Track Maintenance

⚫ Foundation of most civil engineering

structures like buildings, dams, bridges
etc. are solid and they get unduly strained
with the loads coming on them

⚫ Railway track on the other hand rests on

a floating foundation of ballast

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Track Maintenance (contd.)
⚫ Civil engineering structures are massive in
nature and the live loads imposed on
them are small.

⚫ Structure of a railway track is delicate as

compared to the heavy vehicles which
run at high speed over it.

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Necessity for maintenance of track
⚫ New track – Newly laid track will settle
down slowly and hence special gangs are
to be employed to bring the embankment
to the proper formation level.

⚫ Generally 4 men employed per kilometre

length of the track for this purpose

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Necessity for maintenance of track
(contd.)
⚫ Constant use – Railway tracks are being
constantly used by trains and hence they
require some treatment to remain in
working condition. This is achieved by
providing maintenance gangs all along the
railway track

⚫ Main function of gang is to keep the track

in good condition
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Guardian Angels of Railways

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A gangman’s job is extremely
hazardous
⚫ According to Indian Railways 768 track maintainers were
run over by trains between 2012 and 2017.

⚫ Besides that, gangmen have to carry heavy equipment while

doing the rounds.

⚫ A ganman carries a fish bolt spanner to tighten nuts and

bolts, a tricolour lamp to alert locomotive drivers of any
potential danger on the tracks and a rod weighing two kg to
fix the lamp, if needed.

⚫ People like him brave the vagaries of weather, snakes and

wild animals, especially in remote areas, and filth on tracks
to correct defects or to warn drivers of danger.

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Gang

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Gang

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Necessity for maintenance of track
(contd.)
⚫ The railway track is divided into suitable
sections, each having a length of about 6
km for main line and 8 km for branch line
section and one gang is attached to this
section

⚫ Number of men required to maintain the

railway track depend on volume of traffic,
nature of soil and strength of permanent
way
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Necessity for maintenance of track
(contd.)
⚫ Strength of maintenance gang is
determined by 1 to 2 men per km length
of track

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Advantages of track maintenance
⚫ Chance of derailment and accident are
considerably reduced
⚫ The delicate goods can be conveniently and
safely carried in the trains
⚫ The high speeds of the trains can be
maintained
⚫ Life of rolling stock and track is increased
⚫ There is reduction in operational cost of the
trains
⚫ The train journey become easy, smooth and
comfortable.

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Maintenance
⚫ Maintenance of track proper
⚫ Maintenance of railway bridges
⚫ Maintenance of rolling stock

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Maintenance of track proper
Strength of gang
⚫ One Gangmate or ganger
⚫ One key man
⚫ Nine to ten workers – B.G.
⚫ Four to five workers – M.G.

⚫ Each gang works in a length of about 90

m a day

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Maintenance of track proper (contd.)
⚫ 10-15 gangs are placed under a
Sub-Permanent way inspector and one
Permanent way Inspector (P.W.I.)

⚫ One P.W.I. looks after 2 or 3 sub P.W.I.

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Duties of Gangmate or Ganger
⚫ Head of the gang
⚫ Responsible for upkeep of track in his
section
⚫ Responsible for maintaining the track in
his section in correct alignment and level
⚫ Ganger has to arrange for tools and other
equipments required by his gang
⚫ The points and crossings should be
periodically checked and examined by the
ganger
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Duties of Gangmate or Ganger
(contd.)
⚫ In case of emergency, the ganger should
stop or slow down a running train by the
use of temporary signals
⚫ In case of an accident, the ganger should
look after the broken fittings of the
rolling stock and track components and
see that these articles are not disturbed
till they are seen and recorded by a
responsible person

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Duties of Gangmate or Ganger
(contd.)
⚫ The ganger should be fully conversant
with the details of his section such as
number and location of points and
crossings, level crossings etc.

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Duties of Gangmate or Ganger
(contd.)

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Duties of Gangmate or Ganger
(contd.)

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Duties of key man
⚫ Position of a key man in the gang is next
to the ganger and hence, in the absence
of the ganger, the keyman performs the
duties of the ganger

⚫ He is so named because it is he who

attends to the bolts and keys for
maintaining the gauge

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Duties of key man (contd.)
⚫ Keyman is responsible for the upkeep and
inspection of all fastenings and joints
⚫ He moves along his section every day and
personally inspects all the fastenings and
joints
⚫ He carries with him 1 hammer, 1 wrench,
2 red flags, 1 green flag, 8 detonators and
such other tools as required

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Detonator

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Detonator
⚫ A railway detonator  is a coin-sized
device that is used as a loud warning
signal to train drivers.
⚫ It is placed on the top of the rail, usually
secured with two lead straps, one on
each side.
⚫ When the wheel of the train passes over,
it explodes emitting a loud bang. 

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Typical uses of detonators

⚫ A warning, caution or stop signal in dense

fog, when signals are difficult to see
⚫ A warning of a train stopped on the line
ahead by an incident or accident—the train
crew are usually responsible for placing the
detonators
⚫ A warning of ongoing engineering works
ahead
⚫ When a signaller or other railway employee
requires to stop approaching trains in an
emergency

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Duties of P.W.I.
⚫ Responsible for detecting and repairing
any defect in his section and also for
keeping his section in good running
condition
⚫ P.W.I. travels over the track by push
trolley and watches the defects on the
track
⚫ Has to carry out the renewals of rails and
sleepers
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Duties of P.W.I. (contd.)
⚫ Maintain record of wear of rails in his section.

⚫ Make a programme for the lubrication of rail joints

in such a way that all the rail joints are lubricated
in a year during the cold weather season

⚫ Correct creep in section and responsible to

maintain the correct gauge and super elevation on
curves

⚫ Should arrange for suitable ballast for his section

and see that the track is sufficiently elastic 26
 TRACK INSPECTION
⚫ Track inspection or monitoring for comfort and
safety

Carried out in following ways in Indian

Railway:-

⚫ Keyman daily move in his section on foot and other

inspections by supervisors, engineers and
administrative officers

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TRACK INSPECTION (contd.)
⚫ Indian Railway acquired self-propelled ultrasonic
rail testing car - Spur Car- replaced visual
inspection

⚫ Fitted with onboard computer which acquires

relevant ultrasonic test data and detects fatigue
flaws

⚫ Testing can be carried out for length of about

2km of track per day
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⚫ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SKM
_QiWxwE

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Maintenance of Railway Bridges
⚫ Bridge inspection carried out by track
inspectors and bridge inspector
⚫ Track inspector looks after the culverts
and small bridges and bridge inspector
looks after major bridges
⚫ The respective P. W. I. makes a detailed
inspection of all bridges under his section
once or twice a year.

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Maintenance of Railway Bridges
(contd.)
Bridge inspector is responsible for the
following works of maintenance
⚫ The soundings are to be taken in the river
bed and depth of scour near the
abutments and piers is to be determined
⚫ The suitable pitching is to be provided to
the embankments near bridges
⚫ The flood training bunds will have to be
maintained in case of some rivers
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Maintenance of Railway Bridges
(contd.)

⚫ The superstructure of girder bridges

should be painted with red lead at least
once in 5 years
⚫ The rivets should be carefully inspected at
regular intervals and all defective rivets
should be punched off and replaced
⚫ The bearings of girders should be coated
with oil from time to time

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Maintenance of Railway Bridges
(contd.)

⚫ The bed blocks should be inspected from

time to time and necessary repair should
be immediately carried out
⚫ It should be seen whether the masonry
has washed, cracked or deteriorated
⚫ Any signs of movement of bricks or
stones in masonry work should be
carefully watched

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Maintenance of Rolling Stock
⚫ Rolling stock – Locomotives, coaches and
wagons
⚫ Lubrication of all reciprocating parts and
bearings should be carried out
⚫ The worn out parts from the rolling stock
should be replaced from time to time
⚫ Clean the different parts of rolling stock
every day
⚫ All axles which have run 3,22,000 km
should be replaced by new ones
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Maintenance of Rolling Stock (contd.)
⚫ The locomotive boilers have to be
maintained and renewed every 15 years
⚫ Useful life of passenger vehicle is taken as
about 30 years. Even if it is not worn out
after this period is over, it is to be
dismantled and re-assembled.

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Type of maintenance
⚫ Daily maintenance
⚫ Periodical maintenance

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Daily maintenance
⚫ Maintenance is carried out by the full time
staff maintained throughout the year.
⚫ The use of maintenance gangs, all along
the railway track, is made.
⚫ The railway track is divided into suitable
sections 5 to 6 km length

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Daily maintenance (contd.)
⚫ To check the bolts of fish plates and
tighten it if necessary
⚫ To check the rail gauge
⚫ To check the joints
⚫ To check the fittings of sleepers and rails

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Periodical Maintenance
At an interval of 2-3 years
⚫ Levelling of rails
⚫ Track alignment
⚫ Gauge
⚫ Proper drainage
⚫ Track components
⚫ Bridge and its approaches
⚫ Rolling stock
⚫ Points and crossings

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40
 PACKING
⚫ The aim of packing is to have each sleeper firmly
and uniformly packed to ensure that the rails are
at their correct relative levels i.e., level on the
straight track and to the required cant on curves
and that no sleeper has any void between it and
its bed.

⚫ Due to movement of vehicles over track, ballast

under sleepers become loose
⚫ Ballast under sleepers should be regularly packed
to keep track in good running condition
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51
PACKING (CONTD...)
⚫ Following points are to be
attended:-
1. Width of packing depends on gauge
Sequence of operations of packing
is as follows:-
i. Track is opened out
ii. Rails, sleepers and fastenings are
carefully examined and defects are
corrected
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 PACKING (CONTD...)
iii. Sleepers which have moved from their position
are placed by fixing crowbars firmly against
sleeper and pushing it
iv. Track is slewed to correct alignment
v. Gauge of track is checked and corrected.

53
 PACKING (CONTD...)

vi. Sleepers are properly packed

vii. Sleepers at rail joints are repacked and levels are
checked
viii. Boxing of ballast section is carried out

This process is termed as Through Packing

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55
56
 PACKING (CONTD...)
2. For better packing, two persons work diagonally at
each sleeper joint – Scissor packing gives better
results
3. Whether each sleeper has been packed to the
correct level or not should be checked by gangmate
4. Track lifting jacks may be employed when a
considerable portion of track is to be lifted
5. In U.K and USA, pneumatic or electric tie tampers
are used for packing
6. When packing is to be done for a depth less than
25mm-carried out by means of crowbars or claw
bars
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Crowbar

58
 PACKING(CONTD...)
7. Sleepers under rail joint should be packed
frequently with ballast
8. Showel packing consists of raising track by
means of jacks and then spreading a layer of
stone chips of size varying from 6mm to 10mm
by means of trowel
⚫ Measured showel packing is an improvement of
showel packing

59
Measured showel packing
⚫ Originally found by Britain in 1910
⚫ It requires high degree of accuracy and
readings upto 1mm are to be taken
⚫ Exact quantity of ballast is then worked
out
⚫ The sleepers are lifted up and ballast is
spread under the sleeper at the rail seats

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 SCREENING OF BALLAST
⚫ Ballast used in track is to be renewed from time
to time due to following reasons:-
1. Due to constant hammering action of wheels,
some ballast is converted into powder form
❖ This powder fills voids between ballast and
together with dust, sand, ashes etc it forms an
impervious layer-which prevents easy flow of
water
2. Ballast under sleepers is constantly pressed in
formation which reduces quantity of ballast and
elasticity of track is affected
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SCREENING OF BALLAST (contd.)
⚫ Inorder to remove the defects, ballast is
cleaned at regular intervals by means of
screening
⚫ Screening is carried out as follows:-
1. Ballast is removed by means of ballast forks
and carefully stored at suitable place
2. Dirty ballast is then made loose by means of
equipment such as picks
3. Frames (1500mm x1200mm)with expanded
metal mesh are put parallel to track. Frames
are kept inclined
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 SCREENING OF BALLAST (contd.)
4. Dirty ballast is thrown on these frames
❖ when a basket containing dirty ballast is
thrown on mesh, dust and other small
particles pass through mesh and fall on other
side of frame
❖ screened ballast is collected on front side of
frame
5. Required quantity of additional ballast is added
to screened ballast to makeup deficiency and
track is packed with this ballast as before
About 2 men needed to screen ballast for
a rail length in a day by this method
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 MAINTENANCE AND BOXING
OF BALLAST
⚫ Quantity of ballast should be sufficient so that it
can function properly
⚫ It should be properly placed-done by boxing (last
stage in packing operations)
⚫ Boxing consists of filling in spaces between rails
and forming shoulders at each end of sleepers
⚫ Top surface is dressed up and ballast layer is
brought to required profile
⚫ Scattered ballast is collected and used at other
place or stacked at suitable place
64
 TRACK IMPREST
⚫ At certain points along track rails, sleepers,
fittings etc are kept for use in emergency

⚫ These materials are termed as track imprest

⚫ Helpful when sudden demand occurs

⚫ Materials taken from track imprest must be

replaced as early as possible

65
INSPECTION AND
MAINTENANCE OF P.WAY

MECHANIZED MAINTENANCE
3 tiers system of track maintenance, Working
of MMUs
The 3 tier system of track maintenance shall be adopted on
sections nominated for Mechanized track maintenance. This shall
consist of the following 3 tiers of track maintenance:

• On-track Machines Unit (OMU)

• Mobile Maintenance Gang (MMG)
• Sectional Gangs.
1. On-track Machines Unit
(OMU)

On track machines for track maintenance include

Tie–tamping machines for plain track and points and
crossings, shoulder ballast cleaning machines, ballast cleaning
machines, ballast regulating machines, dynamic track
stabilizers.
1. On-track Machines Unit
(OMU)
These machines shall be used as per the various instructions contained
in Indian Railways Track Machines Manual and Para 523 of IRPWM.
These machines shall be deployed to carry out the following jobs:
a) Systematic tamping of plain track as well as Points & Crossings;
b) Shoulder ballast cleaning;
c) Ballast profiling/redistribution;
d) Track stabilization;
e) Periodical deep screening;
f) Picking up and transportation of material.
2. Mobile Maintenance Gang

a) There will be one Mobile Maintenance Gang (MMG)

under each P.Way Inspector (In overall charge) with a
jurisdiction of about 70-80 km in single line section
and 30 to 50 km in double or multi line section.
b) The functions of MMG shall be as under:

(i) Repair to rail/weld fracture including in-situ AT welding.

(ii) Scattered replacement of switches and crossing

components, joints, etc.

(iii) Rail cutting/drilling.

(iv) Spot renewals of rails and sleepers.

c) MMG: list of equipment and other accessories
as given in Annexure.
3. Sectional Gangs

The sectional gangs shall perform the following

functions:
a) Systematic through packing of track where tamping
machines have not been deployed or small stretches
of track needing spot attention for which machines
cannot be deployed due to whatever reasons.
3. Sectional Gangs

The sectional gangs shall perform the following functions:

(i) Patrolling of track:

• Keyman’s daily patrol
• Hot/cold weather patrolling
• Monsoon Patrolling
(ii) Watching vulnerable locations
(iii) Need-based attention to bridges, turnouts, SEJs
and level crossings and their approaches.
(iv) Greasing of ERCs, lubrication of joints, casual
changing of rubber pads and other fittings
(v) Minor cess repairs
(vi) Cleaning of drains
(vii) Attention to loops
(viii) Creep and gap adjustment not involving use of
machines
(ix) Pre & post tamping attention
(x) Examination of rails, sleepers and fastenings including
measurement of toe load of ERCs.
(xi) Inspection of and attention to insulated joints, switch
expansion joints etc.
(xii) Weld collar painting, cess cleaning, cutting of tree
branches/shrubs for improving visibility.
(xiii) Any other functions assigned.
⚫ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6eU
rNQ64YM

⚫ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfaez
duZiS4

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ACCIDENTS

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 ACCIDENTS
⚫ Accident- occurrence or event which is
unforeseen and startles one when it takes place,
but does not startle one when it does not take
place

⚫ Consequential train accident- accident involving

risk to life, limb and property (collisions,
derailment, trains running into road traffic, fires in
trains)

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 CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS
1. Wrong judgement of railwaymen
2. Natural calamities
3. Use of defective materials in preparation of track
4. Failure of locomotives and rolling stock
5. Sabotage
❖ Accident occur due to unintentional damage
done by workers

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 CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS
(CONTD...)
6. Level crossings
❖ More accidents occur at unmanned or
unguarded level cross
7. Spread of gauge
❖ Accident due to loose fittings
8. Twist in track
❖ Twist:-difference in levels of track
❖ Occurs due to poor packing of sleepers or
differential settlement of formation

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 CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS
(CONTD...)
9. Buckling of track
❖ Occurs on jointed track at locations where
creep is excessive and track maintenance is
poor
10. Culverts and bridges
❖ Failure of culverts or bridges causes derailment
11. Formation
❖ Accident occur due to sudden heaving up or
shrinkage of formation

84
 POINTS TO BE OBSERVED AT
TIME OF ACCIDENT
1. Line affected by accident must be cleared as early
as possible
2. Line should be protected by temporary signals and
light at night at time of repairing work
3. Clear and concise message should be send to local,
civil and police authorities
4. Break-down vans equipped with materials required
during accidents should be kept ready at all times
at all important stations

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POINTS TO BE OBSERVED AT
TIME OF ACCIDENT(CONTD..)
6. If more time is required to clear
obstruction-suitable diversion of track should
be constructed
7. In case of major accidents-special attention to
relief operation of fatal, deadly and serious
injuries
8. Cause of accident should be thoroughly
investigated to find remedies to prevent
repetition of same in future

86
 PREVENTIVE MEASURES

1. Safety camps- guards ,station masters, drivers ,

cabin men should be given instructions about their
duty
2. Safety organization-study causes of accident
and recommend preventive measures
3. Propaganda campaign-sense of duty must be
created by all possible means of mass contact
4. Rewards –staff showing extraordinary alertness
in case of accidents should be rewarded

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 PREVENTIVE
MEASURES(CONTD...)
5. Psychological and other tests –to assess
inherent abilities essential for safe working of
trains
6. Proper maintenance of track
7. Bumps near level-crossing –road users
become more attentive
8. Road surface near level crossing should be
properly maintained so that vehicles do not get
stuck
9. Warning signs –for road users at approach to
level crossings
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 PREVENTIVE
MEASURES(CONTD...)
10. Visibility –road users should be able to see
approaching train
11. Speed –speed of road vehicles should be
restricted near level crossings
12. Standards –standards for construction and
maintenance of level crossings are to be
observed
13. Warning bells-automatic signalling should be
provided with warning bells operated by
approaching train

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 PREVENTIVE
MEASURES(CONTD...)

14. Flashing red lamps-focussed in direction of

highways to warn road users about approaching
train
15. Train detection scheme-cost effective,
reliable train detection scheme that would
trigger warning system for road users at level-
crossing about approaching train 1km away

90
 PREVENTIVE
MEASURES(CONTD...)

16. Human factors

❖ Hereditary factors
❖ Psycho-physical factors
❖ Physiological factors
❖ Psycho-social factors
❖ Miscellaneous factors-age, training, experience etc

91
 PREVENTIVE
MEASURES(CONTD...)
⚫ Efforts put in by railway men to improve safety
of travel brought down number of accidents in
spite of increase in traffic volume
⚫ The Railway Claims Tribunal settles claims as
expeditiously as possible
⚫ In India, The Commission of Railway Safety
work completely independent of railway board
and railway ministry

92