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What is track?

The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure
consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, British English) and ballast (or slab
track), plus the underlying subgrade. For clarity it is often referred to as railway
track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (predominantly in the United
States).
The term permanent way also refers to the track in addition to lineside structures such as
fences etc

Track structure
The track on a railway (non-US) or railroad (US), also known as the permanent way, is the
structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast (or slab track), plus the
underlying subgrade. For clarity it is often referred to as railway track (British English and
UIC terminology) or railroad track (predominantly in North America).

Traditional Track Structure (Ballasted Track)

Section through railway track and foundation showing the ballast and formation layers. The
layers are slightly sloped to help drainage.
Notwithstanding modern technical developments, the overwhelmingly dominant track from
worldwide consists of flat-bottom steel rails supported on timber or pre-stressed concrete
sleepers (referred to as railroad ties in the US), which are themselves laid on crushed stone
ballast.
Most railroads with heavy traffic use continuously welded rails supported by sleepers (ties)
attached via baseplates (tieplates) which spread the load. A plastic or rubber pad is usually
placed between the rail and the tieplate where concrete sleepers (ties) are used. The rail is
usually held down to the sleeper (tie) with resilient fastenings, although cut spikes are
widely used in North American practice. For much of the 20 th century, rail track used
softwood timber ties and jointed rails, and considerable extents of this track type remains on
secondary and tertiary routes. The rails were typically of flat bottom section fastened to the

ties with dogspikes through a flat tieplate in North America and Australia, and typically of
bullhead section carried in cast iron chairs in British and Irish practice.
Jointed rails were used, at first because the technology did not offer any alternative.
However the intrinsic weaknesses in resisting vertical loading results in the ballast support
becoming depressed and a heavy maintenance workload is imposed to prevent
unacceptable geometrical defects at the joints. The joints also required to be lubricated, and
wear at the fishplate (joint bar) mating surfaces needed to be rectified by shimming. For this
reason, joined track is not financially appropriate for heavily operated railroads.
Timber sleepers (ties) are of many available timbers, and are often treated with creosote,
copper-chromic-arsenic, or other wood preservative. Timber sleepers may be of hardwood or
softwood, and are customarily treated with creosote or other wood preservative. Prestressed concrete sleepers (ties) are often used where timber is scarce and where tonnage
or speeds are high. Steel is used in some applications.
The track-ballast is customarily crushed stone, and the purpose of this is to support the ties
and allow some adjustment of their position, while allowing free drainage.

Ballastless

Ballastless high-speed track in China


A disadvantage of traditional track structure is the heavy demand for maintenance,
particularly surfacing (tamping) and lining to restore the desired track geometry and
smoothness of vehicle running. Weakness of the subgrade and drainage deficiencies also
lead to heavy maintenance costs. This can be overcome by using balllastless track. In its
simplest form this consists of a continuous slab of concrete (like a highway structure) with
the rails supported directly on its upper surface (using resilient pad).
There are a number of proprietary systems, and variations include a continuous reinforced
concrete slab, or alternatively the use pd pre-cast pre-stressed concrete units laid on a base
layer. Many permutations of design have been put forward.
However ballastless track is very expensive in first cost, and in the case of existing railroads
requires closure of the route for a somewhat long period. Its whole life cost can be lower
because of the great reduction in maintenance requirement. Ballastless track is usually
considered for new very high speed or very high loading routes. In short extensions that
require additional strength (e.g. rail station), or for localized replacement where there are
exceptional maintenance difficulties, for example in tunnels.

Ladder track

Ladder track at Akabane Station


Ladder track utilizes sleepers aligned along the same direction as the rails with rung-like
gauge restraining cross members. Both ballasted and ballastless types exist.

Continuous longitudinally supported track

Early railways ( c. 1840s) experimented with continuous bearing railtrack, in which the rail
was supported along its length, with examples including Brunels Baulk Road on the Great
Western Railway, as well as use on the Newcastle and North Shields Railway, on the
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway to a design by John Hawkshaw, and elsewhere. Continuous
bearing designs were also promoted by other engineers. The system was trialled on the
Baltimore and Ohio railway in the 1840s, but was found to be more expensive to maintain
than rail with cross ties.
Modern applications of continuously supported track include Balfour Bettys Embedded Slab
Track which uses a rounded rectangular rail profile (BB14072) embedded in a slipformed (or
pre-cast) concrete base (development 2000s), the Embedded Rail Structure, used ion
Netherlands since 1976, initially used a conventional UIC 54 rail embedded in concrete, later
developed (late 1990s) to use a mushroom shaped SA42 rail profile; a version for light rail
using a rail supported in an asphalt concrete filled steel trough has also been developed
(2002).

Track Layout
The geometry of the tracks is three-dimensional by nature, but the standards that express
the speed limits and other regulations in the areas opf track gauge, alignment, elevation,
curvature and track surface are usually expressed in two separate layouts for horizontal and
vertical.
Horizontal layout is the track layout on the horizontal plane. This involves the layout of three
main track types: tangent track (straight line), curved track, and track transition curve (also
called transition spiral or spiral) which connects between a tangent and a curved track.
Vertical layout is the track layout on the vertical plane including the concepts such as
crosslevel, cant and gradient.

Ballastless track rail traffic is reaching out toward new horizons on ballastless track systems.
The arguments are indeed convincing: long life cycles, top speed, ride comfort, and great
load-carrying capability. You take no chances with these systems, especially with newly
constructed lines: even at speeds over 300 km/h, your coffee will stay in your cup.
Practically maintenance free, ballastless track systems ensure almost 100% availability over
many years. In many cases, a maintenance-free track system is indeed the more costeffective solution over the long run.
The actual breakthrough in Germany for ballastless track technology on high-speed routes
took place on the new line between Cologne and the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Complex. For the
first time, Deutsche Bahn AG applied this new technology on a full section of track: with
extremely high levels of technical quality, and with great overall success.
The success of ballastless-track technology is primarily based on the following advantages:
1. Stability, precision and ride comfort.
Ballastledd track assures a permanently stable track position and stands up to the
great loads subjected by high-speed train traffic, with performance characterized by top
quality, functionality, and safety. Milimetre-exact adjustment of the track system during
assembly on the construction site is the pre-requisite for great ride comfort in the train, and
for reduction of loads experienced by the rolling stock.
2. Long life cycles and practically no maintenance
With its comparatively very low structural height, and with the possibility of achieving
optimal required track position, ballast track technology offers highly attractive and
beneficial solutions as end-to-end systems technology for main-track and turnout sections,
for application on a uniform basis on embankments, bridges and tunnels.
4. Basis for optimal routing of rail lines
For high-speed operations, ballastless technology enables more direct routing of train
lines, with tighter radii and greater slopes. These benefits enable reduction, or even
elimination, of coists,a nd work for civil-engineering structures.
Highly developed installation technology, sophisticated just-in-time logistics in deliveries to
the construction site, and highly efficient project management: these are the prerequisites
for fast construction of new rail lines with integrated quality assurance. Consequently,
these are the benefits that have led to application of ballastless track technology in
continuing major projects for rail lines: not only in Germany, where approximately 800 km of
ballasstless track has been installed alone since 1991, but in other major projects around the
world.

PNR
Philippine national railway mostly use ballasted tracks as a track structure. This is because
they keep stones between tracks. The stones placed in and around railway tracks are
technically called `ballast'. The railway track, named `Permanent Way' in rail lingo, is a
multi-entity structure which comprises the pair of rail lines running parallel, the spaced
sleepers, the ballast and the formation.The force exerted by the wheels of the train is

transmitted successively in a proportionally diminishing extent down the rails, the sleepers
and the ballast to the formation, a well prepared and consolidated road bed.
The ballast consists of broken stones of specific dimensions. The stability of the track
depends on the depth of the ballast which imparts a cushioning effect to the track. The
standard depth of ballast for trunk route is 25 cms ,for the Broad Gauge and 20 cms, for the
Metre Gauge.Besides distributing the pressure on the track, as stated earlier, the ballast
provides a foundation for the sleepers holding them in position albeit the shear produced on
the rails by the moving train and protects the formation by diverting rain water to the cess,
the exposed top portion of the formation.

Stonesballast

Today, PNR can only respond in kind by overcoming all the odds of its recent history.
Maximizing all its existing resources, rehabilitation work is going on full speed ahead
especially along its infrastructure.
Before train operators can even think of replacing or refurbishing the trains or railcars
themselves, the tracks, railroad ties, and bedding or embankment must be strengthened or
reconditioned to carry the weight of new or repaired rolling stock.
Right now, to strengthen tracks and bridges, PNR is replacing the existing wooden ties with
prestressed concrete sleepers. Other firming-up measures include Today, PNR can only
respond in kind by overcoming all the odds of its recent history.
Maximizing all its existing resources, rehabilitation work is going on full speed ahead
especially along its infrastructure.
Before train operators can even think of replacing or refurbishing the trains or railcars
themselves, the tracks, railroad ties, and bedding or embankment must be strengthened or
reconditioned to carry the weight of new or repaired rolling stock.
Right now, to strengthen tracks and bridges, PNR is replacing the existing wooden ties with
prestressed concrete sleepers. Other firming-up measures include ballasting of the tracks,
replacement of corroded rails with new ones, widening of embankment, and reconstruction
of damaged culverts. PNR is also reinforcing its bridges and improving the drainage system.
replacement of corroded rails with new ones, widening of embankment, and reconstruction
of damaged culverts. PNR is also reinforcing its bridges and improving the drainage system.

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