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Chapter 2. Railway Line and Subgrade
Part I Railway Line
Railway line centerline determines everything including:
Economy
Safety
Type of structures required
Location of stations
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2.1 Economic survey and route selection
Three stages：
1. Earlier stage: research, survey and preliminary design work.
2. Basic construction stage: measurements technical design and construction
design actual construction check it into production.
3. Feedback and Evaluation stage: several years later, to evaluate the design and
construction quality by investigating the engineering quality, technical index and
economic benefits.
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Route selection
Route Selection Criteria:
Shortest, direct route,
Avoid unsuitable geology,
Link important sites,
Cost effective in terms of both
construction and user,
Minimum earthwork,
Utilize local materials,
Environmentally friendly,
Aesthetically pleasing etc.
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2.2 Selection of main technical standards
1) Design speed:
shall be determined after technical and economic comparisons in terms of the project
role in railway passenger and fright transport network, transport demand,
engineering specifications to meet the demand of travel time target.
2) Maximum gradient
The maximum gradient is the steepest grade allowed to be used on a railway line.
The maximum gradient shall be determined according to the design speed,
locomotive power, traffic organization mode, safety and ride comfort, annual
volume of traffic, etc.
3) Number of main lines
Double track or single track
Geometry viewpoint
Structural criteria
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Selection of main technical standards
4) Minimum plane curve radius
• shall be determined according to railway classification, designed speed, traffic
organization mode, safety and ride comfort, and engineering working
conditions, etc.
5) Available length of arrival and departure line
• Built at stations specially for train reception and departure
• It is the maximum length of arrival and departure line that can be used by trains
stopping without influencing the operation working on adjacent lines
6) Kind of traction and types of locomotives( EMU type)
• Vapor traction, diesel traction and electric traction are the three types of traction
• Kind of tractive energy influence railway with respect to traffic capacity, line
standard and economy
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Selection of main technical standards
7) Tonnage ratings
• It tells how many tons a given locomotive can haul over a particular engine
district
• Comparative tonnage ratings over alternative routes can be a major factor in
route location.
• In building trains yardmasters need to know how many tons can be placed
behind a given locomotive or what horsepower is needed to move a proposed
tonnage
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Railway system interaction
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2.3 Plane Section of a Railroad line
• The three-dimensional center line (space curve) is defined by superposition of the
horizontal and vertical alignment projections.
• The planar projection of center line is called plane section of the rail; and its
vertical projection is called longitudinal section of the rail.
• The plane section of the rail is consist straight line and curve (circular curve and
easement (transition) curve).
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Circular curve
Circular curves (sometimes “full curves”) with constant curve radius, R
• Constant horizontal curvature (change of direction per unit length of the track)
• Constant quasi-static lateral acceleration (if the train runs at constant speed)
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Circular curve effects
A vehicle running in a curve with radius R and speed v experiences a centrifugal
lateral acceleration a = v2/R this results undesirable effects:
high curve resistance
severe wear of rails and wheel flange
risk of lateral displacement of the whole track (track shift)
risk of rail tilting
noise nuisance
risk of vehicles overturning
risk of derailment by wheel climbing or loosening of rail fastenings
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Corrective measures for the curving phenomena:
Increase the radius of curvature, R
Use superelevation (cant) to compensate the lateral acceleration
by the gravity
Reduction in train speed – not the best option
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Track plane acceleration
In case of quasistatic curving: track plane acceleration is , and the
acceleration normal to the track plane is
For a given cant an equilibrium or
balanced speed , ( = 0)
ℎ
=
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Equilibrium Cant
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Cant deficiency ( hd )
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Cant deficiency and tilting
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Cant excess ( he )
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Exercise
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