**4. Conclusions**

The intensity of lateral wear of the rails and the wheel when running on a straight track is considerably greater than on typical railway lines. This is due to the specific operating conditions and, as measurements have shown, the variability of the normal force and, most likely, the variability of the contact surface. The problem of wear must be looked at comprehensively. In order to reduce the intensity of lateral rail wear, it must also be borne in mind that rim wear must be reduced in parallel. This principle should be the basic assumption of any remedial measures taken.

According to the presented material, the mathematical modelling of vehicle motion on a track with a switch must consider the variation of stiffnesses in the area of entry to the spire and passage through the cross member. An increase in these stiffnesses causes an increase in vertical and normal forces, and thus, an increase in the wear process.

Simulation of different conditions of traffic on a straight track without a switch and on a straight track with a switch indicates that wear of both wheels and rails when a rail vehicle passes through the switch at speeds exceeding 200 km/h causes very big increments of wear on both wheels and rails.

High-dynamic loads acting on the railroad turnout elements and variations in time lead to significant property changes, such as faster abrasive wear and local plastic deformation of the material in the rolling layer of the rail sections. The knowledge of the load sustained during the passage of the rail vehicle through the turnout makes it possible to determine the actual operating conditions of the turnout. By means of the digital simulation of mathematical models, it is possible to select the elements most exposed to destructive effects of dynamic loads.

The presented modelling and simulation process can be used for other conditions of rail vehicle passage through the turnout, i.e., turnouts with larger radii, e.g., turnouts with a radius of 3000 m or 10,000 m (the modelling and simulation has been carried out for the turnout of 1200 m).

In further work, the authors will carry out the study of traffic after passing through the turnout and the right and left turning track. A separate problem is the study of the movement of a rail vehicle on a curve.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, J.K. and R.K.; methodology, J.K. and R.K.; software, R.K.; validation, R.K.; formal analysis, J.K. and R.K.; investigation, J.K. and R.K.; resources, J.K. and R.K.; data curation, J.K. and R.K.; writing—original draft preparation, J.K. and R.K.; writing—review and editing, J.K. and R.K.; visualization, J.K. and R.K.; supervision, J.K. and R.K.; project administration, J.K. and R.K.; funding acquisition, J.K. and R.K. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
