Development and validation of a model for the optimization of regenerative braking of high speed trains

The interest for the energetic optimization of railway systems is constantly increasing due to recent developments concerning Technological Standards and Regulations. A particular attention is usually paid to the coupling between the dynamical behaviour of railway vehicles and the electrical infrastructure, including all the subsystems related to energy distribution and storage. In this research work, the authors propose a newly developed modelling approach for the analysis of the railway vehicle-line system, based on the use of the object-oriented language Simscape that introduces significant advantages with respect to other conventional simulation tools in terms of computational efficiency and modularity. In order to validate the modelling approach, the Italian DC High Speed line, considering a high-speed train with distributed traction power based on the new ETR1000, has been used as a benchmark. The proposed model provides accurate results with a high computational efficiency, proving to be an important tool for the analysis of railway systems. This tool has then be used to perform a preliminary energetic optimization of the considered system).