Ballasted Track versus Ballastless Track

Abstract:

First concrete sleepers were made of normal reinforced concrete and used during the 1930s and 1940s. Concrete railroad ties became popular in Europe after World War II because of the advances in design, material quality and production of pre-stressed concrete. Now as before, concrete sleepers on ballast represent the primary basis of track construction, around the world, but the twin block concrete sleepers are also popular and widely used. The continuously increasing operational loads and speeds forced the railway companies to update their technical and economic system to keep their vital role in transporting passengers and merchandise. In this development a very important role played the superstructure of the railroad system, and this modernization process led to appearing of the ballastless track system approximately 60 years ago. The article presents a comparison of two main types of track systems, including technical and economic aspects.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volume 660)
• Pages: 219-224
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.660.219
• Online since: August 2015
• Authors: Szabolcs Attila Köllő*, Attila Puskás, Gavril Köllő
• Keywords: Ballasted Track, Concrete Sleeper, Maintenance, Rail Superstructure, Rail Supports, Slab Track, Stability

References

[1] Emaco group, Railway sleepers and railway accessories. Information on http: /www. emacogroup. eu/railway. html.

[2] E. Darr, W. Fiebig, Feste Fahrbahn: Konstruktion und Bauarten für Eisenbahn und Strassenbahn, Second edition, Eurailpress, Germany, (2006).

[3] MÁV Rt. (Hungarian State Railway), Vasútépítés és pályafenntartás (Railway track construction and maintenance) , first ed., Budapest, (1999).

[4] M. Nechita, G. Köllő, Căi ferate (Railway track), IPC-N, Cluj Napoca, (1982).

[5] A. Pawar, Future of rail track construction in India and other emerging economies, 2013, Information on http: /www. slideshare. net/pawarap.

[6] Rail One, Rheda 2000 Ballastless track system, Information on http: /www. railone. com.

[7] Sonneville AG, Low Vibration Track (LVT), Switzerland, www. SONNEVILLE. com.

[8] B. Lichtberger, Track compendium, first ed., Eurail Press, (2005).

[9] Ballastless track on high – speed lines, SSF Ingenieure Information on http: /www. ssf-ing. de/en/projects. html.

[10] S. Kaewunruen, A. M. Remennikov, Effect of improper ballast packing / tamping on dynamic behaviors of no-track railway concrete sleeper, International Journal of Structural Stability and Dynamics, 7 (2007) 167-177.

DOI: 10.1142/s0219455407002174

[11] Vossloh AG, High Speed in Europe, Agenda ppt presentation, VOSSLOH AG. www. vossloh. com.