SAFETY AND COMFORT ON CURVES--STATE OF THE ART

The question of negotiating the curves at the highest speed has engaged the attention of railway systems all over the world. The two criteria governing the maximum speed on curves are safety and comfort. A vehicle traversing a curve is subjected to a number of forces whose effect on its safety and the comfort of travelling public cannot be estimated on theoretical basis alone. The field tests carried out by the various railway systems in this regard have been reported briefly. The world practices have been reviewed and the various factors to be considered to arrive at the equilibrium speed and the cant have also been discussed.