Permanent Way design Notes 1

• Track Dimensions Diagrams: This page shows dimensions for

RDSO Proposed BG Turnout Speed Restrictions common types of tracks (MG and BG), both single line and
Speed double lines, on embankments and in cuttings.
Turnout
Restriction
1:8.5 turnout with straight switch 10 km/h
1:8.5 turnout with curved switch 25 km/h
1:12 turnout with straight switch 15 km/h
1:12 turnout with conventional curved switch (0°27'35"
40 km/h
switch entry angle)
1:12 turnout with improved curved switch 50 km/h
1:12 turnout with thick web switch 50 km/h
1:16 turnout with symmetrical split curved switch 75 km/h
1:16 turnout with conventional curved switch 50 km/h
1:16 turnout with high speed curved switch 60 km/h

Specifications and Track Construction

Q. What are the dimensions of IR track formations?

Please consult the diagrams available on the following pages:

• Track Formation Diagram: This page shows a cross-section of a

typical track formation showing the different components that
make it up and the usual terms associated with them.

Q. What weights and kinds of rails does IR use?

Broad Gauge The IRS standard for most mainline tracks is 52kg/m
(really 51.89kg/m, 105lb/yd), and it allows 25-ton axle loads. Until about
1970, most sections had RBS standard rails of 44.7kg/m (90lb/yd). The
RBS standard had been adopted in 1914, and allowed 22.5-ton axle loads
at 100km/h. It is still found in many places. For sections with heavy traffic,

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the newer IRS standard rails are 60kg/m (really 60.34kg/m, 130.4lb/yd). A 'CWR' is no longer used although you may still find it in old documents or
62kg/m standard has been mooted. For BG branch lines, the commonly painted signs.)
used rail weights are 37.2kg/m (75lb/yd), 42.2kg/m (85lb/yd), and
44.7kg/m (90lb/yd) (these are also being replaced now by the standard Q. What are the 'thick web switches' ('thick webbed switches')?
52kg/m weight). See table below.
The term thick web switches most commonly refers to a new [2002]
Although rails allowing 22.5t or 25t loads are in place, as a matter of design of sturdier BG switches on prestressed concrete sleepers, which
operating procedure goods wagons are currently [5/05] restricted to 20.3t can handle higher turnout speeds. These are made for 1:8.5 turnouts
axle load. There are proposals to raise this to 23t. (less commonly, 1:12), with 160mm (less commonly 115mm) throw, and
have clamp locks, spring setting devices (SSD), and the ZU-1-160 thick
Traffic Broad-gauge Routes and their Rail Weights web rail. In 2003 or 2004, IR decided to use these switches on all the
Density Class A routes and other high-density routes with traffic above
A B C D Spl D E Spl E 20GMT/year. The new switches have been designed to be easily
GMT/yr
> 20 60kg 60kg 60kg 60kg 60kg60kg 60kg installable on top of existing prestressed concrete sleepers supporting
52kg older switches.
10-20 60kg 60kg 60kg 60kg 60kg 60kg
90UTS
52kg 52kg 52kg 52kg 52kg 52kg Q. What types of welding are used for rails?
5-10 60kg
90UTS 90UTS 90UTS 90UTS 90UTS 90UTS
52kg 52kg 52kg 52kg Principally two types of welding are used for rails. One is Flash Butt
52kg 52kg 52kg 90UTS 90UTS 90UTS 90UTS Welding, and the other is Alumino-Thermic Welding, also known as
<5 Thermit(e) welding. A third kind of welding, known as Gas Pressure
90UTS 90UTS 90UTS or 60kg or 60kg or 60kg or 60kg
SH SH SH SH welding, is used much less often, and a fourth kind, Metal Arc Welding, is
Loop very rarely used.
52kg SH 52kg SH 52kg SH 52kg SH 52kg SH 52kg SH 52kg SH
Lines
'SH' = Second-hand In Flash Butt Welding, a strong electric current is passed through the
metal body of the rail in the vicinity of the spot which is to be welded, and
the resistance of the rail to the current results in localized heating which
melts the metal. No additional material is added, and the parent metal of
Q. What are the common lengths of rails?
the rails itself forms the material of the weld. About 25mm to 35mm of the
rail length is consumed in the melting process. Flash butt welding is done
The most common length for BG rails is 13m (42'8'') although double- in mostly automated way using a machine that clamps and firmly holds
length rails (26m, 85'4'') are seen in some places. MG rails are usually together the two ends of the rails to be welded. When the two end
12m (39'4'') in length. NG rails vary, but the commonest length is 9m surfaces are close together and the electricity turned on, the current arcs
(29'6''). Much earlier (before the metric system was adopted!), rails were over or 'flashes' at the junction between the rail ends
generally produced in sizes of 11, 12, or 14 yards (33', 36', 42'), less
commonly 13 yards (39') or 10 yards (30' - NG).
In Thermit Welding or Alumino-Thermic Welding, the two ends of the rails
are not brought into contact; instead, the gap between them is filled with
Welded rail sections are of two types: Short Welded Rail or SWR which molten material created by the exothermic reaction of aluminium and iron
consists of just two or three rails welded together, and Long Welded Rail oxids
or LWR which covers anything longer. (In the past, there was a distinction
made between LWR and Continuously Welded Rail, or CWR, based on
Flash butt welding is generally considered to be superior to thermit
the length -- in CWR, the total length was 0.75km or more. The term
welding because it is essentially a forging process and the material of the

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weld is chemically identical to the parent body of the rails, which means
its strength and other characteristics are almost identical to those of the
body of the rails. Flash butt welding also typically results in fewer defects
such as contaminant particles, porosity, etc., at the weld. Thermit welding
also requires a higher quality of rails as a precondition -- rails that are
corroded, twisted or warped, hogged or battered, or excessively worn
cannot be welded by the thermit process as faults can propagate into the
weld material and cause weld fractures.
Other Methods. Gas Pressure Welding a solid phase welding technique.
Oxy-acetyline flames are used to heat the ends of the rails to be welded
to 1200°-1300°C, and they are then placed in contact with one another at
high pressures, leading to the formation of a solid bond.
Q. What kinds of rail joints does IR use?
Fishplated joints are the most basic joints seen, on lines where there is no
track-circuiting, and no welded rail in use. Fishplated joints are so called
because of the use of a fishplate, which is a bar that is attached by
means of bolts (fishbolts) to the rails on either side of the joint. Usually
there are two bolts securing the fishplate on either side. There are
variations in the basic fishplate design to account for different weights of
rails, and joints in special situations such as on sharp curves, at points,
etc. For 60kg/m track, while the rail specification is very close to Revised
British Standard, the fishplates (and fishbolts) are considerably stronger
than the British standard specifies. Combination fishplates are used to
secure rails of different weights or different profiles together at a joint.
Expansion joints or "rail expansion joints" are provided in welded rail
sections and other places where it is desirable to allow the rails to expand
and contract with the varying temperature. (See below.) Special fishplates
are used for expansion joints (different types for different weights of rails,
and also for simple expansion joints and special expansion joints with
central rail pieces.
Insulated rail joints are used in places where it is essential to keep
adjacent rails electrically insulated from each other for the purposes of
track circuiting or signalling. Insulated rail joints (also known as "block
joints" in some cases) are of three types. Class A joints are an older type,
made of wood to achieve the electrical insulation. Class B joints use
Nylon 66 (and are hence known as "Nylon insulated rail joints") to achieve
the insulation. Class C joints are glued insulated rail joints quite
commonly seen now on most high-speed lines. G3(L) joints are longer
and use 6 fishbolts; G3(S) joints are shorter, and use 4 fishbolts.
Q. What are expansion joints?
Expansion joints (or 'switch expansion joints') are joints provided at
intervals in the track to allow space for rails to expand in hot weather.
Earlier expansion joints were simply gaps between the ends of adjoining
rails. These gaps result in a lot of violent shocks to the vehicles riding on
the rails and besides, limit the lengths of rails that can be used. Newer
expansion joints have the neighbouring ends of rails mitred or tapering
with diagonal cuts so that as they expand they can slide past one another
to some extent. This allows for longer welded rail segments to be used
and also reduces the shock to passing vehicles. In some cases, such as
girder bridges with long (over 30.5m) spans, special expansion joints are
provided where a short central piece of rail, not keyed to the sleepers, is
provided in between the two long rails that meet at the joint; the central
rail is also mitred as are the two long rails on either side, so that the
effective expansion gap available is twice as long as in the standard
mitred expansion joint.
Thermal expansion of rails is often arrested by the provision of heavy
RCC sleepers (280kg weight) and firmly clipping the rails to the sleepers.
This prevents thermal expansion from propagating to the ends of the rails,
except for a section near the ends ('breathing length') that is allowed to
expand. Such expansion joints are provided once every 3km to 4km on
most sections today, and especially close to distant signals or advanced
starters where track-circuiting begins.
Q. What are the usual neutral temperatures for continuously welded
rail? What equipment does IR use for track destressing?
IR divides the country into five zones based on the normal temperature
variation expected in each region. The maximum rail temperature
difference is about 70C (ranging from a minimum of -5C to a maximum of
60C or so -- the rail temperature can be several degrees higher than the
ambient temperature. The neutral temperature or stress-free temperature
for CWR is usually fairly high, 40C or even higher in some locations
depending on expected summer temperatures -- it is usually 5 to 10C
higher than the expected mean temperature for the zone's range.
Track destressing is carried out when the ambient temperature is high,
not much below the maximum that is normally attained in the area. Switch
expansion joints (SEJ) are provided at the ends of long welded rails to
allow for the cumulative thermal expansion movements of the ends of the
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rails. Most SEJs allow for a movement of the ends of the rails of about
120mm, but there are some SEJs with a maximum gap of about 190mm.
Rail fasteners used by IR are of the type that completely resist
longitudinal motion of the rails. A lot of track destressing is still done
manually, but IR also uses hydraulic track tensors to destress and
pretension rails. The unfastening and fastening of the sleepers is also
usually done manually.
Q. What kinds of sleepers are used by IR?
Cast iron sleepers ('CST-9') are widely used. They are not very suitable
for high-speed traffic and so are not usually seen on the mainline BG
sections. The earlier 'pot sleepers' were especially prone to problems;
newer cast iron sleepers (with ends that have two pockets) are much
more laterally stable. Steel trough sleepers ('ST') are very common,
especially for many high-traffic BG routes. Steel sleepers of various
designs have also been used for MG and (by reusing discarded MG
sleepers) for NG too.
IR also uses prestressed (pretensioned) concrete sleepers in many areas.
Some are monobloc prestressed concrete sleepers, while others are two-
piece reinforced concrete sleepers. These came into use in the 1970s,
however the twin-block concrete sleepers have gone out of use while the
monobloc sleepers continue to be deployed. Standard prestressed
concrete sleepers are available for a number of configurations for use in
turnouts. Some post-tensioned concrete sleepers do exist on some
stretches of track, but these are no longer being manufactured as the
factory at Subedarganj, Allahabad, which used to make them has
switched to making pretensioned sleepers now. Steel channel sleepers,
consisting of two steel channels placed back to back, are used on
bridges. These use special polymer or rubber pads between the bridge
girders and the sleeper bottom and also below the rails for damping.
The most common sleepers used to be the wooden sleepers, but these
are now not seen much anywhere except on bridges and at turnouts, and
on branch lines and at remote locations. These may be untreated (from
durable woods like teak or sal that have natural resistance to vermin and
weather wear) or treated (from softer woods such as deodar, usually
heat- and pressure-treated with chemicals such as creosote and furnace
oil).
Wooden sleepers are used on bridges and turnouts because they are
very easily cut and sized on site to fit the peculiarities of the particular
stretch of track. Wooden sleepers were also preferred for bridges
because they are lighter compared to the concrete sleepers, and provide
additional damping for vibrations
A few stretches of track have ballastless concrete beds with no sleepers
Q. What rail fasteners does IR use?
IR uses various kinds of Pandrol design fasteners, ERC Mark III (850-
1100kg toe load), and ERC Mark V (1200-1500kg toe load) (the latter
developed by RDSO). Pandrol 'J' clips, often yellow in colour, which have
a lower profile and lower toe load), are used where they need to be
removed and reinserted easily and where ordinary clips might interfere
with the fastening of fishplate bolts.
Q. What sleeper spacings does IR use?
Broad Gauge (See table below.) Most BG mainline sections now have
about 1660 sleepers per km (about 60cm spacing); the earlier standard
used to be 1538 sleepers per km (about 65cm spacing). BG branch lines
may have 1540 sleepers per km (about 65cm spacing) or 1340 sleepers
per km (about 75cm spacing); the older standard was 1307 sleepers per
km (about 76cm spacing). Minor or lightly used BG lines used to be built
with about 1154 sleepers per km (about 87cm spacing). These figures
apply mainly to the traditional wooden sleepers.
Traffic Density Broad-gauge Routes and their Sleeper Densities
GMT/yr A B C D Spl D E Spl E
> 20 1660 1660 1660 1660 1660 1660 1660
10-20 1660 1660 1660 1660 1660 1660 1540
< 10 1660 1540 1540 1540 1540 1540 1540
Loop Lines 1340 1340 1340 1340 1340 1340 1340
While the minimum sleeper density is M+4 for short welded rail (see
below for explanation of notation), for up to 6 rails abutting an SWR
section, the sleeper density is M+7.
Q. What does the notation 'N+4' or 'M+3', etc., mean in describing
sleeper densities?
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This notation is an old one. The 'N' or 'M' in this stands for the length of a
rail in yards. The additional number specified represents the excess of the
number of sleepers over the number of yards for a rail. E.g., 'N+3' for 11-
yard (33') rails indicates 14 sleepers (11 + 3) for each rail. This was a
convenient formulation, especially when rails were manufactured to sizes
of 11, 12, or 14 yards. Before the days of mechanized track laying, it was
common to see track laid where the sleeper density was not uniform, with
some bunching up of sleepers towards the end of each rail, with adjacent
sleepers at the ends of neighbouring rails being less than a foot apart in
some cases.
Q. What is the relationship between speed, turning radius, and track
cant? What are the cant excess / deficiencies specifications
for IR tracks?
Super-elevation, or cant, is provided to counteract the centrifugal
tendency of trains on curves. On a canted curve (where the outer rail is
higher than the inner one of the curve), the weight of the vehicle provides
a component that counteracts the centrifugal tendency. Cant excess
refers to the condition where the cant or superelevation is too much for
the permitted speeds on the curve, while cant deficiency refers to the
condition where the track is not canted enough for the speed of the trains.
On BG track, cant excess and cant deficiency tolerances are 75mm. In
special cases, cant deficiency can be as high as 100mm on sections with
speeds of over 100km/h on 'A' and 'B' category routes. Maximum cant is
165mm on 'A' and 'B' routes, and 140mm on 'D' and 'E' routes.
The formula relating the maximum speed on a curve with the cant and
cant deficiency is:
Max. speed = 0.27 * √((cant + cant deficiency) * radius)
where the cant and cant deficiency are in mm, the radius of the curve is in
meters, and the speed is in km/h. Using this formula it may be seen that
with a cant of 165mm and cant deficiency of 75mm, the radius for a curve
allowing 100km/h traffic is 571.6m. Any curve sharper than this must have
a speed restriction on a 100km/h section.
Q. What kinds of ballast does IR use?
For all high-traffic lines, IR uses machine crushed hard stone ballast,
usually from locally quarried granite stone, or crushed basalt. In the past,
broken brick, slag from metal processing, cinders, and waste construction
material were also used.
For most sections with wooden sleepers, the ballast is of a 6.5cm nominal
size (not more than 5% retained on a 65mm square sieve, 40%-60%
retained on a 40mm square sieve, and at least 95% retained on a 20mm
square sieve). In the past, ballast of 5cm nominal size was extensively
used, and smaller ballast of 4cm - 2.5cm was used for iron or steel
sleepered track, points, etc. The ballast layer is 0.15m-0.25m thick on
most lines but is up to 0.3-0.35m in newer trackwork, especially for high-
traffic lines with prestressed concrete sleepers. The sides of the ballast
layer generally slope at a 1.5:1 incline.
A few sections of IR have ballastless concrete bed track: much of the
Calcutta Metro, a few sections of Konkan Railway, the second phase of
the Chennai MRTS project (about 8km of the elevated portions of the
route, with design speeds up to 100km/h).
Q. What sort of sub-ballast, blanket, and subgrade layers are
provided in the track formation?
IR generally does not use a separate sub-ballast layer below the ballast
layer. A blanket layer of coarse, granular material is usually provided
directly below the ballast layer. Blanket layers are not provided for tracks
on rocky beds, or on well-graded gravelly or sandy beds.
Blankets of at least 45cm thickness are provided for tracks laid on poorly
graded gravel or sand beds, or on silty gravel or silty / clayey gravel beds.
Blanket layers of 60cm are required for clayey gravel, clayey sand, silty
sand, or clayey / silty sand beds. A 1m-thick blanket is provided for silt,
silty clay, or clay of low plasticity or in conditions where the underlying
rocks are of a type known to be excessively susceptible to weathering.
The blanket layer is generally composed of well-graded sandy gravel or
crushed rock with specified distributions of size and curvature. Mixtures of
fines (metal, plastic, etc.) from industrial applications are used in specific
proportions in some cases, as are certain other waste materials that
conform to specified mechanical, chemical, and geometric requirements.
The subgrade is generally built up from a mixture of soil and stone
fragments, cobbles, and waste materials, crushed brick, etc. The blanket
and subgrade are built up at a slope of about 2:1. The entire embankment
may rise to 6m with most ordinary kinds of materials used for the blanket
and subgrade. In case the subgrade is thicker than 1m or so, usually a
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30cm layer of compacted soil is provided for every 1m-3m of the
subgrade thickness.
Q. What are 'GeoJute' and 'GeoGrids'? How does IR prevent soil
erosion in the areas where track is laid?
Erosion of the soil around a track formation can be quite dangerous as
the track may subside or warp and move. In many cases IR simply
encourages the local shrubby vegetation to grow in the areas near the
track to stem the erosion. Where severe erosion is a problem, 'GeoJute'
has been used. This is an ecologically safe material made of jute yarn
with a coarse open mesh structure. This is placed on the affected portions
of the embankment or cutting after removing clods, large stones, etc., and
appropriate scrubby vegetation is seeded in the area. The jute yarn is
biodegradable and disappears after a while, but by that time the
vegetation has had a chance to take root and grow firmly in the protected
soil.
In rare cases where vegetative root growth is thought to be insufficient to
stem the erosion of the soil, a synthetic root matrix reinforcement system
may be used. Known as 'GeoGrids', these flexible, synthetic meshes of
simply extruded, unoriented and unstretched polymer materials are
placed in the top layer of the soil to provide erosion resistance both by its
own presence and by strengthening the root matrix of the local
vegetation.
These GeoGrid polymers are non-biodegradable, and quite stable,
resisting ultraviolet exposure and tolerant of very high and low
temperatures. Boulder retention in some places is augmented by the
deployment of bi-axially oriented GeoGrid meshes to anchor medium to
large boulders. In a few cases, IR has also resorted to 'hydroseeding',
involving the sprinkling of seeds of fast-growing grasses and scrub
vegetation with specially formulated mulch and fertilizer mixtures.
Self-stabilizing Track Konkan Railway has developed something they
call self-stabilising track, which aims to reduce or even eliminate the
problem of ballast being de-compacted and dispersing under the action of
vibrations set up by moving trains.
The ballast in this system is laid on the track bed pre-compacted with
constraining 'cages' that hold large amounts of ballast together. These
cages or ballast elements are of several modular shapes, 'L' or 'T', etc.,
and are placed in interlocking ways on the track bed. The effect is not
only to prevent the ballast from spreading under the action of vibrations,
but to improve ride quality by changing the vibration characteristics since
the inertial mass responding to the impact from the train is larger. A thin
sheet of rubber or polyethylene between the sleepers and the top of the
track bed further modifies the vibration characteristics. The ballast
elements are constructed of such a shape that the vibrations tend to
wedge them more firmly together. The expectation is that ballast
maintenance will be much reduced for such tracks.
Q. What tolerances of gauge does IR permit?
Broad Gauge Deviations allowed from nominal gauge: -5mm to +3mm on
straights and curves over 350m radius, and up to +10mm on curves
sharper than 350m radius. (The older specifications were: On straight
sections, a deviation of +/- 6mm; and on curves a deviation of up to
+20mm/-6mm.) High-speed sections (130+ km/h) have tighter tolerances
of +/- 2mm.
Q. What are the nets one sees on rockfaces or hillsides abutting
railway lines in some areas?
In areas where rock falls or landslides are common, IR uses meshes or
nets fixed to the rockfaces or the hillsides -- these are 'stitched' to the
hillside at frequent intervals. They act to trap and stop, or slow down
falling or sliding rocks and boulders so that they either do not fall all the
way down, or lose their kinetic energy and fall without infringing the
tracks.
Generally the nets are made of polypropylene ropes of 10mm-16mm
diameter with high thermal, abrasion, and ultraviolet resistance. The mesh
size is from 100mm to 300mm depending on the area, and the typical size
of the fractured or falling rocks. These are appropriate for retaining and
slowing small to medium sized boulders and the mesh strength is about
6-8 tons / m2. In some areas steel nets made of high-strength galvanized
steel wire ropes are used. These ropes have a breaking strength of 4 tons
and provide a mesh strength of 13-14 tons / m2 to retain large boulders.
These have a design life of over 20 years.
Q. What is the 'Raksha Dhaga'? What other methods does IR use to
warn of landslides and rockfalls?
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It consists of a wire attached to sensors which can be tripped when the
wire is moved excessively or snapped by a falling rock. The sensors when
tripped activate lights and hooters 0.5km away so that approaching trains
can safely stop before the location of the landslide. These are used in
several stretches on the KR route in cuttings and in unlined tunnels.
In addition, KR has pioneered the use of electronic inclinometers to detect
earth slippages in areas prone to landslides, connected to a similar
warning system as in the Raksha Dhaga.
Maintenance
Q. How is track maintained?
Permanent way maintenance is largely done by gangs consisting of
gangmen under the supervision of a gangmate. The gang goes down its
assigned section of track (the gang beat or beat section), inspecting track
and performing normal routine maintenance. A patrolman may be
separately deputed to perform visual inspections along the length of a
section of track by walking alongside it (two patrolmen in ghat or jungle
areas). Typically the patrol may cover 6km - 10km of track.
The schedule and track sections to be monitored by gangmen and
patrolmen is specified in a Patrol Chart prepared by the Divisional
Engineer. This chart also indicates when and where the drivers of trains
running to schedule may expect to meet gangmen. Patrolmen and gangs
carry Patrol Books in which they record the status of the track and any
maintenance they perform on it.
The gang is equipped to deal with minor problems such as fixing small
deviations in gauge or elevation of the rails, rearranging ballast, etc. If
problems are discovered with the permanent way that cannot readily be
fixed by the gang, the details are reported to the station master of one of
the adjacent block stations, and temporary engineering speed restrictions
are put in place for the track. Trains going through that section are then
subject to caution orders issued by the stations at either end.
A bigger maintenance of way crew with appropriate tools and machinery
then works on repairing the track while it is protected by being restricted.
In some cases traffic on the line may have to be completely stopped.
Replacing ballast or sleepers, adjusting the rail profile by grinding, joint
lubrication, rail creep adjustment, replacing short sections of damaged
rail, welding rails, etc., are some of the other maintenance tasks that
come up.
The regular patrolling of track is very important in order to maintain safe
conditions for trains. If a patrolman or gang is unaccountedly late or if a
patrolman misses his beat for some reason, caution orders are usually
issued advising drivers to be alert for track defects and restricting trains
on the affected sections of track to 40km/h (daytime, clear visibility) or
15km/h (night, bad visibility).
The permanent way inspector (PWI) for a division has ultimate
responsibility for the condition of the permanent way under his jurisdiction.
The PWI and his staff undertake separate regular inspection tours of the
various lines, often in a motor trolley or inspection car. (In the past
manually pushed trolleys were used quite often, but their use is declining
now.)
A few track maintenance machines are in use, for instance tie tamping
machines, ballast cleaning machines, etc.
Q. What is 'beater packing'? What is included in the maintenance
carried out by gangs commonly seen on the tracks?
The most common system of routine manual (non-mechanized) track
maintenance is known as through packing or beater packing (from the
name of the tool used for packing ballast, a 'beater'). This includes the
following steps:
1. Opening of the road : ballast is unpacked, fittings and fastenings of
the rails loosened
2. Examination of track : Rails, sleepers, fastenings are carefully
examined for signs of wear, corrosion, rust, dust and dirt, etc. Wire
brushes are used for cleaning; jimcrows and other tools to rectify
minor kinks or other defects. Sleepers are examined for signs of
splitting or decay. Minor repairs such as replacement of fastenings,
rail lubrication, etc., are performed.
3. Squaring of sleepers : Sleeper hammers are used to adjust sleepers
to the proper position.
4. Slewing of track to fix the alignment of the rails.
5. Gauging : the gauge between the rails is carefully measured and
adjusted as necessary.
6. Sleeper packing : Each sleeper is uniformly and firmly packed so the
rails are the correct relative levels and to ensure the sleepers have no
7
 voids between themselves and the trackbed. This is where 'beaters'
are used. These are long rod-like tools with an end used to pack the
ballast. The beater is held by the hands and raised to about chest
level and then plunged downwards to pack the ballast.
7. Re-packing of joint sleepers
8. Boxing the ballast section and clean-up.
Another system of manual ballast packing called 'measured shovel
packing' used to be common but is now not in use.
In addition to ballast packing, gangs perform a variety of other cleaning
and maintenance jobs, such as maintaining drainage, adjusting cess level
(too high affects drainage, too low results in ballast spread and wastage),
removing weeds and stones, etc.
Crews also pick up slack in the track. Slack refers to the condition where
there is insufficient ballast or a gap developing between the track and the
trackbed, or subsidence of the track, because of a yield formation in high
banks and cuttings, at approaches to bridges, on badly aligned curves,
where ballast is poorly laid or insufficient, or where there are drainage
defects causing subsidence problems. Slack is picked up by opening the
track and repacking the ballast.
Track Defects
An explanation of track defects in general is beyond the scope of these
pages. Please consult any current reference book on permanent way
technology.
Q. What is 'through' or 'scattered' renewal?
Complete Track Renewal (CTR) refers to the most thorough track
replacement regime where rails, sleepers, etc., are fully replaced.
Through Rail Renewal (TRR) refers to the replacement of rails in a given
section of track, while Through Sleeper Renewal (TSR) refers to the
replacement of sleepers. Similarly, there are Through Turnout renewal
(TTR), Through Fitting Renewal (TFR), Through Weld Renewal (TWR),
and Through Bridge Timber Renewal (TBTR). Each of these has a more
thorough ('primary') and less thorough ('secondary') versions, hence you
see the acronyms like 'CTR(P)' for 'Complete Track Renewal - Primary',
or 'TSR(S)' for 'Through Sleeper Renewal - Secondary. Additionally there
are 'Casual' renewals, which refers to renewals of any kind that happen
not on a predetermined schedule but as determined based on patrolling
and inspection of tracks, in small continuous stretches. Finally, 'Scattered'
renewal (SR) refers to ad hoc replacements that happen at isolated
points.
Q. Does IR use mechanized means for track laying and
maintenance?
IR has used some track-laying equipment, but much track is still laid
manually. A lot of track maintenance is also done manually, with a
veritable army of gangmen that are out 'on the line' to inspect track and fix
problems. There is, however, a big push to mechanize track maintenance
-- the target being complete mechanization by 2012.
Tie tamping machines are common: Unimat models (by Plasser) tamp
one sleeper at a time and can pack sleepers on normal track and turnout;
Duomat models tamp two sleepers at a time on normal track. CSM is
another tie tamper used by IR; it has a cab that moves continuously while
the tamping machine itself starts and stops over alteranate sleepers to
tamp them two at a time -- this reduces driver discomfort. CSM tampers
are the most common ones used by IR today. [6/04] A 'Tamping Express'
machine that tamps three sleepers at a time is being tried out.
Self-propelled ballast cleaning machines have been tried in a few places
but remain rare. Ultrasonic rail testing cars, rail geometry test equipment,
etc. are also used on occasion, but the main method of rail inspection
remains visual inspection by gangmen.
Track laying and relaying by machines is increasingly common. Plasser
brand machines are seen quite often. These include the 'PQRS' or
Plasser Quick Relaying System which consists of self-propelled portal
cranes, which travel on a wider gauge, called auxiliary track, laid
temporarily, outside the track to be renewed. Their capacity for track
renewal is about 400m per effective traffic block hour. The manufacturers
are Plasser and Theurer, BEML, and Simplex.
'TRT' or Track Relaying Train machines (also sometimes Track Renewal
Train), capable of continuously relaying track at a few hundred meters an
hour are also seen (as of 2004 there were at least four of these, perhaps
more). These are made by 'M/S Harsco Track Tech' (earlier 'Fairmont
Tamper' and still earlier, called 'Tamper Corporation') of USA. (One
machine of this type was purchased initially from Russia, but that was a
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one-off purchase.) The 'T-28' is a point and crossing renewing machine
made by Ameca, Italy, used for re-laying track at turnouts and points.
BEML has recently been supplying IR with BG track-laying machines.
These machines can remove old rails, and lay new BG track (including
concrete sleepers), assembling the rails and sleepers into panels before
laying the track.
A machine consists of two large vertical frames which are connected by a
bridge. The bridge can be moved up and down between the side frames.
A diesel engine and hydraulic pumps are installed on the bridge. The
vertical frames rest and move on rails of an auxiliary track of 3.4m gauge.
The wheel base is about 2.4m. It weighs about 12t, and can move at
about 14km/h.
The machine can lift sleepers and track up to 9t. Panel lifting is
accomplished by the use of four independently controlled hydraulic
scissors mechanisms. Rails and sleepers can also be moved laterally
through hydraulic positioners. The equipment attached to the bottom of
the bridge is connected via a turntable, allowing for rotational movement
of the loads being lifted. Sleepers are gripped by hydraulically operated
angle grippers.
For track inspection and monitoring by mechanical means, IR also now
uses laser-based contactless track-recording cars for measuring rail
corrugation. Portable accelerometers and optical rail profile measurement
systems are in use in trials in some places with large scale use expected
in the next few years.
Q. What is included in the 3-tier maintenance regime?
The three-tier system divides responsibilities for track maintenance as
follows:
1. On-Track Machines (OMU). Mechanized maintenance (see above)
including systematic tamping, intermediate tamping, shoulder ballast
cleaning, ballast profiling and redistribution, track stabilization, and
periodic deep screening of ballast.
2. Mobile Maintenance Units (MMU). These are of two types. MMU-I
refer to the permanent way units that are assigned to deal with spot
tamping, in-situ rail welding, casual renewal and repairs, overhaul of Level
Crossings, glued joint replacement, and machining of rails including
cutting, drilling, grinding and chamfering. Normally there is one MMU-I
unit for each Permanent Way Inspector's office. MMU-II refers to the units
specially assigned for reconditioning turnouts, switches, joints and other
such intricate trackwork.
3. Sectional Gangs. These are permanent way gangs that handle
patrolling (including keyman's daily patrols, hot and cold weather patrols,
and monsoon patrols), and watching vulnerable locations, bridges,
turnouts, switch expansion joints, level crossing approaches, etc. In
addition these teams handle minor maintenance including temporary
repairs, lubrication of elastic rail clips (ERC) and joints, changing rubber
pads, liners, and clips, minor cess repairs, cleaning drains, boxing ballast,
manual adjustments of loops and creep / gap adjustments, cleaning crib
ballast and handling other drainage issues, deweeding, removing
boulders and other debris, and pre- and post-tamping attention.
Periodically, the sectional gangs also carry out maintenance such as
picking up slack in the permanent way.
Q. Sometimes the sides of rails appear to be painted. Why is this
done?
Normally, rails do not need to be painted as the expected life span
resulting from the effects of wheel wear and fatigue is such that corrosion
is not a significant problem. In some areas, however, corrosion of rails,
especially on the inside of the rail foot below the liners, or on the sides,
can be quite severe, and may result in the need for premature renewal of
the tracks even if the rails are otherwise not worn or fatigued by the traffic
conditions. The problem is worse when the spots where the corrosion
makes the rails weak move out of the sleeper seats during activities like
track destressing.
Corrosion happens in coastal areas and regions such as the Sambhar
Lake area where there is high salinity. Damp tunnels are also places
where corrosion can be higher than normal. In addition, since IR currently
uses direct discharge toilets for passenger trains, corrosion resulting from
toilet waste is a significant problem on some lines, and especially at
approaches to major stations where many busy lines converge.
To prevent such corrosion and to increase the life of the rails, IR practice
is to paint the rails on the sides and on the foot in affected areas.