Track System

RWE 001 - Introduction to Railway Systems and

Engineering
 TRACK
SYSTEM
Tracking
System
TRACKING
SYSTEM
A tracking system allows knowing the positions
of all operating trains at any time and viewing
them on a map. It helps to quickly find and
deploy certain trains using real-time location
information.
 TRACK
SYSTEM
Compositions
& Elements
COMPOSITIO
NS AND
ELEMENTS
Railroad track is known a stable structure that
mainly consists of rail sleepers, fishplates and
fasteners. It ensures the transportation of trains
through providing a dependable surface for their
wheels.
 RAIL
SLEEPERS
Railway sleepers, also called railroad ties, railway ties or crossties, the rail sleeper is
always laying between two rail tracks to keep the correct space of gauge.

Rail
sleepers
 RAIL
FISHPLATES
Railway fish plate, also called rail joint bar or splice bar, is a metal bar bolted to the
ends of two rails to join them together. It is mostly used in light rail, heavy rail and
crane rail.
 RAILROAD
SPIKES
The railroad spike, with an offset head, is mostly used to secure rails and base
plates to railroad ties in the track.
 RAIL FASTENING
SYSTEM
Rail fastening system refers to a group of railway fasteners that are used to fasten
steel rail to railway sleeper.

The main function of rail fastening system is preventing steel rail from lateral and
horizontal movement. Besides that, rail fastening system also can absorb and
transfer the pressure from locomotive to railway sleeper.
 RAIWAY
SWITCH
Railway switch is a special component of railway track, which is applied in the
railway crossing. Railway switch is simply a rail component for converting track.
Railway switch increase the trafficability of railroad track, and it is important to
transport safety and efficiency.
 RAIL
TRANSITION
Transition rails are specially manufactured track components that allow the safe
and efficient connection of two different rail sections. Normally transition rails are
used to connect new rail to rail of a different rail section with head wear.
 RAILWAY
CROSSING
Level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road.

Level crossings are provided on the railway lines to pass the road traffic across the
track. As the road traffic passes at the same level on that of the railway track.
 CURVES
The minimum railway curve radius is the shortest allowable design radius for the
centerline of railway tracks under a particular set of conditions. It has an important
bearing on construction costs and operating costs and, in combination with
superelevation (difference in elevation of the two rails) in the case of train tracks,
determines the maximum safe speed of a curve.
 RAILWAY
GRADIENT
Gradients are provided to negotiate the rise or fall in the level of the railway track. A
rising gradient is one in which the track rises in the direction of the movement of
traffic and a down or falling gradient is one in which the track loses elevation in the
direction of the movement of traffic.
 BED AND
FOUNDATION
Railway tracks are generally laid on a bed of stone track ballast or track bed, which
in turn is supported by prepared earthworks known as the track formation. The
formation comprises the subgrade and a layer of sand or stone dust (often
sandwiched in impervious plastic), known as the blanket, which restricts the
upward migration of wet clay or silt.
 BALLAST
Ballast is a crushed granular material that acts as the first layer of the substructure.
The material is uniformly graded, without much differentiation between particles
and not prone to cementing.
TRACK BALLAST
 IMPORTANCE OF
TRACK BALLAST
• Holds the sleepers in place.
• Load distribution
• Vibration dampening
• Drainage
• Prevents vegetation around the tracks
• Noise absorption
• Minimize heat expansion.
 THERMAL
EXPANSION
The classic and reinforced railway track is composed of two infinite rails
separated from sleepers by visco-elastic pads. Nowadays the interest of
engineers is focused on the Y-shaped sleepers.
The fundamental qualitative difference between the track with classic or Y
sleepers is related to local longitudinal symmetric or antisymmetric features of
railway track. The sleeper spacing influences the periodicity of elastic
foundation coefficient, mass density (rotational inertia) and shear effective
rigidity. The track with classical concrete sleepers is influenced much more by
rotational inertia and shear deflections than the track with Y sleepers. The
increase of elastic wave velocity in track with Y sleepers and more uniform load
distribution will be proved by the analysis and simulations.
Let ’s al l wat ch th i s
TRACK AND WHEEL GAUGES AND
FLANGEWAYS
The determination of the correct dimensions to be used for track gauge and wheel
gauge and for the widths of the flangeways through special trackwork and other
guarded portions of the track structure is the most crucial activity to be undertaken
during track design.

1. Vehicle Track 4. Curve Track Gauge

Factors
2. Standard track and Analysis
5. Rail Cant And Wheel Taper
wheel gauges 6. Construction and
3. Track Gauge maintenance
Variation
 GUARDED CURVES AND
It is customary in North American light rail track design to provide a continuous
RESTRAINING RAILS
guard rail or restraining rail through sharp radius curves.

1. Functional 4. CURVE DOUBLE

description
2. GUARDING
5. Restraining rail
THEO
3. APPLICATION height
6. Omitting restraining rails
RY
CRITERIA – pros and cons
 BALLASTED TRACK
Ballasted track is the most prevalent track type used in light rail transit. While
ballasted track for light rail transit resembles conventional railroad track in
appearance, its design may have to contend with issues such as electrical
isolation and acoustic attenuation.

1. Ballasted track 4. Cross tie spacing

defined
2. Ballasted track 5. Special trackwork
criteria
3. Ballasted track switch tiesand subballast
6. Ballast
structure types
 DIRECT FIXATION TRACK
(BALLATLESS OPEN TRACK)
Direct fixation (DF) track is the most common LRT trackform for use on aerial
structures and in tunnels. It is also often used in areas where it would be difficult to
maintain ballasted track in proper alignment and surface.

1. Functional 4. CURVE DOUBLE

description
2. GUARDING
5. Restraining rail
THEO
3. APPLICATION height
6. Omitting restraining rails
RY
CRITERIA – pros and cons
 General
Requirements – All
Trackforms
• Project procurement methods
• Track material procurement
• Design concept
• Tolerance
• Special trackwork
• Preparatory work
 General
Requirements – All
Trackforms
• Relocation of
• Active detours
utilities

• Quality process
• Reinforcing steel (embedded and direct
fixation track)
• Rail grinding
 General
Requirements – All
Trackforms
• Track geometry verification
• Project close-out