Transportation Engineering II

INTRODUCTION TO RAILWAY SYSTEMS

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND WATER ENGINEERING
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING II
TCW3208
RAILWAY ENGINEERING

Rail Transport is a means of

conveyance of goods and
passengers by way of wheeled
vehicles running on rail tracks.

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RAILWAY ENGINEERING

Is the branch of Civil Engineering

that deals with the design,
construction and maintenance
of Railway tracks for the safe and
efficient movements of trains.

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Outline: Railway Engineering II

1. Introduction to Railway Engineering Systems and Planning

2. Components of a Railway Track
3. Railway Fixtures and Fastenings
4. Geometric Design of Tracks
5. Track Stresses and Track Resistance
6. Track Maintenance
7. Railway Crossings
8. Track Drainage
9. Railway Accidents
10. Railway Station Yards
11. Construction of New Tracks
12. Signalling and Interlocking
13. Railway Tunnelling
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Outline:
Introduction to Railway Engineering Systems and Planning

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Outline:
Components of A Railway Track

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Outline:
Rail Fastenings

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Outline:
Geometric Design of Railway Tracks

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Outline:
Track Stresses and Track Resistance

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Outline:
Track Maintenance

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Outline:
Railway Crossings

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Outline:
Track Drainage

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Outline:
Railway Accidents

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Outline:
Railway Station Yards

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Outline:
Construction of New Railway Tracks

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Outline:
Signalling and Interlocking

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Outline:
Railway Tunnelling

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Introduction to Transportation Systems
Modes of transportation systems

Major type of transportation system

1)Land Transport (Highways & Rail Transport)

2)Water Transport (Boats, ships, etc)
3)Air Transport (Aircrafts)
4)Continuous flow system (pipeflows)

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History of Railway Transport

• 1550- The discovery of the first frame of a trolley on rails in a mine

in Alsace SWITZERLAND.
• 1769- development of the steam energy
• 1804- Construction and testing of the first steam locomotive in the
world by Richard Trevithick (traction on roads only)
• 1814- first steam locomotive used for traction in railways.
• 1825 (27 Sept)- first public railway opened to traffic in UK
• 1880s- introduction of the electic trains
• 1842- Circulation of the first electric locomotive in the world (with
battery) by DAVIDSON.
• 1940s- Replacement of steam locomotives with diesel-electric
locomotives on non-electrified railways
• 1960s- introduction of high-speed railway systems in Japan. 19
• .
Railway Engineering- Types of locomotives

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Railway Engineering- Types of locomotives

• Steam locomotives
 Locomotives get their power from boiled water
 The water is boiled using either coal or wood

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Railway Engineering- Types of locomotives

• Steam locomotives

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Railway Engineering- Types of locomotives

• Diesel locomotives
 Sometimes referred to as “Diesel-Electric”
 Uses a combustion engine to move the wheels
 They must get fuel the same way cars get gasoline

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Railway Engineering- Types of locomotives

• Diesel locomotives

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Railway Engineering- Types of locomotives

• Electric locomotives
Gets its electricity from a power source eg
from overhead wires.

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Railway Engineering- Types of locomotives

• Electric locomotives

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Railway Engineering- Types of locomotives

• Maglev Locomotives
 Do not have wheels, but use magnetic forces
 The magnetic field created by electrified coils in the guideway
walls and the track combine to propel the train.
 Fastest trains in the world
 Do not make any air pollution (Why???)

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Railway Engineering- Types of locomotives

• Maglev Locomotives

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Can you recognize the types of
locomotives below??

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History of Railway System In Zimbabwe

• The first train arrived in Bulawayo in 1897 from South Africa via Botswana
• Railway line construction began from:
 Fontesvilla (55km from Beira, Mozambique) to Umtali (now Mutare)> Sept 1892-Feb 1898
 from Vryburg in Cape Province, South Africa to Bulawayo> May 1893- October 1897.
• 1902> Complete linkage between Harare and Bulawayo
• 1903-1906 > Bulawayo linked to current Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo border.
• Up to Sept 1927, the whole system was operated by Beira and Mashonaland and Rhodesian
Railways.
• From October 1, 1927, the Rhodesia Railways Company took over.
• 1936> The Rhodesia Railways Limited assumed ownership of the whole railway system in the
now Zimbabwe, Zambia and the Vryburg to Bulawayo section.
• Dec 1959> The Vryburg to Ramathlabama (South Africa/Botswana Border) section was later
acquired by the South African Railways.
• 01 April 1947> the Rhodesian government acquired the assets of the Rhodesia Railways Limited.
The railway undertaking became a statutory body known as the Rhodesia Railways on 01/11/49
• 01 July 1967> the rail network was split at the Victoria Falls Bridge with Zambia Railways taking
over the northern railway system and Rhodesia Railways the southern one.
• 01 June 1979> the title of Rhodesia Railways changed to Zimbabwe Rhodesia Railways and
finally to National Railways of Zimbabwe on 1 May 1980 after the nation got independence. 30
History of Railway System In Zimbabwe

• 1981-1983> electrification of 305km between Harare and Dabuka marshalling yard near Gweru
• 1987- NRZ handed over ownership of the Botswana section and this gave rise to the formation of
Botswana Railways.
• Sept 1992> Arrival of Diesel Electric (DE) locomotives.
• July 1993> Steam locomotives withdrawn from mainline operations following the acquisition of DE
locomotives
• 1996> the Government of Zimbabwe awarded a BOT concession to New Limpopo Projects
Investments Ltd (NLPI) for construction of a new link between West Nicholson where NRZ’s network
ended to Beitbridge. NLPI incorporated a Zimbabwean registered company, Beitbridge Bulawayo
Railway Ltd to operate the new link all the way to Bulawayo.
• 1997- Deregulation of the transport industry which allowed NRZ to operate as a commercial entity
• 1998- A new-look fleet of passenger coaches equipped with state-of-the-art equipment were
acquired to replace the brown ones plying on the Bulawayo-Harare and Harare-Mutare routes.
• 2001- NRZ introduced a commuter train service in Harare and Bulawayo to cushion urban
commuters from rising transport costs. 2003- Passenger trains to service branch lines between
Harare-Bindura, Harare-Chinhoyi, Gweru-Masvingo and Bulawayo-Beitbridge were introduced.
• 2003- NRZ experienced a couple of train disasters leading to one them being declared a national
disaster (Dete train disaster). The other one was the Dibangombe.
• May 2006- The Bulawayo-Francistown passenger train service was re-introduced.
• In 2016- NRZ received wagons procured from China. 31
Zimbabwe Railways Map

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Railway Transport In Zimbabwe

• National Railway of Zimbabwe

 Headquartered in Bulawayo
 Parastatal railway of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia)
 Formerly called Rhodesia Railways (RR) until 1980
 NRZ operates about 4,225 km of railway lines (about
3/4 of this built in less than 10 years)
 NRZ tracks are all 1,067 mm Gauge (standard for all
Southern Africa)
 NRZ provides passenger and freight services
 313km Gweru-Harare section electrified at 25kV AC
(vandalised and currently not functional) 33
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Role of Railway Transport In Zimbabwe

• Connects industrial production centres with markets

• Facilitates industrial development -connects sources of raw
materials to industries
• Links agricultural production centres with distant markets
• Promote agricultural growth- linking sources of inputs to farmers
• Provides rapid, reliable, and cost-effective bulk transportation of
goods e.g move coal from the coalfield to power plants and
petroleum products from refineries to consumption centres.
• Links people with places, enabling large-scale, rapid, and low-cost
movement of people across the length and breadth of the country.

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Need for a new railway line

• Strategic reasons
 So that relief assistance and/or defence forces can
move easily and quickly
• Political reasons
 A new line sometimes becomes necessary to serve
the political needs of the country
• Development of remote areas
• To connect new trade centres
• To shorten the existing rail links
• Access of raw materials
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RAILWAY ALIGNMENT

 Refers to the direction and position given

to the centre line of the railway track on
the ground in the horizontal and vertical
planes.

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RAILWAY ALIGNMENT- Horizontal Alignment

 Refers the direction of the railway track in

the plan including the straight path and
the horizontal curves it follows

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RAILWAY ALIGNMENT- Vertical Alignment

 Refers to the direction the alignment

follows in a vertical plane including the
level track, gradients and vertical curves.

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Selection of Railway Alignment

(1)Obligatory points (give examples)

(2)Type of traffic
(3)Gauge of the track
(4)Geometric standards (safety and comfort)
(5)Topography of the country
(6)Economic considerations
(7)Geological aspects- avoid weak soils
(8)Climatic conditions- avoid flood prone areas
(9) Utility orientation- railway line should cross roads, bridges, etc at
right angles to avoid accidents
(10) Proximity to Labour and material
(11) Political aspects (avoid foreign soils)
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Requirements of an ideal alignment

• Should serve the intended purpose

 connecting trade areas, political reasons)
• New line should fit with the general planning
• Aesthetic considerations
 Journey should be visually pleasing (beautiful scenes)
• Economic considerations
 Shortest and most direct route
 Minimum construction, operation and maintenance
costs
 Maximum safety and comfort (e.g good curves) 41
Surveys for new Railway development

 Traffic survey
 Reconnaissance survey
 Preliminary survey
 Final location survey

To be covered under “Construction of New Tracks”

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Questions…

THANK YOU!
ASANTE SANA! 43