. Researchers of this department can also process specific requirements of the private sector, related to railway issues (surveys, analyzes).

Professional activities focus mainly on the following topics

Elaboration of expert surveys

One of the main activities of department is the elaboration of expert surveys on project documentations of investment railway projects, serving as the check of the correctness of the submitted project intentions, mainly from a technical and economic point of view. Besides the preparation of expert surveys, the department is also capable of ex-post evaluation of completed railway constructions, especially in terms of verifying the effectiveness of spent funds when meeting the requirements arising from strategic documents and technical conditions for interoperability.

Electric traction and power supply system

Another specialized activity of department is focused on electric traction and the power supply system of the railway infrastructure. Here we can mention the long-term experience of the completed analyzes and assessments of the possibilities of unification of two traction supply systems in the Czech Republic.

Railroad crossings

A significant part of research activities also focuses on the level crossings, to eliminate here the high number of the accidents in the Czech Republic. Researchers carrying out many inspections and to identify safety risks and based on them, in cooperation with the infrastructure manager, modifications are proposed in terms of tracks and road (these proposed measures are detailed in the developed methodological tools). The Railway Transport Department is also a member of several international groups, led by the International Union of Railways, such as the ELCF (European Crossing Forum) and ILCAD (International level crossing awareness). Nowadays, the Railway Transport Department focuses on the recommendations for the elimination of some atypical functionalities of railway crossings, and creating the effort to unify railway regulations at the European level.

Transport technology

Last but not least, the department deals with the transport technology. Particularly, the activities are related to the possibilities of increasing the number of trains within the existing timetable, optimization of the track lines, increasing the capacity of lines and stations, or optimization of activities on the suspended tracks. OpenTrack software (simulating railway traffic) is used for this activity.

International activities

The Railway Transport department is also involved in international projects of the European Union. For example, from ongoing projects it is cross-border cooperation at the TRANSREGIO project, aimed on the proposals to improve the technical and capacity parameters of the railway connection between the South Moravian and Lower Austrian regions.

Selected domestic projects

Analysis of the mutual comparison of the price level in the Czech Republic and Austria of the GSM-R construction
Client: State Fund of Transport Infrastructure
Methodology of the procedure for determining the maximum amount of compensation in relation to Decree No. 296/2010 Coll.
Client: Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic
Conversion of traction supply of the SŽ network by the 25 kV / 50 Hz system
Client: Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic

Selected foreign projects

TRANSREGIO - Improvement of technical and capacity parameters of the railway connection of the South Moravian and Lower Austrian regions
Client: European Union
KASSETTS - Knowledge-enabled Access of Central Europe SMEs to Efficient Transnational Transport Solutions
Client: European Commission

Head of The Railway Transport Department: