Introduction to railway technology. Track technology. Rail vehicles - overview. The railway and the environment: energy consumption, air pollutions, external noise, external vibrations. Railway traffic development and future. Rail vehicles - technical basis. Aerodynamics and running resistance. Running gear, bogies and car body tilting. Traction technology: traction motors, transmission, traction mechanics and current collection. Braking technology. Car bodies. Passenger environment, interior design and auxiliary power. Internal noise, internal vibrations and climate resistance. Rail vehicle market and development.

The course gives a short introduction to railway systems and then focuses on rail vehicles.

The course aim is to give you the fundamentals of railway systems and, in particular, to describe the components and functions of rail vehicles as well as the various demands a rail vehicle must fulfil. The course should give you a good platform for work in the field of railway engineering.

After a completed course you should be able to:

• clarify the different parts in railway systems and their possibilities and limitations
• explain how bogies, carbody tilting, traction and brake systems work and can be improved
• calculate train performance like acceleration and braking capacity, average speed and energy consumption
• determine outer dimensions and interior design for a train at a given operational task
• discuss the trends and future potential for railway traffic

Lectures: the most common type of meeting, where different teachers from the Rail Vehicles unit or industry (Alstom, WSP) show the theoretical principles in the course. 

Exercise sessions: seminars where a teacher solves from basic problems to typical exam exercises. 

Project task: Work carried out in groups of 2-3 people where students design a fast train for regional commuter traffic. The project task runs parallel to the lectures, where students use the theory that has been presented each weekfor designing and dimensioning different components and subsystems of the train. It includes an Intermediate presentation, a Final presentation, and a project report.

Study visit: in december, one morning 8:00 to 12:00 a study visit to Hagalund SJ Depot will be scheduled. There you will be able to see a great variety of vehicles to see all the different concepts and systems that we are studying in the course. There are usually many different rail vehicles, coaches, locomotives, commuter trains and/or the X2 tilting train depending on what is there at that specific time (and what is waiting outside the maintenance halls).

Activities for HT23 (Course offering Starting 2023-10-30)

The course consists on 3 meetings per week composed of one or more of:  

• Theory lectures
• Exercise sessions
• Project task workshops
• Guest lecture from the railway industry
• Study visit to the Hagalund SJ Depot

For a full schedule visit https://www.kth.se/social/course/SD2307/calendar/ 

Lecture and exercises are typically carried out at VEL (Vehicle Engineering Lab) at Teknikringen 8, ground floor; there could also be lectures in Hugin or Munin, twin rooms also at Teknikringen 8, ground floor. 

Examination

• Late December: 25 min oral exam, flexibly scheduled last week in December before the winter break. 
• Eary January: 2 h written exercises exam scheduled in the exam week in January. 
• Mid- and late december: Project task final presentation and written report. 

150 university credits (hp) In engineering or natural sciences and documented proficiency in English corresponding to English B.

“Rail Systems and Rail Vehicles, part 2”, E. Andersson, M. Berg, S. Stichel, C. Casanueva, 2018

A printed textbook is also available for 300 SEK for programme students in the student office in Teknikringen 8D (600 SEK for people taking SD2307 as a single course; “fristående studerande”)

Digital documentation consisting of slides and lecture recordings, as well as project task information and sample exams, is available in the course management system, Canvas.

Reading instructions: 

During the course additional indications will be given for sections of the book that are not covered by the course and are therefore not evaluated in the final exam.

The book chapters covered by each lecture is specified in the course schedule.

Students at KTH with a permanent disability can get support during studies from Funka:

Funka - compensatory support for students with disabilities

The course has no hard deadlines, only suggested ones. The course responsible is open to offering additional specific accommodations outside of what Funka offers.

A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

• PRO1 - Project Task, 3.0 credits, Grading scale: P, F
• TEN1 - Examination, 4.5 credits, Grading scale: P, F

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

The number of points achieved for TEN1 and PRO1 are summed. The final grade is based on this sum.Grading scale: A-F

Examination details

Project Task (PRO1; 3 hp; P/F)

Work carried out in groups of 2-3 people on “Principle design of a fast train for regional traffic”. The task includes a compulsory meeting, typically week 50, where the Final presentation of the project occurs. 

A project report is to be submitted with suggested deadline the day when the written exam is scheduled. 

UIUC and Online students: presentation slides are to be sent to the course responsible (Carlos C.) the day before each presentation. A videoconference schedule will be arranged for each student the week before the KTH presentation. A project report is to be submitted by the 15th of December.

Exam (TEN1; 4,5 hp; P/F)

The examination has two separate parts: 

1. A 25 minute Oral examination typically during week 51. A student can request a reexam for this part two weeks after the failed oral exam, typically during the examination week in January.  
2. A two hours (2h) long written exam given typically in week 2. The written exam comprises only calculation exercises. Details for the exam will be communicated in due time. 

UIUC and Online students: For UIUC students, an earlier written exam will be arranged during week 51, exact day to be defined before December. Other online students who need special arrangements please contact the course responsible in due time.

Written Exam (TEN1; 4,5 hp; P/F), compulsory.

Project Task (PRO1; 3 hp; P/F), compulsory.

The separation between PRO1 - Project Task and TEN1 - Examination gives a rough estimate of the time dedicated in the course to the different activities. The final grade is a combination of the three graded activities in the course:

1. Oral exam, up to 24 points; fail (0p) – pass (12p) – good (18) – brilliant (24p)
2. Written exam, up to 15 points; pass (6p) – all correct (15p)
3. Project Task Report, up to 6 points; fail (0p) – pass (2p) – good (4p) – excellent (6p)

The grade scale is:

Note that you can fail one of the three examination parts and still get more than 20pp – you need all three examination parts passed before getting a grade.

Oral exam can be re-examined with an ad-hoc meeting at least two weeks after the previous exam. 

Written exam has a re-examination date scheduled typically around Easter/exam period in P3. 

Project Task report can be resubmitted any time. 

• All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
• In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
• In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.

As teachers and course responsibles we expect every student to have a Growth Mindset towards the course content and activities. Study effort- or Grade min-maxing a is valid attitude and not unethical per-se, but the consequences are usually unengaged students, lousy groupwork, and sour student group dynamics. This is a time-intensive but low-risk course where you should not just engineer your way out to an E-grade level, but are instead encouraged to invest time and effort in learning as much as you can and deepening your interest in understanding what makes you learn more and better. 

Changes between HT22 and HT23

• Longer exercise solving sessions introduced. 
• Intermediate presentation of the project task changed from a regular physical meeting to a group recording plus a peer-review.