knowledge available on maintenance operations and surveying

KNOWLEDGE AVAILABLE ON MAINTENANCE

OPERATIONS AND SURVEYING SYSTEMS‐ HIGH SPEED &

CONVENTIONAL LINES

Deliverable nº: D1.1.

EC‐GA Number: 314031Project full title: Development of a Smart

Framework Based on Knowledge to Support Infrastructure Maintenance Decisions in Railway Corridors

KNOWLEDGE AVAILABLE ON MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS AND SURVEYING SYSTEMS‐ HIGH SPEED & CONVENTIONAL LINES Page 2

Work Package: WP1

Type of document: Deliverable

Date: 15/03/2013

Transport; Grant Agreement No 314031

Partners: VIAS (ES), SINTEF (NO), LTU (SE), ADIF (ES)

Responsible: VIAS

Title:

D1.1. KNOWLEDGE AVAILABLE ON

MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS AND

SURVEYING SYSTEMS ‐ HIGH SPEED

& CONVENTIONAL LINES

Version: 1 Page: 2 / 124

Deliverable D1.1. KNOWLEDGE AVAILABLE ON MAINTENANCE

OPERATIONS AND SURVEYING SYSTEMS – HIGH SPEED & CONVENTIONAL LINES

DUE DELIVERY DATE: M4

ACTUAL DELIVERY DATE: M6


Document History

Vers. Issue Date Content and changes Author

0 06/11/2012 First version VIAS

1 04/02/2013 Second version VIAS

2 11/02/2013 Third version VIAS

3 05/03/2013 Fourth version VIAS

Document Authors

Partners Contributors

VIAS Carlos Martínez, Manuel Menéndez, Jorge Rodríguez, Jose

Ricardo Roca, Rosalía Alonso, Hélène Siboni

ADIF Miguel Rodríguez Plaza, Álvaro Andrés Alguacil, Álvaro

Mascaraque Sillero, Diana Alonso Gimeno.

LTU Diego Galar, Roberto Villarejo, Carl‐Anders Johansson, Behzad

Ghodrati

SINTEF Andreas Seim, Narve Lyngby, Andreas Økland, Trygve

Jakobsen.

Dissemination level: PU


Document Approvers

Partners Approvers

VIAS Manuel Menéndez

CARTIF Marta Galende, Gregorio Sainz

UGR Jose Manuel Benítez

SINTEF Andreas Seim

MERMEC Francois Defossez

OSTFALIA Frank Klawonn

ADIF Miguel Rodríguez

EVOLEO Pedro Ribeiro


Executive Summary The main objective of this WP is to analyse how the maintenance operations have been changing over the

time and, how are planning and scheduling by different railway administrators along the corridors, to start

discovering and undertaking what requirements or needs implied the track´s maintenance and

conservation works between cross borders.

For that, it is mandatory to have an in‐depth knowledge about the railway tracks along the corridors

analysing the difference between countries, not only about what elements conform the tracks, at

superstructure and subgrade level, but also what construction techniques are followed to reach the quality

criteria, trying to identify if the subgrade have influence over the superstructure or what external

parameters affect the track maintenance.

An analysis of traffic thresholds have been done in these deliverable to understand the importance of the

faults found on the track and understand the difference between the countries depending on the

characteristics of their tracks.

Finally, we can see an overview of the different kind of traffic that exists along the corridors with a short

description of the main characteristics of the nets and what resources are available.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS OVER THE TIME ...................................................................................................... 8 1.1 HOW MAINTENANCE TECHNIQUES CHANGE OVER THE TIME ................................................................................ 8 1.2 HOW MAINTENANCE IS PLANNING AND SHEDULING ALONG THE CORRIDORS, CROSSBOARDERS ..................... 11

2. THE TRACKS ALONG THE CORRIDORS ................................................................................................................. 21 2.1 SUBSTRUCTURE ..................................................................................................................................................... 21

2.1.1 SUBGRADE ........................................................................................................................................................................ 21 2.1.2 STRUCTURES ..................................................................................................................................................................... 31 2.1.3 TUNNELS ........................................................................................................................................................................... 40 2.1.4 DRAINAJE DEVICES ............................................................................................................................................................ 46

2.2 SUPERSTUCTURE ................................................................................................................................................... 50 2.2.1 TRACK AND THEIR ELEMENTS ........................................................................................................................................... 50 2.2.2 TRACK BED ........................................................................................................................................................................ 63 2.2.3 ECONOMICAL ANALYSES ................................................................................................................................................... 75

2.3 TRAFFIC THERESHOLD ........................................................................................................................................... 81 2.3.1 QUALITY INDEX, EVALUATION VALUES, DECISIONS MAKING, ALONG THE CORRIDORS ................................................... 81 2.3.2 LEVELING, ALIGMENT, CAMBER, WARP ............................................................................................................................ 88

2.4 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DIFERENTS KINDS OF TRAFFIC, PASSANGERS, FREIGHT ............................................... 107 2.5 INFLUENCE OF INFRASTRUCTURE OVER SUPERSTUCTURE ................................................................................. 112

2.5.1 EXTERNAL AGENTS .......................................................................................................................................................... 112 2.5.2 COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO EMBANKMENTS BUILD WITH DIFFERENT MATERIALS OVER DIFFERENT FUNDATIONS 118

3. REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................................... 122


Acronyms JBV Jernbaneverket, Norway Railway Administrator

RCM Reliability Centred Maintenance

TRV Traffikverket, Sweden Railway Administrator

SJ Stantens Järnvägar

BV Banverket

RENFE Red Nacional de Ferrocarriles Españoles, National Spanish Rail Net

AVE Alta Velocidad España, High Speed Spain

GIF Gestor de Infraestructura Ferroviaria

ADIF Administrador de Infraestructura Ferroviaria

CBM Condition Based Maintenance

UT Ultrasonic Testing

UNE Una Norma Española, A Spanish Standard

NLT Norma de Laboratorio, Lab Standards

EV1 First Charging modulus

EV2 Second Charging modulus

UIC Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer‐ International Union of Railways

TBM Tunnel boring machine

NSB National Norwegian Railways

NS Norwegian Standard

CR Corazon Recto, Straight Frog

CC Corazón Curvo, Curve Frog

CM Corazón Movible, Movable Frog

NAV Norma Alta Velocidad, High Speed Standard

NRV Norma Renfe, Renfe Standard

MSEK Million Swedish Kroner

alb lateral bogie acceleration

avc vertical axle box acceleration

alv vertical carbody acceleration

avv lateral carbody acceleration

JVTC Lulea Railway Research Center


1. MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS OVER THE TIME

1.1 HOW MAINTENANCE TECHNIQUES CHANGE OVER THE TIME

In these chapter we are going to describe, from railway administrator´s view, how are changing the

maintenance operations over the time.

NORWAY :

Historically, maintenance and renewal in JBV have been governed by a body of technical rules (Teknisk

regelverk). The body of rules covered both what maintenance methods to apply, how often/when to apply

the methods, and threshold values for critical quantities such as twist, gauge failures, types of rail defects

etc., to determine intervention/renewal. In 1997 JBV conducted a pilot study to investigate whether

reliability centred maintenance (RCM) would give a more efficient maintenance. The results were

promising, and in the beginning of the new millennium, the so‐called maintenance project was launched.

Important activities launched were:

A governing document for maintenance in JBV (The maintenance handbook).

Introducing MAXIMO as the computerized maintenance management system, and later adopted for

hand held devices used “at the track”.

The introduction of the concept of generic RCM analysis, piloting the method for the signal discipline,

and then the remaining disciplines followed.

The introduction of the concept of local adaption, meaning that the results from the generic RCM

exercises forms a basis for local adaption based on local conditions.

Methods for prioritization of renewal and larger maintenance project.

The concept of “sustainable maintenance” in cooperation with TU Graz.

Interval optimization methods.

SWEDEN :

The main advantages of rail transport are the large capacity and low energy consumption, but there are

drawbacks. The timetable application procedure is regulated by the Transport Agency; thus, TRV must

apply for track capacity along with all other operators. As all applications are sent to and processed by TRV,

TRV sends its application to itself – albeit to another department within TRV. The whole process is

monitored by the Transport Agency.


Statens Järnvägar (SJ) (Swedish State Railways), founded in 1856, was a Swedish agency responsible for

operating and maintaining the state’s railways. In 1988, the railways and the infrastructure management

were separated from SJ to form a new agency, Banverket (BV) (Swedish Rail Administration. Ten years later,

new policies in 1998 divided Banverket into a client and contractor in order to increase efficiency and

effectiveness. The first outsourcing of maintenance started shortly thereafter (BV 2008). The de‐

monopolisation in the EU began in 1991 when the various European states were commissioned to separate

the operation of traffic from the IMs, sprang from directive 91/440/EEC (European Commission 1991). It is

difficult to directly compare states’ deregulation processes, as their approaches differ. Alexandersson and

Hultén call the Swedish process the incremental approach, the British process the rationalist process, and

the German and Dutch process the wait and see incremental process (Alexandersson et al. 2008).

Comparing with the US, the deregulation of railways in started 15‐25 years before the EU deregulation, but

the process is different, as it is predominantly a freight market (Alexandersson et al. 2008).

In 2001, the Swedish railway operator SJ was disbanded and incorporated into six to eight companies, all

owned by the government (Alexandersson et al. 2008, Espling et al. 2008). Two of the companies are train

operators, SJ AB and Green Cargo. The monopoly of the train operation was ended in 2009, allowing free

competition. In 2010, 42 operators submitted applications for the annual timetable of 2011 (TRV 2010g).

TRV is one of the applicants, e.g. for maintenance activities.

SPAIN :

In 1941, was approved the “Basic Law on Management of Railway and Road Transport” grouping in a single

company to all railway companies had gauges of 1.668 meters, that is, RENFE, was born.

In 1949 was approved the “Guadalhorce Plan”, General Plan for Reconstruction and urgent Reforms, which

recovers and strengthens the network and start the electrification of it, including the completion of

Centralized Traffic Centers and automation in traffic regulation.

In 1975 began the research about high speed lines, In 1986 was approved the “Railway Plan” which had

the objective of achieve speeds over 200 km/h, for that renewal works were done, launching the first

Spanish High speed line in 1992, AVE, “Alta Velocidad España” between Madrid and Sevilla, which will reach

300 Km/h.


The result of the reorganization of the railways was establishing a body responsible of the infrastructure,

for the maintenance of existing lines and the construction of new lines. This organism is the GIF, Railway

Infrastructure Manager. The rolling stock and its exploitation are left RENFE, but gradually they may

circulate over GIF lines any other companies.

In November 2003 published the “Railway Sector law”. This law takes effect in 2005 and makes breaking

the monopoly of rail transport that prevailed in Spain since the end of civil war. The enforcement involves

the creation of ADIF, Railway Infrastructure Administrator who will be responsible for managing the

infrastructure and make investments for the construction of new lines.

The railway maintenance can be defined as the set of actions that ensure the quality of the rail track in

relation with the requirements of the traffic, owing to the deterioration of the elements constituting the

track as the corresponding geometric parameters, by atmospheric agents or by the vehicles passing by.

This operation, called “maintenance according to the status of the track”, means an initial state of the

elements and is not allowed to that lines that needs a renovations to reach these state. Before that point

reached, gradual restorations will be done.

The evolution of the rail was bound to the maintenance design, the first maintenance defined was “Break

down maintenance” eventual and immediate repairs, this corrections can vary the homogeneity of the road

causing rapid wear, and prompting premature renewals.

The faster increase of the trains speed, made fixing other criteria to define a new kind of maintenance,

based not only on the security of the travelers, but in their comfort, that was invest “periodic revisions”

that means to check all the railway elements, acting over them in a determinate period of time.

Later and as each materials have different degradation speeds was established a “cyclical conservation”,

defining frequencies depending on the element or in the geometric to maintenance, depending on the

characteristics of the track and their traffic, that means that it was mandatory to establish the operations

and the frequency of acting to obtain a homogeneity of the rail superstructure.

One more time, the evolution of the techniques introduced in the railways and in the rolling stock

decreased the importance of railway elements checking, improving the using of geometric parameters


which involve the use of heavy machines for the detection and classifications of the failures merging into a

“Maintenance according to the state of the track” which acts on the parameters and elements where a

failure is known and its development will make necessary an immediately performance, here is the need to

define corrective actions.

1.2 HOW MAINTENANCE IS PLANNING AND SHEDULING ALONG THE CORRIDORS, CROSSBOARDERS

NORWAY :

RELIABILITY CENTRE MAINTENANCE:

When the maintenance project was launched in JBV, one of the first activities was to plan for the

implementation of reliability centred maintenance (RCM). Since the number of components is very large, it

was considered impossible to conduct a RCM analysis for every component on the track along the line, e.g.,

all turnouts of a railway line. To cope with this challenge, the concept of generic RCM analyses was

introduced. In such a generic approach, a fictive (reference) line of 400 km was considered. For such a line a

representative set of components were assumed. For each component type, e.g., a turnout, a RCM was

then conducted for the fictive set of turnouts on that line.

To speed up, and harmonize the analyses, a set of TOP events were introduced. These TOP events were the

same for all component types, and covered safety events such as derailment, collision, fire, etc., and

punctuality events like full stop, reduced speed, running with 40 km/h on command from train control

centre etc. Totally, some 10‐12 TOP events were considered, and for each of them a consequence category

was assigned (for safety related to number of fatalities). Then, for each failure mode encountered in the

analysis, the corresponding consequence category could be found by a simple look‐up by specifying the

TOP event. To plot each event in a risk matrix, the only effort was then to assess the failure frequency

(without maintenance) and multiply with the typical number of components on the reference line.

The risk matrix comprises three risk levels (green, yellow and red), where for failure modes in the red area a

preventive maintenance activity is mandatory, in the yellow area a preventive maintenance activity is to be

considered and implemented if it is efficient, and in the green area the default action is “run to failure”, i.e.,

a corrective strategy. The risk matrix were calibrated such that the total risk by accepting all “yellow risk”

would not exceed 10% of the total risk associated with railway activity in Norway.


The use of generic RCM analyses, together with the use of TOP events made it possible to work through

almost all component types with a reasonable work load. The generic RCM analyses resulted in a set of

generic maintenance routines with generic intervals. These intervals were not undertaken any formal

optimization, and the intervals were initially set based on historical experience. These intervals are to be

optimized by formal methods in the future as part of a continuous improvement regime.

The way RCM has been implemented has also changed the view on maintenance in connection to the body

of rules. Previously the maintenance regime was implemented as part of the body of technical rules, both

with respect to what to do, how often, and intervention levels. After the RCM exercises were conducted,

the idea is that the body of technical rules determines the required quality of the track, e.g., limits for twist,

gauge failures etc. These limits are based on technical calculations ensuring that given these limits, it is safe

to run trains. Then RCM is a risk based approach that shall verify that the maintenance program keep the

track within it’s safe operational envelope.

To optimize maintenance intervals, JBV has developed the computerized tool OptiRCM, since the TOP

event information is imported from the qualitative RCM, the quantification of the economic impact of a

failure mode is calculated directly without any effort from the user of OptiRCM. However, the qualitative

RCM does not contain any information regarding cost of preventive and corrective maintenance. Hence, an

input module is provided where the maintenance cost is specified.

For ultrasonic inspection of the rails, a dedicated model, the OptiUL model has been developed and used

by JBV.

An economical model has also been developed to assist in the prioritization of renewal and larger

maintenance projects. The model is implemented in the PriFo tool. The main objective of using the PriFo

tool is to assist the renewal manager at each line to prioritize the projects he or she would bring forward to

the central body responsible for distributing resources to the administrative areas, and thereafter to each

line.

SWEDEN :

Maintenance is divided into preventive and corrective maintenance; see Figure 1 for the respective

subcategories. TRV is in favour of preventive maintenance and, as much as possible, condition based

maintenance (CBM).


FIGURE 1: STRUCTURE OF THE MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES

PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

CONDITION BASED MAINTENANCE:

CBM should be carried out in such a way that the lifetime of the assets is maximised. TRV uses five

inspection classes, B1‐5; these are a function of train speed and traffic volume. The boundaries of each

class are found in Figure 2. For example, class B2 is for speed limits 40 to 80 km/h and traffic of 0 to 8

million of ton per track and year.

FIGURE 2: THE FIVE INSPECTION CLASSES USED BY TRV, CLASS=F (SPEED, TRAFFIC)

Every asset must be inspected a certain number of times each year depending on the class and the

following factors:


Train speed

Traffic volume

Type of traffic, e.g. hazardous freight

Type of surrounding environment

Geotechnical prerequisite

Technical structure

Built in safety systems

Age and condition of assets

For example, the rail has to be inspected once a year for class B1, twice for B2, and three times for the

other classes. However, the number of inspections can also be lower than once yearly, e.g. once every four

years.

The safety inspections are more comprehensive than the maintenance inspections. These inspections

consider the factors that may cause risk or harm to humans and/or the environment, such as traffic, power,

work, third person, operation and environmental accidents and incidents.

TRV’s inspection instructions apply to regional primary maintenance contracts and national maintenance

contracts. Thus, they include instructions for track geometry and ultrasonic testing cars.

Inspection results are classed differently for the two kinds of inspections. For safety inspections, the

classifications are: urgent, week, month and before next inspection. For maintenance inspections, these

are: month, year and when time is found.

Track geometry measurement is a part of the national maintenance contracts. The regional contractors do

the track adjustments but the client must make the track measurement diagrams.

Another part of the national maintenance is testing with the ultrasonic testing car (UT‐car). All marks

registered by the UT‐car are manually checked and registered in BESSY.

Optram is used to access and analyse data from the measuring cars. Optram is an online Java based

computer program. Using the asset structure of BIS, it combines data from track geometry cars and UT‐

cars.

An updated laser system for contact wire measurements has recently been implemented.


TRV has an extensive network of detectors in Sweden for condition based maintenance (CBM); about 160

detectors in total. The detectors give automatic alarms or data for manual analysis. Preventive

maintenance of the detectors is regularly carried by contractors. Table 1 shows the various types of

wayside detectors used in Sweden.

Indicators extracted from are related to the rolling stock and therefore out of the scope of this report.

Nevertheless, the rolling stock is as important as the infrastructure since it will be in similar condition

(Lardner 1850).

TABLE 1: RAILWAY WAYSIDE DETECTORS AND THEIR FUNCTION IN THE SWEDISH RAILWAY NETWORK

PREDETERMINED MAINTENANCE:

TRV’s BVF 817 regulates how the predetermined maintenance actions are to be performed. Examples are

lamp bulb replacements, battery replacements, traffic information boards’ maintenance, relay tests,

insulated joints, tightening screws, lubricating switches etc., controlling rail lubrication machines, cleaning,

calibration, visual inspections. For facilities, it includes the control of redundant power plants, the

recommendations from manufacturers or empirical knowledge. Periodicity varies from 26 times a year to

once every ten years.

FAILURE IDENTIFICATION AND FOLLOW‐UP:

All persons who find a fault in the railway or suspect a fault are asked to report it to TRV’s operation central

in the region in question. Often the person reporting a failure is the train driver. The central operation

registers the fault in the computer program Basun as a work order. Basun is used to handle traffic

information within TRV. Faults are registered in Basun but the data are transferred to another computer

program, Ofelia, for follow‐up. The operation centrals contact the maintenance contractor for restoration


of the faulty system. When a work order is completed, it is registered in Ofelia by the contractor. Follow‐up

can be done in Ofelia by contacting the operation central and reporting the measure taken. The completion

and closing of work orders must be carried out within 24 hours.

Compulsory fields to fill out in Ofelia are:

Position

System type

Actual failure

Cause of failure

Action taken

Time at work start

Time at work completion

Immediate correction must be taken if the fault has any symptoms that can:

Influence safety

Cause delayed trains

Create environmental risks in the workplace

Disturb a third party

Involve environmental hazard.

Actions taken as a result of safety and maintenance inspections are not registered in Ofelia; since 2010,

Rufus has been used.

The repair process of an urgent fault is shown in Figure 3.

FIGURE 3: FAILURE IDENTIFICATION AND FOLLOW‐UP


POLAND :

In Poland, the maintenance operation is governed by "Technical conditions Id‐1" (D‐1), refer to the tracks of

international gauge railway lines and establish the scope of maintenance requirements of the

superstructure for the safe operation of the technical parameters defined for certain line operation.

The diagnosis of the rail tracks includes:

Visual inspection, test and measurement,

Analysis, evaluation and interpretation of the results,

Development of the conclusions and recommendations of operation and maintenance,

Recording and archiving of test results and measurements.

The tests must show, directly or indirectly, the numerical values of the following parameters: Permissible

speed, permissible axle load, gauge of the work and permissible train weight.

These results with the diagnostic results of the track bed layers are, among others, the basis for decisions

on the following areas:

To ask for the permanent or temporally change of the railway operation techniques parameters, e.g.

railway qualification, changes over the maximum permitted axe load…

To define the kind, scope, place and deadline of maintenance operations.

Change the timing and scope of the diagnostic tests performed periodically.

To keep the track inside the currently class.

The tests are divided in:

Basic: mandatory in all kinds of rail tracks, they include:

Visual examination and movement (also motor wagons);

Technical tests (checks) with specialized apparatus measuring the geometric parameters of the rail

track and the elements of its structure;

Measures and testing using measuring and work vehicle devices.

Special: made over some rail track classes or when the results of standard tests are insufficient to make

the decisions.

The measures can be done and interpreted by authorized workers of the railway administrator.


In the case of unsafely traffic situation, the worker who detected this situation must report immediately to

the nearest command post, then:

Organize and ensure the conditions for the timely completion of the diagnostic test.

Defines the type and scope of testing expressly complementary.

Based on the evaluations and analysis of the results of measurements and tests maintenance

operations will be decided.

The type, scope and frequency of diagnostic testing of maintenance and operation of the railway lines are

defined in the following documents: "visual examination instruction, testing and maintenance techniques of

railway lines switches" Id‐4 (D‐6) , "Instruction monitoring of railway lines" Id‐7 (D‐10), "Instruction

diagnostic track superstructure" Id‐8, "Instruction of defectoscópicas testing of rails and welds by fusion and

pressure of the railways lines "Id‐10 (D‐16)," Instruction of taking measurements, testing and evaluating the

state of the rails "Id‐14 (D‐75). The diagnosis of the superstructure must be attached to the diagnosis of

subgrade layers whose are defined in the "Maintenance Technical conditions for subgrade layers" Id‐3 (D‐

4). Depending on the age and condition of the superstructure and the intensity and type of traffic the head

of the organizational entity implementation can increase the frequency of diagnostic tests.

SPAIN :

All the elements of the track, such as the materials

that make it up and the geometric parameters that

relate to each other, wore out due to the effects of

atmospherics agents and the vehicles driving on

them. In order to continue with their functions,

they have to be performed a set of actions to

ensure the quality of the route in relation to the

needs of the traffic. The maintenance tasks are

aimed at ensuring the safety of the circulation,

reaching the maximum possible degree of comfort

for travelers and maintaining regularity indices

that characterize the trains on each track.

FIGURE 4: SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE


In Spain, the maintenance model adopted is the called “Condition based maintenance” or “by state”. The

basis of this system is to maintain continuous intensive monitoring of the elements and track geometry.

The intervention thresholds are as high as a HSL demands. This model has been used in Spain since 1992,

yielding excellent results both in terms of people and train safety, punctuality and reliability, etc.

This condition based on maintenance means:

Through knowledge of substructure, rails and installations;

Definition of the rail status parameters and quality standards according to the conditions of operation;

Anticipation of the evolution of track quality deterioration;

References to previous actions and status;

Analysis and diagnosis of the causes of faults; and

Systematic and orderly use of heavy tooling.

Therefore, actions can be grouped in two different types, according to their purpose:

Those aimed at detecting anomalies that affect or may affect safety; and

Those aimed at following up the evolution of the parameters related to user comfort.

With all the data from dynamic auscultation, geometric auscultation, cab train inspection and on foot

inspections we have the information necessary to schedule maintenance work. The analysis of the

acceleration graphs is very useful and it reaches its maximum operational and effectiveness if the most

important elements of the superstructure are located on it. From these studies, the works to be done in the

track are scheduled, taking into account those that need treatment with heavy machinery or specific

studies of topography or dynamic auscultation confirmation to solve the problem. Also those areas or

points whose treatment requires more investment and specific planning are identified


Operation Resources Output

Control over track state

Test

Faults detecting

Priority works, with available resources

Works to be done‐ Own resources‐ Subcontracted

Geometric testDynamic testUltrasonic testTrack visual inspectionRoute on train cabRail surface controlRailtrack components control.

Diagnosis In situ inspections of the failures

Identifying the cause

Determination of corrective measures

N.R.V rulesN.A.V rules

Maintenance regulationsKnowhow

Determining the type and urgency of intervention

‐Human resources

‐Material resources‐Intervals

Schedules

FIGURE 5: PROCESS SCHEME FORWARD TO SET THE CONSERVATION OF THE RAIL TRACK


2. THE TRACKS ALONG THE CORRIDORS

2.1 SUBSTRUCTURE

2.1.1 SUBGRADE

Subgrade is the layer below the sub ballast. It supports the stresses transmitted by the track to the soil. The

subgrade is the first layer of the soil in railway infrastructure. It has to be designed according to the stresses

that it will have to support.

Here we can see the different kind of subgrades in different countries.

NORWAY :

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DIFERENTS LAYERS:

The subgrade shall form a solid base for under‐and superstructure, and otherwise task to adjust the path to

the desired height above the terrain.

If the filling is made up of the same materials as the reinforcing layer, it will not be necessary to flatten the

trough bottom with camber in transition. In the bottom of the fill it may be necessary to add a filter layer of

gravel towards the ground.

MATERIALS:

The filling should preferably be made up of friction material, but beyond this it can be used by certain

policies:

all soils that are not classified as clay, silty clay, clay silt and organic soil

dry crust clay, exceptionally and always along with porous kind

FILTER LAYER / SEPARATING LAYER:

A filter layer under rock materials may be constructed of gravel or sand. The layer is built up so that the

filter criteria are met. For a description of the filter criteria it is referred to "Statens Vegvesen" (Norwegian

national road administration) Handbook 018.


GEOMETRIC DEFINITION:

1. Cuttings

Cutting is performed in soils to establish adequate room through the terrain for the construction of the

path.

The design and size will primarily be determined by the requirements for the minimum cross section, and

the place factors related to soil conditions, snowfall and snow accumulation, drainage, water, wastewater,

noise and terrain adjustments.

Table 2 indicates maximum allowable slope angle for different soils.

TABLE 2: MAXIMUM SLOPE ANGLE FOR DIFFERENTS SOILS

GROUND

CONDITIONS, SOIL STONE

GRAVEL, COARSE

SAND

FINE SAND / SILT CLAY

DRY LAYERED WATER SATURATED

Maximum slope 1:1,25 1:1,5 1:2 consider especially 1:2

The deep cuts in fine‐grained soil, silt‐clay, the cutting stability specially considered, usually on the basis of

completed investigations.

2. Embankments

The geometry of the embankment shall generally be as specified in the plans, usually determined by normal

profile for the path, and local terrain and soil conditions.

CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, EMBANKMENTS AND CUTTINGS:

1. Embankments

1.1. Pinch‐out

If different types of materials is used in the landfill, these shall be spliced together by pinching out the

length of the path direction, so that the offending wrinkles.


FIGURE 6: PINCH‐OUT OF MASSES IN AN EMBANKMENT. SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF THE LONGITUDINAL PROFILE

1.2. Compression

The filling should be built up and compacted in layers. Maximum allowable aggregate size is 2/3 of the

thickness. Requirements for embankment structure will usually be satisfied with the performance by NS

3458 Compression.

1.3. Slope protection

When using a telephoto dangerous mix soils (eg. Moraine, silty sand / gravel) in the landfill, it is assumed

that slopes are protected with well‐graded friction materials.

1.4. Clay embankments

Construction of clay embankments shall be carried out under favourable conditions with little or no rain.

The clay will be construed in 0.2 m thick layers and compacted into a homogeneous mass with minimal air

content. For each 1.4 m layer of clay, added drainage sand layer is 0.2 m thick. Filling slope must be steeper

than 1:2, see Figure 7.

FIGURE 7: SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF CLAY EMBANKMENT

2. Cuttings

Topsoil must be removed before the actual cutting work is done. Trough bottom leveled and constructed

with 3% cross slope to avoid water accumulation.


Cutting is performed with adapted side slope soil type, shear strength, groundwater conditions and terrain.

Erosion protection acc. plans are carried out for each natural digging level before the next level excavated.

Necessary care must be taken to neighboring relationship, eg. higher loads occurring until the intersection.

SWEDEN :

FILLING FOR RAILWAY EMBANKMENT (SUBGRADE)

Organic content of the soil material must not exceed 2 %by weight. Snow and ice must be removed prior to

filling and packing. Of the filling material that is available, those from the bearing strength of view favorable

should as far as possible be added on top of the filling.

In new construction one of the following three solutions are recommended.

Filling with blasted rock (CEB.31)

The filling must be carried out with materials of the type 1 or 3A.

Stone size may be up to 2/3 of the layer thickness after compaction.

The filling must be carried out to such a level that the surface can be sealed and leveled.

Fill material shall be compacted.

If the terrace surface is contaminated of soil or blasted rock this should be removed and replaced with

new.

Terrace surface should be sealed with materials meeting the requirements of DCH.16.

Filling with soil and aggregate materials (CEB.32)

Terrace surface should be performed with a height tolerance of + ‐30 mm. The requirement is for a

finished terrace and shall be fulfilled before overlying layers should be applied. If terrace is checked

and overlying layers is to be applied after next winter or after the terrace is adjusted, a re‐inspection

should be performed. During inspection the terrace has to be unfrozen.

Filling with rough‐and inter grainy soil and crushed aggregate (CEB.321)

Filling should be carried out with materials of the type 2 or 3B.

Stone size may not exceed one‐half layer thickness after compaction.

Fill material shall be compacted.

Fill material must have a temperature above +1 degree C during packaging.


Soils which can easily be frozen or erosion sensitive soils should in the slope be protected against

erosion.

Filling with mixed‐ and fine‐grained soil (CEB.322)

Filling should be carried out with materials of type 4 or 5A, but not with clay and silty clay.

Stone size of filling shall not exceed one‐half layer thickness after compaction.

Filling shall be performed with drainage layers in Figure CEB / 5.

Fill Lots of demands on lying time to be spiked out lengthwise on a length of at least three times the

layer thickness.


VARIABLE NORMAL‐ VALUE VARIATION VARIABLE NORMAL‐

VALUE VARIATION

af (m) 3,35 euv (%) 0 0‐3

ak (m) 2,6 2,45‐2,8 euh (%) 0 0‐3

a1 (m) 2 ≥0 etv (%) 2 0‐5

bm (m) +3,3 /3,4++

3,3*)‐3,5**) eth (%) 2 0‐5

3,4*)‐3;7**) hr (m) 0,18

hs (m) 0,22

bv (m) 3,7 3,25‐4,0 sm 01:01,5

bh (m) 3,7 3,25‐4,0 su 1:02 1:1,5‐1:2

b1 (m) 0,4 0‐1,0 s1 01:01,5 1:1,5‐1:3

b4 (m) 0,6 0,4‐0,8 tm (m) 0,3 0,3‐0,4

dk (m) 0,52 0,3‐0,8 tu (m) x)

d1 (m) 0,4 0‐1,0 t1 (m) xx) 0 el. 0,2‐1,1

d4 (m) xxx) 0,6‐1,6 t4 (m) 0,15 0‐0,2

NR NAME CODE MATERAIL/TYPE REMARK

1 Rail 60E1(h=172 mm)

2 Rail 50E3(h=155 mm)

6 Sleeper Concrete

7 Sleeper Wood

10 Ballast DCH.31

1

Makadam ballast Class I 500 mm

20 Sub ballast DCH.15 Crushed rock‐material 800 mm

21 Sub ballast DCH.16 Crushed rock‐material Antifreezing (0‐1400mm)se map

(sub ballast in 2 layers)

31,32 Subgrade CEB.321

CEB.322

blasted rock or soil and aggregate

materials

42,43 Material‐

separating layer

DBB.132 Geotextile, bruksklass N2‐N4 if it’s necessary

SPAIN :

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DIFERENTS LAYERS:

All the different layers of a railway platform must be built with adequate materials, properly compacted to

reach the right slope and the acceptable tolerance, and drainage properties if necessary.


There are four distinguished layers, foundation, core, top and the “forma” layer.

The foundation is the soil which is used as a filling base, once removed the soils that may create

problems of bearing capacity or compressibility.

The core is the filling between the foundation and the top,

The top layer is the last meter of the filling.

The “forma” layer is interposed between the top of the embankment and the sub‐ballast layer or, in

the case of cutting, between the foundation and the sub‐ballast layer.

The characteristics of each material are:

1. Foundation:

The material used in foundation for an embankment would be either:

Similar to the core (with the following specific restrictions).

With reinforcement soil characteristics.

With drainage characteristics.

In the first case, saturation possibility will be considered, and the presence of fine will be lower than 15%

(sieve 0,080 UNE) 2 meters high above the natural soil or the drain.

In areas with problems of bearing capacity or compressibility, cal or cement, textile protective layer or

similar materials could be used:

Maximum size 80 ‐ 400 mm (no higher than 40% of the thickness of the layer)

Sieve nº 4 20 ‐ 50%

Sieve nº 40 < 30%

Fines < 0,080 UNE < 8%

When the foundation must be permeable will be applied the rock fills specifications, until 0,5 m over the

inundated area, with not sensitive rocks to water, Los Angeles coefficient lower than 35, and a fine content

lower than 5%, using a textile protective layer if the foundation is clayey.

2. Core and top Layers:

The materials to use in core of embankments will be soils, which organic matter lower than 1 %.

The sulphites content will be lower than 5%.


The material used in the core must ensure these minimum characteristics:

Liquid limit < 50

If the liquid limit is > 35 and < 50, the Plasticity index will be > 73% of liquid limit less 20.

The firm down in the Collapse test (NLT 254) low than 1%.

The Maximum density in Modified Proctor test (> 1,750 kg/dm3)

California Bearing Ratio Index > 5, and the swelling, measured in this test will be under 1%.

When there are saturation possibilities, the fine content will be controlled.

The top layers of an embankment will be conforming by a better quality material ensuring these

characteristics:

Liquid limit < 40

Maximum size low than 10 cm.

Sieve nº 0,080 UNE < 40 % in the stretch of material lower than 60 mm

When there are saturation possibilities, the fine content will lower than 15%

3. “Forma” Layer:

The forma layer is built between the top of the embankment and the subballast layer or over the

foundation of the cutting.

The material used in the forma layer must ensure these minimum characteristics:

There are no organic matters

Maximum size low than 10 cm.

Sieve nº 0,080 UNE < 5 %, If the fine are not plastic, their presence could be until 15%

Los Angeles coefficient ≤ 30

Micro‐Deval test ≤ 25

If the maximum size of the material is lower than 25 mm, the CBR Index will be > 10

The swelling by immersion will be lower than 0,2%

GEOMETRIC DEFINITION:

Along the corridors we find different kinds of sections if we go along embankments or cuttings, here we try

to show it in a general form.


1. Cuttings

The stability of a slope depends on its geometry, slope and height, as to the inherent characteristics of the

soil that conform it, intern friction angle and cohesion, as they define their shear resistance. From

geotechnical view, the perfect cutting slope inclination is that which allow a stability without any kind of

support, the whole slopes lower than that, will be fine like final solution.

The loose terrain require more lines slopes (5H:2V), usually approaching to the internal friction angle of the

excavated material, in that way, the rock geology, allow sub‐vertical slope or vertical slopes (3V:2H).

When in the same location exist a contact between soft and hard material, it will be recommended to build

a ledge of 4 m.

The last meter height will have a 2H:1V slope.

At the foundation of the excavation will be removed all material that is inappropriate, replacing by grade

material at 1 m depth, properly compacted, with a 0,5% slope to prevent accumulation of water.

FIGURE 8: CUTTING SECTIONS

2. Embankments

An embankment in a filler made of suitable material to raise its level to a proper height according to a

gradient.

The inclination of the slopes are 2H:1V, independently of the embankment´s height, the wide of the top

layer is 15 metres and 18m, with 0,3m thick, for the “forma” layer, the whole of these layer have a 0.5%

slope to prevent accumulation of water.


FIGURE 9: EMBANKMENT SECTION

CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES, EMBANKMENTS AND CUTTINGS:

1. Embankments

This unit consists of laying and compaction of soil and material from the excavations or quarries. Its

implementation includes the following:

Preparation of the seating surface of the embankment (sanitizing, scarifying, compaction, drainage

measures, etc.).

Extension by tiers of material from excavation.

The thickness of the lifts not exceed twenty five (25 cm) measured after compact, the thickness could

be increased, up to 50 cm, with authorization, based on test, for the forma layer the thickness is

between 20–30 cm.

Wetting or drying of each tier.

Compaction is carried out with humidity in the range of two percent over optimum moisture, ±2%,

determining it with Modified Proctor test.

Compaction.

The compaction of the layers must be at least ninety‐five percent (95%) of maximum density obtained

in the Modified Proctor test.

Ev2 the modulus obtained, EV2, in the charging section of a plate bearing test (NLT‐357/98) will be

higher than thirty megapascals (30 MPa) on the foundation layers and core layers and sixty


megapascals (60 MPa) on top layers, it being necessary also verify that Ev2/Ev1<2.2, whenever the

result of Ev1 will be lower than the 60% of Ev2.

On forma layer, the Ev2 the modulus obtained, EV2, in the charging section of a plate bearing test

(NLT‐357/98) will be higher than eighty megapascals (80 MPa), it being necessary also verify that

Ev2/Ev1<2.2, whenever the result of Ev1 will be lower than 50 Mpa.

Refining slopes.

Is the set of operations required to get the finished geometry of an embankment or a cutting.

For the cutting there are no special operations for their refining, the only one, was that it has to be

done by partial height no greater than 3 m.

On the top surface of the embankment, topographical marks are arranged along the axis and on both

edges thereof, with a distance between cross sections not exceeding twenty metres (20 m), and

leveled to millimeters (mm). Between the marks, the surface shall not exceed the theoretical surface

defined by them, or it will fall no more than three cm (3 cm) at any point.

The finished surface shall not vary by more than fifteen millimeters (15 mm) when it was checked with

a rule of three meters (3 m), applied parallel and normal to the axis of the embankment. Neither may

be able any retain water areas.

2.1.2 STRUCTURES

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley or road, for the

purpose of providing passage over them. There are many different designs that all serve unique purposes

and apply to different situations. This chapter shows the different typologies and design of structures along

the corridors.

NORWAY :

Traditional open steel bridges as we know them from the past will generally no longer be current. There are

two reasons for this. Increased speed results in stricter requirements for well‐aligned tracks. A good


alignment and a rational line maintenance requires that the track lies in ballast as on the line as a whole.

Secondly, clean steel bridges emit considerable noise as the structure is put into oscillations by the passing

trains. The thickness of the bridge deck that carries the track is important to dampen the sound. Therefore,

steel bridges will hereafter mostly be built as cooperative structures.

Sketch Examples of typical cross sections (rails not shown):

Concrete structures:

FIGURE 10: SLAB BRIDGE (NORWEGIAN: PLATEBRU) L = 2 ‐ 10 M

FIGURE 11: TROUGH BRIDGE (NORWEGIAN: TRAUBRU) L = 10 ‐ 25 M

FIGURE 12: ONE‐BEAM BRIDGE (NORWEGIAN: EN‐BJELKEBRU) L = 10 ‐ 25 M


FIGURE 13: TWO BEAM BRIDGE (NORWEGIAN: TO‐BJELKEBRU) L = 25 ‐ 40 M

FIGURE 14: BRIDGE WITH BOX SECTION (NORWEGIAN: BRU MED KASSETVERRSNITT) L = 40 ‐ 200 M

Cooperative structures

FIGURE 15: STEEL PLATE BEARER WITH CONCRETE COVER (NORWEGIAN: STÅLPLATEBÆRERE MED BETONGDEKKE)

L = 25 ‐ 40 M

FIGURE 16: STEEL PLATE BEARER WITHIN BETWEEN CONCRETE COVER (NORWEGIAN:STÅLPLATEBÆRER MED

MELLOMLIGGENDE BETONGDEKKE) L = 30 ‐ 50 M


FIGURE 17: STEEL BOX BEARER WITH CONCRETE COVER (NORWEGIAN: STÅLKASSEBÆRER MED BETONGDEKKE)

L = 40 ‐ 80 M

SWEDEN :

The selection of the type of bridge is usually based on superstructure. For major bridges, the line shifts are

determined by factors such as span, production methods and material's prices. While aesthetic values can

be crucial for the bridge type chosen.

Concrete Bridges

Slab bridge

Simply supported flat bridge can be used for spans up to about 15 m but for continuous slab

bridge the range up to about 20 m. At spans near the upper limit, the bridge is usually performed

pre‐stressed of the bridge.

Plate frame bridge

Plate frame bridges can perform better with spans up to about 20 m. The wingspan close to 20 m

plate should be pre‐stressed.

Launched of one side Ram bridge is usually closed.

Girder

For spans between 10‐30 m concrete girders can be selected for bridges. For span more than 20 m

the concrete girder often pre‐stressed.


Trough Girder Bridge

Trough girder bridges have the same span limits as beam bridges of concrete, ie. spans between

10 and 30 m. A concrete trough has a lower height than the superstructure of a concrete plate

with the same span and can therefore be appropriate for the available height, which it’s limited.

Beam's height in a trough bridge is limited by the requirements of free space from another track.

For the design of the support:

If greater depth is required that can be obtained by maximum distance to rail height aggregate

thickness of the bottom plate thickness, beams over edges located below the bottom tray plate.

This can be done if you want to save the extra weight that an increased aggregate thickness

causes.

Box girder bridge

The span approximately between 30 and 150m may select girder bridge box of concrete. For the

longest, spans built bridges with such technology if no determination can be arranged.

Steel trough bridge

The steel trough is a type of bridge with through ballast, the superstructure is limited and low

weight height. This bridge may be an appropriate choice when older abutments have a new

superstructure.

In this type of bridge it is difficult to inspect the bottom plate and the inside. In order to make a

detailed inspection it is require to remove ballast. Therefore, it is advisable to choose steel trough

for path with double tracks with space between them to allow the inspection and maintenance.


Cooperative Bridges

Cooperative bridges with beams

The spans between span 15 to about 60‐70 m can use steel plate bear with concrete cover. Due to

the limitation of plates altitude the span should not be more than 70 m for continuous

collaborative bridges and 50 m for simply supported bridge.

Cooperative bridges with box girder

Box girder of steel can be obtained when steel beams have a common bottom flange. Box

structure has great torsional rigidity and should be selected on the steel bridge, if it’s in a curve.

Span range is the same as cooperative bridges with beams. Box girder of steel should be avoided

at oblique angularity approach.

SPAIN :

We are going to analysis the different types of Viaducts on a representative high speed rail track as the

Madrid – Barcelona, where 60 Km of their tracks run over these structures, reviewing the most important

actions acting on the bridges which condition the different types.

ACTIONS:

The most important actions acting on these structures are:

Sturdy, understanding it like the relation between the trains and structures weight.

Horizontal actions, starting and breaking with maximum values of 100 and 600 t, on viaducts with

curved route, the centrifugal force can reach values of 3t/m for 7000 m radius.


The lengthwise actions that the rail transmits by thermic expansion or contraction can reach a value of

200t.

The interaction rail‐track‐deck became by the lengthwise actions that act on the rails and by the

deformation´s differences between the rail and the deck.

The main causes are:

Different distortions, by the effect of the temperature of the rail and the deck.

Rail distortion caused by the breaking and starting forces that the train transmits to the rail.

Deck distortion caused by the creep and the shrinkage of the concrete.

Those different movements that are suffered by the deck and the rail make those important efforts when

they are transmitted among themself, depending on the length of the deck and the placed of the expansion

joints at the deck and rail.

TYPOLOGIES

The most of the bridges are made with pre‐stressed concrete for the deck and reinforced for abutments,

piles and foundations.

The design or typologies change conforming to orographic, geotechnical or environmental standards, in

that way we can find:

Continuous statically indeterminate stretch

It is used for lengths low than 1200 m and when the bridges is built by incremental launching method

with a fixed point at the deck, if these point will be in the middle of the deck, like in an intermediate

pile, the lengths can be improving to 2000 m.

For these typologies, up to 100m, it is not necessary to use expansion joints, or up to 200m if the fix

point is in the middle of the deck.

Several statically indeterminate stretches

It is used for lengths higher than 1200, with fixes points at the abutment and in a pile.


Isostatic Spans

For quite long and low bridges, this kind let to precast part of the deck.

Isostatics spans and Continuous statically indeterminate stretch

The mayor length for a isostatic span its over 40 m, these reason required a continuous statically

indeterminate stretch for not building any support in a section of 60 m caused by the presence, for

example, of a river.

Comprehensive bridges

They are statically indeterminate structures, where the deck is built into the piles and the abutments,

they are used for quite short length and it saved of using joints or structural bearing.

Sections

In this chapter we are going to show the most typically Bridge sections used in Spanish high speed

lines:

FIGURE 18: SLAB BRIDGE


FIGURE 19: GIRDER BRIDGE

FIGURE 20: LIGHT‐WEIGHTED CONCRETE SLAB

FIGURE 21: MIXED BRIDGE


2.1.3 TUNNELS

Tunnels are a special type of structure in the railway infrastructure. A tunnel is an underground

passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.

Here, we can compare the different sections built in different countries and know how does it depends on

the speed of the trains.

NORWAY :

Normal Profile for tunnels used when the construction works length of track longitudinal direction is

greater than 20 m Such structures can be tunnels, snow and avalanche protection roofs and other

superstructures (constructs bearing house, garage, etc.). In such structures there should be room to the

smallest cross section, catenary outliers and relaxations, signalling systems, cable systems, etc. There shall

also be space for people who stay next track while the train passes. Moreover, air resistance and any

security requirements and considerations necessary to accommodate construction and maintenance of

structures shall be taking into account.

Normal profiles of single and double track tunnel in Figure 22 and Figure 23 apply for speed 200 km/h.

Figure 24 and Figure 25 show the relationship between standard profile and theoretical blasting profile and

apply for double track tunnel with speeds respectively 200 km/h and 250 km/h. The above space

requirements are included.

For speeds between 200 and 250 km/h track distance 4.7 m from the track centre in the double track

tunnel shall be used.

For tunnels with significantly slower speed limit than 200 km/h, the cross‐section can be dimensioned

specifically, as required cross section is equally depend on the system for technical installations of

performers pressure and suction forces.


FIGURE 22: NORMAL PROFILE, TUNNEL, SINGLE

TRACK, V = 200 KM/H

FIGURE 23: NORMAL PROFILE DOUBLE TRACK, V =

200 KM/H

FIGURE 24: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NORMAL

PROFILE AND THEORETICHAL BLASTING PROFILE.

EXAMPLE FROM DOUBLE TRACK, V = 200 KM/H

FIGURE 25: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NORMAL

PROFILE AND THEORETICHAL BLASTING PROFILE.

EXAMPLE FROM DOUBLE TRACK, V = 250 KM/H

SWEDEN :

Tunnels are a special type of structure in the railway infrastructure. A tunnel is an underground

passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.

A railway tunnel has a relatively standardized geometry, however depending on if it is a tunnel for single

track or double track. The cross section area of a main railway tunnel is approximately 70 m2.


The track rests on a bed of ballast. The base course under the sleepers has a thickness of approximately

0.3m and a width of 6 m. The sub‐base course of the ballast is 0.8 m thick (ballast type 0‐150 mm). Below

the sub‐base course, there can be an additional sub‐base course for frost protection. The frost protection

layer is also 0.8 m thick (ballast type 0‐150 mm). This layer is only used where frost protection is needed.

The frost protection layer is used 0‐600 m from each mouth of the tunnel. Thus, if the tunnel is shorter than

1200 m, the frost protection layer is used in the entire tunnel. The width of rl1e sub‐base courses is 8 m.

Track ballast is used around the sleepers.

The design of service and access tunnels is relatively equal compared to main tunnels. The cross section

area is smaller compared to ilie main tunnel (25.6 m2 for service tunnels and 35.7 m2 for access tunnels).

The interior installations are mainly electric installation such as lightning, cables and cable suspension

bridges.

The Normal profiles of single and double track tunnel are described in the following figures. In the figures,

the measurements can be found in detail.


SPAIN :

TYPOLOGIES AND SECTIONS

Tunnels functions as its size, shape and coating are diverse and are critical to choosing the most effective

methods of construction.

The most important factors to analyse in a tunnel design are:

THE GROUND

Soft, hard rocks, uniform, heterogeneous, water presence, etc.

Different kinds of grounds mean changes in the geometry, the structural shape

and the construction methods.

SIZE AND GEOMETRY Wide, height, length, leveling, slopes and curves, depends on the tunnel

function.

STRUCTURAL SHAPES Standard, Circular, or different shapes that can support different loads

CONSTRUCTION METHODS Conventional, TBM or precast, the selection of the method is limited by the

soil.


There are several criteria for the design of the tunnels, as the aerodynamic phenomena, the diameter, in

terms of the pressure inside the train or train‐ air‐tunnel friction, or the length of the tunnels, this section

will focus on the parameters geometric.

OUTLINE MARKER

The UIC (Union Internationale des Chemis de Fer) defined three types of gauges, designated by the letters

A, B and C, the Spanish railway, because of having different track gauge, defined an adapted C gauge,

recognized by the designation C.

New lines are constructed with gauge C, and for mixed traffic lines a superior gauge is provide [highway rail

(AF)] allowing the transport truck on conventional cars, see Table 3.

TABLE 3: GAUGE KIND

GÁLIBO A B C

Gauge and high outline marker 3,15 x 4,32 3,15x4,32 3,15x4,65

DIMENSIONS OF THE OUTLINE MARKER

The high speed trains cross section in Spain is 9 m2.

GAUGE BETWEEN TRACKS

Currently in high speed lines is recommended minimum gauge of 4.20 m. However, there is great variety in

the values adopted for the gauge in the various lines that are currently in operation. An example is high‐

speed Madrid‐Seville with 4.30 m.

CROSS SECTION

Conditioned by various technical factors, among which we can mention:

Performance and maintenance needs.

Characteristics of the soil.

Excavation methods.

Lining and coating type.


SHAPES AND SIZES

Standard section

Typically used in medium or good quality soil. The construction methods usually be the traditional.

Circular section

This section should be used in poor quality soils and with strong presence of water, but in general it

became imposed by the TBM construction methods.

The first problem that arises when a tunnel is designing is choosing between single tube and double tube or

double and single track. The increasing knowledge of aerodynamic phenomena and improvement of the

technique makes more common to build singly tunnels when their length is <4 km, when it is significant

double tube is built increasing the gauge and the useful section.

The UIC 779‐11 recommended to define a minimum cross section not less than 52 m2 (approximate

diameter of 8.50 m) in the single‐track tunnels, or 75 m2 (approximate diameter of 11.35 m) in the double

track.

The evolution in the construction of tunnels and its design can be seen in two clear examples, for the high‐

speed line Madrid‐Seville the designed the tunnel section was 75 m2 (deadline 1992, v = 250‐300 km/h,

double track). But for the Madrid‐Barcelona (deadline 2008, v = 350 km / h, double track) projected section

was 100 m2 a, and now in the tunnel Pertus, Figueres‐Perpignan (v = 350 km / h, two single track tubes),

high‐speed line under construction, linking Spain with France on single track section is approximately 54 m2

free.

FIGURE 26: SPANISH TUNNEL SECTIONS, SINGLE AND DOUBLE.


DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CONVENTIONAL AND HIGH SPEED TUNNELS:

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CONVENTIONAL AND HIGH SPEED TUNNELS

PARAMETERS CONVENTIONAL HIGH SPEED

Running speed 160‐200 km/h 250‐350 km/h

Section Single track 20‐30 45‐60

Double track 40‐50 75‐115

Type of track ballast Slab‐track

Separation between rail‐tracks axle 3,67‐4,20 4,5‐4,8

Slope ‰ 25 12

Curve radii 1750 6000

Lining Project concrete Precast concrete segments

Tunnel formwork carriages

2.1.4 DRAINAJE DEVICES

To control the hydrogeological conditions on the railway, drainage devices are required. Railway drainage

affect to tracks, embankments, cuttings and walls. The type of infrastructure may be providing a quick

drainage of rainwater.

Draining functions to collect and drain away surface water and/or groundwater for the purpose of keeping

track body drained. Furthermore, the drainage ensures the building against erosion, maceration, and

reduced carrying capacity and stability.

NORWAY :

The next figure shows the principle of the location of trenches, manholes, over water and drain lines, of

section front line trench, ditch line Closed, Closed drainage ditch and Storm‐water Lines in Norway railway

tracks.


Open line trench

This type of drainage will consist of open and generally shallow trench that has the primary function to

intercept and divert surface water, thereby preventing water from entering the ballast sub‐base.

Trench bottom should be at least 0.5 m below the FP, and standard (practical) bottom width for new

facilities set to 0.5 m trench shall fall at any point is min 5 ‰ (1:200). Where fall the line goes in the

opposite direction of the appropriate trench fall, surface waters of the trench line is inserted into the

manholes and flow away in closed pipes.

Where the intersection with line trench goes into filling, recorded surface water controlled at culvert

outlet or the terrain. Outlet along the filling slope must like the line trench, be secured against the

surface water entering the fill masses.

Deep line trenches will orbit the body more susceptible to penetration of frost from the side. It should

therefore not be projected line trenches deeper than necessary given the prevailing conditions.

The line trenches should have a rigid base, while sealed up to 0.2 m under formation plane.

Closed line trench

Special conditions may make it necessary to close the bar ditch. This can be in places where drainage

route of extraordinary reasons broken by permanent structures (eg. Noise barriers, different

foundations for masts, kiosks, retaining walls, etc.). The new facilities will generally be applicable only

over short sections. One must therefore pipes by "obstacle" to ensure continuity of line trench.

Recommended pipe size in this case is 400 mm.


In case of closure over long distances (eg. Associated with station construction/stands, construction of

platforms in deep cuts, etc.), it must in principle be performed as a closed drainage with drain wire or a

combined drainage/surface water trench. The dimension of the drain pipe shall be at least 150 mm.

The trench may be filled with open water permeable (permeable) loads up to the top surface can easily

drop down to the wire. To reduce the risk of ingress of soil materials placed geotextile at the bottom

and sides of the trench.

Closed drainage ditch

With closed drainage means closed ditches drains and/or draining soil, which should be able to

suck/collecting groundwater and lead it along the ditch bottom until proof drain. The purpose of this

system is primarily to lower and hold the ground water at a controlled level. The need for subsurface

drainage must be considered from the local geotechnical/hydrological conditions.

Longitudinal line drainage in soil cut placed on the edge of the slope or the line trench. See Figure 27

Longitudinal line trench.

Drainage pipe shall have fall all the way in the right direction, minimum 5 ‰. Permitted deviation from

the theoretical height is normally ± 50 mm.

There is usually no need for both closed and closed drainage ditch line.

By frost technical reasons it is not desirable to drain road‐bed so that this becomes absolutely dry.

Closed drainage trench is made to ensure that there is access at any water road‐bed added in height

somewhat above road‐bed but not higher than the bottom of the subbase.

FIGURE 27: LONGITUDINAL LINE TRENCH


SWEDEN :

Drainage systems should collect and divert storm water and groundwater. The water management in the

embankment (clear opening ≤ 2.0 m) is performed so that upstream can drain at a medium flow with the

train drums.

A water‐bearing structure is designed so that harmful erosion does not occur at high tide position. The

intersection between the drum and the grooves is possible if the design has 90° crossing angle.

Watercourse alignment must be taking into account for water bore during possible need of erosion caused

by changes flow conditions. The minimum burial depth depends upon the load of soil, traffic and tube type

and varies between 1.0 to 2.0 m.

SPAIN :

TRANSVERSAL

These kinds of works let the water pass through the platform. In function of the flow to evacuate, are

defining different systems, like, concrete pipes (Ø500‐2500), reinforced concrete box (1000x1750‐

4000x2500), or bridges for larger sizes.

LENGTHWISE

Depending on the flow values provided, the maximum flow which can carry each of the types of ditches

and space requirements, can be disposed several types of ditches like:


The concrete ditches used are:

Protecting side slopes ditches: at the top of the cuttings and at the bottom of the embankments.

Platform ditches: between the platform and the bottom of the cuttings.

The different kinds of ditches are lengthwise connected to drainage the water.

2.2 SUPERSTUCTURE

2.2.1 TRACK AND THEIR ELEMENTS

2.2.1.1 DEFINITION OF THE GAUGE

Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails

that make up a single railway track.

NORWAY :

In Norway the gauge of the tracks are 1435 mm.

SWEDEN :

In all Malmbanan, 1.435 but it can be between (1.430 – 1.470), another gauge is used in Sweden a narrow

one of 891 mm called Three Foot Gauge Railways.


FIGURE 28: GAUGE USED IN SWEDEN

POLAND :

In Poland co‐exist a wide range of gauge:

International 1435 mm

Narow gauge. 600, 750 y 1000 mm

Soviet gauge 1520 mm

PORTUGAL :

In Portugal there are two gauges:

The “Via Estreita”, Narrow gauge track of 1000mm.

The” Via Larga”, Broad gauge track, is the 1668mm, also known as "Ibérica".

SPAIN :

In Spain there are three different gauge for different kind of rail tracks.

FIGURE 29: GAUGE USED IN SPAIN

2.2.1.2 SLEEPERS

The functions of sleepers in railway works are as follows:

To grip the rail to gauge and to distribute the rail loads to ballast with acceptable induced pressure.

The side functions of a sleeper include the avoidance of both longitudinal and lateral track movement.


It also helps to enhance correct line and level of the rails.

NORWAY :

Timber sleepers

Concrete sleeper

There are different kinds of concrete sleepers depending on the fastening and on the dimensions of

the rails:

Concrete sleeper JBV 54, JBV 97 and JBV 60 with Pandrol fastclip fastening system, with different

anchors casted‐in, and JBV 60 BRU and JBV 54 BRU, are identical to JBV 60 and JVB 54 with the

exception of cast in anchor for fastening of guide rail.

Concrete sleepers NSB 95, NSB 93 and NSB 90 with Pandrol fastclip fastening system, with

different anchors casted‐in, NSB is the old name for the combined infrastructure owner (Now JBV)

and the Rolling stock operator (Now NSB). NSB… is old type sleeper and JBV is responsible for

them.


SWEDEN :

Timber sleepers

In Sweden the wood sleepers are still used for the railway track. For switches and for bridges they have

different shapes and dimension depending on their use.

The timbers sleepers are used on conventional lines in a reduced way, they are been renewed by

concretes ones. They are made by pine, oak and beech wood, being allowed the use of other kinds of

woods. Total length is 2600mm.

FIGURE 30: WOOD SLEEPERS

Concrete sleepers

Concrete presents two weaknesses for its use in sleepers: brittle fracture and little fatigue resistance.

To overcome such disadvantages, it is required to place an absorbing material between sleepers and

rail and to use reinforcing bars inside the sleepers.

The most used in Sweden is the monoblock and pre‐stressed.


Monoblock prestressed‐concrete sleepers:

The monoblock sleeper has the following characteristics:

It withstands alternating stresses better, since the stress on the concrete is always

compressive.

It offers a reduced sleeper height at the central part, since the steel bars do not have to be

located, as in reinforced‐concrete, as far away from the neutral axis as possible

It allows a reduction of the steel used, in comparison to the twin‐block sleeper

It is generally lighter, compared to the twin‐block sleeper; this fact, however, reduces

transverse resistance.

Monoblock sleepers present a similar behaviour to that of the twin‐blocks. They maintain the track

gauge in a satisfactory manner and have a long lifetime. They require elastic fastenings and special

accessories for signalling. However, monoblock sleepers distribute loads better than twin‐blocks,

but not as well as timber sleepers. Their transverse resistance is lower than that of twin‐blocks,

but higher compared to timber sleepers; monoblock sleepers provide also a good surface for the

maintenance inspection staff.

POLAND :

Timber sleepers

In Poland the wood sleepers are still used for the railway track, for switches and for bridges they, have

different shapes and dimension depending on their use:


Concrete sleepers

There are two kind of concrete sleepers depending on the fastening:

Prestressed concrete sleeper INBK7 designed for K Fasteners, the dimensions refer to the rail

UIC60 (60E1), values in brackets are indicated for rails S49 (49E1).

Prestressed concrete sleeper PS‐94 designed for SB elastic fasteners, the dimensions refer to the

rail UIC60 (60E1), values in brackets are indicated for rails S49 (49E1).


SPAIN :

Timber sleepers

The timbers sleepers were used on conventional lines in a reduced way, they are been renewable by

concretes ones, they are made by pine, oak and beech wood, being allowed the use of another kinds of

woods including in the rule U.N.E. 25.002‐76.

FIGURE 31: WOOD SLEEPERS

Concrete sleepers

In Spain are two different kinds of concrete sleepers, the bi‐block and the mono‐block

The bi‐block sleepers: The most common type was called RS; currently is deprecated in Spanish rail

networks.

FIGURE 32: BI‐BLOCK SLEEPER USED IN SPAIN

The mono‐block sleepers can be used for one gauge, iberico or international and for the both

called polyvalent mono‐block sleepers, within these types we summarize these ones: Mono‐

bloque DW sleeper (Iberico), mono‐bloque MR sleeper (iberico), mono ‐bloque AI sleeper

(Internacional) and Polivalente PR sleeper (Iberico and internacional).


MONO‐BLOQUE DW SLEEPER

MONO‐BLOQUE MR SLEEPER

MONO‐BLOQUE AI SLEEPER

POLIVALENTE PR SLEEPER

FIGURE 33: CONCRETE SLEEPERS USED IN SPAIN

2.2.1.3 RAILS

Rails support and guide the wheels of the train vehicles. Rail profile has been the object of continuous

improvement since the beginning of railways.

The cross‐sections of gauge rails are:

TABLE 4: RAILS SIZE

KIND OF RAIL RULES

DIMENSIONS MM SECTION S MASS M

H B C D E CM² KG/M

EUROPEAN RULES

RN 45 UNE 25122 142 130 66 40,5 15 57,05 44,79

45E1(BS 90A) EN 13674‐4 142,8 127 66 46 13,8 57,45 45,1

46E2 (U33) EN 13674‐1 145 134 62 47 15 58,04 46,27

49E1 (S49) EN 13674‐1 125 125 67 51,5 14 62,92 49,39

49 ES DBS 918254‐1 125 125 67 51,5 14 62,59 49,13

50E6(U50) EN 13674‐1 140 140 65 49 15,5 64,84 50,9

54E1(UIC54) EN 13674‐1 140 140 70 49,4 16 69,77 54,77

54E2 (UIC54E) EN 13674‐1 125 125 67 51,4 16 68,56 53,82

54E3(S54) EN 13674‐1 125 125 67 55 16 69,52 54,57

54E4 DBS 918254‐1 125 125 67 55 16 69,19 54,31

60E1(UIC60) EN 13674‐1 150 150 72 51 16,5 76,7 60,21

60E2 EN 13674‐1 150 150 72 51 16,5 76,48 60,03

NORWAY :

The most used rails in Norway are 49 –E1, 54‐E1/E2/E3 and 60 –E1


SWEDEN :

In Swedish Railways a lot of Rail profiles are used for instance: 50 E3 (BV 50), 54 E3 (S 54), 60 E1 (UIC 60), EJ

32, Gatu 56, MAV 32, S 43, SJ 34, SJ 41, SJ 43, SJ 50. In Malmbanan the very most common is 60E1 (UIC 60).

During 2006‐2009 most of the Rail between Kiruna and Riksgränsen was renewed to 60E1 with Pandrol, E‐

Clip, and Pandrol, Fast Clip fastenings.

POLAND :

The most common is the UIC 60/900 in 250 m rail length and S49.

Other rail profiles used are: 6d/e, 38 a/b(IIIa), L,39 a/b (IIa), 15a/c, S41, 8a/b, S42, S45, C, X a

SPAIN :

Currently the most used rail is the “Vignole” type, composed of three parts, head, web, foot.

The rail´s sizing is very near to the kind of track, when we are talking about axle load, running speed and the

traffic density.

This circumstance determined that the denomination of the rails used a digit which refers to their weight

per meter, UIC‐X, where X is the weight of the rail expressed in kg / ml. The most frequently used sections

right now, are UIC‐45, UIC‐54, UIC‐60.

In Spain, for iberico gauge, the main tracks used 54 kg/ml rails and 45 kg/ml by the secondary. Although, in

the last renewal are used 60 k/ml rails, as in the high speed lines.

2.2.1.4 FASTENINGS

In this unit, we are going to talk about the fastenings in a general way, without specified by country:

THE MAIN FUNCTIONS ARE: THE BASIC CHARACTERISTICS ARE:

Fix the rails to the sleepers.

Ensure the gauge invariance.

To have a higher vibration frequency than the

rail.


Absorb and transmit vertical and

horizontal loads.

Avoid the rail tipping.

High Lenghwise Slip resistance.

Mechanical tightness and resilience.

The fastenings can be classified depending on:

Their elements:

Direct fastenings: the element which fast the rail and the plate is the same.

Indirect fastenings: the elements which fast the plate to the sleeper is different to that which

fasten the rail to the sleeper.

Mixed fastenings, have fasteners to fix the plate to the sleeper, some direct and others indirect,

these ones are which make fixing the rail to the plate.

Clamping elements characteristics:

Rigid fastenings: The stress transmission between the rail and the sleeper is made by a rigid

element.

Elastic fastenings: The transmission is made between elastic elements.

2.2.1.5 SWITCHES

The switches are these apparatus which are installed in the track, and let the junction between two or

more tracks.

A fundamental characteristic of railway is the one degree of freedom of the movement of the rail vehicle on

the track. However, trains must have the possibility to change course from one track to another. This is

realized by so‐called switching devices, defined as the equipment and parts thought which the direction of

movement of a rail vehicle can be change without interrupting its course.

NORWAY :

Rail profile

When constructing or rebuilding, there shall be chosen switches with same rail profile as the rest of the

track, but not switches with lighter rails than 54E3.


Sleeper type

For switches with 60E1 rail profile, concrete sleepers shall be used. For switches with rail profile 54E3,

concrete sleepers shall be used if radius of switch is above 760m. In other case, wood or concrete

sleepers may be used.

Fastening

60E1 switches shall have Pandrol Fastclip/e‐clip fastening system

54E3 switches shall have Pandrol e‐clip fastening system

There are two kinds of Switches, with fixed or movable crossing:

Fixed Crossing:

Type 54 E3, wood or concrete Sleeper, Bevel 1:9, 1:12, 1:14, Radius 300, 500, 760

Type 60 E1, concrete Sleeper, Bevel 1:9, 1:12, 1:14,1:15 Radius 300, 500, 760, 760

Movable crossing:

Type 60 E1, concrete Sleeper, Bevel 1:9, 1:12, 1:14,1:18, 1:26,1 Radius 300, 500, 760, 12001,

25001

SWEDEN :

The next table shows the most important SWITCHES used in Sweden. Some parameters are starting to be

more standardized, even if the manufacturing design is not exactly the same. The most important

parameters of standard single SWITCHES in main line are:

Geometry (Radius and angle at the crossing nose)

Rail type 22

Sleeper type

Sleeper, rail and crossing Material

The next table shows the most important SWITCHES in the Swedish rail network (BIS, 2012).


TABLE 5: THE MOST IMPORTANT SWITCHES IN THE SWEDISH RAIL NETWORK

The radius of the switch blade is the base to calculate the maximum allowed speed of the SWITCHES AND

CROSSINGS. The rail type and sleeper type is, to large extent, influential on the possible technical life time

(TLT) of SWITCHES AND CROSSINGS. In Sweden, no direct limit is stated, but in Finland figures of 300 MGT

for S54 profile and wooden sleeper and 450 MGT for SWITCHES AND CROSSINGS with UIC‐60E1 profile and

concrete sleeper has been presented.

Steel material of the stock rail, switch blade and crossing is important for the life time of these

components. In Sweden R350HT( Head hardened carbon steel with hardness 360 HB and ultimate tensile

strength of 1300 MPa) material is used in stock rail and switch blades and explosion hardened manganese

in crossings in newer SWITCHES used in main track. This is an area where further improvement is expected.


In Sweden, the most common SWITCHES are the SJ50‐11‐1:9 and similar turnouts are found in many other

countries. Today Sweden prefers to install new turnouts of the dimension UIC60‐760‐ 1:15.

POLAND :

The kind of switches and their maintenance requirements are defined in the "Instruction of the review,

testing and maintenance techniques of switches" Id‐4 (D ‐6).

In Poland there are different switches depending on the rail kind:

Type 60 E1, RZ 60 E1‐XXX‐1:n

Rail kind 60

XXX: Diverted track radius R 150‐1200

Bevel, 1:n: 1:9‐1:18,5

Gauge: 1435 – 1520( 190, 300 Diverted track radius)

Type 49 E1, RZ 49E1‐XXX‐1:n

Rail kind 49

XXX: Diverted track radius R 140‐190

Bevel, 1:n: 1:7‐1:9

Gauge: 1435 – 1520( 190, 300 Diverted track radius)

SPAIN :

The ADIF switches classification is:

Considering the frog type, straight (CR), curve (CC) or movable (CM).

Weldable or not

For the Type could be:

Type A, no weldable, with tangents of 0,09 CR and 0,11 CR, maintrack speed 140 km/h, diverging

track speed 30 km/h

Type B, weldable, with tangents of 0.75CR, 0.09CR, 0.11CR, 0.09CC,, maintrack speed 160 Km/h,

diverging track speed 60‐50‐40‐55 km/h respectively.

Type C, weldable with tangents of 0.071CR, 0.09CR, 0.071CC, 0.085CC, 0.11CC Y 0.125CC. The

maintrack speed 200 km/h except the 0,11CC tangent with a 160 km/h speed, the speeds by the

diverging track are 60‐45‐80‐60‐50‐45 respectively.


Type V, weldable, the crossing tangents are: 0.042CR, 0.049CR, the main track speed is 200Km/h

and 100 Km /h by the diverging track.

Type AV, weldable, only used at high speed lines tracks, the angle tangent of the crossing could be:

0.026CM, 0.071CM. The main track speed is 250 Km/h and by the diverging track is 160 and 80

Km/h respectively.

Switches for high speed in UIC gauge, weldable, the angle tangent of the crossing is 0.0154CM. The

main track speed is 300 Km/h and by the diverging track is 220 Km/h .

The join of the switches with the rails will be done by joint bars for type A and by weldings for the others.

2.2.2 TRACK BED

2.2.2.1 BALLAST

The ballast conform a layer which receives the dynamic stress and damper the vibration to the platform.

Also ensures quick drainage of the water. The ballast must have these following primary functions:

To damper the stresses made by the rolling stock over the track and transmit sw them to the platform

in an evenly way.

Avoid longitudinal, vertical and lateral track movement.

Facilitate the water drainage.

Protect the platform soil against frost action.

Allow to recover the rail track geometry by alignment and levelling operations.

Reduction of noise generated by the passage of trains

Ensure that the sleepers down will be suitable.

CHARACTERISTICS

According to the European rule UNE‐EN 13450, Aggregates for railway ballast, two different kinds of ballast

are defined:


The ballast “A” according to the European standard must follow these sizes:

SIEVES ‐

MM

% PASS

(WEIGH %)

% RETAINED BETWEEN

SIEVES 31,5 – 50 MM

63,0 100

>50

50 70‐100

40 30‐65

31,5 0‐25

22,4 0‐3

The type A is sub divide into:

Ballast “1”: Used in high speed lines with a speed higher than 220 Km/h, with a Los Angeles

coefficient less than 15%.

Ballast “2”: Used in conventional lines, with a Los Angeles coefficient less than 18%.

Type B, limestone source rocks are used in some lines and stations with low traffic intensity. At present

this type has been deprecated.

SWEDEN :

The main properties for the Swedish railway are:

Geology: its Petrographic analyse both macro and microscopically. Rock type, mineralogy and texture,

limitation for micas is 10%.

Grain size: Class I: 32‐63 mm; 4‐10%: This ballast is used to upper ballast layer of railway bench.

Class II 11‐32; 4‐10%; for sub ballast or as upper and sub ballast at the private low traffic railways.

Shape is the 10% of particles might have ratio of two principal dimensions more than 3, cubic shape

most wanted.

Durability: Los angeles test is ASTM C358‐89.

Surface texture: Natural roughness from crushing, measurements not requires, (no fast analysing

technique exists).

Size: Diameter minimum: 31,5mm; Diameter maximum: 63mm; Maximum length less than 120mm;

Resistance to the ice (EN 1367‐1).


SPAIN :

The types and test rules are specified in the Standard NAV 3‐4‐0.2 / 4ª ADIF quality mark, and NAV 3‐4‐0.1

/2ª Technical Characteristics of ballast.

The tests to establish the quality of the rocks and their limits are as follows:

The Angeles coefficient:

Ballast 1: <14% (for high speed lines.)

Ballast 2: < 16% (conventional lines.)

Compressive strength >1.200Kg/cm2

Water bead up: <0.5. If it is ≥ 1.5% it has to be done a resistance to freezing the test by magnesium

sulphate.

Resistance to magnesium sulphate: <4%

Shape index <10%

POLAND :

The quality of the ballast is specified at the annexe nº 6 of Id ‐ 1 (D‐1), “Technical conditions for the

maintenance of the superstructure of the railway lines”.

For the production of ballast must use igneous rocks, metamorphic rocks (except crystalline limestone and

schist) and sedimentary rocks of siliceous binder.

There are three different classes of ballast for different kind of lines, bellow we can see some of the most

important properties.

Nº PROPERTIES

CLASSES CATEGORY OF

RAILWAY LINE

PN‐B‐11114:1996

I II III CLASS

1 Compressive strength ≥ [MPa] 160 140 80 MAIN LINES (0) I

2 Deval ≤[%] 5,6 7,0 9,0 PRIMARY LINES (1) I

3 Water bead up ≤ [%] 1,5 2,0 3,0 SECONDARY LINES II

4 Resistance to freezingde ≤ 1,5 3,0 5,0

LOAL LINES II ‐ general

III ‐ opcional


CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES

NORWAY :

Lower ballast layer

The gravel is laid out in a single layer up to a level 500 mm below the lowest rail (rail head). The gravel

is compressed easily without materials crushed.

The lower ballast layer shall be calculated by the following tolerances:

deviation from the planned height: +0 / ‐20 mm

deviation from the planned width: +100 / ‐0 mm

A gravel trench with depth / width 5/80 cm is constructed in the lower layer of the gravel. The purpose

of the trench is to prevent accidental arrangement of concrete sleepers. The trench should be laid

centric on the center line track.

Upper ballast layer

The upper layer ballast laid out using gravel wagons after the track is built and includes any

replenishment after the track is adjusted.

SPAIN :

For the construction of the ballast bedding we can consider different ways depending on the line, in lines

with a speed equal or higher than 200 km/h the assembly of the track must be down after the conforming

of the first layer of ballast with a thickness of 23 cm, in conventional lines with a speed lower than 200km,

the assembly can be done over the subbalast layer or over a 18 cm thickness ballast layer.

Then for ballast bedding defining we will have to apply the Ballast management and tamping machine

several times to reach the required level.


GEOMETRIC DEFINITION

NORWAY :

The total height of the ballast layer in Norway shall be:

750mm to the top of rail for UIC60 tracks.

700mm to the top of rail for other tracks.

SWEDEN :

The thickness of the ballast is 50cm. For bridges the thickness of this layer increase to 0.4 m in order to

increase the elasticity. Ballast shoulder is normally given a width of 0.40 m, making the ballasted area width

of the straight section is normally 3.3 meters.

The curves with horizontal radio R<500 m skravfritt track width to increase ballast 0.55 m. When R<400 m

is also performed an increase in the ballast shoulder to 0.1 m in outer string. Macadam Aggregate slope

should be 1:1.5 in both straight tracks which curved track.


POLAND :

In the polish railway tracks the thickness of the layer below the sleeper must be, at least, 35 cm. The

inclination of the slopes is 1:1.5.

FIGURE 34: DOUBLE AND SINGLE RAILTRACK SECTION IN PRINCIPLES LINES (0) AND MAIN IMPORTANCE (1)

FIGURE 35: DOUBLE AND SINGLE RAILTRACK SECTION IN PRINCIPLES LINES (0) AND SECUNDARY IMPORTANCE (2)


FIGURE 36: RAILTRACK SECTION IN REGIONAL LINES (3)

SPAIN :

In the Spanish railway tracks the thickness of the layer below the sleeper must be higher than 30 cm in high

speed lines and 20 cm in conventional ones.

The ballast bedding shall be determined as indicated in the standard NRV 3410. "Ballast Bedding

dimensions" while the thickness of the ballast must be 30 cm in the lines with a speed higher than 120

km/h, should be 25‐30 centimetres in conventional lines with an equal or less speed than 120 Km/h,

depending on the section of track with or without a sub ballast layer according to the standard indicating

3401. The tolerances in the new track are both ‐2, +5 cm.

The inclination of the slopes is 3H: 2V.

FIGURE 37: BALLAST SECTIONS FOR IBERIAN GAUGE


FIGURE 38: BALLAST SECTIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL GAUGE

2.2.2.2 SUBBALLAST

Subballast is the platform top layer, which support the ballast. It is a waterproof layer which preserve the

platform from the rainwater, transmitting the train loads through the ballast in a uniformly way to the

platform.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MATERIALS

NORWAY :

FIGURE 39: NORWAY RAIL TRACK SECTION

Frost blanket course

The frost protection shall be built up of good friction materials, i.e. well graded, well drained and frost

ensured masses.

Subbase

The subbase shall have minimum thickness 700 mm. Excluded from this requirement is subbase in

tunnels, on bridges and in tracks that are not main lines. Top part of subbase may consist of a levelling


layer of gravel/crushed stone as underlay for the ballast. The subbase shall be drained. Materials used

in the subbase shall be according to [NS 3420 I54 "Reinforcement Stroke"].

Rockfill

Subbase made up of rockfill shall have maximal stone size of 300 mm, but not greater than half the

layer thickness which are layd out. The stone materials must be well graded, with grains gradation

figures Cu = d60/d10 ≥ 15th.

Crushed stone

Same requirements as for rockfill to grading and stone sizes also apply for subbase made up of

crushed stones as for rockfill.

Gravel

Reinforcement Stroke of gravel materials shall consist of well‐graded pulps from natural gravel

occurrences. Materials may include stone but maximum grain size shall not exceed 150 mm.

Lightweight aggregate and foam glass

Lightweight aggregate and foam glass utilized primarily as stabilizing measures for to reduce

tensions (shear tensions) in subsurface, and for load reduction.

Foamed polystyrene

Foamed polystyrene is used by same causes as Lightweight aggregate and foam glass. Foamed

polystyrene cannot be used if there is danger for buoyancy or large water pressure of

embankment.

Rockfill and crushed stone

The rock materials must be well graded, with grains gradation figures Cu = d60/d10 ≥ 15th. Maximum

permitted stone size is 500 mm, but not greater than 2/3 of layer thickness which is laid out.

Sand and gravel

Frost protection layer made up of gravel materials shall consist of well‐graded pulps from natural

gravel occurrences. Materials may include stone but maximum grain size shall not exceed 150 mm.

SWEDEN :

In Sweden, the sorting of subballast reaches diameter higher that in the rest of the countries and in fact

correspond with a size of embankment.


SPAIN :

The 100% of the material must came from crash material retained by sieve 4 UNE.

The 100% retained by sieves 4 UNE must came from crushing.

The size of the material must be:

SIEVE 40 UNE 40 31,5 16 8 4 2 0,5 0,2 0,063

% PASS (WEIGH %) 100 90‐100 85‐95 65‐80 45‐65 30‐50 10‐40 5‐25 3‐9

The organic matter and the sulphates will be less than 0.2%.

The uniformity coefficient (D60/D10) will be equal or higher than 14 and the Cu (D30 2/D60xD10)

between 1 and 3 (by UNE EN 933‐1)

The Angeles coefficient must be lower than 28 and the micro deval coefficient lower than 22.

Waterproof index: ≤ 10‐6 cm/s

Sand equivalent test must be higher than 45 for the past material from sieve number 2.

CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES

NORWAY :

The subbase shall be build up in layers of approved materials. Thickness adapted to grain size.

Placement and compaction shall be in accordance with [NS 3420 I54 "subbase"].

Formation Plan (grade level)

The formation plan shall at no place have larger deviations than + 0 and ‐ 50 mm from the projected

height. The formation plan shall not have larger deviations than + 100 mm from the projected width.

SWEDEN :

If the subballast is made up with gain the thickness is more than 80, but if it’s built with rock it will be 50cm.

Frost insulation layers of different types do not mix. Every type, crushed rock material, soil or gravel crusher

materials provided an extent with less than 200 m in the track longitudinally. Shifting of frost insulation

layer is not permitted transversely. Transitions between types impaled out with slope of the track 1:20

longitudinally.


SPAIN :

The unit includes the following operations:

Provision of material.

Extended wetting (if required) and compaction of each layer.

Refinement of the surface of the last layer.

The compacted layer present a dry density equal, at least, to one hundred per cent (100%) of that obtained

in the Modified Proctor test, the average of six test for each batch, there being no less than 98% value.

The Ev2 modulus obtained in the charging section of a plate bearing test (NLT‐357/98), plate of 30 cm will

be higher than 120 MPa, it being necessary also verify that Ev2 / Ev1 <2.2 where the value of EV1 would

have been less than 75 MPa.

Topographical marks are arranged along the axis and on both edges thereof, every twenty metres (20 m),

and levelled to millimetres (mm). Each mark shall not get down more than 15 mm from the theoretical, like

the surface between marks, no more than 10 mm in 3 m length.

GEOMETRIC DEFINITION

NORWAY :

The subbase shall have minimum thickness 700 mm. Excluded from this requirement is subbase in tunnels,

on bridges and in tracks that are not main lines.


SWEDEN :

There are two different layers for the subballast:

One first layer with a view to increasing the lifting capacity (“Förstärkningslager”) with a minimum

thickness of 80 cm (except if the platform is of rock)

Other layer of subballast in order to protect to the platform of the ice “Frostisoleringslager” that can

oscillate between its absences until thicknesses of 140 cm (depending of the geographic position in

Sweden). In Malmbanan corridor the thickness is between 100 – 140 cm.

In fact one of the main exigencies with a view to protect the platform in front of the ice consists in dicing

the base of the layer from sub‐ballast.

POLAND :

The inclination of the slopes are 1:1.5, these layer have a 0.5% slope to prevent water accumulation, in

single tracks, these slope has a different geometric definition than, e.g., Spanish ones, see the figure below.

5% 5% 5% 5%

Poland Spain

SPAIN :

The thickness shall be determined by the work Project, although it will be higher than 25 cm in tracks with a

speed equal or higher than 160 km/h, currently, for high speed lines the thickness will be 30 cm, if the

speed is lower than 160 km/h the thickness will be 25 cm, when the ballast height below sleeper will be

lower than 30 cm, in other way, caused by construction conditions, the minimum thickness will be 15 cm.

The inclination of the slopes is 2H: 1V, this layer have a 0.5% slope to prevent water accumulation.


2.2.3 ECONOMICAL ANALYSES

2.2.3.1 CONSTRUCTION VS MAINTENANCE VS RENEWAL

CONSTRUCTION OF THE HIGH SPEED RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE COSTS

The high‐speed railway projects must meet many requirements and constraints, mainly technical. That’s

why a comparative analysis of investment costs of a high speed railway infrastructure can be highly

subjective.

It will also depend on the level of aggregation of the study, being able to analyze from the total investment

cost in a line or section (i.e. €/km) or disaggregate to the level of the railway superstructure components

(i.e. type of track or sleeper).

The key investment budget is divided into three main sections according to UIC studies and previous

experience:

Planning and site preparation costs, including feasibility studies and land acquisition/expropriation.

Represents 5‐10% of the total investment costs.

Construction of railway platform costs. It varies depending on the span length and previous terrain’s

characteristic. Represents 10‐25% of the total investment, which may be up to 40‐50% of the total

project cost if unique performances (bridge, viaduct, tunnel…) are needed.

Investment in railway superstructure. Includes other items associated with the new line at a cost

generally proportional to the length. It accounts for 5‐10% of the total investment, including platforms,

stations and sidings.

Signaling elements (with a 10% approximate each) complete major investment chapters of high‐speed rail.

Traffic control facilities, security and communications are becoming a bigger part of the total budget.

Among the factors that may have a strong influence on saving investment costs we can include:

A closed design, i.e. a high speed line not suffering (or suffering the fewest possible) changes from the

study phase/project to construction.


A unique operating model: a high‐speed line exclusively dedicated to passenger traffic allows higher

slopes in the layout (up to 3.5% instead of 1‐1.5%). It restricts the use of more expensive construction

solutions as tunnels and viaducts. This depends on topography and terrain type.

"Space economy": There are higher construction costs in environments of high population density.

Building a high‐speed line in urban or suburban, where a single corridor can attend various

infrastructures, leads overruns by establishing interim operating situations (affections, provisional

status and replacement of existing infrastructures), limited work periods (short and night) and

performance of existing signaling systems.

Environmental impact management and proposed integration measures.

"Economy of the experience". Although it seems to be no evidence regarding this. The specificity of

every project, diversity of construction methods and technological advances difficult making

homogeneous comparisons between countries with high experience in designing high‐speed line.

Ballasted track has been the historically more often used typology in conventional lines. Therefore, there is

an extensive experience in technical and economic management. Consequently, the design and

construction of the first high‐speed lines was done on ballast, which motivated the analysis and

implementation of the technical characteristics of the superstructure on ballast.

There is a lot of information about costs by type of infrastructure and superstructure, but its great

dispersion doesn’t offer a wide enough statistical sample. Nevertheless, several studies have established

ratios of costs of construction of a high speed line on track in ballast, ballasted‐ballastless transition and

crossing and switches.

COST (OF JUNE 2007)

BALLASTED TRACK HSR 445 €/m rail track

BALLASTED‐BALLASTLESS TRANSITION HSR 62.200 €/unit

CROSSING AND SWITCHES HSR 330.000 €/unit

On these ratios we can apply different coefficients to reflect the influence on the cost of the infrastructure

of different factors as tunnels, viaducts, embankments, benches or layout.


Adding to the track the rest of budget chapters and taking into consideration the experience in countries

with high‐speed lines (10 countries and 45 projects considered), the average cost per kilometer, expressed

in € 2005, is between 6 and 45 million/km. The average value is 17.5 million/km.

MAINTENANCE, OPERATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE RENEWAL COSTS

After the construction of the infrastructure, the provision of rail services involves two main types of costs:

those associated with the provision of services and, bigger than this, maintenance cost of that

infrastructure.

A significant portion of maintenance costs are fixed costs, determined by periodic auscultation programs

and maintenance operations. These are more or less independent of factors such as traffic volume, in order

to maintain the set quality standards.

These costs include maintenance personnel labor cost, materials and replacement parts as well as the

energy consumed in these tasks. Despite considering scheduled maintenance (preventive or predictive) as

fixed costs, schedule type and frequency of maintenance will have influence on fixed costs composition, as

seen in different railway administrations.

Just a part of the maintenance costs are variable, and they are mainly concentrated in the rail elements.

There are a number of studies examining the influence on the maintenance and renewal costs of variables

such as the type of railway superstructure (ballasted or ballastless track), the speed or the intensity of

traffic.

INFLUENCE OF THE TYPE OF SUPERSTRUCTURE

After the analysis of maintenance costs unit values, it is estimated 15 € / m track and year as a reasonable

cost on ballasted track. In slab track, based on Japanese experience, a value of 4.5 € / m of track per year is

taken as the lower limit of the maintenance costs. This sets the relation between slab / ballast track

maintenance costs into 30%.

INFLUENCE OF TRAFFIC

The traffic running through a line appears as a determinant factor of the track degradation and therefore

the cost of maintenance. However it is unknown the exact function to elate maintenance costs and traffic

volume.


From the set of studies we can conclude:

Traffic volume contributes positively to increased track maintenance costs.

According to references, traffic volume contribution to maintenance costs is between 0.210 and

0.327€/km of track per year per average daily TBK (calculated on an annual basis).

These variations have been obtained from 10,000 traffics over the daily average TBK. No references are

available for traffic below this threshold.

Paradoxically, the "Economy of the experience" in countries like Spain has meant that despite an increase

in traffic volume (+41%), maintenance costs have been reduced in the same period (11% nominal).

MAINTENANCE AND RENEWAL OPERATIONS

Given the limited experience available for renovation activities in high‐speed lines, most of the unit costs in

literature concerns to conventional network renovation activities.

Additionally, amounts provided by some railways infrastructure managers have relevant variations to each

other. The cause of this could be the differences in initial conditions of renewed lines and the different

nature of the operations carried out in each case.

Regarding to the French experience in renovation activities in the high‐speed lines, the cost of the ballast

renewal was 250 €/m of track, while switches and crossings renewal accounted 2.25 million euros per unit.

There are no quantitative values regarding to plates, sleepers or rails renewal in high‐speed lines.

Therefore, it is proposed taking as reference the construction and initial installation costs of these

elements. This hypothesis is probably underestimating the renovation costs, because it’s not taking into

account the removal of the materials on site.


MAINTENANCE COSTS BY SYSTEM AND COUNTRY €/KM OF SINGLE TRACK

BELGIUM FRANCE ITALY SPAIN

% % % %

KM SINGLE TRACK (Nº) 142 2.638 492 949

TRACK MAINTENANCE 13.841 43,7 19.140 67,3 5.911 46,0 13.531 10,1

ELECTRIFICATION 2.576 8,1 4.210 14,8 2.455 19,0 2.986 8,9

SIGNLLING 3.248 10,3 5.070 17,8 4.522 35,0 8.654 25,9

COMUNICATIONS 1.197 3,8 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 5.637 16,8

OTHER COSTS 10.821 34,2 ‐ ‐ ‐ ‐ 2.650 7,9

AGGREGATE MAINTENANCE 31.683 28.120 12.919 33.457

2.2.3.2 USEFUL LIFE: THEORETICAL VS REAL

Useful life is the estimated duration in which a given system can properly fulfill its function without

affecting the traffic safety. The lifetime can be estimated for each track component independently or for

the whole track.

Rail

Interaction between wheel and rail produces a progressive wear on the contact surfaces, altering

railhead geometry and reducing its resilient section. Due to cyclic loads over the rail, rail renewal can

be needed when a number of cycles has been reached. Specific studies quantified rail life in

approximately 40 to 60 years.

Sleepers

The life of the sleepers is conditioned by its shape and material they are made of, climatic conditions

and terms of use.

Specific studies set concrete sleepers life in 30‐40 years, or 500 million gross tons. This is conditioned

by the quality of the concrete used, the correct site work and its care and maintenance. (Puebla et al,

2000).

Ballast

Cyclic loads causes by the traffic and stone to stone contacts slowly crush the ballast over time. This

causes ballast contamination and, eventually, requires washing or ballast replacement.


Silicon ballast useful life is quantified at 300 million gross tons, equivalent to 25 to 30 years. (Puebla et

al, 2000)

Infrastructure

The next table represents the useful life of different infrastructure components.

COMPONENT USEFUL

Tunnel 50‐100

Steel bridge 50‐80

Concrete bridge 50‐100

Overpasses and underpasses 50‐100

REFERENCE: BAUMGARTER (2001)

The useful life of the different railway system according to the Spanish Railways Infrastructure Manager

(ADIF) is shown in the next table.

USEFUL LIFE OF RAILWAY SYSTEMS (ADIF)

SYSTEM USEFUL LIFE

Plattform

Earthmoving works 100

Tunnels, bridges and engineering structures 100

Drainage 25

Line fencing 50

Track superstructure 30‐60

Electric instalations

Contact wire 20

Supporting posts 60

Power substations 60

Signalling, comunications and security 25


2.3 TRAFFIC THERESHOLD

2.3.1 QUALITY INDEX, EVALUATION VALUES, DECISIONS MAKING, ALONG THE CORRIDORS

NORWAY :

The quality number (K‐number) indicates for which portion of a line all values are within the limits. It is

used to monitor track quality on longer sections of line. The K‐number is calculated using the following

formula:

∑l= the sum of all track lengths where standard deviation is within the quality limits.

L = the monitored track length.

σ‐values gives the limit for good track quality, expressed as standard deviation of faults in the track

geometry.

TABLE 6: QUALITY LIMITS

QUALITY CLASS SPEED

(KM/H)

QUALITY LIMITS (MM)

VERTICAL GEOMETRY

ΣH

SUPER ELEVATION

ΣR

HORISONTAL

GEOMETRY ΣP

CONSCIENCE

ΣS K0 145 ‐ 1,1 0,9 1,1 1,6

K1 125 ‐ 140 1,3 1,0 1,2 1,7

K2 105 ‐ 120 1,5 1,2 1,3 1,9

K3 75 ‐ 100 1,9 1,4 1,7 2,4

K4 45 ‐ 70 2,4 1,8 2,0 3,1

K5 ‐ 40 2,9 2,2 2,4 3,6

The size of conscience is a vector sum of horizontal geometry and super‐elevation, in order to

accommodate the cases where this is greater than the two parameters separately. Size is only relevant

when measuring carriage driving.

The quality number should be as high as possible. Low quality number will also accelerate the degradation

of the track.


TABLE 7: REQUIREMENTS FOR QUALITY NUMBER

QUALITY CLASS SPEED(KM/H) QUALITY NUMBER

NEWLY ADJUSTED MAINTENANCE LIMIT ACTION LIMIT

K0 145 ‐ 90 90 50

K1 125 ‐ 140 90 85 40

K2 105 ‐ 120 90 80 30

K3 75 ‐ 100 90 75 20

K4 45 ‐ 70 90 70 20

K5 ‐ 40 ‐ ‐ ‐

SWEDEN :

Track quality measurements and improvements is one of the prime issues in railroads in terms of planning

time and related cost. Making decision concerning measurements interval and how to allocate limited

resources for maintenance execution has an enormous influence on maintenance efficiency. Applying the

efficient and optimal tamping strategy helps reduce maintenance costs, making operations more cost

effective and leading to increased safety and passenger comfort.

Track geometry maintenance (tamping) is a maintenance action used to compact ballast and correct track

geometry faults such as incorrect alignment (lateral deviation) or incorrect longitudinal level (vertical

deviation). In Sweden, the annual tamping cost is about 100‐120 MSEK, and the total amount of tamped

track is approximately 1700 km, about 14% of the total track length.

TRACK QUALITY MONITORING AND MAINTENANCE:

To monitor track quality, Traffikverket regularly (every 1‐2 months from April to October) uses an

inspection car to measure the deviation of the track with an inertia measurement system and an optical

system. An accelerometer measures the acceleration of the vehicle; based on the recorded accelerations,

the vertical and lateral deviation of the track is calculated for consecutive 25‐centimeter intervals.

Based on these 25‐centimeter interval measurements, the standard deviation, ıS, of the monitored cant

error (C) and the average monitored lateral position error of the high rail (SHigh) (see Figure 40 and next

equation) are calculated for 200‐meter sections. The standard deviation of the average monitored vertical

error for the left and right rail, σ H is also calculated for 200‐ meter sections.


The standard deviations for lateral and vertical errors (σ S and σ H) are calculated from short wavelength

signals. Since the recorded signals from the measuring car are the combination of long and short

wavelengths, filtering is required. This can be done by selecting only signals in the range of 1 to 25 meters.

Traffikverket uses several condition indices to describe the condition of the track, the most important of

which are the Q‐value and K‐value. These are calculated based on the standard deviation of the vertical and

lateral displacements, σ S and σ H, and the comfort limits that define the acceptable standard deviation of

the longitudinal level for 200‐meter track sections.

The formula for calculating the Q‐value is:

Where:

σS lim = The comfort limit for the σ S value, defined for different track classes (see Table 8)

σH lim = The comfort limit for the σ H value, defined for different track classes (see Table 8).

FIGURE 40: SCHEME


The other index, the K‐value, is the ratio between (∑l), the total length of the track with standard

deviations below the comfort limits, and the total length of track (L). This index is used to obtain an overall

picture of the track condition over a long distance and is calculated by the equation:

In addition to the Q‐value and the K‐value, two fault limits are defined for 25‐cm track sections, “B‐faults”

and “C‐faults”. C‐faults, which are safety‐related limits, identify the maximum allowable deviation from the

design position (see Figure 40), while B‐faults identify the limits for the execution of preventive

maintenance. Although these limits are defined for “point failure” (25 cm), the fault normally occurs over a

length of at least 1 to 5 meters due to rail stiffness.

The track of the iron ore line consists of two quality classes, K2 and K3, each with a different allowable

speed, dissimilar fault thresholds and comfort limits for local trains (see Table 8).

TABLE 8: COMPARISON OF THE ALLOWABLE LIMITS BETWEEN K2 AND K3

Traffikverket outsources the tamping of each line to different contractors, mostly using performance

contracts. In this type of outsourcing, it is up to contractors to select appropriate methods and plan for the

work. They are responsible for both regular measurements of track geometry and tamping, and they base

their execution of tamping on the calculated Q‐values and C‐fault limits.

Tamping is executed as either preventive maintenance or corrective maintenance. Execution of tamping

due to the C‐fault is considered corrective maintenance; tamping due to the Q value is considered

preventive maintenance. This means that if the Q value of the track section falls below the contractual limit


and/or there is deviation in the track greater than the C‐fault limits (safety limits), tamping should be

performed. Tamping is obligatory (i.e. required by regulation) if the C‐fault value exceeds the C‐fault limit.

In the performance contracts, two limits are specified for the Q value, a goal limit and a contractual limit. If

the actual Q value of the track is higher than the goal limit, contractors will receive a bonus, while if it is

below the contractual limit, they must pay a penalty.

POLAND :

The state of the railway track is evaluated by:

Measuring the basic parameters which characterize the situation of the tracks, the gauge, the

differences between the height of the rails, the twist, the horizontal and vertical differences of the

rails.

The value of the state of the track index "J"

J = Sz + Sy + Sw + 0.5 Se / 3.5

Measurement of additional parameters like:

the situation of the track in horizontal and vertical to the alignment of the center of the track,

In continuous welded rail track, the values of the displacements of the rails regarding to fixed

points.

In unwelded rail track the values of the displacements of the expansion joints.

There are other index which shows the superstructure degradation according to the degradation of the rails

(Gs), sleepers (Gp) and ballast (Gt).

PORTUGAL :

Quality Indexes

The geometric quality of the track is evaluated based on the standard deviation for the alignment and

longitudinal level, calculated for each 200 meters track section. The worst value (alignment or level)

dictates the quality level.


GEOMETRIC ANALYSIS FOR 200 METERS SECTION

INDEX LIMITS ACTION

QN1 ≤ Warning Limit Track section in good status.

QN2 > Warning Limit ≤ 1.3 times Warning Limit Track section with maintenance needs for medium term.

Actions should be planned in line with the annual planning

accordingly with the desired geometric quality and the

degradation trend known.

QN3 > 1.3 times Warning Limit Track section with strong evidence of maintenance needs in

a very short term. Actions to be included on the annual

maintenance planning.

SPAIN :

The methodology used for evaluating the geometric quality of the track depends on if it is conventional or

high speed.

On conventional lines, is expressed by the value of a “Q” index. This indicator is calculated appreciating,

ponderously, all the flaws in the various parameters that determine the geometric quality of the track. The

quality index Q is obtained from the following expression:

S0= Qualification of parameter P0, longitudinal levelling of left rail.

S1= Qualification of parameter P1, longitudinal levelling of right rail.

S3= Qualification of parameter P3, track gauge.

S4= Qualification of parameter P4, track warping.

S5= Qualification of parameter P5, cross levelling.

S6= Qualification of parameter P6, alignment on left rail.

S7= Qualification of parameter P7, alignment on right rail.


TABLE 9: PARAMETERS AND QUALITY INDEX. TRACK IN OPERATION, NRV7300

PARAMETER RAIL‐144 M RAIL‐ 288 M

GOOD ACCEPTABLE FAIR POOR BAD GOOD ACCEPTABLE FAIR POOR BAD

LEVELLING S0,S1 ≤ 56 57‐62 63‐70 71‐80 >80 ≤112 113‐124 125‐138 139‐156 >156

WARPING, S4 ≤24 25‐28 29‐34 35‐40 >40 ≤38 39‐42 43‐48 49‐56 >56

GAUGE, S3 ≤15 16‐20 21‐30 31‐45 >45 ≤15 16‐20 21‐30 31‐45 >45

CANT, S5 ≤108 109‐120 121‐136 137‐156 >156 ≤164 165‐180 181‐206 207‐234 >234

ALIGMENT, S6, S7 ≤56 57‐62 63‐70 71‐80 >80 ≤112 113‐124 125‐138 139‐156 >156

QUALITY INDEX, Q ≤125 126‐140 141‐160 161‐185 >185 ≤230 231‐255 256‐285 286‐325 >325

According to the table, is associated to each interval of Q variation a qualification of the track: good,

acceptable, fair, poor and bad.

In high speed lines indicators for longitudinal levelling and alignment are defined, QN1, QN2 and QN3.

QN1: Value which advised a monitoring of the progress or removed in normal maintenance cycles.

QN2: Value that force to made maintenance operations in a short period of time.

QN3: Unwanted situation.

TABLE 10: GEOMETRIC QUALITY IN A HIGH SPEED LINE, ETI 2005

SPEED

ALIGNMENT LONGITUDINAL LEVELING

QUALITY LEVEL VALUE QUALITY LEVEL VALUE PARAMETER

STANDARD

DESVIATION

MAXIMUM

VALUE

QN1 QN2 QN1 QN2 QN1 QN2 QN1 QN2

MAXIMUM ABSOLUTE VALUE Longitudinal levelling

3‐25 m 1.0 1.3 4 8

v≤80 12 14 12 16 Alignment 3‐25 m 0.7 1.0 4 6

80<v≤120 8 10 8 12

Longitudinal levelling

25‐70 m 2.0 3.0 6 8

120<v≤160 6 8 6 10 Alignment 25‐70 m 1.3 2.0 6 8

160<v≤200 5 7 5 9

Longitudinal levelling

70‐120 m 2.7 4.0 8 10

200<v≤300 4 6 4 8 Alignment 70‐120 m 3.4 4.0 8 10

STANDARD DESVIATION Warp ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ 6 7

v≤80 1,5 1,8 2,3 2,6 Cant 0.7 1 5 10

80<v≤120 1,2 1,5 1,8 2,1 Gauge 0.7 1 +5‐3 +10‐5

120<v≤160 1 1,3 1,4 1,7

160<v≤200 0,8 1,1 1,2 1,5

200<v≤300 0,7 1 1 1,3


We can see that the geometric quality requirements are higher in high speed lines than in conventional

ones.

Is mandatory to remark that both methodologies are useful, being their objectives quite different. “Q” is a

global quality indicator, it try to show, in one value, the quality of the track giving more or less importance

to each parameter.

Otherwise, the QN index, tried to evaluate the railtrack quality from other view, each of these indicators

indicates a situation, trying to control the evolution of the rail track faults, recommending several

preventive performance to each limit value, these method looks more suitable.

2.3.2 LEVELING, ALIGMENT, CAMBER, WARP

NORWAY :

From JD590: The track geometry is periodically monitored using a Track Recording Vehicle (ROGER 1000).

The test frequency is dependent on the quality class of the track. Based on these recordings the standard

deviation and quality number of the track is calculated.

The standard deviation is as a rule calculated on the bases of 200 m or 1000 m length of line. Standard

deviation is calculated for these lengths and with accuracy as shown in the next table.

PARAMETRES WAVELENGTH MEASURING ACCURACY BASIS OF CALCULATION

Standard deviation of

vertical alignment

3 – 25 m

25 – 70 m

70 – 150 m

± 0.2 mm

± 0.5 mm

± 1.5 mm

200 m

1000 m

1500 m


horizontal alignment

3 – 25 m

25 – 70 m

70 – 150 m

± 0.2 mm

± 0.5 mm

± 1.5 mm

200 m

1000 m

1500 m


super‐elevation(cant)

3 – 25 m

25 – 70 m

± 0.2 mm

± 0.5 mm

200 m

1000 m


Deviation in gauge

Allowed deviations in gauge from core value 1435 mm:

TABLE 11: ALLOWED DEVIATIONS IN GAUGE

QUALITY

CLASS

SPEED

(KM/H)

DEVIATION IN GAUGE (MM)

NEW TRACK MAINTENANCE LIMIT ACTION LIMIT IMMEDIATE LIMIT

K0 145 ‐ +2/‐2 +5/‐3 +15/‐5 +28/‐7

K1 125 ‐ 140 +2/‐2 +7/‐3 +20/‐5 +35/‐8

K2 105 ‐ 120 +2/‐2 +7/‐3 +20/‐5 +35/‐9

K3 75 ‐ 100 +3/‐3 +15/‐5 +30/‐8 +35/‐9

K4 45 ‐ 70 +4/‐4 +15/‐5 +30/‐8 +35/‐9

K5 ‐ 40 +5/‐5 +15/‐5 +30/‐8 +35/‐9

Deviation in gauge over distance

TABLE 12: ALLOWED DEVIATION FOR CHANGE IN GAUGE

QUALITY CLASS SPEED (KM/H) CHANGE IN GAUGE (MM)

MAINTENANCE LIMIT ACTION LIMIT

K0 145 ‐ 7 10

K1 125 ‐ 140 8 12

K2 105 ‐ 120 9 15

K3 75 ‐ 100 10 18

K4 45 ‐ 70 12 21

K5 ‐ 40 15 25

Variations in gauge over time

Action Limit: If the gauge changes with 6 mm or more during a year shall be initiated investigations of

track construction to uncover the cause of the rapid change.

Wooden sleepers shall be examined for rot together with the screw holes.

Concrete sleepers should be examined for cracks / fractures and wear of the slip.

Track gauges in crosscurves

In crosscurves without transition curves with intermediate straight line less than 7 m, the gauge shall

not be greater than the value in the table below.


FIGURE 41: TRANSITION CURVES WITH INTERMEDIATE STRAIGHT LINE LESS THAN 7 M

TABLE 13: MAXIMUM GAUGE

R1 (M) R2 (M) MAX. GAUGE (MM)

140 ‐ 200 140 ‐ 200 1440

140 ‐ 200 200 ‐ 300 1450

200 ‐ 300 200 ‐ 300 1460

If one of the curve radiuses is greater than 300 m, the gauge must not exceed 1465 mm.

Vertical geometry

TABLE 14: ALLOWED UNEVENNESS IN HEIGHT

QUALITY CLASS SPEED (KM/H) UNEVENNESS IN HEIGHT OF EACH RAIL (+/‐ MM)


K0 145 ‐ 2 6 9

K1 125 ‐ 140 2 6 10

K2 105 ‐ 120 2 7 12

K3 75 ‐ 100 4 10 16

K4 45 ‐ 70 5 13 21

K5 ‐ 40 6 17 27

TABLE 15: ALLOWED UNEVENNESS IN SUPERELEVATION

QUALITY CLASS SPEED (KM/H) UNEVENNESS IN SUPERELEVATION (+/‐ MM)


K0 145 ‐ 2 4 6

K1 125 ‐ 140 2 4 7

K2 105 ‐ 120 2 5 8

K3 75 ‐ 100 3 7 10

K4 45 ‐ 70 4 10 13

K5 ‐ 40 5 12 16


TABLE 16: ALLOWED TWIST WITH 2 METER MEASURING BASIS

QUALITY CLASS SPEED (KM/H)

TWIST (+/‐ MM)

NEWLY

ADJUSTED

MAINTENANCE

LIMIT ACTION LIMIT

IMMIDIATE LIMITR ≥ 400 M 1) R < 400 M 1)

K0 145 ‐ 2 7 10 14 12

K1 125 ‐ 140 2 7 10 14 12

K2 105 ‐ 120 2 7 10 14 12

K3 75 ‐ 100 3 7 10 14 12

K4 45 ‐ 70 4 7 10 14 12

K5 ‐ 40 5 7 10 14 12

TABLE 17: ALLOWED TWIST WITH 9 METER MEASURING BASIS

QUALITY CLASS SPEED (KM/H)

TWIST (+/‐ MM)

NEWLY

ADJUSTED

MAINTENANCE

LIMIT ACTION LIMIT

IMMIDIATE LIMIT

R ≥ 400 M 1) R < 400 M 1)

K0 145 ‐ 6 20 31 43 34

K1 125 ‐ 140 6 20 31 43 34

K2 105 ‐ 120 6 20 31 43 34

K3 75 ‐ 100 9 20 31 43 34

K4 45 ‐ 70 12 20 31 43 34

K5 ‐ 40 15 20 31 43 34

Horisontal geometry

QUALITY

CLASS

SPEED

(KM/H)

DEVIATIONS IN RISING HEIGHT (+/‐MM)

NEWLY

ADJUSTED

MAINTENANCE

LIMIT

ACTION

LIMIT

IMMIDIATE

LIMIT

K0 145 ‐ 2 3 5 10

K1 125 ‐ 140 2 4 6 14

K2 105 ‐ 120 2 5 7 17

K3 75 ‐ 100 3 6 10 17

K4 45 ‐ 70 3 10 13 22

K5 ‐ 40 4 13 16 22


Adjustment

Where the gauge exceeds the immediate limits, the adjustment must be executed immediately.

Speed restrictions until the fault is corrected.

When exceeding the action limit, it shall be repaired and monitored so that the limit of a) isn't

exceeded before the next measurement.

Exceeding the maintenance limits, maintenance planned so that the error is corrected at the latest

before the action level is exceeded can be expected.

SWEDEN :

LEVELING, ALIGNMENT, CAMBER, WARP

To measure track positions, Traffikverket has a central measurement carriage STRIX (Litt Qih238). Vehicle

what is recording is the BVF 541.60.

Track Mode Control

Track mode control is performed to check the unevenness of track and allocate in relation to the

landscaped geometry. Small track irregularities can result uncomfortable disruption to passengers and

larger track irregularities may involve risk of derailment.

Different kinds of track position control:

Track Mode Control with recording vehicle: The track will be loaded and the measurement result is

recorded continuously. The measurement carriage STRIX also makes a track position that provides

objective quality for short and long distances.

Manual track position control. It is used when derailment is not recording vehicle.

Control of the absolute position in the track. It is used in track measure geodetic and whose

position is consolidated. Intended mode can always be restored and rail voltages can be

controlled. Limits are in BVF 541.60.

Quality Classes for track position

Quality Class for track position is determined on the basis of applied sth for locomotive category A and

the sth‐speed in Table 19. Sth for train category B with 20% higher than category A does not affect the

quality class.


TABLE 18: QUALITY CLASSES FOR TRACK POSITION

QUALITY CLASS STH LOCOMOTIVE

KAT A (KM/H) STH SPEED

K0 145 ‐ 185 ‐

K1 125 ‐ 140 160 ‐ 180

K2 105 ‐ 120 135 – 155

K3 75 ‐ 100 95 ‐ 130

K4 40 ‐ 70 ‐ 90

K5 ‐ 40

K0‐K4 refers railroad tracks and K5 intends side and industrial sidings.

Quality

Quality standards relate to both the requirements for good passenger comfort and for optimum

safety against derailment.

Point failures

For single‐point failures, the geometry arranged in the following respects:

Altitude Mode 1‐25m (short‐wave), left and right rails

Height Location 25‐60/80/100m (longwave), mean left and right rails

Skew the measurement base 6 m and 3 m

Cant

Lateral alignment 1‐25m (short‐wave), left and right rails

Lateral alignment 25‐60/80/100m (long wavelength), mean right and left rails

Track

Quality standards for single‐point failures are given in Tables 19 and 20. The values in Table 19 and

20 relate deviations from the default value of lines of track position chart. For skew, cant and

gauge is the default value equal to the rash to appear with regard to arranged track geometry. The

table columns A, B and C with the following meanings:

Column A

Specifies the size allowed on the residual error in new adjustment of the track. Occasional

larger error can be accepted. The newly built seamlessly track with new track equipment

always applied class K0 independent of applied sth.


Column B

Specifies values for maintenance. Track Location errors should be corrected in most cases

before they reach this size. Table values can be exceeded in individual points that are kept

under surveillance until they resolved.

Column C

Errors that exceed this limit must be addressed urgently. Until the fault is rectified

contemplated, the rate reduction depend on the magnitude of the error, track position in

general and other conditions.

TABLE 19: QUALITY STANDARDS FOR SINGLE‐POINT FAILURES, HEIGHT

DEVIATION FROM DEFAULT (MM)

QUALITY

CLASS

STH

LOCOMOTIVE

KM/TIM

STH SPEED

KM/TIM

UPPER REGISTER CANT

SHORT WAVY

WRONG 1‐25 M

WAVELENGTH

LONG ROW

ERROR

(BENCHMARK)

DEVIATION

SKEW

MEASUREMENT

BASE 6 M

SKEW

MEASUREMENT

BASE 3 M

A B C A B A B C A B C A B C

K0 145 ‐ 185 ‐ 2 6 9 7 15 2 4 6 4 9 13 3 6 9

K1 125 ‐ 140 160 ‐ 180 2 6 10 7 15 2 4 7 4 10 15 3 7 10

K2 105 ‐ 120 135 – 155 2 7 12 7 15 2 5 8 4 11 17 3 8 11

K3 75 ‐ 100 95 ‐ 130 4 10 16 ‐ ‐ 3 7 10 6 13 19 4 9 13

K4 40 ‐ 70 60 ‐ 90 5 13 21 ‐ ‐ 4 10 13 8 16 23 5 10 15

K5 ‐ 40 6 17 27 ‐ ‐ 5 12 16 10 19 27 7 12 15

Line in the graph 2 and 3 4 6 5 ‐


TABLE 20: QUALITY STANDARDS FOR SINGLE‐POINT FAILURES, LATERAL POSITION

DEVIATION FROM DEFAULT (MM)

QUALITY

CLASS

STH

LOCOMOTIVE

KM/TIM

STH SPEED

KM/TIM

LATERAL ALIGNMENT GAUGE

SHORT WAVY

WRONG 1‐25 M

WAVELENGTH

LONG WAVY

ERROR

(BENCHMARKS

DEVIATION FROM

NOMINAL VALUE 1435

MM

MODIFICATI

ON IN 10 M

TRACK

A B C A B A B C B C

K0 145 ‐ 185 ‐ 2 3 5 5 10 ±2 ±5 +15,‐5 7 10

K1 125 ‐ 140 160 ‐ 180 2 4 6 5 10 ±2 +7,‐5 +20,‐5 8 12

K2 105 ‐ 120 135 – 155 2 5 7 5 10 ±2 +10,‐5 +25,‐5 9 15

K3 75 ‐ 100 95 ‐ 130 3 6 10 ‐ ‐ ±3 +15,‐5 +30,‐5 10 18

K4 40 ‐ 70 60 ‐ 90 3 10 13 ‐ ‐ ±4 +20,‐5 +35,‐5 12 21

K5 ‐ 40 4 13 16 ‐ ‐ ±5 +20,‐5 +35,‐5 15 25

Line in the graph 8 and 9 10 11

Track Location Stats

The measurements in the trailer analysis system calculate the standard deviation (σ) for track

location parameters height, cant, position and interaction. Standard deviations are calculated

sliding over a track length of 200 m in Table 21 below shows the thresholds (benchmarks) for

comfort.

TABLE 21: COMFORT LIMITS FOR STANDARD DEVIATIONS

QUALITY

CLASS

STH

LOCOMOTIVE

KM/TIM

STH FAST

TRAIN

KM/TIM

COMFORT LIMIT

UPPER

REGISTER ΣH

RATIO RAIL

ΣR

LATERAL

ALIGNMENT ΣP

COLLABORATION

ΣS

MM MM MM MM

K0 145 ‐ 185 ‐ 1,1 0,9 1,1 1,6

K1 125 ‐ 140 160 ‐ 180 1,0 1,2 1,7

K2 105 ‐ 120 135 – 155 1,3 1,2 1,3 1,9

K3 75 ‐ 100 95 ‐ 130 1,4 1,7 2,4

K4 40 ‐ 70 60 ‐ 90 1 1,8 2,0 3,1

K5 ‐ 40 2,2 2,4 3,6

The values of the table are used i.e. for the calculation of quality factor Q and K, which among

other things report in the valuation charts and valuation lists.


A high quality value means that track position average is good, but there still may have a few large

isolated defects.

Q ratio is a measure of the average σ‐values relative to the comfort limits in Table 21. It can be

used as a basis for maintenance planning and monitoring of track sections with a length of about

one kilometre and up.

Cost ratio indicates how much of a stretch where all σ‐values below the comfort limits. K's are

primarily used for Traffikverket comprehensive monitoring of trace mode for longer distances

(track pieces and string) and is unsuitable as a basis for maintenance planning in shorter sections.

K and Q‐factor > 80 means that the track position on the route largely complies with the limits in

Table 21.

Derailment Hazardous wrong

If the irregularities in the track are detected, and can present a risk of derailment, should be

considered:

If traffic must be immediately stopped; or

If traffic may be driven at reduced speed and under any coverage by checking the track before

each train until the fault is rectified.

The following track irregularities should be given special consideration with regard to the risk

of derailment:

- Track width greater than 1470 mm. Vulnerable sections are curved track with small radio

(side wear on surface), especially itineraries in and adjacent to the crossing where the

sleepers and rail fasteners are in poor condition.

- Skew (even a cant change):

POINTED RUSH [MM]

RAMPTAL I PARENTES

POINTED RUSH [MM]

RAMPTAL I PARENTES Base measurements 6 m > 30

(< 200)

> 25

(< 240) Base measurements 3 m > 18

(< 167)

> 15

(< 200)

(Ramptal = 1000 * measurement base / rash)


Super elevation errors are calculated from the zero line of the cant ramp (total skew will be taken

into account).

Skewed error the curve should be considered more serious than in the straight track. Pointed rash

in track mode diagram means short‐faults, such as low joint in one rail.

Blunt ruling means that the fault is long and that the real change of cant terms with longer

measurement base is larger than the angle of the track position chart.

POLAND :

These tables show the Permissible deviations of the measured parameters to ensure the comfort of the

travel depending on the measures made by work test car and electronics surveys systems and manually

ones.

The permissible values of the main parameters of the railway track situation (for continuous measurements

made with a Dresina and electronic survey system) are:

SPEED

[KM/H]

INEQUALITIES TWIST

5 M [MM]

RAILWAY GAUGE DIFFERENCESCANT

[MM]

INDEX

J [MM] HORIZONTAL

[MM]

VERTICAL

[MM]

WIDER

[MM]

REDUCTIONS

[MM]

GRADIENT

[MM/M]

200 4 3 5 4 3 1 5 1,3

180 5 4 6 5 3 1 6 1,6

160 6 6 8 6 4 1 8 2,1

140 7 8 10 8 5 1 12 2,7

120 9 10 12 9 7 1 12 3,3

100 13 14 14 10 7 2 15 4,3

80 17 18 16 10 8 2 20 5,3

70 20 21 18 12 8 2 20 6,1

60 24 25 19 15 8 2 25 7,0

50 29 30 21 17 8 3 25 8,2

40 35 35 23 20 9 3 25 9,6

30 44 40 25 25 9 3 25 11,2

20 53 50 30 32 10 4 25 14,5


The permissible values of the main parameters of the tracks for manually measures are:

SPEED[KM/H] GAUGE [MM]

HEIGHT

DIFFERENCE OF

RAIL LOCATION

[MM]

ARROW

DIFERRENCE IN

10 M ROPE

[MM]

LEVEL

DIFFERENCE OF

ALIGMNET

MARKS [MM]

DIFFERENCES

IN HEIGHT OF

ALIGMNET

MARKS [MM]

EXPANSIÓN

DIFFERENCES IN

THE SAME UNION

JOINTS:

MAX/MIN. [MM]

200 No measures are done.

180 No measures are done.

160 +4, ‐6 8 8 10 10 ‐

140 +8, ‐5 12 9 10 10 ‐

120 +9, ‐7 12 10 10 10 ‐

100 +10, ‐7 15 12 15 15 4

80 +10, ‐8 20 14 15 15 4

70 +12, ‐8 20 15 15 15 5

60 +15, ‐8 25 16 15 15 5

50 +17, ‐8 25 17 15 15 5

40 +20, ‐9 25 18 20 20 5

30 +25, ‐9 25 20 30 30 5

20 +35, ‐10 25 25 35 35 5

Below are the differences evaluation criteria of the state of the rail way superstructure.

Rails

CLASS

NUMBER OF

ADMISSIBLE RAIL

BREAKING PER 1 KM

VERTICAL ADMISIBLE

WEARING OF THE RAIL [MM]

LATERAL ADMISIBLE

WEARING OF THE RAIL [MM]

DECLINATION

ANGLE OF

LATERAL

SURFACE OF RAIL

HEAD α

ALL

DNPC

ORIGINALS

DNPP UIC60 (60E1) OTHERS UIC60 (60E1) OTHERS

0 6 2 12 14 65º

1 7 4 14 8 18 12

2 8 5 16 10 20 14 60º

3 9 6 16 14 20 17 55º

4 Y 5 10 7 20 16 22 19 55º

LATERAL TRACKS ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ 28 25 to the lower edge of the head 55º

Comment: 1) When there are simultaneous vertical and lateral wear should be reduced by half the effective lateral wear. 2) In class 0 tracks, after reaching the allowable lateral wear is forbidden to change (swap) rails of different sides. 3) On changed rails, the vertically wear have to be reduced by half of the sum of the actual wear of both lateral sides.


Sleepers

SLEEPERS CLASIFICATION CRITERIA DEGRADATION

LEVEL

WOOD SLEEPERS

LOW WEAR Incision of the plate to the depth of 6 mm. Open longitudinal cracks no greater than 10 mm. Obliquity not exceeding 50 mm. 0 ‐ 0,2

MEDIUM WEAR Incision of the plate 6 ‐ 12 mm. Open longitudinal cracks greater than 15 mm. Dents and scratches from the surface up to 20 mm. Obliquity to 130 mm (with absence of cracks and incisions to 160 mm).

0,2 ‐ 0,7

HIGH WEAR Incisions of the plates and the total depth. Longitudinal cracks open more than 15 mm. More surface defects of 20 mm. Traces of rot. Obliquity as in the previous section. 0,7 ‐ 0,9

VERY HIGH

WEAR

You can take the bolts finger. Open cracks 30 mm and more. Transverse cracks (cracks) visible. Decayed sleepers. 0,9 ‐ 1,0

CONCRETE SLEEPERS.

LOW WEAR No cracks and breaks in the rail below. Unique hairline cracks in the central portion in the amount of up to 5 per rail sleepers 30 m (4 to 25 sleepers per lane m). 0 ‐ 0,2

MÉDIUM WEAR No cracks and breaks in the rail below. Sloughing hairline cracks in the concrete in the central part up to 10 sleepers for rail 30 m (8 sleepers for rail to 25 m). 0,2 ‐ 0,7

HIGH WEAR Cracks in the underside of the rail without sloughing of concrete sleepers to 5 per lane of 30 m (up to 4 sleepers per rail 25 m) or shredding up 2 runners per lane of 30 m and 25 m. Hairline cracks in the central part of concrete crumbling until sleepers for rail 15 (30 m to 12 sleepers for rail 25 m). Cracks in the central part of concrete crumbling sleepers for rail to 3 30 m and 25 m. Breaks up 2 runners per lane of 30 and 25 m.

0,7 ‐ 0,9

VERY HIGH

WEAR.

Cracks in the underside of the rail without breaking up the concrete in the amount of up to 5 per rail sleepers 30 m (up to 4 sleepers for rail 25 m) or crumbling of concrete sleepers over 2 per lane of 25 to 30 m. Cracks in the central part of the concrete without chipping in over 15 sleepers per lane of 30 m (over 12 sleepers per rail 25 m) or crushing of concrete sleepers for over 3 lanes of 30 m and 25 m. 3 and more breaks by rail sleepers 30 and 25 m.

0,9 ‐ 1,0

Ballast

BALLAST CLASIFICATION CRITERIA WEAR LEVEL

GOOD No clog‐. Small amount of herbs. Complete filling of the bottom faces of the sleepers. No detachment of the ballast is in the bottom faces of the sleepers. Sleepers’ spaces filled. The ballast compacted and stabilized. No symptoms of voids beneath the sleepers.

0 ‐ 0,2

REGULAR Clog‐singular, no more than two consecutive sleepers in the amount not exceeding 15% of sleepers. Lots of herbs. Sleepers unique lower face discovered until 2/3 height.

0,2 ‐ 0,6

BAD Clog‐in 3 to 5 consecutive sleepers, have overall in an amount of up to 30% of sleepers. Lots of herbs. Deficiencies of ballast spaces between sleepers to 2/3 of the height of the ties.

0,6 ‐ 0,8

WORST Clog‐over 5 consecutive sleepers, in total in an amount exceeding 30% of sleepers. Empty spaces between the sleepers. The undersides of the sleepers completely uncovered over a length of 4 m.

> 0,8


PORTUGAL :

Here are presented the tolerances and standard deviations of the geometric parameters for the track

gauges 1668 mm, 1435 mm and 1000 mm. The following situations are considered:

Works acceptance (distinguished between new/renewed tracks and maintenance works)

Maintenance decisions actions

The track quality evaluation for the maintenance decisions is performed taking the following tolerance

concepts:

Warning (work planning)

Intervention (short term actions)

Immediate action

The tolerances for works acceptance and immediate action are mandatory, the other ones are established

as reference values and managed accordingly the REFER maintenance policy taking as input the quality

level desired for the track, anomaly corrections timings and monitoring and inspections frequencies

affected to the major anomalies.

TOLERANCES DEFINITIONS

Warning tolerance

The value of the geometric parameter that when overpassed originates an input on the programmatic

maintenance works. The timeline for the works scheduling will be defined by infra‐structure

maintenance responsible organization relying on the defined limits and resource available.

Intervention tolerance

The value of the geometric parameter that when overpassed originates a short term maintenance

actions in order that the degradation doesn’t reach the worst tolerance classification and the need of

an immediate action.


Immediate action tolerance

The value of geometric parameter that should not be reached, otherwise an immediate maintenance

correction action shall take place or the respective track submitted to a speed constrain or circulation

interdiction.

GEOMETRIC TOLERANCES FOR MAINTENANCE WORKS ACCEPTANCE

TABLE 22: GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS TOLERANCES FOR TRACK GAUGES 1668MM AND 1435MM FOR MAINTENANCE

WORKS

QUALITY

CLASS

SPEED

(KM/H)

GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS (MM)

GAU

GE

TRAN

SVER

SAL

LEVE

L

LONGITUDINAL

LEVE

L

ALIGNMEN

T WRT

PROJECT

EFERE

NCE

WAR

P

(3 M

ETER

S)

LONGITUDINAL

LEVE

L

1M – 25M

LO

NGITUDINAL

LEVE

L

25M – 70M

ALIGNMEN

T

1M – 25M

ALIGNMEN

T

25M – 70M

I V>230 ‐2/+4 3 4 4 3 3 3 3 3

II 160<V≤230 ‐2/+5 + 4 4 3 3 4 3 4

III 120<V≤160 ‐2/+5 3 5 5 4.5 3 n.a 4 n.a

IV 80<V≤120 ‐3/+5 4 5 5 4.5 4 n.a 4 n.a

V 40<V≤80 ‐3/+7 5 7 7 4.5 5 n.a 5 n.a

VI V≤40 ‐3/+8 6 7 8 6 5 n.a 6 n.a

TABLE 23: GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS TOLERANCES FOR TRACK GAUGE 1000 MM FOR MAINTENANCE WORKS

QUALITY

CLASS

SPEED

(KM/H)


GAU

GE

TRAN

SVER

SAL

LEVE

L

LONGITUDINAL

LEVE

L

ALIGNMEN

T WRT

PROJECT

REFER

ENCE

WAR

P

(3 M

ETER

S)

LONGITUDINAL

LEVE

L

1M – 25M

ALIGNMEN

T

1M – 25M

IV 80<V≤120 ‐3/+5 4 6 5 3 4 4

V 40<V≤80 ‐3/+7 5 7 7 3 5 5

VI V≤40 ‐3/+8 6 7 8 6 5 6


GEOMETRIC TOLERANCES FOR MAINTENANCE ACTIONS PLANNING

Warning tolerances

TABLE 24: GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS WARNING TOLERANCES FOR TRACK GAUGES 1668MM AND 1435MM FOR

MAINTENANCE ACTIONS PLANNING

QUALITY

CLASS

SPEED

(KM/H)


GAU

GE

GAU

GE

AVER

AGE

LONGITUDINAL

LEVE

L

1M – 25M

LONGITUDINAL

LEVE

L

25M – 70M

ALIGNMEN

T

1M – 25M

ALIGNMEN

T

25M – 70M

WAR

P

(3 M

ETER

S)

I V>230 ‐3/+20 ‐1/+16 10 18 7 13 9

II 160<V≤230 ‐4/+20 ‐3/+16 12 20 8 15 9

III 120<V≤160 ‐6/+25 ‐3/+16 15 n.a. 9 n.a. 12

IV 80<V≤120 ‐7/+25 ‐5/+22 16 n.a 11 n.a 12

V 40<V≤80 ‐7/+25 ‐6/+25 18 n.a. 15 n.a. 12

VI V≤40 ‐7/+25 n.a./+25 18 n.a. 15 n.a. 12

TABLE 25: GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS WARNING TOLERANCES FOR TRACK GAUGE 1000 MM FOR MAINTENANCE

ACTIONS PLANNING

QUALITY

CLASS

SPEED

(KM/H)


GAU

GE

GAU

GE

AVER

AGE

LONGITUDINAL

LEVE

L

1M – 25M

ALIGNMEN

T

1M – 25M

WAR

P

(3 M

ETER

S)

IV 80<V≤120 ‐7/+25 ‐5/+22 16 11 9

V 40<V≤80 ‐7/+25 ‐6/+25 18 15 9

VI V≤40 ‐7/+25 n.a./+25 18 15 9

TABLE 26: STANDARD DEVIATION WARNING TOLERANCES FOR TRACK GAUGES 1668MM AND 1435MM FOR


QUALITY

CLASS

SPEED

(KM/H)

STANDARD DEVIATION (MM)

LONGITUDINAL LEVEL 1M – 25M ALIGNMENT 1M – 25M

I V>230 1.5 1.0

II 160<V≤230 1.9 1.1

III 120<V≤160 2.4 1.3

IV 80<V≤120 2.7 1.5

V 40<V≤80 3.0 1.8

VI V≤40 3.3 2.1


TABLE 27: STANDARD DEVIATION WARNING TOLERANCES FOR TRACK GAUGE 1000MM FOR MAINTENANCE

ACTIONS PLANNING

QUALITY

CLASS

SPEED

(KM/H)

STANDARD DEVIATION (MM)

LONGITUDINAL

LEVEL

1M – 25M

ALIGNMENT

1M – 25M

IV 80<V≤120 2.7 1.5

V 40<V≤80 3.0 1.8

VI V≤40 3.3 2.1

Intervention tolerances for track gauges 1668 mm and 1435 mm

TABLE 28: GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS INTERVENTION TOLERANCES FOR TRACK GAUGES 1668MM AND 1435MM FOR

MAINTENANCE

QUALITY

CLASS

SPEED

(KM/H)


GAU

GE

GAU

GE AV

ERAG

E

LONGITUDINAL

LEVE

L

1M – 25M

LONGITUDINAL

LEVE

L

25M – 70M

ALIGNMEN

T

1M – 25M

ALIGNMEN

T

25M – 70M

WAR

P

(3 M

ETER

S)

I V>230 ‐4/+23 ‐2/+18 12 20 8 14 12

II 160<V≤230 ‐5/+23 ‐4/+18 14 23 9 17 12

III 120<V≤160 ‐8/+30 ‐4/+18 17 n.a. 10 n.a. 15

IV 80<V≤120 ‐9/+30 ‐6/+25 19 n.a. 13 n.a 15

V 40<V≤80 ‐9/+30 ‐7/+28 21 n.a. 17 n.a. 15

VI V≤40 ‐9/+30 n.a./+28 21 n.a. 17 n.a. 15

TABLE 29: GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS INTERVENTION TOLERANCES FOR TRACK GAUGE 1000 MM FOR


QUALITY

CLASS

SPEED

(KM/H)


GAU

GE

GAU

GE AV

ERAG

E

LONGITUDINAL

LEVE

L

1M – 25M

ALIGNMEN

T

1M – 25M

WAR

P

(3 M

ETER

S)

IV 80<V≤120 ‐9/+30 ‐6/+25 19 13 11

V 40<V≤80 ‐9/+30 ‐7/+28 21 17 11

VI V≤40 ‐9/+30 n.a./+28 21 17 11


Immediate action tolerances for track gauges 1668 mm and 1435 mm

TABLE 30: GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS IMMEDIATE ACTION TOLERANCES FOR TRACK GAUGES 1668MM AND

1435MM FOR MAINTENANCE

QUALITY

CLASS

SPEED

(KM/H)

GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS (MM) GAU

GE

GAU

GE AV

ERAG

E

LONGITUDINAL

LEVE

L

1M – 25M

LONGITUDINAL

LEVE

L

25M – 70M

ALIGNMEN

T

1M – 25M

ALIGNMEN

T

25M – 70M

WAR

P

(3 M

ETER

S)

I V>230 ‐5/+28 ‐4/+20 16 28 10 20 15

II 160<V≤230 ‐7/+28 ‐6/+20 20 33 12 24 15

III 120<V≤160 ‐10/+35 ‐6/+20 23 n.a. 14 n.a. 21

IV 80<V≤120 ‐11/+35 ‐8/+27 26 n.a. 17 n.a. 21

V 40<V≤80 ‐11/+35 ‐9/+32 28 n.a. 22 n.a. 21

VI V≤40 ‐11/+35 n.a./+32 31 n.a. 25 n.a. 21

TABLE 31: GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS IMMEDIATE ACTION TOLERANCES FOR TRACK GAUGE 1000 MM FOR


QUALITY

CLASS

SPEED

(KM/H)


GAU

GE

GAU

GE AV

ERAG

E

LONGITUDINAL

LEVE

L

1M – 25M

ALIGNMEN

T

1M – 25M

WAR

P

(3 M

ETER

S)

IV 80<V≤120 ‐11/+35 ‐8/+27 26 17 15

V 40<V≤80 ‐11/+35 ‐9/+32 28 22 15

VI V≤40 ‐11/+35 n.a./+32 31 25 15

SPAIN :

Railways must have geometric quality requirements to operate the circulations in conditions of comfort

and safety. The quality of the railways can be defined as a set of inherent properties that allow

characterizing the path and value.

The tables below show the parameters measured in the geometric auscultations made in the Spanish high‐

speed tracks.


TRACK

PARAMETERS

FILTERING

PARAMETERS TRACK GEOMETRY DYNAMICS EFECTS

AXLE BOX

ACCELERATIONS

0.03 ‐ 0.10 m. Short wave corrugation

Rail‐wheel dynamic overloads: Rolling contact fatigue

Vibrations: Lack of comfort

Noise: Lack of comfort

0.10 ‐ 0.30 m. Medium wave corrugation

0.30 ‐ 1.00 m. Long wave corrugation

Levelling defects in welds and joints

LONGITUDINAL

LEVELLING

1 ‐ 3 m. Long wave corrugation

3 ‐ 25 m. Short wave levelling defects

Rail‐wheel dynamic overloads :

‐ Rolling contact fatigue

‐ Insecurity

25 ‐ 70 m. Medium wave levelling defects Carbody accelerations medium speed: Lack of

comfort 70 ‐ 120 m. Long wave levelling defects

TRANSVERSAL

LEVELLING

3 ‐ 25 m. Short wave transversal level defects



‐ Insecurity

25 ‐ 70 m. Medium wave transversal level

defects Carbody accelerations medium speed:

Lack of comfort 70 ‐ 120 m. Long wave transversal level defects

WARPING

base 3 m. Warping defects short distance

between pivots Bogie derailment

base 5 m. Warping defects medium distance

between pivots Short axle wagon derailment

base 9 m. Warping defects long distance

between pivots Long axle wagon derailment

ALIGNMENT

3 ‐ 25 m. Short wave alignment defects



‐ Insecurity

25 ‐ 70 m. Medium wave alignment defects Carbody accelerations medium speed: Lack of

comfort 70 ‐ 120 m. Long wave alignment defects

TRACK GAUGE 3 ‐ 25 m. Track gauge variation

Rail‐wheel dynamic overloads:


‐ Insecurity

70 ‐ ∞ m. Medium track gauge Ride stability: insecurity

HEAD RAIL

TRANSVERSE

SECTION

Vertical wear in rail

Ride stability: insecurity Lateral wear in rail

Total wear

CURVATURE 70 ‐ ∞ m. Track ground layout

SUPERELEVATION 70 ‐ ∞ m. Track ground layout Determination maximum circulation speed

TRACK PROFILE 200 ‐ ∞ m. Track elevation layout Determination of minimum braking distances


The thresholds depend on the speed of the trains and they are more restricted as higher is the speed.

When a measure is exceeded, the path is included in the maintenance schedule.

TABLE 32: SHORT WAVE ACTION

CORRECTIVE ACTION FOR PUNCTUAL DEFECTS

TRESHOLDS (WAVELENGTH 3‐25 M)

CORRECTIVE ACTION FOR QUALITY TRACK

TRESHOLDS (WAVELENGTH 3‐25 M)

SPEED (KM/H) LONGITUDINAL

LEVEL (MM)

TRANSVERSAL

LEVEL (MM)

ALIGMENT

(MM)

WIDE

VARIATION

(MM)

LONGITUDINAL

LEVEL (MM)

TRANSVERSAL

LEVEL (MM)

ALIGMENT

(MM)

WIDE

VARIATION

(MM)

V ≤ 80 +/‐ 16 +/‐ 10 +/‐ 14 +/‐ 9 2,5 2,4 1,8 2

80 < V ≤ 120 +/‐ 12 +/‐ 8 +/‐ 10 +/‐ 8 2,1 1,9 1,5 1,7

120 < V ≤ 160 +/‐ 10 +/‐ 7 +/‐ 8 +/‐ 7 1,8 1,5 1,3 1,5

160 < V ≤ 200 +/‐ 9 +/‐6 +/‐7 +/‐6 1,5 1,2 1,1 1,3

200 < V ≤ 240 +/‐ 8 +/‐ 5 +/‐ 6 +/‐ 5 1,3 1,0 1,0 1,1

240 < V ≤ 280 +/‐ 7 +/‐ 4 +/‐ 5 +/‐ 4 1,1 0,8 0,8 1,0

280 < V ≤ 320 +/‐ 6 +/‐ 3 +/‐ 4 +/‐ 3 1,0 0,7 0,7 0,9

V > 320 +/‐ 5 +/‐ 2 +/‐ 3 +/‐ 2 0,9 0,6 0,6 0,8

Other corrective intervention thresholds to evaluate the quality of the tracks are made with different long

wave, 25‐70, 70‐120.

Other kind of thresholds can be finding into dynamic auscultations, they are a great source to plan

maintenance tasks. Next, the accepted ranges of values of lateral bogie acceleration alb, vertical axle box

acceleration avc, and vertical and lateral carbody acceleration, alv;avv, and the recommended actions if these

values are exceeded can be seen in the table below.

ACCELERATION AUSCULTATIONS, AVE S‐100 (M/S2) ACCELERATION LEVEL AND RECOMENDED

ACTION alb avc alv avv

2,5(1) 4 30 50 1(2) 2 1 2 Surveillance level

4,0 6,0 50,0 70,0 2,0 2,5 2,0 2,5 Checkout and programmed actions

> 6,0 > 70 > 2,5 > 2,5 Checkout and immediate actions


2.4 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DIFERENTS KINDS OF TRAFFIC, PASSANGERS, FREIGHT

In this chapter we can see and overview of the different kind of traffic that exists along the corridors whit a

short description of the main characteristics of the nets and what resources are used for maintenance

measures.

NORWAY :

Norwegian railway network is formed by 4087 kilometres, 242 kilometres of double track, 2622 kilometres

electrified, which 64 are of high speed.

The table gives an overview of valid and different superstructure classes and corresponding passengers and

freight trains Axle Load and speed.

Superstructure class

Nominal axle load (ton)

Max speed (km/h)


Max speed (km/h)


Max speed (km/h)

22,5 3016,5 7022,5 3020,5 7018 80

20,5 130 22,5 8018 160 20,5 90

18 10024 50

22,5 9018 110

20,5 160 25 7020 200 22,5 10018 250 18 11017 300

30 5022,5 70

Ofotbanen 18 130 20,5 130

C+ 18 160 20,5 160

D 18 230

B 18 100 18 100

C 18 160

Wagons in passenger trains Passenger train sets Freight trains/working machines

A 16 90 16 90

The table is transformed into three schematic maps:

Wagons in passengers trains

Passengers train sets

Freight trains

Visualizing the geographical coverage of lines, the values for axle Load and corresponding Speed are

optimal values and are limited by specific sign post along the lines. The colour of the lines in the map

reflects the classification colour in table.


Contact line voltage: The voltage in the contact line is nominal 15 kV ‐20/+15 % (12 kV – 17,25 kV).

Nominal track gauge: Nominal track gauge is 1435 mm.

SWEDEN :

Swedish Railnet is confirmed by a total of 12,821 km divided into:

1152 double track kilometres

7918 electrified kilometres

221 km are of narrow gauge

LOAD CAPACITY OF THE TRACK

Two parameters define the load capacity of a track: maximum permitted axle load (STAX, unit: tonnes) and

maximum permitted vehicle weight per metre (STVM, unit: tonnes/m).

Every track has a STAX value which indicates the amount of load that each axle is allowed to exert on the

track. STAX 30 tonnes are only allowed with four‐axle bogie wagons on specially upgraded routes of track.

Every track has an STVM rating which indicates the highest permitted vehicle weight per metre. In Sweden,

the most common figure is STVM 6.4 tonnes/metre.

On the Malmbanan and on the Boden central–Luleå section the permitted vehicle weight is

12.0tonnes/metre.

POWER SUPPLY

Trains obtain their power supply from an overhead contact wire which delivers a nominal voltage of 15.000

volts at 16 2/3 Hz.

The resources used for maintenance and their frequencies are:


There are two types of track geometry cars:

there are three older IMV100s (100 km/h); and

a newer STRIX (160 km/h).

The following, with their respective annual frequency according to inspection class, are measured by the

track geometry cars:

Geometric position of rail, 1 ‐ 6 times per year

Rail profile, ≤ 2 times per year

Long‐ and short‐pitch corrugation, ≤ 1 times per year

Video recording of track and surroundings, 1 ‐ 2 times per year

Ballast profile, ¼ ‐ 1 times per year

Overhead contact wire, ≤ 3 times per year

POLAND :

The lengths of Polish railway tracks are 23.429 km; the main railway traffic is over 14.800 km in first class

lines, corresponding to 90 % of the traffic operations. 11.938 km are power supply lines, 3 Kv, 7.929 km

over double tracks, and 4.009 over single ones

NO CATEGORY OF

RAILWAY LINE

TECHNICAL‐EXPLOTATIVE PARAMETERS

LOAD BY TRAIN

PER YEAR

(TG/YEAR)

SPEED OF PASSENGER‐

TRAIN (KM/H)

SPEED OF GOOD‐

TRAIN (KM/H)

MAX. LOAD PER

AXIS (KN)

1 Main lines (0) T≥25 120<V max≤ 200 80<V max≤ 120 P≤221

2 Primary Lines (1) 10≤T<25 80<V max≤ 120 60<V max≤ 80 210≤P<221

3 Secondary lines (2) 3≤T<10 60<V max≤ 80 50<V max≤ 60 200≤P<210

4 Loal lines (3) T<3 V max≤ 60 V max≤ 50 P<200


Where:

International gauge UIC (1435mm), 20.171 km

Wide gauge (600, 750 y 1000mm), 189 km.

Soviet gauge (1520mm), con 3.069 km.

PORTUGAL :

Portuguese railway network is formed by 2794

kilometres, 610 kilometers of double track, and

2184 kilometres of single track

Where 2602 km are of Broad gauge track (1668

mm) and 192 km are Narrow gauge track (1000

mm) 1629 km are power supply lines, 1604 km‐ 25

Kv/50 Hz, 25 km – 1500 V.

The faster lines allow speed between 160 km/h and

220 km/h, while the slowest allow speeds of 50

km/h.

SPAIN :

The high speed lines are mostly built with the International gauge, 1435 mm. there are 84 Km in Iberian

gauge 1668‐, doble track, the voltage is nominal 25 kV‐ 50 Hz following the European ETI.

The conventional net is spread through

Spain and is the supporter of different kind

of transport services, passengers, freight

and medium distances not covered by the

high speed ones, the conventional nets

administrated by ADIF has 11628 km with

Iberian gauge‐ there are 120 km with three

rails for two gauges‐, one track, most of the

70% of the net, and 54% of it is power

supply.


The conventional line is classificated in sub

networks:

“Cercanias” Net (A1, A2, B y C)

Net A1 y A2 (principle corridors )

Net B (stretches with low traffic )

Net C (little traffic)

There are another kind of network, the metric gauge

one, with 1192 km, 28 by power supply and a 7% of

double track.

The high speed lines allow speed of 300 km/h or higher, the conventional ones, Iberian gauge, reach speeds

between 160 and 220 km/h, with nominal load exe from 16tn to 22,5 tn.

RESOURCES:

GEOMETRIC TRACK TEST:

Lab car (200 km/h):

Conventional lines (A1, A2 yB): 1 time

per year

High Speed Lines: 2 times per year

Test motor vehicle (120 km/h).

Conventional lines (A1, A2 yB): 2 times

per year


ULTRASONIC TEST:

Track car (80 Km/h)


per year


VISUAL INSPECTIONS:

Lab car 200Km/h


per year

High Speed Lines: 2 times per year.

DYNAMIC TEST:

Train Speed: 300 km/h


per year



2.5 INFLUENCE OF INFRASTRUCTURE OVER SUPERSTUCTURE

2.5.1 EXTERNAL AGENTS

There are many factors which influence the degradation process. These factors have been identified during

the study of rails and flow‐lines and are briefly described in this chapter. The concept of the virtual failure

state is also highlighted in this task.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE FACTORS INFLUENCING RAIL DEGRADATION

In order to identify the factors influencing the rail degradation process, various sources of information have

been examined. These included a literature survey, inputs from various railway‐related conferences

attended, and discussions and consultations with rail maintenance experts from Trafikverket and JVTC. The

identified factors responsible for rail degradation are illustrated using a cause and effect diagram in Figure

42 and are briefly described below.

FIGURE 42: CAUSE AND EFFECT DIAGRAM FOR THE FACTORS INFLUENCING RAIL DEGRADATION


The identified factors are:

Condition of Assets

Assets in a poor condition (for example sleepers, fastenings, ballast, etc.) accelerate the rail

degradation rate. Fishplates having a degraded condition or loose fishbolts will cause the rail joint gap

to close or fully open, even at minor temperature changes. This may result in rail buckling or rail end

degradation.

Age of Rails

Sometimes rail replacement becomes essential due to degradation in the rail’s material properties over

a period of time and usage. This is known as ageing in rails and replacement is required, as aged rails

may degrade the wheel material during rail‐wheel interaction or vice versa.

Axle load

This is a measure of the deterioration of track quality and as such provides an indication of when

maintenance and renewal are necessary. A heavy axle load causes static and dynamic stress at the rail‐

wheel contact patch, which may accelerate rail degradation.

Speed

Vehicle speed can adversely influence the curving performance of the vehicle and, in turn, lead to wear

and stress in the rail and wheel. The running speed has a certain influence on the dynamic interaction

between the vehicle and the track, because the point of application of the load moves with the running

speed.

Tamping

This is a process whereby the ballast under the ties (sleepers) is compacted to provide proper load

bearing. Ties are the portion of the track structure generally placed perpendicular to the rail to

maintain the track gauge, distribute the weight of the rails and rolling stock, and keep the track

properly aligned. The majority of ties are made of wood. Other materials used to manufacture ties

include concrete and steel.


Ballast Cleaning

Despite an identical track structure, the same year of construction and the same traffic load, the rates

of deterioration may differ widely even between adjacent sections. One of the reasons is the non‐

homogeneity of the ballast beds. Infrequent ballast cleaning may result in undesirable changes in the

track position, which may cause more stress generation and more wear.

Traffic Density

The more frequently trains pass over a rail section, the more rail‐wheel interaction takes place leading

to more wear and RCF generation.

Traffic Type

The type of traffic passing over the rail (passenger or freight traffic) defines the axle load and thus

influences the rail degradation rate.

Characteristics of the Bogie Type

In Sweden, railway operators and maintenance contractors have been deregulated, which has led to a

tendency for operators to introduce low‐cost rolling stock. This may increase track degradation.

Therefore, the characteristics of the bogie type influence rail degradation.

Grinding Frequency

Preventive grinding leads to a significant increase in the service life of the rails, delay in the occurrence

of rail corrugation and a decrease in traffic noise levels. An optimal grinding frequency helps to

increase the rail life.

Rail‐Wheel Interaction

Rail‐wheel interaction is a very complex phenomenon. Repetitive wheel loads on the rail result in

rolling contact fatigue (RCF). Rail wear occurs due to rail‐ wheel interaction and is more common on

curves where maximum rail wheel shearing occurs.

Million Gross Tonnes (MGT)

All types of track degradation features, such as an increase in geometrical deviations and an increase in

rail fractures and rail wear, can be expressed as a function of the tonnage, which is often expressed as


Million Gross Tonnes (MGT). It is used to express the intensity or capacity of rail traffic on a specific

line.

Track Curvature

The optimal wear rate depends on the differences in the traffic type and density, axle load, rail

metallurgy, and track curvature. (For example, the rail degradation rate on a curve with a curve radius

of 500 meters will be different from that on a curve with a 1200‐meter curve radius).

Track Elevation

More traction force is required to overcome gravitational force when vehicles travel in an uphill

direction. Limited lubrication is required to avoid slippage on uphill tracks causing more wear on this

section of track.

Inspection Interval

More frequent ultrasonic inspection is required to manage/reduce the risk of internal defects.

Superelevation

This is the difference in elevation between the two edges of the track; it allows vehicles traveling

through the turn to go at higher speeds than would normally be possible. Superelevation helps to

prevent overturning of the vehicle. It is provided to overcome the centrifugal force of the vehicle at the

curves. Degradation on either the high rail or low rail lying in the same curve radius depends on the

speed of the vehicle. If the vehicle speed is higher than the designated speed limit of the curved track,

considering the superelevation, more degradation will take place on the high rail. This is because the

wheel flange is more in contact with the inner surface of the high rail than the inner surface of the low

rail due to centrifugal force acting on the vehicle (see Paper II). If the vehicle speed is lower than the

designated speed limit of the curved track, considering the superelevation, more degradation will take

place on the low rail.

Operational Environment:

Wear is highly dependent on third‐body properties, which are strongly influenced by lubrication,

environmental conditions (humidity, rain and snow), and the presence of sand. During winter in North

America and Russia, there is more wheel shelling damage than in the summer time; this is evident

because of an increase in track stiffness and thus the impact of track distortions on forces between the


wheel and the rail. Another cause of this phenomenon is the influence of liquid. Water in the form of

rain or melted snow considerably enhances the crack propagation rate due to the hydrostatic effect of

liquid trapped in the crack. The worst conditions occur when a dry period (when cracks are initiating) is

followed by a wet period, when water enhances crack propagation. Dust and a corrosive environment

accelerate rail wear. A high ambient temperature (greater than 25˚C) may cause the longitudinal

expansion of rails, which may result in track buckling. This poses a serious risk of derailment.

Rail‐Wheel Material Type

The rail‐wheel material plays a very important role in rail degradation. The mechanical properties of a

pearlitic rail steel structure are governed by the distance between the cementite (Fe3C) layers and the

grain size. These are controlled by the cooling rate of the steel. The yield point and tensile strength are

inversely proportional to the distance between the cementite layers and grain size. There are different

types of heat‐treated, alloyed or plain carbon steel rails being used around the world. Apart from the

usual manufacturing process of the rails, the tensile strength and toughness are increased by heat

treatment. Heat treatment is usually carried out on the rail head, turnouts and at the ends of non‐

welded rails to address the issue of maximum stress concentration.

Rail Hardening

Rail hardening aims to reduce wear and to increase the resistance to RCF of rails in operation,

particularly in tight and medium curves. A head‐ hardened rail is a rail where only the rail head has

been heat‐treated to provide harder steel for locations of extreme service, such as curves.

Inclusion of Residual Stress

Residual stresses can be built up in rails during the rail manufacturing process, during the rail welding

process or as a result of contact stresses generated by the wheels rolling on the rails. The maximum

longitudinal and tensile residual stress in the rail foot, formed during rail manufacturing, should be less

than 250 MPa. Residual stress formation can accelerate rail defect initiation and propagation.

Formation of Blowholes

Blowholes are possible defects formed during rail manufacturing. The presence of blowholes weakens

the rail section causing further development of other types of defects. Today, new rails have to pass

through several quality checks, including ultrasonic inspection, before their commissioning. Therefore,

it is very rare to find blowholes or other manufacturing defects in rails.


Rail Size

The weight of the rail in kilograms per meter denotes the rail size. Rails of different sizes will have

different degradation rates.

Rail Profile

Many different rail profiles are in use. Different rail infrastructure owners use different standards for

rail profiles. Different rail profiles are designed according to their operational requirements.

Track Construction

A track is constructed according to the requirements of the axle load, speed, and required service

lifetime, amount of maintenance to be done, operating conditions and availability of basic material. For

example, the condition of the sub‐grade and soil properties should be analysed during track

construction.

Lubrication Frequency

Applying lubricant at the wheel/rail interface significantly reduces the wheel and rail wear, as well as

dramatically decreasing the locomotive fuel consumption. Lubrication can be optimized for rails to

effect a reduction in the flange wear so that maintenance resources are minimized and the rail/wheel

life maximized.

Rail Welding

Rail welding results in residual stresses that are distributed in a very complex manner with respect to

their magnitude and direction. In many cases, these stresses are the cause of rail web failure. The use

of improved welding technology and post‐weld heat treatment considerably decreases the extent of

weld‐initiated residual stresses (IHHA, 2001).

Track Accessibility

Poor track accessibility leads to delayed maintenance, which causes more degradation.


2.5.2 COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO EMBANKMENTS BUILD WITH DIFFERENT MATERIALS OVER DIFFERENT

FUNDATIONS

Generally, in embankments of important height, appear higher firm downs, although it depends on many

other factors like: the kind of soil, compactation, construction methods, etc.

Furthermore, another important problem for the high speed rails, regarding to the embankments is the

“Critical Train´s speed”: at soft soil with higher train´s speed there is a "ripple" of the embankment terrain,

a phenomenon that involves the amplification of the vertical movements of soil particles under train.

This research is carried out on an embankment of about 15m high and 200 m of longitude of the high speed

line north ‐ northwest of Spain, its construction was completed in 2005, the goal is to see how it has

behaved this embankment along the time checking the maintenance operations, to know if there are

actions which bring manifest the influence of infrastructure on the behaviour of the superstructure.

Part of this embankment is built on an area with unsuitable material it had to be replaced by rocks. That

will allow us to see how it behaves an embankment build on different nature foundations.

The material used for its construction came from the excavation of the work with the following

characteristics, in each of the layers the compaction reached were of the 95% of the modified proctor.

% FINES ATTEMBERG LIMITS MODIFY PROCTOR C.B.R ORG MATTER SULFH

8,2 No plastic 2,12 7,6 17,4 0,46 0,02


Once the filling is finished it has been monitored by three sections.

The measures were progressive from May 2004 to May 2005 while the embankment was built until it

stabilized after completion, with the following results.

FIGURE 43: SECTION 1. PK 302+920




The embankment took a year to stabilize with values lower or very close to the level of accuracy of reading

equipment.

The next spet was the the assembly of the new track and their placing in service. According to the historical

file of maintenance interventions made over these embankment we can see that up to 2008 there are no

movements or operations registered, from these year to actually there are, at least, one tamping or

alignment operation per year, more common over left hand, where the rock fill was made replacing the

inappropriate material, so the behavior was better over the side where the foundation was no replaced.

Regarding to these we can analyze the below figures, where we can see the firm down of high speed line

embankments over 15 m high, over the time and particularly the behavior of one filling.

The firm downs reached in the embankment was about 300mm in ten years.


To sum up, these simple research demonstrate that the subgrade have a lot of influence over the track

condition, i.e. loss of vertical alignment, so a deep development of the fullest understanding of these

influence is mandatory to optimize the degradation of rail tracks, developing a model that will link the

effects of the sub‐base, ballast and track system, to vehicle ride quality and dynamic loading or designing

new construction techniques to ensure the stability of the filling.


3. REFERENCES

NRV: 7‐5‐0.1. Conservación de la vía , criterios básicos sobre el mantenimiento de la vía.

PKP POLKIE LINIE KOLEJOWE S.A. Id‐1(D‐1)‐ WARUNKI TECHNICZNE, utrzymania nawierzchni na liniach

kolejowych.

Pliego de Prescripciones Técnicas ADIF.

Revista obras Publicas/Junio 2004 nº3445

Proyecto de construcción de plataforma Línea de alta velocidad Vitoria – Bilbao‐San Sebastián, Tramo:

Durango Amorebieta/Etxano

Proyecto: Variante de Alpera.

Proyecto de construcción de plataforma línea de alta velocidad Madrid‐ Galicia Tramo ponte Ambia –

Taboadela.

Experiencia en la Construcción de Túneles de Alta Velocidad, Tesina Final de Carrera‐ Daniel Zuferri

Arqué Nov 2010.

N.R.V. 3‐1‐0.0. Traviesas y cachas de madera.

N.R.V. 3‐1‐1.0. Traviesas de hormigón armado.

http://www.arcelormittal.com/rails+specialsections/es/tipos.html, Tipos de carril.

Curso de Mantenimiento Ferroviario‐ Vias y Construcciones S.A.

N.R.V. 3‐6‐0.0. Descripción general‐ La vía y su material‐ Desvíos

N.R.V. 3‐6‐0.1.Caracteristicas de los tipos y desvíos ‐ ‐ La vía y su material‐ Desvíos

N.R.V. 3‐4‐0.0. La vía y su material ‐ Balasto y Subbase – Balasto – Características determinativas de la

calidad.

N.R.V. 7‐3‐0.0. Trabajos en la vía‐ Calificación de la vía – Geometría de la vía.

ETI 2005‐ Calidad Geométrica de la vía en una línea de alta velocidad.

Archivo de Calidad Vias y Construcciones S.A.

Archivo Base de Mantenimiento de Olmedo – Alta Velocidad.

Trafikverket:Spårväxel, Standardsortiment BVS 1523.002

Trafikverket:Spårväxel, Sortiment förvaltning och avveckling BVS 1523.003

Trafikverket: Spårväxel, Definitioner och förkortningar BVS 1523.005

Trafikverket:Spårväxel , Standardutförande anläggningsdel, komponent BVS 1523.015

Trafikverket,Materialservice Slipers

Banverket:Tekniska bestämmelser för sliprar av betong BVS 522.30

Trafikverket:Banöverbyggnad – Spårgeometri BVS 1586.41


Trafikverket:Spårkomponenter, DEF‐sliprar, Besiktning BVS 1522.37

Trafikverket:Förvaltningsdata järnväg, Banunderbyggnad, banöverbyggnad BVH 1584.303

Trafikverket: Tillståndsbeskrivning av banöverbyggnaden BVH 824.10

Trafikverket: Underhållsbesiktning av banöverbyggnad BVH 807.30

Abetong Concrete Sleepers – The Long Line Method Success

Trafikverket: Typsektioner för banan med hänvisningar till BVH 581.16 BVH 585.31

Trafikverket: Batmanhandbok

Trafikverket:Broprojektering BVH 583.20

Trafikverket: Trummor och ledningar Geoteknik BVS 585.18

Trafikverket: Bärighetsberäkning av järnvägsbroar Utgåva 5 BVS 583.11

Trafikverket:TRVAMA Anläggning 10 Rev 2 Trafikverkets ändringar och tillägg till AMA Anläggning 10

TRV 2012:219

JehAMA Heidelberg Cement Group

Trafikverket: Handledning ‐ Att använda Ofelia för Analytiker2011‐01‐19

Trafikverket: Bakgrund‐Vad är Optram2012‐10‐18

Transportstyrelsen: Swedish national rules for open points in the HS TSI INF2008‐398, 2008‐07‐17

Banverket: Ballastprofil i spår med sth högre än 160 km/h BVF 540.15

Banverket: Registrering av uppgifter i SAFEBRO Handbok BVH 583.30

Trafikverket: Typsektioner för banan BVS 1585.005

Banverket: Tillståndsbeskrivning av banöverbyggnaden BVH 824.10

http://jarnvagsinfo.se/banteknik/teorin/

Trafikverket: FÖRSTUDIE Malmbanan bangårdsförlängning Lakaträsk, Koskivaara, Ripats och Lappberg

TRV2010/33470

Banverket: Malmbanan Abisko bangårdsförlängning Förstudie F07‐530/SA20 BRNT 2007:08

http://jarnvagsinfo.se/banteknik/banoverbyggnad/

Research towards Perfected Rail Maintenance at Malmbanan, W. Schoech1, A. Frick2, P. Gustafsson2

1Speno International SA, Geneva, Switzerland; 2Trafikverket, Borlänge, Sweden

Railway Sleeper Modelling with Deterministic and Non‐deterministic Support ConditionsMaster Degree

Project Shan Li Division of Highway and Railway Engineering Department of Transport Science School

of Architecture and the Built Environment Royal Institute of Technology SE‐100 44 Stockholm TSC‐MT

12‐001 Stockholm

Alternativa system för tågstyrning på Malmbanan2006:01, Kristina Nilsson Luleå tekniska universitet

JvtC ‐ Järnvägstekniskt Centrum Avdelningen för industriell logistik


Översiktsbild/Karta Hela Sverige samt Driftledningsområde Boden Trafikverket 2012‐02‐13

Banverket: Banverkets Anläggningsstruktur BVS 811

Proyecto CENIT: ESTUDIO DEL COMPORTAMIENTO A MEDIO Y LARGO PLAZO DE LAS ESTRUCTURAS

FERROVIARIAS DE BALASTO Y PLACA. SP 5 – 5.2. Evolución de los costes de conservación de los

diferentes sistemas de vía. Junio 2008.

Proyecto CENIT: ESTUDIO DEL COMPORTAMIENTO A MEDIO Y LARGO PLAZO DE LAS ESTRUCTURAS

FERROVIARIAS DE BALASTO Y PLACA.SP 5 – 5.1. Análisis de los costes de inversión asociados a cada

sistema de vía. Mayo 2008.

El transporte ferroviario de alta velocidad. Una visión económica. Fundación BBVA. Javier Campos

Méndez. Ginés de Rus Mendoza. Ignacio Barrón de Angoiti.

High‐speed line costs internalized in the infrastructure manager’s accounts. Francisco Javier Fernández

Arévalo1, Jesús Vázquez Atienza.

Track compendium. Eurail press.Dr. Bernhard Lichtberger.

“Jernbaneverket technical rules” from https://trv.jbv.no/wiki/Hovedside

Documents

knowledge available on maintenance operations and surveying