Introduction to Railway Track

works Engineering
Senthil Kumar
12 Sep 2010

TRANSPORT
Track Formation

The purpose of track is to transfer train

loads to the formation.
Requirements for Choosing a Track System:
Trains running on Track do not cause excessive
environmental pollution in the form of noise and
ground vibration.
1. Costs of the total service life of the track
must be as low as possible.
2. Maintenance should be low and as inexpensive as
possible
Load Bearing Function of the Track

The load transfer works on the principle of

stress reduction - layer by layer.
1. The greatest stress
occurs between wheel
and rail and is in the
order of 30 kN/cm2 (=
300 MPa).
2. Between rail and
sleeper the stress is
two orders smaller and
diminishes between
sleeper and ballast bed
down to about 30 N/cm2.
3. Finally the stress on
the formation is only
about 5 N/cm2.
 Type of Railway System

1. Urban Railway Transit:

Urban rail transit is an all-encompassing term
for various types of local rail systems providing
passenger
Types : service within and around urban or
older suburban areas.
a) Tram : Trams are systems that run mainly or completely along
streets, with low capacity and frequent stops. Passengers
usually board at street- or curb-level
b) Light Rail : Light rail is a relatively new term, as an
outgrowth of trams/streetcars. Speeds are usually higher, and
articulated vehicles may be used to increase capacity.
c) Rapid Transit: A rapid transit, underground, subway, tube,
elevated, or metro(politan) system is a railway—usually in an
urban area—with a high capacity and frequency of service, and
grade separation from other traffic.
d) Mono Rail: Monorail is a metro or railroad with a track
consisting of a single rail (actually a beam), as opposed to
the traditional track with two parallel rails. Monorail
vehicles are wider than the beam they run on.
Type of Railway System

Tramway Light Rail

Mass Rapid Transit Monorail

 Type of Railway System

1. Suburban/Rural Railways: Suburb mostly

refers to a residential area. They may be the
residential areas of a city, or separate
Typesresidential
:
of a city.
communities within commuting distance

a) Regional/Commuter Rail : Commuter rail, also called suburban

rail, is a passenger rail transport service between a city
center, and outer suburbs and commuter towns or other
locations that draw large numbers of commuters—people who
travel on a daily basis. Regional rail or commuter rail runs
on trackage often shared with intercity rail and freight
trains

b) Intercity Rail: Inter-city rail services are express passenger

train services that cover longer distances than commuter or
regional trains.

c) Freight Trains: A freight train or goods train is a group of

freight cars (US) or goods wagons (UIC) hauled by one or more
locomotives on a railway, ultimately transporting cargo
between two points as part of the logistics chain.
Type of Tracks

1. Ballasted Track
2. Ballastless Track (Slab Track)
Permanent Way Materials

1. Rails
2. Concrete Sleepers
3. Fastenings
4. Switches & Crossings (Turnouts)
Running Rails
Rail Joints

Mechanical Rail Joints

A. Fish Plate Joints

B. Flash Butt Welding
C. Alumino Thermit Welding
D. Insulated Rail Joints

Rail mechanical joints have been used in the

railway industry to improve the lateral and
vertical alignment of the rails at their ends.
Rail Joints

A. Fish Plate Joints

As illustrated in the Figure, the normal rail

joints consist of fishplates that are bolted at
the rail ends through a number of bolt holes
(either two or three or more) that have been
drilled near the neutral axis in the rail web.
Rail Joints
1.
B. Bonded insulated
Insulated joints in
Rail Joints
rails separate electric
circuits in tracks and
turnouts.

2. To provide track segment

isolation for the track
circuitry passed through the
rail; this circuitry is used
to identify train locations
and to control signalling.
Rail Joints
1. In this process, the
highly exothermic
C. Alumino Thermit Welding reaction between
aluminium and iron
oxides results in the
production of molten
steel which is poured
into a mould around
the gap to be welded.

2. “Thermit” is the
trade name for one of
the granular mixtures
of aluminium metal
and powdered ferric
oxide. Ignition of
the Thermit is
usually carried out
by lighting a
magnesium ribbon or
sparkler.
 Rail Joints

D. Flash Butt Welding

•Mobile Flash Butt Welding Group is

dedicated to performing high quality
welds and to meet all the client
needs.
•Alstom’s latest arrival mobile welder,
the Schlatter AMS100 series that has
been equipped with the new state-of-
the-art intelligent control and weld
management system.
•In-Track Welding Equipment provides
versatility and reliability in any rail
Rail Joints

FBW Technical Specification

Welding Rail section up
Range: to 10,000 sq.mm
Production
Rate: 12 welds / hr
Rated Working
Pressure in
Hydraulic 315 bar
System:
Rated Upset
force: 100 Tons
Rated Clamping
force: 245 Tons
Transformer
Rating: 500 kVA
Welding Power: 400 VAC, 50 Hz,
1 Ph
Weld Head Mass: 3,800 kg
Overall Ctr. 7 x 1062 x
Dimension: 1852mm
 Rail Joints

In-Track Rail Welding (Plain Ballasted Track

Renewable) – TCDD, Turkey

• Rails are welded together to reclaim 18m of rail into

longer length strips.
• This can assist the track welding production with greater
productivity gains
 Rail Joints

In-Track Rail Welding (Tunnel) – Circle Line

Project, Singapore

• Rails are welded together to reclaim 18m of rail into

longer length strips.
• This can assist the track welding production with greater
productivity gains
Sleepers

A railway sleeper is a rectangular object used as a

base for railroad tracks. Ties are members
generally laid transverse to the rails, on which
the rails are supported and fixed, to transfer the
loads from rails to the ballast and subgrade, and
to hold the rails to the correct gauge.

Types of Sleepers:
• Steel Sleepers
• Wooden Sleepers
• Concrete Sleepers
 Sleepers

Pre-Stressed Concrete Sleepers

A concrete sleeper is a
railroad tie made out
of steel reinforced
concrete.
Fastenings

The fastening of rails is

usually taken care of by the
fasteners imbedded into the
concrete.
Switches & Crossings (Turnouts)
 Ballasted Track Construction Sequence

 First Layer of Ballast

 Ballasted Track Installation Method

 Second Layer of Ballast

 Ballasted Track Construction Sequence

LOADING BY RAIL/ROAD EXCAVATOR STORAGE OF SLEEPERS ALONGSIDE

STACKING OF SLEEPERS AT TSA AND TRANSPORT BY TRAILER TRACK

SLEEPERS PLACED BOTH SIDES OF TRACE LAYING OF SLEEPERS BY EXCAVATOR 24 SLEEPERS/BUNDLE BETWEEN
CATENARY MAST
Trackwork Heavy Equipments

Flat Wagons Ballast Hopper Wagons

Trackwork Heavy Equipments @ TSA TUZLA

Locomotive [LDH450] Forklift [MT1440]

Trackwork Heavy Equipments

Flash Butt Welding Machine [Schlatter] Truck c/w Palfinger Crane

Trackwork Heavy Equipments

Liebherr Excavators Vaiacar Excavators

OCS Heavy Equipments

Geismar VCP – Rail/Road Platform

OCS Heavy Equipments

2 Units of Neotech ELAN – Rail/Road

Platform
OCS Heavy Equipments

Tape Drive Wagon [CRCU4] Track Motor Car [APV350]

OCS Heavy Equipments

Genirail
OCS Installation Method

AEC Wire Running Work Method

OCS Installation Method

Cantilever Installation Work Method

34
Plant and Tools
OCS Installation Method

Copper Wire Running Work Method

35
OCS Installation Method

Dropping, Registration & Connection Installation Work

Method