SELECTION OF TRACK FORM

Ballasted track should no longer be the automatic choice for new-build railway projects and major upgrade schemes. Advances in ballastless track technology in Europe and Japan mean that there is now a wide variety of systems available, each with differing characteristics and functionality. Ballastless track forms offer advantages in terms of low maintenance requirements, alignment quality and high speed performance, which must be balanced against the lower capital cost and familiarity of traditional ballasted track. The key issue is, with so many different systems on the market, often heavily promoted by the manufacturers, how does one select the most appropriate track form for any given scheme and any given location within that scheme? This paper is based upon a study into these issues, carried out by the author in connection with the selection of track form for a proposed European high speed line. It sets out the criteria which can be used to select an appropriate track form for any rail project, highlighting the differences between the track forms in use throughout the world, their strengths and weaknesses. For the covering abstract see ITRD E123713.

  • Availability:
  • Corporate Authors:

    ENGINEERING TECHNICS PRESS

    46 CLUNY GARDENS
    EDINBURGH,   United Kingdom  EH10 6BN
  • Authors:
    • CENEY, H
  • Publication Date: 2001

Language

  • English

Media Info

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00985490
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
  • ISBN: 0-947644-45-8
  • Files: ITRD
  • Created Date: Feb 4 2005 12:00AM