Railway test circuit Velim
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Railway test circuit Velim (in Czech Železniční zkušební okruh u Velimi, sometimes Železniční zkušební okruh Cerhenice) is a closed railway used to test railway cars and locomotives.
The circuit is part of the Test Center Velim (Zkušební centrum Velim), owned by Railway Research Institute (Výzkumný ústav železniční, VUZ, [1]), a daughter company of Czech Railways (České dráhy), the railway operator in the Czech Republic.
The circuit was built near the city Poděbrady in the Central Bohemian Region of Czech Republic. It is located between villages Vrbová Lhota, Ratenice, Cerhenice (with headquarters of the test center), Velim, Pňov-Předhradí and southern suburbs of Poděbrady. Village Sokoleč lies inside the large circuit. The construction was finished in 1963.
[edit] Technical details
The test center consists of two independent circuits:
- small circuit with length 3.951 km and maximal allowed speed up to 90 km/h.
- large circuit with length 13.276 km and maximal allowed speed up to 230 km/h for high speed cars and up to 210 km/h for the others.
Both circuits provide railway electrification systems used in the Czech Republic:
The circuit allows to test characteristics of the cars, noise levels, ability to communicate using ETCS and GSM-R and to simulate failures and changes in power system.
