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The vehicle–track interaction and the resulting dynamic response of the vehicle involve a number of complex nonlinear problems. Large vertical loads act through a small contact patch leading to very high contact pressures. Transverse loads acting through this contact induce a relative velocity between wheel and rail expressed in non-dimensional form as a creepage. The wheel and rail profiles determine the contact patch shape and affect the ability of the vehicle to run stably. If the yaw stiffness of the axles is too low, the vehicle will become unstable at a relatively low speed; conversely, if the yaw stiffness is too high, the curving behaviour will be adversely affected. The vehicle suspension, especially the secondary suspension, also affects the ride comfort of passengers. Finally, it is shown how the speed profiles of accelerating and decelerating trains can be calculated from basic assumptions about the train power, adhesion and rolling resistance.

Over the last decade, customer experience management has gradually emerged as the most important activity for organisations. Organisations have turned towards leveraging the ubiquitous and easy-to-use technology in enhancing and enabling experience for the time-crunched customers of today who are looking for greater convenience and choices. It is therefore not surprising that disruptive technologies such as smartphones, virtual and augmented reality, cloud computing, big data analytics, Internet of things, artificial intelligence and robotics have also found their way into the design of customer experience. This chapter aims to present an overview of the technologies that have transformed the customer experience landscape. This chapter contributes by showcasing two illustrative cases from very diverse domains, a private sector bank and a public sector transportation organisation, to elucidate how India, a rapidly developing economy, is embracing technology to enhance the customer experience.

Community rail is a grassroots movement that spans Britain, made up of hundreds of community groups and partnerships that engage people with their railways and stations and provide a bridge between the rail industry and the public at a local level. The movement has grown up from the grassroots, but it has also been increasingly supported and nurtured by the rail industry, with train operators proactively encouraging its spread and development. They, and national and devolved governments, recognise the value of community rail, and its contribution to social inclusion, sustainable development and the railway’s ability to prosper and serve passengers and communities well, now and in the future. This idea is supported by passenger data showing that railway lines with community rail partnerships – working to enhance, promote and aid access to those lines – outperform comparable lines. A swathe of qualitative evidence shows community rail partnerships and station groups having a demonstrable impact on their localities and people’s lives, and appreciation of this role by industry leaders. The many examples of community rail volunteers and practitioners bringing about positive change resonate with academic research exploring how civic engagement and local efficacy and communications can support change, particularly with regard to sustainable behaviours and development. A range of researchers argue that localised, interactive engagement and communications may be the key, when it comes to bringing about the major shifts in behaviour needed to address the global, existential threat posed by the climate crisis, which unsustainable behaviours and policies have brought about. In this way, evidence suggests that engaging communities with their railways, and local transport networks generally, is critical, both to these networks operating in a truly sustainable manner and to achieving inter- and intra-generational equity within the communities they serve.

The issue of women’s under-representation in male-dominated occupations has been a topic of research for the last few decades. The extant literature has identified gender differences and social and structural discrimination based on a theoretical lens and sensitising concepts around which career barriers were experienced by women within a developed nation’s context (Eaton et al., 2020; French & Strachan, 2009; Hernandez & Ritchie, 2015; Miner et al., 2018). While there has been research on women in transport in developed countries, there has been little research on women employees’ career experiences within Indian Railways. To address this gap, this chapter explores the career barriers of women employed in male-dominated occupations within Indian Railways, in relation to gendered cultural norms. In-depth semi-structured interviews have been undertaken to understand the lived experiences of women employees. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis. The findings highlight the interplay of barriers such as gender roles, limited empowerment and occupational segregation, working conditions, lack of role models and mentors, backlash by men, queen-bee behaviour, beta career priorities and restricted informal networks that collectively restrict women in achieving senior level positions in such occupations.

General strikes emerged as part of an industrial repertoire of collective action that included singular strikes. While individual strikes continue, the United States has not experienced a general strike since 1946. What conditions facilitated the selection of this tactic by American labor? Why did the general strike disappear from labor's tactical repertoire after 1946? These questions are answered through a sequential analysis of the emergence of four American general strikes beginning in 1877 through 1946. Through a repertoire of collective action lens, I identify general conditions that increased the probability of general strike emergence. These general conditions, however, were also present in cities that did not have general strikes. To move beyond general conditions, I look at how they informed the local histories and historically contingent events that resulted in the “snowball effect” through which general strikes emerged from singular ones. I propose that American general strikes disappeared after 1946 due to changes in conditions that produced the industrial repertoire of collective action, foremost, changes in patterns of state repression through the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act.

The purpose of the chapter is twofold. First, it discusses the causes and characteristics of the current proliferation of rail station area redevelopment megaprojects around the globe, revealing them to be an important subset of the new generation of megaprojects discussed in this volume. Second, it offers a detailed and timely account of recent struggles surrounding “Stuttgart 21,” a massive, hugely controversial rail station redevelopment megaproject in Southern Germany, drawing lessons from the controversy over Stuttgart 21 for urban megaprojects more generally. This study is a qualitative case study analysis that involved interviews and document analysis. The experience of “Stuttgart 21” validates previous criticisms of megaprojects regarding transparency and public accountability in decision-making, environmental challenges, and cost-overruns. The political conflicts over “Stuttgart 21” are intimately tied to fundamental disagreements over future urban development and transportation policy, the costs and benefits of multibillion Euro megaprojects, and related democratic decision-making procedures. Rail stations emerge as an important, as-of-yet underexplored subset of urban megaprojects. Rail stations, especially those serving new high-speed rail corridors, are crucial development nodes within complex postindustrial urban–regional restructuring processes. But they also have a distinct character and historical identity. As the mass protests in Stuttgart show, they also clearly serve important identification functions in citizens’ lives.