The paper presents possible environmental, energy and economical gains implied by replacing conventional traction vehicles with independent powered electric multiple units (IPEMU) on partially electrified suburban railways. IPEMUs can operate in two modes of power supply – using overhead catenary or onboard battery storage. Appropriate computer simulations were carried out in the Matlab program, indicating the parameters of storage...

In European countries, electrified routes amount for 40% to 65% of the total railway networks length. Some of those routes are only partially electrified, and construction of a catenary network might not be viable on all routes. Consequently, operators run diesel trains under catenary or require both an electric and diesel vehicle, increasing costs of operation. Dual-mode vehicles exist, but they are mostly equipped with diesel...

Environmental noise pollution is nowadays one of the most serious health threats. The impact of noise on the human body depends not only on the sound level but also on its spectral distribution. Reliable measurements of the environmental noise spectrum are often hampered by the very high price of top quality measuring devices. This paper explores the possibility of using much cheaper audio recorders for the frequency analysis....