Improving track design to reduce life cycle costs

А.J. Abdurashitov Branch Manager of OJSC VNIIZHT, Ph.D.

VNIIZhT (OJSC “Russian Railway Transport Research Institute”)

The strategy of development of railway transport in the Russian Federation up to 2030 envisages increasing amount of freight traffic by about 40%. One of the objectives is to bring between overhauls tonnage by 2015 to 1.5 billion tonnes gross, and by 2030 to 2.5 billion tonnes gross. To achieve these parameters is necessary to develop more sophisticated design elements of the track’s permanent way.

When choosing the design of the way the main criteria are the cost and duration of the life cycle.

General states

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Passenger from 160 to 200 km/h

Freight up to 90 km/h

Passenger - 250 km/h

Freight - 90 km/h

400 km/h

Scheduled for future track network of OJSC "Russian Railways" with heavy haul,

fast and high-speed traffic

New high-speed tracks for passenger traffic with speeds up to:

Fast tracks with combined traffic,including heavy haul, with trains speed:

Combined traffic high-speedtracks with trains speed up to:

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Comparison of change in length of track with continuous welded rails by year on Siberian and Far Eastern railways and on the network as a whole

The area in which continuous welded rails has been laid is increasing and it currently accounts for 67.1% of the total length of railway network’s main lines.

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26,2 27,1 27,5 28,0 28,8 29,5 30,6 31,8 33,135,0

37,541,2

43,946,8

49,852,8

55,559,4

62,064,5

67,1

0,6 0,7 0,9 1,3 1,8 2,5 3,5 4,3 5,3 6,3 7,3 8,5 9,8 10,7 11,9 13,0

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012

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Годы

Сеть ЖД

Сибирь и ДВ

Years

Perc

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Russian Railways network

Siberia and Far East

Operational conditions on Russian railways

The Russian Federation is characterised by a variety of building and operating conditionsDepending on their geographic and climatic location, construction zones are defined: - according to the relief conditions – from plains to mountainous areas- according to geological factors – from swampy land to rock foundations- according to type of climate – from subtropical to Arctic.Maximum daily temperature range: 40°СMaximum annual temperature range: 120°СNumber of days per year with temperature < 0°С: 221.1.Occurrence of snowstorms and snowdrifts.

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Analysis of the slab track in testing facility of OJSC "VNIIZhT" in Scherbinka

Section of slab track RHEDA -2000 and LVT

RHEDA-2000

LVT

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surfacing and lining work on track and switches

17%

Lubrication,fixing and replace-ment of defec-

tive clips53%

The remaining scheduled work

11%

Monitoring, measurements and inspections of tracks, rails and switches

19%

Distribution of track maintenance major works of the high-speed track sections

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Clips for fast and high-speed tracks on the Moscow-St. Petersburg line

Pandrol(8 elements)

Vossloh(8 elements)

ARS(8 elements)

KB(19 elements)

Maintenance cost of1 km of track per year:

- KB - 1 897 €.- ARS - 375 €.- PANDROL - 0 €. - VOSSLOH - 0 €.

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Ensure the strength and stability of tracks with continuous welded rails

during the life cycleRemote monitoring of the rails with independent measurement systems

with function of the track work analysis

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Part of the curve with ballast fixed by polymeric binder

Sleepers with high shear stability

Reinforced tracks with continuous welded rails in Siberia

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Sleepers Sh3-K for the curves of small radius with clips ZhBR-65

Testing track section with sleepers Sh3-K with gauge

1530 mm at the Dalnevostochnaya railway R

= 246 m

Testing track section with sleepers Sh3-K with gauge 1535 mm at the

Dalnevostochnaya railway R = 240 m 6 curves of small radius placed in Privolzhskaya railway

Wear reduction compared to thewooden sleepers in 2 times

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New materials and technologies to strengthen sub-ballast

Placing reinforcement cage into the ballast of transition track section

Modeling of the stress-strain state of reinforced track

foundation

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Prevent damage of the rolling stock with ballast particles

Polyurethane coating is applied to the surface of the ballast and prevents it from being moved by air wave created by the passage of

high-speed trains.

The technology of using adhesives in the ballast used on high-speed line Moscow-St. Petersburg

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1.The main criterion in selecting a track design is the cost and the length of the life cycle.

2.The main track design on Russian railways, including those in Siberian areas, is continuous welded rail on reinforced concrete sleepers.

3.Railway track in Russia is operated in difficult climatic, engineering and geological conditions which are taken into account in the selection of the parameters for building and fitting track.

4.The main objective is to reduce costs for the rail clips. This is priority way for cooperation.

5.Integrated measures have been carried out to lengthen the service life of the rails to 1.5 billion tonnes gross.

Conclusions

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST!