2.

Basics of Railway Engineering

Design
2.2 Railway Track gauge
Objective
• Get general Introduction about railway transportation

• Get general introduction about railway technology

• Understand the different elements of the railway infrastructure

• Understand the different elements of a Railway geometry

• Understand the different factors in creating a good alignment

2.1 Introduction to Railway Engineering
Introduction
• Railway is a land-based guided form of transport which allows a one degree of
freedom movement;

The choices are binary:

• The movement is either forward or backward along the rail.

• From a transport system point of view, it is by default considered to comprise
three constituents:
• Railway infrastructure
• Rolling stock
• Railway operation
Continued…

• Railway has the capability to play a key role in any sustainable transport system

 offering efficient transport

 low environmental impact

• In order to stay economically competitive and act socially responsible towards the
environment

 railways must use smart and cost efficient technology

 railways must increase their energy efficiency

Railway technology
The railway technology is mainly based on two physical principles

• the guidance of wheel on rail (adhesion of steel on steel)

• an operational technique, the convoy
Railway Infrastructure

• Demand for railway infrastructure is driven by

 higher speeds and higher axle loads

 higher availability and fewer disturbances

 lower Life Cycle Cost (LCC)

satisfy environmental demands

higher reliability and safety

Railway Infrastructure

• In developing countries, there is an enormous need for newly built railway

infrastructure.

Consultants from industrialized countries provide complete designs, and the

implementation is mostly carried out by European and American firms

• Transfer of knowledge, and instructions of local personnel

is a demand.
Advantages of Railways

• Limited use of space compared to large transport capacity

• Better reliability and safety
• High degree of automation and management
• Low energy consumption
• Moderate environmental impact
Disadvantage

• Cost of railway infrastructure is expensive; especially Very difficult

terrains requires many special civil structures (tunnels and bridges)
which increase the cost rapidly

• High speed railway lines are more expensive;

Disadvantage

• Out of the total cost, 50% of the cost is for track construction such as
track superstructure including switches and crossings, electrification,
tele, etc
• The remaining cost is for track substructure, such as bridges, tunnels,
embankments, subgrade improvement, etc;
Disadvantage
• Complexity of Railway system

• The design of railway, maintenance and renewal of modern railway infrastructure

and rolling stock asset, and management of the rail network, require appreciation of
the factors that give rise to the complex nature of the railway system.

• The following factors drive the complex nature of railway systems:

• Diversity

• Variability

• Interdependence
Continued..

• The main reason for the complexity of the railway system is that it
often is a mixture of components of different age and status that have
to work together in a system.

• Railways feature a wide range of different types of technical and

organizational subsystems and components.
Continued

• Technically diverse subsystems range from tunnel and concrete

structures to highly stressed mechanical parts

• Organizational diversity ranges from low frequency rural passenger

service to high intensity commuter service and heavy haul mines.

Continued
Variability

• Railway operations must achieve high level of reliability, availability

and safety regardless of weather or any other external conditions.

• High temperature that can lead to rail buckling, flooding with the
potential of track washouts and snow or ice affecting switch operation
as some aspects of physical impacts.
Continued

Interdependence

• Interdependence in task systems is a major complexity.

 A wide range of physical subsystems are tightly coupled such as wheel

and rail, wheel set and bogies, rail and sleepers, conductors and
current collection systems
Rail Vehicle

• Rolling stock is the term employed to describe all railway vehicles,

both powered and hauled, used either as power, trailer or engineering
vehicles.

• The power vehicles are self-propelled, that is, they are equipped with
traction motors.
Rail Vehicle
Basic Structure

Railway line ：
• Track, subgrade , bridge and tunnels
• Track ： Rail, sleeper and ballast
Continued…
Railway safety
• Safety must be not jeopardized and must be the top agenda for the railway
• Authorities at the design and implementation stages, and in the maintenance and
operation.
• Accidents could occur due to human error, equipment fault, improper
technology, etc.

To assure safety;
• Work on risk assessment and safety at the planning stage, to assess potential
hazards
• Regular maintenance
• Improved technology for inspection and failure detection
• Incident analysis to understand a root cause and to improve the safety further in
the line
2.2. Elements of a Railway
Geometry
Introduction
• In all cases, the goals of geometric design are to maximize the comfort, safety, and
economy of facilities, while minimizing their environmental impacts.

• The main parameters defining the track geometry,

gauge (track plane),

Alignment in a horizontal plane,

 Profile (longitudinal vertical plane),

Cross level or super elevation (transverse vertical plane

 1.Track gauge

• The gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the head of rails measured 14
mm below rolling surface.

• Rail gauges are usually categorized as Standard gauge (1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)), 

Broad gauge and Narrow gauge. 
Continued…

• The track guides the conical, flanged wheels, keeping the cars on the
track without active steering and therefore allowing trains to be much
longer than road vehicles.
Continued
• Some of the countries all over the world which have constructed lines of Gauges
categorized as standards type(1435mm)
Continued

• Track gauge is as the dominant parameter as determining

interoperability even if loading gauge is also the other variable, it is
still frequently used as a descriptor of a route or network.

• All track gauges give the same operational possibilities, however

gauges less than metric gauge don’t give high speed operation.
2. Alignment

• Alignment of a railway line includes horizontal alignment and vertical

alignment.

• These basic elements are common to all linear facilities, such as

roadways, airport runways and taxiways. Although the details of
design standards vary with the mode and the class of facility, most of
the issues involved in geometric design are similar for all modes.
Main technical standards

Include ： number of main track, limited grade, minimum radius of curve, kinds of
traction, type of locomotive, locomotive routing, distribution of stations, effective
length of arrival and departure track and type of blocking.

They are decided based on the function of the line as indicated on the design
standard example. EU’s TSI ‘Technical specification for Interoperability’, UIC
standard, CEN, AREMA,etc
A. Horizontal Alignment(Plan)

• The horizontal alignment of a railway line consists of: in a straight

direction: straight flat track sections which have lowest resistance

• In the horizontal direction: curves, superelevations, and transition

curves

• In the vertical direction: gradients, vertical curves and transition

gradients
 The planar projection of center line is called plane section of the rail; and
its vertical projection is called longitudinal section of the rail.

plane section of the rail longitudinal section of the rail

 The plane section of the rail

The plane section of the rail is consisted of straight line and

curve (circular curve and easement curve).
 1. Constituent part of the curve
The circular curve is set when the line turns.
It includes ： curve radius R ， corner curve α ， curve length L ，
tangent length T
When out of consideration of easement curve:

tangent length:

T  R tan  m 
2
curve length: 
L R m
180
Curve radius’s effect for operating

 It is harmful while it is small, because:

• Limit the speed of train;

• Increase wheel abrasion;

• Increase rail equipment;

• Increase maintenance costs.

 2. Easement curve or Transition curve
Easement curve is set between straight line and circular curve.

easement
curve
circular
curve
outer rail

inner rail
(a) Without easement curve (b) With easement curve
 characteristic of Transition Curve curve

① Its curve radius decreased gradually from the infinite to circular curve radius R, or on
the contrary;

② While running, the centrifugal force of train is gradually added or gradually reduced;

③ The widen value of track gauge is also gradually added or gradually reduced;

④ And so as to the elevation of outer rail.

It is set for safety and riding comfortableness.

 Formula of easement curve

y—— ordinate, m;
X—— abscissa, m;
R—— circular curve radius ,
m;
L0—— easement curve
length,m.
 length of easement curve
1) calculated according to the diminishing gradient of superelevation
 the inside wheel which is impending can't climb up the rail.

point of outside
h wheel

point of
inside wheel
 calculated according to the comfort level of passengers
wheel’s speed of up and down can not be too fast.

h h  Vmax
f  ( mm / s)
L 0
Vmax 3.6 L0

h  Vmax
L 0

3.6f
(m)

f — speed of wheel
L0 — length of easement curve (m);
h — superelevation(mm) .
formula :
600 ωr —— unit curve resistance(N/KN);
  （ N/
r R KN ） R —— curve radius(m);
600 —— experiment data.

600
  （ N/KN ）
From r R

we know: the smaller the curve radius is, the larger curve
resistance there exists, the more adverse influence it has.
With a certain scale, to project the center line and the ground on both sides of the line
to horizontal plane is called the line plan.
B. The longitudinal section of rail line

The longitudinal section of rail line is consisted of flat road, ramp and
vertical curve.
1. The gradient and vertical curve
Gradient and length are used to represent characteristic of grade section.

Length of grade section is refer to the horizontal range between two grade
change points.

Gradient Altitude of two

grade change
points

Length of grade section

The plane and longitudinal section of rail line

Centre line is used to show the place of a line in space.

 Limiting gradient and pusher grade

definition:
The gradient which can decide the maximum cargo weight of a locomotive is
called the limiting gradient.
It is often equaled to the maximum gradient.
 （ 1 ） Selection for limiting gradient

The bigger the gradient is, the bigger the resistance there exists, and the
smaller the train traction weight is.
C. Superelevation(track cant)

• The difference in height between the outer and the inner rail on a curve. It is
provided by gradually lifting the outer rail above the level of the inner rail.

• The main functions of superelevation are the following.

(a) To ensure a better distribution of load on both rails
(b) To reduce the wear and tear of the rails and rolling stock
(c) To neutralize the effect of lateral forces
(d) To provide comfort to passengers
 The relationship of speed and curve radius for standard gauge

hR
V
11.8

V——speed of train ， km/h ；

h——elevation of outer rail ， mm ；
R——curve radius ， m
• Equilibrium speed When the speed of a vehicle negotiating a curved
track is such that the resultant force of the weight of the vehicle and of
radial acceleration is perpendicular to the plane of the rails, the vehicle is
not subjected to any unbalanced radial acceleration and is said to be in
equilibrium. This particular speed is called the equilibrium speed. The
equilibrium speed, as such, is the speed at

which the effect of the centrifugal force is completely balanced by the cant
provided.
Rear view of rail vehicle at right-hand curving, (a) no cant but cant deficiency, (b) equilibrium cant,
(c) cant and cant deficiency
• Maximum permissible speed This is the highest speed permitted to a
train on a curve taking into consideration the radius of curvature,
actual cant, cant deficiency, cant excess, and the length of transition.

The maximum permissible value for elevation of outer rail:

And the formula can be:

V
h max  hq  R
11.8
• Equilibrium cant -is the cant which gives a lateral acceleration of zero,
for a given radius and vehicle speed.

• Cant deficiency (Cd) occurs when a train travels around a curve at a

speed higher than the equilibrium speed. It is the difference between the
theoretical cant required for such high speeds and the actual cant provided.

• Cant excess (Ce) occurs when a train travels around a curve at a speed
lower than the equilibrium speed. It is the difference between the actual
cant provided and the theoretical cant required for such a low speed.
Importance of Good Alignment

Railway line constructions are capital-intensive projects,

once constructed, it is very difficult to change the
alignment of a railway line because of the costly
structures involved, difficulty in getting additional land
for the new alignment, and such other considerations.
Basic Requirements of an Ideal Alignment
Serve the Purpose of the New Railway Line
• strategic considerations, political considerations, developing of backward
areas, connecting new trade centers, and shortening existing rail lines.
Fit the Integrated Development of the country
 Economically feasible
• The shortest route, Minimum construction and maintenance cost
Minimum operational expenses.
• maximizing the haulage of goods with the given power of the locomotive
and traction mix
Continued….
Maximum comfort and safety
Aesthetically pleasing
D. Other elements on the Geometry

Line signs
To meet the needs of driving and maintenance, many signs are used to
indicate the position of railway buildings and equipments and the state of
technology along the railway.
Line signs shall be built on the left side of the forward direction, beyond
the locomotive limits and keep the distance no less than 2 m from the lateral
of rail.
Types of signs and the setting place

(1) kilometer post, half-kilometer post are signs of line mileage.

kilometer post is set per 1km from the starting point;
half-kilometer post is set in the middle.

kilometer post half-kilometer post

 (2) curve post
It records the relevant factors of
curve indicating curve length,
easement curve length, curve radius,
superelevation and broaden.
Located in the middle of circular
curve.

curve length
easement curve length
curve post curve radius
superelevation
circular curve broaden
straight line straight line
(3) gradient post
It is used to represent the gradient and length of grade section.
The arrows represent the uphill and the downhill.
It is set on the grade change point.

the front the back the side

 (4) bridge post
Located in the place of center mileage or bridgehead and
marked bridge number and center mileage on it.
 (5) section sign
Located in the boundary area, and both sides of it will
indicate the name of the entity .
THANK YOU,

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