In order to extract factors that affect customer evaluations of men's restrooms in railway stations, we conducted surveys to understand railway customer perception of men's restroom cleanliness in railway stations. Statistical analysis of the survey results revealed that two indicators, “odor satisfaction” and “urine stains on skirting boards,” affect user perception of cleanliness and their decision to use the same restroom again. It also became clear that user perception of the cleanliness of men's railway restrooms cleaned using dry methods in terms of odor was statistically significantly higher than those cleaned with wet methods.

With age, physical and cognitive functions generally tend to decline. However, with appropriate measures, it is possible for older train drivers to continue their duties safely and confidently. The first step in this study was to obtain fundamental data to investigate measures needed to enable older drivers to continue driving. Based on a survey result, we identified tasks for which perceived strain increases with age. Furthermore, it was revealed that the increase in perceived strain of these tasks is associated with age-related declines in attention, vison, decision making and reaction time.

Signalling equipment is installed in positions where it is exposed to vibrations from passing trains transmitted via rails, sleepers, and roadbeds. The design of signalling equipment must therefore take this into account to prevent vibration-related damage. In recent years, the installation environment of signalling equipment has evolved due to faster train running speeds and changes in tracks and structures. However, the details of vibration propagation to signalling equipment have not been investigated so far. In addition to current issues, this paper reports on guidelines for vibration acceleration amplitude in vibration endurance testing.

In railways where wireless train control systems are employed, track circuits may be removed, making it difficult to detect a broken rail in such cases. In railways without track circuits, it is assumed that vehicles repeatedly pass over rail gaps until the broken rail is detected by rail inspection or other means. Therefore, in order to evaluate damage of track components due to repeated vehicle passage, we carried out falling weight tests in a laboratory, in which impact loads equivalent to passing vehicles were applied to the broken rail to simulate damage. This test clarified the plastic deformation of the rails and functional deterioration of the rail fastenings system in response to the impact loads.

As ballast on railway tracks is compacted and fragmented, settlement of the track tends to occur even after tamping, which leads to a need for more frequent maintenance. The basic measure to reduce maintenance frequency of replacing old ballast with new ballast, is costly. This calls for a low-cost method to reduce ballast settlement without need for ballast replacement. Therefore, we developed a low-strength stabilization method for reducing settlement without replacing ballast. This study confirms the effectiveness of the developed method for reducing settlement through laboratory tests. We conducted field tests on a commercial line to verify the effectiveness of this method in reducing settlement.

Railway wheel spinning and sliding caused by leaves on the line in autumn affect operational safety and regularity. This paper reports on results of braking tests using a vehicle equipped with apparatus for applying ceramic particles to rails to enhance adhesion. To ensure uniform conditions along the rails and minimize differences between test trials, low adhesion conditions were simulated by applying paper tape to the top of the rail. The tangential coefficient at the beginning of the wheel slide increased with the amount of ceramic particles applied. The larger the area of holes made by the particles in the paper tape, the higher the tangential force during sliding. These findings will be useful in designing new adhesion enhancers and evaluating their performance.

We proposed a method for energy-efficient timetable rescheduling for small-scale delays using mathematical optimization. In the developed algorithm, the timetable rescheduling is converted for reducing the powering energy and increasing the regenerative energy. We considered passenger convenience under the condition that the total time from the starting station to the terminal station of each train did not change. This paper describes the details of the method for energy-efficient timetable rescheduling and reports the results of a case study using actual railway line data.

Higher-class Car (seat upgrade) fares on local trains affect not only demand for higher-class travel, but also ordinary class demand on the same trains. It is therefore important to estimate the impact of price changes on the demand for Higher-class Cars, especially during weekdays' commuting time when overcrowding is at a high level. This research focuses on the two-stage pricing structure of Higher-class Car fares where prices jump by 210 JPY when the travel distance exceeds 50 km in the Tokyo area. Then, this research estimates the price elasticity using regression discontinuity design. The estimation results show that the elasticity is significantly larger than one, which means that the price sensitivity to demand is at a high level. Pricing decisions should be made carefully based on the estimation results of price elasticity and current overcrowding levels in Ordinary and Higher-class Cars.

This paper presents an estimation of creep coefficients to investigate design values of creep coefficients for different types of cement. A formula for estimating compressive strength during loading, which is used to calculate the creep strain used in estimating the creep strain coefficient, was formulated based on the existing formula for estimating compressive strength. First, the design values of creep coefficients for effective prestress calculations are presented. The values were calculated assuming cement types and standard conditions for prestressed concrete (PC) bridges. Then the authors confirm the effect of the creep coefficients on the verification of simple PC girder.