CENG 5412– Railway Engineering

Anteneh Zewdu (MSc) wirelesant@gmail.com

2016
 Chapter 3. Railway Track Structures
3.1 Component and function of track structure

Can you name the components of a

railway track?

The railway track has to fulfil two

main functions:
• to guide the train with safety
• to carry the load of the train and to
distribute the load to the subgrade
over an area that is as large as
possible.

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 3.2 Rails
Rails are the longitudinal steel members that directly guide the train wheels evenly and
continuously
As the most important component, rail has the following functions:
 accommodates the wheel loads and distributes over the sleepers or supports
 guides the wheel in a lateral direction, any horizontal transverse forces on the rail
head being transferred to and distributed over the sleepers and supports
 provides a smooth running surface and distributes accelerating and braking forces
by means of adhesion;
 acts as an electrical conductor on an electrified line;
 conducts signal currents

Type of rail based on weight per length: Europe 40-65 kg/m,

USA 37-70 kg/m
Based on length: 12.5-25m and currently up to 30m

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 Requirements of Rails Rail Profile
 High resistance to wear, compression The rail profile is the cross sectional
and fatigue shape of a railway rail, perpendicular to
 High yield strength, tensile strength the length of the rail.
and hardness
 High resistance to brittle fracture
 Good weld ability rail head
 High degree of purity rail web
 Good surface quality
 Low residual stress after
manufacturing rail base
 Withstand temperature variations and
other climatic conditions

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 Type of rail based on shape

Rail Specifications
Manufacturing: Mechanical properties: Main types: carbon steel,
◦ Continuous casting ◦ strength, alloy steel, steel after heat
◦ Rolling ◦ wear resistance, treated
◦ Straightening ◦ impact resistance,
Chemical composition ◦ tensile strength,
◦ elongation & fatigue

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 Track Gauge
The distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make
up a single railway line

Standard gauge (1435mm)  Most Commonly used today

Broad gauge (> 1435mm)  Russia, Finland, Portugal, Spain, etc.
Narrow gauge (< 1435mm)  South Africa, Japan, Switzerland, etc.

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 3.3 Rail fastening system
 A Rail fastening system is a means of fixing a rail to other rail or sleepers.
 The terms rail anchors, tie plates, chairs and track fasteners are used to refer to parts or
all of a rail fastening system. Various types of fastening have been used over the years.
The purpose of the rail fastenings:
 To maintain the track gauge
 Offer sufficient resistance in a vertical direction
 To transmit forces from rails to the sleepers
 Electrically insulate the sleeper against the remaining track grid, to minimize the loss of
signals of the direct-current circuits

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 Rail fastening system

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 3.4 Sleepers
The general functions and requirements of sleepers are:
 To provide support and fixing possibilities for the rail
foot and fastenings;
 To distribute and transmit forces to the ballast bed or
slab track
 To preserve track gauge and rail inclination
 To provide adequate electrical insulation between rails;
 To be resistant to mechanical influences and weathering
over a long time period

According to production material sleepers are classified into: Concrete, Wooden, Steel and Plastic
According to usage sleepers are classified into: Regular, Switch and Bridge sleepers

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 Sleepers

Wooden Sleepers
Mono block Concrete Sleepers Steel Sleepers
Concrete ties have greater
economy and better support of
the rails under high speed and
heavy traffic than wooden ties
Twin block Sleepers

Short Sleepers
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Advantages of Concrete Sleepers: Drawbacks of Concrete Sleepers:
 heavy weight (200-300 kg), useful in  On poor formation, pumping may occur
connection with stability of track;  Susceptible to corrugations and poor
 long service life provided fastenings quality welds
are good or can be replaced easily;  Risk of damage from impacts (derailment,
 great freedom of design and loading/unloading)
construction  Dynamic loads and ballast stresses can be
 relatively simple to manufacture as much as 25% higher
Steel Sleepers Advantages of twin block concrete sleepers
Strong points:  Increase lateral resistance
• Long service life  Lower weight than monoblock concrete
• Great dimensional accuracy sleepers
But they suffer from:  No torsional forces on the sleeper centre
• Lack of Insulation due the more flexible steel connections
•Relatively high price  Can be used in ballastless track systems

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 3.5 Ballast and Sub ballast
Ballast is a layer of loose, coarse grained material which, as a result of internal friction
between the grains, can absorb considerable compressive stresses, but not tensile stresses.
Functions of ballast: Requirements of good
 Assist in drainage of water from the track ballast
 Further distributes the loads coming from the super structure  Tough and resist wear
to the structure supporting the ballast with out failure - to  Hard enough
reduce the pressure  Cubical with sharp edge
 For track stability-restrain the sleepers against vertical,  Non porous, non-water
lateral, and absorbent
longitudinal forces from the rail
 Resist attrition
 Provide the ability to adjust track geometry by rearranging the
ballast particles by tamping and lining  Durable

 Provide damping to the track to decrease high frequency  Good drainage

dynamic forces  Cheap and economical
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 Sub ballast

Is a layer of material between the top ballast and sub grade with a gradation finer than the
top ballast and coarser than the sub grade
Functions:
 Protection of the upper surface of
the subgrade from the intrusion of
ballast stones During structural analysis, the sub ballast layer
is considered as part of the total ballast depth
 Prevent upward migration of fine
materials from the subgrade into A sub ballast layer may comprise up to 40% of
the ballast the total ballast thickness on main running
tracks and up to 50% on other tracks
 Further distributing stresses
 Further facilitating rainwater
runoff

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 3.5 Ballasted and Slab track
Advantages of ballasted track Disadvantage of ballasted track
 proven technology;  The tendency of the track to ‘float’ in both
 Relatively low construction costs; longitudinal and lateral direction
 simple replacement of track  Limited non-compensated lateral acceleration
components; in curves caused by the limited lateral
 relatively simple correction of resistance provided by ballast
track geometry (maintenance);  Pulverization of the ballast grains in the ballast
 small adjustments of track lay-out bed resulting in particles damaging the rail and
(curves) possible; wheels
 good drainage properties;  Reduced permeability due to contamination,
 good elasticity; the wear of the ballast, and intrusion of fine
 good damping of noise particles from the sub-grade
 A relatively heavy and high track structure
requiring stronger constructions for bridges
and viaducts
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 Slab track
In slab track, ballast is replaced by another stable load distributing material such as concrete
or asphalt.
The necessary elasticity has to be provided by inserting elastic elements below the rail or the
sleeper, as the concrete or asphalt layer is very stiff.
In comparison to ballasted track, the advantages of slab track are in general reduction of
maintenance and a higher stability of the track

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 Slab track
Advantage of slab track Disadvantage of slab track
 Low maintenance cost: 20~30%  Higher construction costs
of ballasted track  Higher airborne noise reflection
 Low structure height and weight  Large alterations in track position and super-
 Attractive in life cycle costing elevation can only be made possible by
 Significantly increased substantial amounts of work
reliability and stability  Adaptable to larger displacements in the
 No ballast flying and embankment is relatively small
pulverization  In case of derailment, repair works will take
 Less dust much more time and effort
 Transition between ballasted track and slab
track require attention

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 Slab track
Slab track are commonly used at; Main types of non-ballasted track:
• Metro, urban rail transit • Embedded in concrete
• Bridge • Prefabricated slabs
• Repair inconvenience, small space, • Monolithic slab
traffic density
• AC(asphalt concrete)-road bed
• Tunnels, subways, elevated
crossing, stations & terminals • Embedded rail

• High speed railway

Rheda (Germany)
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