To connect Bangkok and Chiang Mai in approx. 7 hours, two engines with approx. 400 ps are necessary for one car. Thereby, the following high performances can be obtained: a maximum design speed of 160 km/h, a 25 ‰ gradient balancing speed of 110 km or more, and an acceleration of 4.2 km/h/s at start.
(Figure 4.2-6 shows various performance curves.)
4) Brake
(a) Limitation of stopping distance in SRT
SRT specifies the following conditions when manufacturing or ordering a diesel rail car or a passenger car.
"It must be possible for a car to stop within 750 m from the maximum speed of 120 km/h when the car has the normal riding capacity in a horizontal section. Moreover, it must be possible for a car to stop within 700 m from a speed of 100 km/h."
When the stopping distance is set to 750 m, the average deceleration from initial speed braking up to stopping is shown below.
(b) Brake force
The brake system of a diesel rail car generally uses engine brake and air brake both of which use the adhesion between rail and wheel tread. The adhesion
