SAFIRST - Application of Reference Characteristic Wind Curves - Technical Report

In 2018, UIC published a White Paper [1] produced by the Train Track Interaction Sector of the Rail Forum in the field of railway aerodynamics. This field of study has largely been driven by the increasing speeds of high speed passenger trains. However, there are still existing and new lines being designed for the use of mixed traffic at conventional train speeds, including freight services, driven by local demands and the modal shift from road to rail. The White paper looked the field of railway aerodynamics, reviewing the state of the art, identifying problems and knowledge gaps, and proposing areas of research.

One such problem area was in the assessment of the safety in crosswinds of railway vehicles with maximum speeds greater than 140 km/h and less than 250 km/h, where the LOC&PAS TSI [2] does not provide limit values to assess vehicles and the INF TSI [3] does not prescribe methods or guidance for Infrastructure Managers to assess their lines for crosswind exposure and the risk of train accidents.

The SAFIRST Project was launched in March 2019 to research these issues and to develop guidance for Infrastructure Managers to be contained in an IRS, by:

- assessing the crosswind safety of rolling stock,

- assessing the wind exposure along railway lines, and

- demonstrating the crosswind safety of railway lines with appropriate wind mitigations.

This report deals with the application of Reference Characteristic Wind Curves to demonstrate the crosswind safety of railway lines with appropriate wind mitigations, which is an essential part of the process to prove the crosswind safety of rolling stock.