Railway Transportation

Course objectives
The objectives of this course are; to introduce the student to
railways as a transportation system, to explain the terminology,
and to outline the rudiments of the design and maintenance of
permanent way.

At the end of this section of the course the student should;

be able to explain the principal characteristics of rail

transport.

be familiar with the basic terminology used in permanent way

engineering.

be able to describe the functions of the principal components

of rail track.

be able to perform some simple design calculations.

References:

British Railway Track, 6th Edition, Published by the Permanent Way

Institution, 1993, ISBN 0 903489 03 1

Railway Engineering, by V. A. Profiliidis, Published by Avebury

Technical, ISBN 0 291 39828 6

Modern Railway Track, by Coenraad Esveld, Published by MRT

Productions, ISBN 90 800324 1 7

Railroad Track Theory and Practice, edited by Fritz Fastenrath,

Published by Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. New York.
Characteristics of Railways

Make up trains Can couple wagons together to

form trains.

Efficient land use Railways use less land than roads (1/3
that required by a road. Railways fit in
smaller tunnels. The Paris-Lyons TGV
line (429 km) used same land as Roissy
Airport.

Fuel efficient large efficient engines - cost/mile same

order of magnitude as family car. Uses
half the fuel that road traffic uses and 1/5
to 1/7 that of air transport.

Environmentally less pollution (15 times less as compared

Friendly with equivalent car transport) - less
disturbance

Linear system Trains must follow the rails-door to door

service is not possible - multiple modes

Reliable Very dependable - not very sensitive to

weather

Comfortable Ride quality is high, dining carriages

toilets etc.

High speed Standard steel rails steel wheels

technology is capable of very high
speeds. TGV speeds -360 km/h in 2000
- 400 km/h in 2010
 High capacity Bus=90pas x 60/hr = 5,400pas/hr
Metro=8 x 250pas x 40/hr = 80,000pas/hr
Shinkansen has moved 520,000 between
Osaka and Tokyo in one day (515 km).

Very Safe high safety standards low accident rate.

Fatality Risk 8 times greater for roads.
Injury risk 200 times greater for roads.

Heavy loads Suitable for bulk transport of coal,

cement, iron ore etc. carrying very heavy
axle loads, up to 30 tonnes per axle.

Dangerous goods Suitable for carrying dangerous goods

Large capital costs Breakdown of the channel tunnel costs;

50% tunnel construction
10% rolling stock
40% tracks, signalling, electrification etc.
 Steel Wheels and Steel Rails
The principal characteristics of rail transportation result directly
from the nature of railway track: steel rails set a distance apart
which guide and support the rolling stock.

Linear System

Requires Signalling systems

Low rolling resistance

Needs low gradients

Needs heavy locomotives

High control over carriage location

 Signalling
Fail to safe

Interlocking

Mechanical tokens

Track circuits and relays

Headway

Three aspect signals

Jointless track circuits etc.

 Rolling Stock

Steel conical wheels and rigid axles

Bogies (trucks)

E.M.U.s - Electric motive units

Diesel Railcars

Diesel Electric locomotives

Steam locomotives

Passenger Carriages - generator vans or head-end

power
O.C.S Over-head Contact Systems
Catenaries - auto-tensioning

Feeders

AC or DC

Regeneration

Pantographs

Stray Currents
 Basic Track Terminology
Gauge

Cess

Trains travel on the left hand side

5 Foot and 6 foot

Flat bottomed and Bull head

Fishplates

Rail Fastening systems

Chairs and Railpads

CWR - continuously welded rail

Switches and crossings, points and crossings

Railway measures