Ghana High-Speed Railway Feasibility Study

11. SUPERSTRUCTURE PLANNING

11.1 Right-of-Way

11.1.1 High-Speed Railway

The right-of-way shall be 30 metres wide throughout all corridors except in difficult terrains
such as in mountains. Right-of-way across mountains shall be at 200 meters wide from the
foot of the mountain to the other side of the mountain. Right-of-way in mountains including
the approaches of a distance of 250 metres shall be at 200 meters. In very difficult terrains, a
minimum right-of-way of 20 metres is acceptable especially where bridges are required for
alignment.

Right-of-way for stations shall be as follows:

 Central Primary Station - 1,000 x 400 metres

 Primary Stations
 Secondary Stations
 Tertiary Station
 Rural Intermediate Station
 Workshop
- 1,000 x 400 metres
- 800 x 300 metres
- 500 x 200 metres
- 300 x 200 metres
- 1,000 x 400 metres

The total right-of-way is computed in Table 11.1.

Table 11.1: Right-of-way Demand

AREA PER UNIT TOTAL AREA NEEDED

No. DIMENSIONS
(SQ. M) Sq. Metres Hectares Sq. Km
Railway Track (2-Lane) 1 0.03 x 3,814 km 114,420,000 114,420,000 11,442 114.42
Metro Railway Track (2-Lane) 1 0.03 x 79 km 2,370,000 2,370,000 237 2.37
Primary Stations 10 1000 x 400 400,000 4,000,000 400 4
Secondary Stations 13 800 x 300 240,000 3,120,000 312 3.12
Tertiary Stations 35 500 x 200 100,000 3,500,000 350 3.5
Rural Intermediate Stations 18 300 x 200 60,000 1,080,000 108 1.08
Workshop 1 1000 x 400 400,000 400,000 40 0.4
Warehouses 56 300 x 100 30,000 1,680,000 168 1.68
Headquarters 1 200 x 100 20,000 20,000 2 0.02
Staff Housing (HQ) 1 2000 x 1500 3,000,000 3,000,000 300 3
Fuel Depots 15 400 x 300 120,000 1,800,000 180 1.8
Industrial Estates 20 2000 x 2000 4,000,000 80,000,000 8,000 80
Inland Container Depots 6 400 x 300 120,000 720,000 72 0.72
TOTAL 176 99,320,000 9,932 99.32

11- 1
 Ghana High-Speed Railway Feasibility Study

11.1.2 Metro Right-of-way

Right-of-way for Metro Rail Tracks shall be at 20 meters width, maximum and 15 meters
minimum. Existing right-of-way shall be utilized for the Tema-Achimota-Accra Central and
Achimota-Nsawam corridors. Where both the Metro and High Speed Railway tracks run
parallel, the specifications for the High Speed Railway right-of-way shall apply.

11.2 Slab Design

Tracks and switches are assets which will last for quite some years. The choice of a particular
track system and the decision to use this system on certain lines, therefore, generally involves
a decision which will hold good for 20 to 50 years. Consequently, such decisions must be
taken with the future in mind, however difficult it may be to make a valid prediction. The
only sure factor is that a certain degree of objectivity must be maintained vis-à-vis the present
day situation and not too much emphasis placed on random everyday events.

Although most of the current railway tracks are still of a traditional ballasted type, recent
applications tend more and more towards non-ballasted track. The major advantages of slab
track are low maintenance, high availability, low structure height, and low weight. In
addition, recent life cycle studies have shown that from the cost point of view, slab tracks are
rather very competitive.

Experiences in high-speed operation have revealed that ballasted tracks are more
maintenance intensive. In particular, due to churning up of ballast particles at high-speed,
serious damage can occur to wheels and rails, which are of course prevented in the case of
slab track.

With the design of railway lines factors like life cycle cost, construction time, availability and
durability play an increasingly important role. In this respect non-ballasted track concepts
offer good opportunities.

The general problem which occurs with ballasted track is the slow deterioration of the ballast
material due to traffic loading. Ballast consists of packed loose granular material of which the
grains wander, wear, and
break up causing increasing
geometrical unevenness and
clogging of the ballast bed
by fine particles which cause
drainage problems.
Therefore, regular
maintenance is time after
time needed to restore the
track alignment.

With the growth of traffic

intensity it becomes more
and more difficult to carry
out maintenance and
renewal work (Figure 11.1). Figure 11.1: Deteriorated ballasted tracks
Traditional night time

11- 2
 Ghana High-Speed Railway Feasibility Study

maintenance work will become almost impossible since freight trains will be running during
the night. Seen against this background, the current increase in the popularity of low-
maintenance track designs is evident. In the past new projects were mainly assessed on the
basis of investment costs, whereas today the principle of life cycle costing is strongly
emerging. As a result of this new attitude, ballasted track concepts lost attractiveness in
favour of slab track systems in the design of all tracks being considered for construction

Figure 11.2: Ballasted track

(Figures 11.2 and 11.3).

Concrete shall be cast in-situ to form a
continuous rigid concrete slab. With
expected improvements in the design
of rolling stock, it is anticipated that
the High-Speed Railway trains will be Figure 11.3: (Top and Below) Slab tracks
designed in future to run at speeds
higher than 350 kph. But, Ghana as a
developing country will not be able to
afford an upgrade in the short-term;
therefore, current track design must
consider speeds in excess of 450 kph
on the Coastal, Eastern and Central
Corridors.

Figure 11.4 shows a typical cross

section containing selected railway
superstructure assets that are of
interest for a railway inventory. The
cross-section of a right-of-way for a
double track High-Speed Railway with
provision for future third and fourth
tracks and that for a combined
construction of High-Speed Railway
and Sub-urban Railway Tracks are shown in Figures 11.5 and 11.6. The right-of-way for
tracks leading to facilities such as the harbour, Tema Oil Refinery, Cement Plants,

11- 3
 Ghana High-Speed Railway Feasibility Study

Warehouses, Inland Container Depots, Industrial Estates, and others shall not exceed 15
metres. The geometrical cross-section of a typical slab track is shown in Figure 11.7.

Due to the precision of works required along with the shortest time for the execution of
construction works, continuous casting will be performed using GOMACO slipform paver
with precision laying and alignment technology.

For all Metro and Feeder lines including lines branching off to Fuel depots, inland container
depots and Industrial Estates, the track design shall be no different from that of the
specifications for the High-Speed Railway lines.

Slab track offers the following advantages over traditional ballasted track:

 Very low maintenance requirements

 Shallow construction depth
 Reduced dead load
 Reduced structure gauge
 Higher speed operation
 Engineered noise and vibration performance
 Long design life
 Increased reliability
 Increased availability
 Low whole-life cost
 A sustainable solution

11.3 Track Design

All tracks shall be of standard 1,435 mm width. Tracks in all corridors shall be double-track
and laid with continuous welded rail instead of joining using bolts and nuts. However, single
track shall be provided on branch lines to Fuel depots, inland container depots and Industrial
Estates. Lines dedicated for freight trains which branch from train stations to warehouses
shall, however, be constructed as double track. Storage of Freight Trains shall be provided at
the main train stations.

11.4 Track Configuration

11.4.1 Physical Characteristics

The 3,814-kilometre long High-Speed Railway Corridor is a composite of five different

railroad properties, as previously described. This effort was done to support development of
travel time estimates. Detailed evaluation of the physical characteristics of the line will be
made during the design stage of the project. Current Right-of-way conditions that have
impact on the potential feasibility of high-speed train operations include curvature, grade
separations, width, and grades. Current track conditions also indicate the opportunities and
challenges associated with re-building existing tracks with improved radii. It should be noted
that current track conditions are less important to the development of a High-Speed Railway
operation than are other Right-of-way characteristics such as curvature, grade crossings,
width, and grades.

11- 4
 Ghana High-Speed Railway Feasibility Study

Figure 11.4: Cross section of double track railway alignment showing names of principal parts of construction

11- 5
 Ghana High-Speed Railway Feasibility Study

Figure 11.5: Cross section of the right-of-way for an exclusive right-of-way for High-Speed Railway tracks.

11- 6
 Ghana High-Speed Railway Feasibility Study

Figure 11.6: Cross section of the right-of-way for a combined right-of-way for High-Speed Railway and sub-urban tracks.

11- 7
 Ghana High-Speed Railway Feasibility Study

Figure 11.7: Geometrical cross-section of a typical High-Speed Railway slab track

11.4.2 Curvature

Operating speed is directly related to the curvature of the track structure, as determined by the
alignment of the right-of-way. In the rounding of curves, a train and its passengers are subject
to an outbound acting centrifugal force. For a given speed of a train, the outward force
becomes higher as the “sharpness” of the curve increases. The sharpness of a curve is
expressed in terms of degrees of curvature. The sharpness of a curve increases with the
increase of the degree of curvature. The High-Speed Railway Corridor has been routed
through landscapes to ensure the very minimum number of curves, and where curves exist,
the relative radii shall be as specified elsewhere in this report and executed for the best
comfort of riders.

To counteract the centrifugal force, the outer rail of the track within the curve is typically
elevated. The degree to which the outer rail is elevated over the inner rail is termed super-
elevation, and is generally expressed in millimetres. For a given degree of curvature and
speed of train, equilibrium is reached when the centrifugal force is exactly counteracted by
the super-elevation of the track. If train speed is increased above the speed where equilibrium
is reached, the super-elevation becomes “unbalanced” and passengers would begin to feel the
push to the outside of the curve. Unbalanced super-elevation is the amount of super-elevation
that would need to be added to restore equilibrium through the curve for the specific train
speed. Generally the maximum unbalanced super-elevation for a comfortable riding
experience is 75 millimetres unbalanced for non-tilting train equipment.

The maximum amount of actual super-elevation allowed with combined freight and
passenger operations is 150 millimetres. Therefore, for a given speed, the maximum degree
of curvature that can be operated with an actual super-elevation of 150 millimetres, and 75

11- 8
 Ghana High-Speed Railway Feasibility Study

millimetres of unbalanced elevation can be calculated. In the development of high-speed rail

service, however, a range of options exists to address this matter. Tilting equipment that
maintains passenger comfort at high-speeds has been used successfully both in Europe and
North America to help overcome restrictions due to curvature. Tilting equipment currently
can operate at up to 225 millimetres of unbalanced super-elevation. Future engineering
analysis during the project design stage will identify possible means to provide for reducing
curvature in the High-Speed Railway Corridor. Included in the project design phase will be
evaluation of spirals need to higher operating speeds. Spirals or easement curves are used at
the beginning and end of simple curves to provide a gradual increase in the degree of
curvature from tangent (straight) track to the full degree of curvature and from the curve back
to tangent track. Many curves within the High-Speed Railway Corridor were not constructed
with spirals. The evaluation of curvature modifications will include consideration of spirals.

11.4.3 Railroad-Highway Grade Separation

Safety of railroad-highway at-grade crossings is an issue with operation of any rail line. The
increased operating speed of high-speed trains requires that safety at railroad highway grade
crossings be a principal consideration during evaluation and design of any high-speed rail
corridor.

Railroad-highway and railroad-pedestrian at-grade crossings will be identified during the

final project design stage. The standard set by the study team is that no at grade crossings
shall be permitted and instead be of grade separations.

Private grade separations may typically be established by agreement between the railroad and
the user(s) of the grade crossing. The private grade separation is for specific purposes.

Grade separations for public crossings have been established to provide continuation of a
public road or right-of-way over a rail line. Public crossings can be used by the general
population without restriction and can be used for pedestrian and/or vehicle access.

The issues associated with grade crossing treatments will have substantive impacts on
environmental issues and project cost. This includes the separation of grade crossings. The
magnitude of this impact will increase with the speed of the High-Speed Railway train. This
will be particularly evident for train speeds above 200 km.

The specific treatment of individual grade separations will be evaluated in the design phases
of the project. This will require discussions with local and regional interests as specific plans
for grade separations are developed.

11.4.4 Turnout

The turnout (Figure 11.8) can be operated by different types of point machines, e.g.
electrically, hydraulically or pneumatically. The locking system can be either in the switch
machine (internal locking) or in the track (external locking). In switches for medium and
especially for high speed several locking locations are necessary.

11- 9
 Ghana High-Speed Railway Feasibility Study

Figure 11.8: Turnout

The smaller the angle of the switch

the longer the switch blade is. The
blade can get in contact with the
wheel by passing a wheel through the
gap between stock rail and blade.
With a long blade extra locking is
applied to prevent a switch blade
from moving too much. These
lockings can either be operated by
single point machines at each locking
location or by one point machine at
the toe-end of the switch and
connecting rods that connect to the
other locking stations. New Figure 11.9: Switch with integrated hydraulic
developments for high speed or high setting and locking system
capacity railway lines are integrated
locking, switching, and detection systems.

Figure 11.9 shows a new

integrated hydraulic
switching and locking
system. Here the locking
system is integrated in a
hydraulic setting cylinder; no
lubrication or maintenance is
necessary. The principle of
an integrated locking and
switching machine enables
the blades to move
sequentially so less power is
needed at the same time.
Figure 11.10: Modern electrical point machine
Figure 11.10 shows a low
maintenance electrical point
machine. Preventive
maintenance is only required once every five years. The tractive force can be adjusted
between 2 and 10 kN. The locking unit is equipped with a spring function that gives the blade

11- 10
 Ghana High-Speed Railway Feasibility Study

a contact force of 2.5 kN in the locked position. Sensors detect whether the blades are open or
closed. For the proposed High-Speed Railway systems the installations shall be operated
from a central operating post.

11.4.5 Common Crossing

Depending on the traffic load different types of crossings are used. For normal to medium
axle loads and speeds up to 200 kph rigid crossings are used. For higher axle loads and higher
speeds crossings with movable parts have to be used.

The common crossing and the wing rails are built up geometrically (Figure 11.11) in such a
way that the passing wheel remains supported and wheel flange clearance is guaranteed. In a
common crossing the intersecting rails form an acute angle. The picture in Figure 11.12
shows arrangements of crossovers and turnouts.

In the common crossing the unguided part leads to an unquiet behaviour of the bogie in the
switch and causes an extra dynamic load on the common crossing and on the check rail. To
avoid unguided parts in the common crossing movable points should be used.

Figure 11.11: Crossover

11- 11
 Ghana High-Speed Railway Feasibility Study

Figure 11.12: A photograph of Crossovers and Turnouts

11.5 Advantages of Slab Tracks

11.5.1 Very Low Maintenance Requirements

Slab track systems require little routine maintenance. An inspection regime is, of course,
necessary, but because the track is fixed in position there is no requirement for regular
realignment of the rails.

The very low maintenance requirement also means that track workers spend less time
trackside, improving worker safety.

There are examples of slab track installations where little or no maintenance (including rails
and pads) has been carried out for over 25 years.

11.5.2 Shallow Construction Depth

Many slab track systems require less construction depth than the equivalent ballasted system.
Embedded rail systems and resilient base-plate track types require the least depth. This is an
advantage in tunnels where headroom and gauge clearances are particularly important.

11.5.3 Reduced Dead Load

On structures, the reduced construction depth means reduced dead load.

11- 12
 Ghana High-Speed Railway Feasibility Study

11.5.4 Reduced Structure Gauge

Because slab track is fixed in position and will not move out of line or level under load, a
reduced structure gauge can be used. This means that tunnel bore dimensions can be reduced,
or higher running speeds can be achieved.

11.5.5 Higher Speed Operation

Concrete slab track offers a greater degree of track-bed stability than ballasted track.
Therefore higher running speeds are achievable.

Experience with use of ballast at high speed (350 kph) has shown that fine particles can be
sucked out of the track by the passing train. These particles are deposited on the rail surface
and cause damage when run over by the wheels. In some areas this has required use of glued
ballast to stabilise the track bed.

11.5.6 Engineered Noise and Vibration Performance

Slab track can be designed to meet the required performance criteria in terms of noise and
vibration. The slab track system can be selected to suit particular requirements e.g. booted
sleepers or floating slab will perform well for locations sensitive to ground-borne vibration.
Within each generic system, the resilient components can be selected to optimise the balance
between acoustic performance and rail stability.

11.5.7 Long Design Life

According to Britpave's Life Cycle Study, an estimate of design life for traditional ballasted
track is around 15 years, after which the track requires renewal. A concrete track slab is
typically constructed with a design life of at least 60 to 120 years.

11.5.8 Increased Reliability and Availability

Slab track systems are more reliable than ballasted track, requiring little routine maintenance.
Consequently fewer assets of the track are required for maintenance, increasing the
availability of the track for running trains.

11.5.9 Low Whole Life Cost

Although the capital cost of slab track systems is usually higher than the equivalent ballasted
track, the long design life and minimal maintenance requirement for slab track systems means
that overall their whole life cost is lower than that of traditional ballasted track.

In the past, slab track systems were seen as expensive. While this is still true for the most
sophisticated systems, for instance, floating mass-sprung slab, for many systems the ongoing

11- 13
 Ghana High-Speed Railway Feasibility Study

innovation and optimisation of slab track design is now reducing the capital cost to a level
equivalent to ballasted track, without compromising performance.

11.5.10 A Sustainable Solution

In 2007, Britpave, together with NTEC carried out a “comparative study into the
sustainability of concrete slab track and traditional ballasted track”. The study looked at an
environmental life-cycle analysis through the whole life of the track including source of
materials, manufacturing and construction, maintenance, decommissioning and recycling.

The study found that due to the long design life and low maintenance requirements of
concrete slab track, it was the most sustainable option over a 60 year and 120 year lifecycle.

11.6 Curbing

Concrete and/or steel curbing will be constructed along rail tracks or Right-of-way to prevent
vehicles from driving across railway tracks at un-approved grades.

11.7 Fencing

Fencing along the Right-

of-way is a major
necessity, but must be full
proof against vandalism
and theft. Experience
from the Accra-Tema
Motorway, Ghana
Telecom and the Ghana
Highways shows that sign
posts, fencing materials,
cables, and similar items
are likely to be stolen. For
this reason, the fact that
concrete fencing is
economically not feasible
specially produced steel
with embossed ownership
labels.
Figure 11.13: The arrow shows the fencing at the railway
The fencing type shown in station. (Picture Credit: R.L. Banks & Associates, Inc.)
Figure 11.13 is known to
have been prone to vandalism and theft at the Ashaiman overpass on the Accra-Tema
Motorway. However, it can be used at train stations where 24-hour security is ensured.

11- 14
 Ghana High-Speed Railway Feasibility Study

11.8 Track Construction through Difficult Terrain

Railway lines passing through mountains shall be designed to maintain gradients not
exceeding 12.5‰. This means most corridors in mountains shall see the mountain heights
being reduced substantially. The reduction of mountain heights is expected to serve a number
of other purposes including:

 Reduced gradient allowing freight trains to maintain high and constant speeds when
crossing originally difficult terrains with high gradients
 Serve to open additional road corridors and improve road transport
 Sedimentary rocks and other similar hard rocks shall be reduced to fines and course
aggregates for construction works
 Improve rail passenger comfort by eliminating uncomfortable curves, steep ascents and
descents.

11.9 Track Design Criteria

It will be an acceptable practice to separate the construction of sub-structure and the rail
structure. This will help in focussing on the interface between the rail system (super-
structure) and the supporting structures. The supporting structures must be able to fulfil the
required functional requirements in terms of strength, stiffness and dynamic behaviour for
various pre-defined rail systems.

The main functional specifications for the current project are as follows:

 The life-time of the structure should be 100 years (for parts which are easily
replaceable, 25 years).
 The structure should be designed for various rail systems, which can be applied over
the life-time, including embedded rail. That is, the design of the concrete structure must
take into account various strength and stiffness characteristics of the rail system.
 The structure shall be designed for a temperature range of -25 - +50 degrees Celsius.
 The vertical acceleration of the structure under dynamic loading due to high-speed train
and a design velocity of 360 kph must be less than 1 m/s2 as comfort requirement.
 The vertical differential displacements at the expansion joints to the static train loading
shall be less than 0.75 mm.
 The horizontal differential displacements at the expansion joints to the horizontal train
loads shall be less than 0.9 mm.

11- 15