In order to enhance the efficiency of railway transportation, Chinese Railw
ays has decided to raise the speed of trains on the existing railway main l
ines. A theoretical model and the corresponding simulation software, VICT,
based on the vehicle-track coupling dynamics are employed to analyse dynami
c effects of trains on track structures caused by raising train speeds. Chi
nese passenger cars and freight cars running on the lines where speed has b
een raised were chosen for investigation. It is shown that raising train sp
eeds on the existing railway lines obviously intensifies the dynamic effect
s of vehicles on tracks, especially in the turnouts, in the welded rail joi
nts, and in the sections of bridge-subgrade connections. The occurrence of
wheel flats becomes more general after raising train speeds. An unfavourabl
e peak of dynamic effects of wheel flats on tracks is observed in the speed
range from 140 to 160 km/h, which is just the region of running speeds for
passenger trains after the increase in the speed. Some basic countermeasur
es, including stricter maintenance standards for the speed-raised railways,
are proposed to solve these problems, on the basis of dynamic analysis.