CHAPTER 3

RAILWAY TRACK
STRUCTURES
Contents of Lecture I
1.Component and function
of track structure
2.Rail support: sleepers/ties,
ballast
3.Ballasted track
4.Slab track
5.Rail fastening system
 3.1 Component and function of track structure
• There are some important Railway Track Components
in the construction of railway track.
• The railway track is a permanent way for all trains.
• Components of railway track are rail section, sleepers,
ballast, rail fastenings and subgrade and embankments.
Components of track structure
 Upper structures
- Rail, fasteners, tie and ballast
 The upper part consists of two
parallel steel rails, anchored
perpendicular to members called
ties (sleepers) of timber, concrete,
steel, or plastic to maintain a
consistent distance apart, or gauge.
 The track guides the conical,
flanged wheels, keeping the
vehicles on the track without
active steering and therefore
allowing trains to be much longer
than road vehicles
 1. Rail
The high carbon rolled steel
sections which are laid end to
end on two parallel lines over
sleepers to provide a
continuous and level surface
for the trains to move and for
carrying axle loads of the
rolling stock are called rails

a) Characteristics Rail
rigidity:-inability to be to bent or be
forced out of shape.
tenacity:- the quality or fact of
continuing to exist; persistence.
hardness:-
roughness of top surface
 1. Rail…
b) Functions:
Supports the loads of vehicles (cars) and locomotives and
guides their movements
Rails transfer loads from wheels safely to sleepers and ballasts.
Provides a smooth level surface for movement of trains.
Provides an unchanging surface for passage of heavy moving
loads with minimum friction between steel rail and wheels.
It guides the wheel of trains throughout the trackway.
High carbon steel has high strength,
stiffness, and durability.
The web of rail is strong enough and
support head of rails.
Rails acts as girders and bear stress
develop by heavy vertical/lateral loads,
breaking force and thermal stress.
used as track circuit in electrified
railways and automatic block segments
 1. Rail…
C) Profile
The rail profile is the cross sectional shape
of a railway rail, perpendicular to the
length of the rail.
A rail is hot rolled steel of a specific cross
sectional profile (an asymmetrical I-beam)
designed for use as the fundamental
component of railway track.

• Composed of rail head, rail rail head

web and rail base rail web
• The rail head and base must
be large and thick
rail base
 1. Rail…
d) Types and length
Determining factor for rails strength and hence axle loads and speeds
are dependent on weight of a rail per length .
So rail types are divided by its unit weight in China, such as 75, 60,
50, 43 kg/m.
• Weights are measured in kilograms-per-meter or pounds per yard;
the pounds-per-yard figure is almost exactly double the
kilograms-per-meter figure.
• types: 75 kg/m 、 60 kg/m 、 50 kg/m and so on.

• Standard rail length: 12.5m and 25m.

 Cont.…
• Theoretically, the longer is the rail, the lesser would be
the number of joints and fittings required and the lesser
the cost of construction and maintenance.
• Longer rails are economical and provide smooth and
comfortable rides.
• The length of a rail is, however, restricted due to the
following factors:
• Lack of facilities for transport of longer rails, particularly on
curves
• Difficulties in manufacturing very long rails
• Difficulties in acquiring bigger expansion joints for long
rails
• Heavy internal thermal stresses on long rails.
 Rail…
Standard Rail Section
• The rail is designed by its weight per unit length

• A 90 kg/m(90R – rail section) rail denotes that it has a weight of 90kg pr

meter length
• Other type of rail section- 60R, 65R,75R(75kg/m)

• The weight of a rail section is decided on the following factors:-

– Heaviest axle load on the track

– Maximum permissible speed on the track

– Depth of the ballast

– Type and density of sleepers

– Gauge of the track

 1. Rail…
e) Rail gap
To adapt to the needs of expanding with heat and contracting with cold, the
rail gap can not be too big or too small.
1
 0.0118 L t2  t0    q
2
• δ — size of rail gap(mm)
• L—length of track(m)
• δq— structural joint gap, track of 38kg/m 、 43kg/m 50kg/m 、
60kg/m 、 75kg/m are 18mm
• t0 — temperature of rail gap(oC)

1
t2  tmax  tmin 
2
 1. Rail…
e) Continuous welded track (CWR)
The 25 m rail are welded into 100-200m long rail in factory,
and then be welded again into1000-2000m long rail in the laid
place

Advantages:
smooth driving
low maintenance cost
long life
 Cont…

• Web
– -Sufficiently thick (resist lateral loads)
– -Adequate flexural rigidity
•  Foot
-wide (stable against overturning)
-thickness (with stand vertical and horizontal forces
after allowance for corrosion)
-Fishing angles-design of bottom of rail head and
top of rails foot
-Proper transmission of load from rail to fish plate
 Types of Rails
• In railway engineering, there are 3 types
of rails are used in the construction of
railway track which is discussed below:
– Double Headed Rails.
– Bull Headed Rails.
– Flat Footed Rails.
 Types of Rails
Double Headed Rails
•The rail sections, having their head and foot of same
dimensions, are known as double headed or Dumb-bell
rails.
•These rails have less strength and stiffness as
compared to flat footed rails.
•These rails are not used nowadays
 Types of Rails
Bull Headed Rails (B.H Rails)
•The rail section, having their head little thicker
and stronger(Bull size) than the lower part is
known as Bull headed rails.
•These rails have less strength stiffness as
compared to flat footed rails.
•Bull headed rails are generally used for
constructing points and crossings.
 Advantages of Bull Headed Rails
• 1. They keep better alignment and give a more solid
and smoother track.
• 2. The rails can be easily removed and replaced
quickly. Hence renewal of track is easy.
• 3. The heavy chair with a large bearing on sleepers
gives longer life to the wooden sleepers and greater
stability to the track.
• 4. These rails facilitate easy manufacturing of points
and crossings
 Disadvantages of Bull Headed
Rails
• 1. They require costly fastenings.
• 2. They have less strength and stiffness.
• 3. They require heavy maintenance cost
 Flat Footed Rails(F.F. Rails)
• The rail sections, having a flat foot, are known
as flat-footed rails.
• These rails have more strength and stiffness as
compared to Double Headed Rails & Bull
Headed Rails.
• Flat footed rails are most commonly used
 Advantages of Flat Footed Rails
• 1. These rails have more strength and stiffness.
• 2. Fitting of rails with sleepers is simpler so they can be
easily laid and re-laid.
• 3. No chairs and keys are required as in case B.H rails.
• 4. Maintenance of points and crossings made with these
rails is easy.
• 5. They give better stability and longer life to the track
and reduces maintenance cost.
• 6. These rails are less costly than other types of rails.
• 7. These rails require less number of fastenings
 Advantages of Flat-footed rails
• It provides better rigidity and stiffness to resist
both lateral and vertical forces
• Maintenance of the points and crossings of
flat-footed rails is very simple
• These rails distribute the train load over a
large area on the sleepers
• The rail failures are few and thus the
maintenance cost is low
 Disadvantages of Flat Footed
Rails
• 1. The fitting get loosened more frequently.
• 2. The straightening of bent rails, replacing of rails
and de-hogging of battered rails are difficult.
• 3. These rails sink into the wooden sleepers under
heavy trainload. Hence they require a bearing plate
to overcome this problem.
• 4. Manufacturing of points and crossing with these
rails is difficult.
 1. Rail…
f) Rail requirement
• The rail is running surface, carrier and guiding element at the same time.
• It is subject to equal static and dynamic stress. In heavy haul traffic, axle
loads up to 35t are applied.
• Depending on the topography rails are laid with radii as low as 300m,
therefore, they have to bear very high lateral forces exerted by the wheel
flange striking against the gauge corner of the outer rail.

To be able to withstand manifold and high forces, the rails must meet
the following requirements:
 1. Rail…
g) Composition
Unlike some other uses of iron and steel, railway rails are
subject to very high stresses and have to be made of very
high quality steel. It took many decades to improve the
quality of the materials, including the change from iron to
steel.

Minor flaws in the steel that pose no problems in reinforcing

rods for buildings, can, however, lead to broken rails and
dangerous derailments when used on railway tracks
• A railway sleeper is a rectangular object used
as a base for railroad tracks.
• Ties are members generally laid transverse to
the rails, on which the rails are supported and
fixed, to transfer the loads from rails to the
ballast and sub-grade, and to hold the rails to
the correct gauge
 2. Sleeper
(a) Function
 bear the force of track
Act as elastic medium to absorb
blows & vibrations
Longitudinal & lateral stability
spread the force to ballast bed
Supporting signal engineering
and roadbed and other safety related equipment
keep the direction, position and such as trip cocks and point
gauge of track motors.
Supporting conductor rails,
Supporting wheels and/or jacks
electrical bonds and feeder cables.
direct (in a derailment situation). Reducing noise and vibration
Acting as transverse beams when on non-ballasted bridge decks
sitting on temporary ‘way beams’.
 2. Sleeper…
(b) Characteristic
It is solid, flexible, reasonably
cost, convenient for
manufacturing and
maintenance.
 2. Sleeper…

c) Requirements
Moderate weight- easy to handle
Fixing and removing of fastening should be easy
Sufficient bearing area
Easy maintenance and gauge adjustment
Track circuiting must be possible
Able to resist shocks and vibrations
Minimum maintenance and initial cost
 2. Sleeper…
（ c ） types
• Traditionally, ties have been made of wood, but concrete is n
ow widely used. Steel ties and plastic composite ties are curr
ently used as well, although far less than wood or concrete ti
es

• According to production material: reinforced concreted

sleeper, wooden sleeper, steel sleeper

• According to their usage: regular sleeper, switch sleeper

and bridge sleeper.
 2. Sleeper…

1. Wooden Sleeper
• Timber ties are usually of a variety of hardwoods, oak bei
ng a popular material.
• Wooden sleepers are used since olden days.
• These are still widely using in some western countries.
• They have the advantage of accepting treatment more read
ily, they are more susceptible to wear.
• Wooden sleepers can be manufactured in various length
depending upon the gauge length and the type of length.
 Advantages of Wooden Sleepers
• Easy availability of timbers.
• Wooden sleepers are suitable for all types of
ballast
• They provide less noisy tracks
• Wooden sleepers absorb shocks and vibration,
and this ensures a more convenient journey to
the passengers than any other Sleepers.
• These sleepers are best suitable for track
circuiting.
 Disadvantages of Wooden
Sleepers
• They are less durable as compared to other
types of Sleepers
• Maintenance cost is best suited for track
circuiting
• These types of Sleepers are subjected to wear,
tear and decay.
•
2. Sleeper…
 2. Sleeper…

2. Concrete Sleeper

• Concrete sleepers are manufactured by concrete with internal

reinforcement.
• Concrete sleepers used in many countries due to its high stability
and small maintenance.
• These are more suitable for high speed rails. Most of the concrete
sleepers are made from pre-stressed concrete in which internal
tension is induced into the sleeper before casting.
• Hence, the sleeper withstand well against high external pressure
• Concrete ties have become more common mainly due to greater ec
onomy and better support of the rails under high speed and heavy t
raffic than wooden ties
 2. Sleeper…

2. Concrete Sleeper
 Benefits of Concrete Sleepers
• Concrete sleepers are heavier than all other types hence, gives
good stability to the rails.
• They have long life span so, economically preferable.
• They have good Fire resistance.
• Corrosion is not occurred in concrete sleepers.
• Vermin attack, decay etc. are not occurred. Hence, they are
suitable for all types of soil and moisture conditions.
• Concrete is good insulator so, this type of sleepers are more
suitable for circuited tracks.
• Concrete sleepers holds the track strongly and maintains gauge.
 Drawbacks of Concrete
Sleepers
• Because of heavy weight, handling is
difficult.
• For tracks on bridges and at crossings,
concrete sleepers are not suitable.
• Damage may occur while transporting.
2. Sleeper…
 2. Sleeper…
3. Steel sleeper
• In past times steel ties (sleepers) have suffered from poor desi
gn and increased traffic loads over their normal long service li
fe. These aged and often obsolete designs limited load and spe
ed capacity but can still, to this day, be found in many location
s globally and performing adequately despite decades of servic
e.

• The steel sleepers’cost benefits together with the ability to hol

d rail gauge, lower long-term maintenance costs, increase the
life of other track components, reduce derailments and meet ev
er growing and stricter environment standards provide railroa
d companies with savings and capital to redirect to other areas
of maintenance-of-way and business projects.
 2. Sleeper…steel sleepers
Advantages:
– Long life
– Better lateral rigidity
– Free from decay and fire hazards
– Good scrap value
– Lesser damage during handling /transportation
– Less maintenance problems
– Easy to maintain gauge
Disadvantages:
• Liable to corrosion
• Unsuitable to track circuiting
• Becomes center bound due to sloping ends
• Rail specific
2. Sleeper…steel sleepers
 Other sleepers
Switch sleeper Bridge sleeper

Short sleeper long sleeper

 2. Sleeper…
Wide sleeper
 Concrete monoblock sleepers have also been produced in
a wider form (e.g. 57 cm (22 in))
 there is no ballast between the sleepers;
 wide sleeper increase lateral resistance and
 reduces ballast pressure.
2. Sleeper…
 2. Sleeper…
Y-shaped sleepers
• An unusual form of sleeper is the Y shaped s
leeper.
• First developed in 1983
• Compared to conventional sleepers the volu
me of ballast required is reduced due to the
load spreading characteristics of the Y-sleep
er.
• Noise levels are high
• The resistance to track movement is very go
od.
• For curves the three point contact of a Y stee
l sleeper means that an exact geometric fit ca
nnot be observed with a fixed attachment po
int.
 2. Sleeper…
Bi-block sleepers

• Concrete sleepers are produced in two basic shapes, Monoblock

(that run transversely and support both rails) and Twin Block
(one block under each rail with a steel tie-bar between)
• Bi-block (or twinblock) sleepers consist of two concrete rail su
pports joined by steel
• Advantages include
 increase lateral resistance
 lower weight than monoblock concrete sleepers
 eliminate damage from torsional forces on the sleeper c
entre due the more flexible steel connections
• Bi-block sleepers are also used in ballastless track systems
2. Sleeper…Bi-block
 2. Sleeper…
Mono-block vs. twin block sleepers

The advantages of the twin-block The advantages of the mono-

sleeper block sleeper
• Well-defined bearing surfaces • low price
in the ballast bed; • less susceptibility to
• high lateral resistance in the cracking
ballast bed • can be pre-stressed
 2. Sleeper…

Wooden sleeper
concrete sleeper
 2. Sleeper…
d) Arrangement

• Configuration number at each kilometer is decided by volume,

speed and line level
The rule:
• wooden sleepers must no more than 1920 per 1km and no
less than 1440
• Reinforced concreted sleepers must no more than 1840 per
1km and no less than 1440
 Sleeper Density in Railways
• sleeper density:- Number of sleepers provided for one
rail length of track is called sleeper density.
• If “N” is the length of one rail in meters,
• Sleeper Density = N+ X , (X –> 3 to 6)
• For a Broad Gauge track, total number of sleepers
required for 1km length of railway track if sleeper
density = N+5
• Length of one rail = 12.8m =13m
• Sleeper Density = N+5 = 13+ 5 = 18
• Total number of sleepers required for 1km length =
(18/12.8)x1000 = 1406 sleepers.
 3. Ballast and sub ballast
1. Ballast- it is a layer of broken stones, gravel, moorum or
any other gritty material placed and packed below and
around sleepers for distributing the load from the sleepers
to the formation and for providing drainage as well as
giving longitudinal and lateral stability to the track.

A layer of loose, coarse grained

material which, as a result of
internal friction between the
grains, can absorb considerable
compressive stresses, but not
tensile stresses.
 a) Functions
The six most important functions of ballast:
– To resist vertical & longitudinal forces and hold the track in
position
– To provide energy absorption for the track
– To provide voids for storage and movement of fouling
material in the ballast
– To facilitate the adjustment of track geometry
– To provide immediate drainage of water falling on to the track
– To reduce pressures on underlying materials by distributing
loads
(b)Requirements
– Tough and resist wear
– Hard enough
– Cubical with sharp edge
– Non porous, non-water absorbent
– Resist attrition
– Durable
– Good drainage
– Cheap and economical
2. Sub ballast -Is a layer of material between the top ballast and
sub grade with a gradation finer than the top ballast and
coarser than the sub grade
a) Function
• Used to reduce total ballast cost
• Provide a filter layer between the top ballast and a fine grained
sub grade
b) Application
A sub ballast layer is recommended for most new construction. In
addition to providing filter to keep sub grade particle from
working up in to and fouling the ballast, it provides a good
mat to distribute loads from the ballast and prevents ballast
particles from being pushed in to the sub grade
 A sub ballast layer is required whenever:

i. The sub grade contains 85% or more (by weight) of silt and clay sized
particles or,
ii. The sub grade material has a liquid limit greater 50 and a plasticity
index grater than 20

c) Material

Sub ballast should be hard, angular, non cementing material, primarily of

sand sized particles
d) Gradation
To function as a filter layer, the sub ballast particles should range
in size from the smallest ballast particles to the largest sub grade
particles

e) Depth

i. During structural analysis, the sub ballast layer is considered as

part of the total ballast depth
ii. A sub ballast layer may comprise up to 40% of the total ballast
thickness on main running tracks and up to 50% on auxiliary and
terminal tracks
 4. Rail fastening system/ Union piece

• Fastening in railway is used to connect the rails and

sleepers together in their proper positions
• Various types of fastening have been used over the years
.
• The fixtures and fastening used in track fittings are,
• Fish plates
• Spike
• Bolts
• Chairs
• Blocks
• Keys
• Plates
a) Function:
The purpose of the rail fastenings:
Join the rails end to end to form full length of
track
To fix the rails to sleepers
To maintain the correct alignment of the track
To provide proper expansion gap between rails
To maintain the required tilt of rails
To set the points and crossings in proper position
b) Types
(1) rail joint fastenings
Rail joint fastenings are used at the end of the two tracks.
(2) Middle joint fastenings
• They are used to connect the track with the sleeper

• According to the character of sleeper, middle joint fastenings

can divided into reinforced concreted joint fastenings and

wooden joint fastenings .

 3.4 Ballasted and slab track
• The superstructure is the part above subgrade that
you can see it with your eyes.
• Typical classification for the superstructure is
– ballasted track and
– ballastless track,
or
– jointed track (tracks with gaps) and
– welded track (seamless track).
 3.4 Ballasted and slab track
a) Ballasted track
• A ballasted track refers to a track with ballast
(usually made of crushed stones) under the track.
• It is one of the main forms of track structure.
• It has the advantages of good flexibility, low
price, convenient replacement and maintenance,
and good noise absorption.
• However, compared with the ballastless track, it
also has the disadvantages that the line plane
geometry is not easy to maintain, most of them
are short, and the maintenance workload is large.
 3.4 Ballasted and slab track
a) Ballasted track
• The bottom of the track is ballast, which provides
flexibility and drainage for the track.
• Railway sleepers are embedded in ballast and are
generally laid laterally.
• They are made of wood, reinforced concrete or
steel.
• The original rails were cast-iron rails and then
developed into I-shaped steel rails.
• They are laid on sleepers and fixed with
other track material.
 3.4 Ballasted and slab track
a) Ballasted track
Advantages:
Lower cost, small noise emission scope, short construction
period, easy repair when failure occurs, high efficiency of
maintenance work due to its mechanization, easy to adjust its
geometrical unevenness
 Ballasted track…
• Experience from Japan and France shows:
 Ballast has tendency of deterioration, wear due to traffic
loading, railway lines thus need to be repaired time after time
• On high-speed railways, the time for repairing lines is limited
due to fast speed and short interval between trains, it is
unpractical to do high-frequency maintenance work.
 Ballasted track…
Disadvantages
In comparison to slab track:
 The tendency of the track to “float” in both longitudinal and lateral direction after
a period of time
 Limited non-compensated lateral acceleration in curves caused by the limited
lateral resistance provided by ballast
 Pulverization of the ballast grains in the ballast bed resulting in particles damaging
the rail and wheels
 Problems with ballast churning with high speed
 Reduced permeability due to contamination, the wear of the ballast, and intrusion
of fine particles from the sub grade
 Limited non-compensated lateral acceleration in curves caused by the limited
lateral resistance provided by ballast
 Pulverization of the ballast grains in the ballast bed resulting in particles damaging
the rail and wheels
 Reduced permeability due to contamination, the wear of the ballast, and intrusion
of fine particles from the sub-grade
 b) Slab track
 In slab track, ballast as the load distributing element is replaced
by another material which has a stable position, such as
concrete or asphalt.
 The necessary elasticity has to be provided by inserting elastic
elements below the rail or the sleeper, as the concrete or
asphalt layer is very stiff.
 In comparison to ballasted track, the advantages of slab track
are in general reduction of maintenance and a higher stability
of the track
Slab track
Advantages:
– Less or free maintenance, costs 20%~30%
– better line evenness
– Increased service life, and possibility of almost full
replacement at the end of the service life
– Increased lateral resistance and stability
– Reduced structure height and weight
– The excess of super elevation and cant deficiency of the track
with mixed used of freight- and passenger trains does not
cause altering of the track position
– Track accessibility to road vehicles
– Preventing the release of dust from the ballast bed into the
environment
Disadvantages:
– Higher construction costs and
– Higher airborne noise reflection
– Adaptability to larger sink age in the embankment is relatively small
– In case of derailment, repair works will take much more time and
effort
– Transitions between ballasted track and slab track require attention
– Large attentions in track position and super elevation can only be
made possible by substantial amounts of work
– The application of slab track may require extensive measures
concerning the preparation of the foundation.
– The sub layers must be homogenous and capable of bearing the
imposed loads without significant settlements.
Types
Main types of non-ballasted track:
– Embedded in concrete
– Prefabricated slabs
– Monolithic slab
– AC-road bed
– Embedded rail
 LVT (Sonneville Company)

Slab track (Japan)- prefabricated

Floating Slab Track on springs

(Gerb Company)

Rheda (Germany)- sleepers

embedded in concrete
 Practical uses of slab track

• Metro, urban rail transit

• Bridge
• Repair inconvenience, small
space, traffic density
• Tunnels, subways, elevated
crossing, stations & terminals
• High speed railway
Thanks!