Designing and testing of advanced railway track systems

Railway departments regularly call upon manufacturers' and contractors' specialist knowledge regarding the design, construction and maintenance of rail infrastructure. This is largely due to the current trend of decentralising and privatising railway departments. A new relationship is likely to be established between the infrastructure departments, managers and contractors, driven by economics and cost efficiency. One striking consequence of this is the pronounced formalisation of the established relationships between these parties, particularly concerning mutual quality assurance and financial guarantees. The track systems most likely to be successful are those that are reliable, efficient and display a high degree of availability. Dedicated products are more likely to be successful than are universal systems, and this particularly includes unballasted track systems. Reliability and efficiency guarantees can only be given following thorough studies and tests. Laboratory tests, in situ testing and risk assessment will all be required, as will standards for track construction and maintenance. Only well-researched track systems proven by testing are likely to be selected by local, regional and national infrastructure departments. The present article presents the options for research and testing from both academic and practical points of view. For the covering abstract see ITRD E125214.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0947644431
• Authors:
  • DE MAN, A
  • SCHEEPMAKER, P
• Publication Date: 2000

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 7pp
• Serial:
  • PROCEEDINGS OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, RAILWAY ENGINEERING 2000, HELD LONDON, UK, JULY 2000 - CD-ROM
  • Publisher: ENGINEERING TECHNICS PRESS

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Conferences; Construction; Design; Maintenance; Railroad tracks; Slabs
• ITRD Terms: 8525: Conference; 3655: Construction; 9011: Design (overall design); 3847: Maintenance; 1062: Railway track; 3491: Slab
• Subject Areas: Construction; Design; Maintenance and Preservation; Pipelines; Railroads; Vehicles and Equipment; I52: Construction of Pavements and Surfacings; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01011769
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• ISBN: 0-947644-43-1
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Dec 19 2005 3:30PM