Analysis of existing and proposed methods of arrangement and fastening of large-tonnage containers in universal railway gondola cars

Abstract

The transportation of containers in gondola cars using terminal technology from East to West with overloading at the training grounds of the West Siberian, Sverdlovsk and South Ural railways in 2023 amounted to about 18–25 thousand TEU per month. A new technology was born on the railway network – the railway transshipment. This technology allows you to combine the transportation of containers in open wagons in one section of the route and transportation on fitting platforms on another. An increase in the volume of sending containers from stations in the Far East can reach 25 trains per day with containers in gondola cars, which is four times more than the existing volumes. The proposed technology is a solution for eliminating the imbalance in container flow to seaports and unloading the Eastern landfill. At the same time, it should be stated at present that the technology is not configured to the parameters of shippers, consignees and other market participants in such transportation that meet the requirements. One of the areas of technology improvement is the development of new or improvement of existing devices for fastening containers in open wagons. Decisions made on the railway network require additional time for operations to place containers and fastening props in the gondola car. The work done to find solutions at present has not led to the emergence of fastening devices that satisfy most of the requirements of transportation participants. The article summarizes the experience of the methods adopted by Russian Railways for fastening containers in open wagons based on the use of wood or pneumatic shells, calculates the longitudinal and transverse forces acting on the fastening, and gives recommendations for newly developed devices.