LAYOUT AND CONSTRUCTION OF

RAILWAY TRACK
Introduction:
Track is the base upon which the railway runs. To give a train a
good ride, the track alignment must be set to within a millimeter
of the design. Track design and construction is part of a complex
and multi-disciplinary engineering science involving earthworks,
steelwork, and timber and suspension systems - the infrastructure
of the railway.
In simple words the track of railway or railroad, also known as
the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails,
fasteners, railroad (sleepers) and ballast (or slab track), plus the
underlying subgrade.

Background:
The track is a fundamental part of the railway infrastructure and
represents the primary distinction between this form of land
transportation and all others in that it provides a fixed guidance
system.

Basic construction:
Track is the most obvious part of a railway route but there is a
sub-structure supporting the track which is equally as important
in ensuring a safe and comfortable ride for the train and its
passengers or freight. The infrastructure diagram here shows the
principal
parts
of
double-track
line.
The total width across the two-track alignment will be about 15 m
(50 ft) for a modern formation. The "cess" shown each side of the

alignment is the area available for a walkway or refuge for staf

working on the track.

The Sub-Structure:
This part of the road consists of three main elements; the
formation, the sub-ballast and the ballast. The formation is the
ground upon which the track will be laid. It can be the natural
ground level or "grade" or it can be an embankment or cutting. It
is important that the formation is made of the right materials and
is properly compacted to carry the loads of passing trains.
The formation under the track has a "camber" rather like that
seen on a roadway. This is to ensure ease of water run-of to the
drains provided on each side of the line. The track itself is
supported on "ballast", made up of a stone - usually granite below which is a layer of sand, which separates it from the
formation.

Ballast:
Ballast is provided to give support, load transfer and drainage to
the track and thereby keep water away from the rails and
sleepers. Ballast must support the weight of the track and the
considerable cyclic loading of passing trains. Individual loads on
rails can be as high as 50 tons (55 US or short tons) and around
80 short tons on a heavy haul freight line.

Ballast is made up of stones of granite or a similar material and

should be rough in shape to improve the locking of stones. In this
way they will better resist movement. Ballast stones with smooth
edges do not work so well. Ballast will be laid to a depth of 9 to
12 inches (up to 300 mm on a high speed track). Ballast weighs
about 1,600 to 1,800 kg/cu/m. See also Ballasted vs NonBallasted Track below.

Track:
The usual track form consists of the two steel rails, secured on
sleepers so as to keep the rails at the correct distance apart (the
gauge) and capable of supporting the weight of trains. There are
various types of sleepers and methods of securing the rails to
them. Sleepers are normally spaced at 650 mm (25 INS) to 760
mm (30 INS) intervals, depending on the particular railway's
standard requirements.

Sleepers:
Traditionally, sleepers are wooden. They can be softwood or
hardwood. Most in softwood, although London Underground uses
a hardwood called Jarrah wood. Sleepers are normally
impregnated with preservative and, under good conditions, will
last up to 25 years. They are easy to cut and drill and used to be
cheap and plentiful. Nowadays, they are becoming more
expensive and other types of materials have appeared notably
concrete and steel.

WOODEN CONCRETE
SLEEPERS
Concrete is the most popular
of the new types. Concrete
sleepers are much heavier than
wooden ones, so they resist
movement better.

Rail:
The standard form of rail used
around the world is the "flat
bottom" rail. It has a wide
base or "foot" and narrower top
or "head". The other one type
of rail is a "Bullhead" rail and is shown in comparison with the
standard
type
in
the
diagram
left.
Bullhead rail was originally designed with reuse in mind. It was
intended that it would be turned over when the top had worn but
this proved impossible because the underside also wore where it
had been secured to the sleeper. Bullhead rail has to be mounted
in a special "chair" made of cast iron and secured by a "key"
wedged between the rail web and the chair. The chairs are
secured to the sleepers by "coach screws". The arrangement can
be seen in the first photo below:

Flat bottom rail

Bullhead Rails

The second photo above shows a flat bottom rail clipped to a

baseplate under the rail. Flat bottom rails can also be "spiked"
directly to the sleepers. Normally, the rail rests on a cast steel
plate which is screwed or bolted to the sleeper. The rail is
attached to the plate by a system of clips or clamps, depending
on the design.
The rail weight varries from 80-90 lb/yd. (pounds/yard) in small
yards to 100-110 lb/yd on light duty track and between 130 and
141 lbs on heavy duty track. Rail of 141 lbs is the new main line
standard.

Rail Welding:
Modern track work uses long welded rail lengths to provide a
better ride, reduce wear, reduce damage to trains and eliminate
the noise associated with rail joints. Rail welding is a complex art
depending on how you feel about it. There are two main types of
welding used for rails: Thermite welding and Flash Butt welding.

Gauge:
The standard track gauge - the distance between the two rails - is
4 ft. 8 in or 1435 mm. but many other gauges, wider and
narrower than this, are in use around the world. Gauge is often
intentionally widened slightly on curved track.

Modern Track Forms:

There are now a range of modern track forms using a concrete
base. They are generally used in special locations such as tunnels
or bridges where a rigid base is required to ensure track stability
in relation to the surrounding structures. This type of track,
usually called "slab track" or "non-ballasted" track.

Ballasted vs Non-Ballasted Track:

The basic argument for diferent track designs will be based on
the bottom line - cost; cost of installation and cost of
maintenance. There are however, other issues such as
environment - noise, dust and vibration - or engineering issues
such as space, location, climate and the type of service intended
for the track.
There are a wide variety of track forms and systems incorporating
some form of concrete base or support which doesn't need
ballast. Almost all of these require less depth of construction than
ballasted track.
However, the accuracy of installation must be higher than that
needed for ballasted track. Slab track will not be adjusted after
installation but ballast can be packed to align track as required.

Structures:
To ensure that the path required for the passage of trains is kept
clear along the route of a railway, a "structure gauge" is imposed.
This has the efect of forming a limit of building inside which no
structures may intrude. The limit includes not only things like
walls, bridges and columns but also pipes, cables, brackets and
signal posts.

Gauging:
The line of route has to be checked from time to time to ensure
that the structures are not interfering with the gauge. A line is
always gauged when a new type of rolling stock is to be
introduced. It is important to see that the small variations in
track position, platform edge, and cable duct location and signal
equipment hasn't been allowed to creep inwards during
maintenance and renewal programmers.
Gauging used to be done by hand locally (and still is from time to
time in special circumstances) but now a day, it is mostly done
with a special train.

Monuments and Datum Plates:

Along the line of route various locations are marked by a fixed
post in the track or a plate on a nearby structure to indicate the
correct level or position of the track. These are called monuments
or datum plates. Measurements are taken from these to confirm
the correct position of the track.

Curves:
Curves in the track are almost a science on their own. Careful
calculations are required to ensure that curves are designed and
maintained properly and that train speeds are allowed to reach a
reasonable level without causing too much lateral stress on the
track. There are both vertical curves and horizontal curves.
There is also a section of track on either side of a curve known as
the transition, where the track is changing from straight to a
curve or from a curve of one radius to one of another radius.

Cant
Cant is the name used to describe the cross level angle of track
on a curve, which is used to compensate for lateral forces
generated by the train as it passes through the curve. In efect,
the sleepers are laid at an angle so that the outer rail on the
curve is at a higher level than the inner rail. It is known as super
elevation.
Cant is measured either in degrees or in linear dimensions. On
standard gauge track (1435 mm or 4ft. 8ins.) 150 mm or 6 ins.
of cant is equal to 6 degrees. The maximum amount of cant
deficiency allowed is 110 mm (4 INS.).

Turnouts:
We have used the word "turnout" to describe the junctions in
track work where lines diverge or converge. In the railway "trade",
turnouts are referred to as "switch and crossing work".

Crossings:
The crossing can be cast or fabricated. Rails are usually made of
steel with large iron content but a little manganese is added to

crossings and some heavily used rails to increase resistance to

wear.

CROSSING

Construction Procedure of Railway Track

Notwithstanding
modern
technical
developments,
the
overwhelmingly dominant track form worldwide consists of flatbottom steel rails supported on timber or pre-stressed
concrete sleepers , which are themselves laid on crushed
stone ballast.
Most railroads with heavy traffic use continuously welded rails
supported by sleepers attached via baseplates which spread the
load. A plastic or rubber pad is usually placed between the rail
and the tie plate where concrete sleepers are used. The rail is
usually held down to the sleeper with resilient fastenings,
although cut spikes are widely used. For much of the 20th
century, rail track used softwood timber ties and jointed rails.
The rails were typically of flat bottom section fastened to the ties
with dog spikes through a flat tie plate and typically of bullhead
section carried in cast iron chairs in practice.

Jointed rails were used, at first because the technology did not
ofer any alternative. However the intrinsic weakness 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.

Track bed and foundation:

Railway tracks are generally laid on a bed of stone track
ballast or track bed, in turn is supported by prepared earthworks
known as the track formation. The formation comprises
the subgrade and a layer of sand or stone dust (often sandwiched
in impervious plastic), known as the blanket, which restricts the
upward migration of wet clay or silt. There may also be layers of
waterproof fabric to prevent water penetrating to the subgrade.
The track and ballast form the permanent way. The term
foundation may be used to refer to the ballast and formation, i.e.
all man-made structures below the tracks.
The sub-grade layers are slightly sloped to one side to help
drainage of water. Rubber sheets may be inserted to help
drainage and also protect iron bridgework from being afected by
rust. Typical Example of Laying the Permanent Way
laying the track - known in railway terminology as the "Permanent
Way" - is an operation, which requires traditional engineering
skills, much physical labor and specialized equipment.
A bed of limestone known as "ballast" is spread along the route of
a depth of 5-6 inches. Each panel is physically aligned on top of
this ballast and then bolted into position, end to end, connected
by flat plates known as "fishplates".

TYPICAL CROSS SECTION OF A RAILWAY TRACK

LAYOUT AND CONSTRUCTION OF

RAILWAY STATION
Introduction:
A railway station is a place where trains make scheduled stops.
Stations usually have one or more platforms constructed
alongside a line of railway. However, railway stations come in
many diferent configurations influenced by such factors as the
geographical nature of the site, or the need to serve more than
one route, which may or may not be connected, and the level of
the
tracks.
It should therefore be well designed, comfortable and convenient
for the passenger as well as efficient in layout and operation.
Stations must be properly managed and maintained and must be
operated safely.

Station and Crossing Safety:

There are two difering views about passenger safety at stations
which have dictated station design for the last 150 years or
more. For most of the world, it has been assumed that
passengers (and other members of the public) will take care of
their own safety when walking on or near a railway. Because of
this, it is not considered necessary to segregate passengers from
trains. Passengers will look out for passing trains when crossing
tracks and will take care not to leave luggage, children, cars or
anything else which could damage or be damaged by a train.
Station design has reflected this so that platforms were often not
raised very much above rail level.

Platforms:

The term platform is worth explaining. The position of a train in a

station is referred to as the "track", as in.British way of referring
to the "Train at Platform 4", referring to the platform "face",
sometimes confuses foreign visitors, who see two trains, one on
each side of the platform.
The rest of the world has generally had a train/station interface
designed on the basis that the passengers step up into the train
from a low level platform or even
Straight of the ground. However, high platforms are now seen in
many countries around the world.

Platform width is also an important feature of station design. The

width must be sufficient to accommodate the largest numbers of
passengers expected but must not be wasteful of space - always
at a premium for station areas in expensive land districts of a
city. The platform should be designed to give free visual areas
along its length so that passengers can read signs and staf can
ensure safety when dispatching trains. Platform edges should be
straight to assist operations by allowing clear sight lines.

RAILWAY STATION

Platform screens and windows:

There has been a trend recently in modern metro systems
towards incorporating glazed screens along platform edges. This
is only possible where sliding powered doors are available on
trains and where the location of these doors is always consistent,
which is why screen doors do not appear on main line railways.
There are also local station door controls provided at the platform
ends, in case the automatic system fails.

Entrances and Exits:

Station entrances and exits must be designed to allow for the
numbers of passengers passing through them, both under normal
and emergency conditions. These codes usually define the exit
flows and the types of exits allowed for, e.g. the diferent rates for
passages, stairways and escalators. Whatever the codes define,

the entrances to a station must be welcoming to the prospective

passenger.
Stations must also have sufficient entrances to cater for the
diferent sides of the railway route but the number must also take
into account the cost efectiveness of each entrance. The cost of
staffing ticket offices can be very considerable and the numbers
of ticket offices must be managed to suit the patronage ofering.

Passenger Information:
Information system on stations is variously referred to as a
Passenger Information System (sometimes referred to as PIS) or
Passenger Information Display (PID). Passenger information
systems are essential for any railway. One of the most common
complaints by passengers on railways is the lack of up to date
and accurate information. When asking the staf for information,
passengers expect an accurate and courteous response with the
latest data.
Information displays mounted in public areas must be visible in all
weather conditions (noting that some electronic displays are very
difficult to see in sunlight conditions) and be updated regularly
with accurate information. For instant systems, it can be assumed
that passengers require knowing:
The time now
The destination and expected time of arrival of the next train
The stations served by this train
Major connections requiring boarding of this train
The position of their car - if travelling with a reserved place
Where the train will stop - for variable length trains
Other destinations served from this station and from which
platform

Toilets:

For a long time the provision of toilets on railway premises has

been the subject of criticism and debate, both in the industry and
amongst passengers. Passengers expect to be provided with
facilities and complain loudly when they are not. On the other
hand, public toilets are regularly abused and vandalized in many
countries and railway administrations end up paying large
amounts to maintain and repair them.
Now a day, it is considered good marketing to provide good
restroom, baby changing and toilet facilities. They will not be
cheap to provide and they will require regular inspections to
ensure the safety and cleanliness of the premises.

Concessions:
Concessions on railway premises can be a lucrative source of
income for a railway and the opportunity to provide for them
should be taken wherever possible. The normal types of
concessions are cofee shops, refreshment counters and small
lunch rooms, dry cleaners, newspaper shops and flower shops.
Shops should not be allowed to sell dangerous goods and may be
restricted in the sale of tobacco products if the railway has a no
smoking policy. Some operators have excluded the sale of food
within their property because they have a no eating/drinking
policy.

Station Design:

The design of stations has developed over the years as the use of
railways has first expanded and latterly declined. A new form of
station design has also evolved with the introduction of metros
and high capacity urban railways. A number of diferent types of
station design now a day.

Signals:
During the 19th century a system of mechanically operated
signals was developed for Britain's railways. Although there were
many diferent and independent railway companies, by the early

20th century, signals were generally standardized, but with some

variations in style and appearance.

RAILWAY TRACK SIGNALS

References:
1-

http://www.railway-technical.com/stations.shtml

2-

http://www.railway-technical.com/track.shtml

3-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_station_layout

4-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaide_railway_station

5-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport

6-

https://www.q=layout+procedure+of+railway+track&es_sm

7http://vcxrivaleekdp.wordpress.com.train-layout-ho-for-salerandkey