Keywords: turnout, switch panel, frequency selective stiffness, track friendliness, Y25 bogie.

Rail infrastructure in the Netherlands is facing problems of high capacity demands with 24/7 operation, resulting in a limited availability of maintenance windows. This extensive usage demands a robust transport system with track and vehicle interface managed within a systems approach. From the viewpoint of overall system performance, infra manager ProRail has an interest in the level of track friendliness of vehicles that have access to their tracks. Bogie design improvement related to freight transport and their impact on the Dutch track is of special interest here. The research studies, presented in this paper, consider the potential of proposed design measures regarding the improvement in curving behaviour and switch negotiation of freight bogies and related wheel-rail contact stresses. For this purpose a sensitivity analysis has been carried out by means of track-train simulations within the VAMPIRE multi body simulation software. The research shows that the standard Y25L freight bogie design displays rather good track friendliness behaviour. Two of the evaluated bogie design modifications, both targeting the PYS characteristics, show the potential to further improve track friendliness. One other design modification has been shown to reduce the lateral track forces; this will expectedly lead to a reduction of track geometry degradation and related maintenance effort and cost.

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