Railway planning RHTA - VTU Module 1

Following are some of the basic requirements of a
permanent way:
• The gauge should be correct and uniform.
• The rails should be in proper level. In a straight track, two rails must be at the same
level. On curves, the outer rail should have proper super elevation and there should be
proper transition at the junction of a straight and a curve.
• The alignment should be correct i.e., it should be free from irregularities.
• The gradient should be uniform and as gentle as possible. Any change of gradient
should be followed by a smooth vertical curve, to give smooth riding quality.
• The track should be resilient and elastic in order to adsorb shocks and vibrations of
running tracks.
• The radii and super elevation on curves should be properly designed and maintained.

• Drainage system must be perfect for enhancing safety and durability of
track.
• Joints, including points and crossings which are regarded to be weakest
points of the railway track, should be properly designed and maintained.
• There should be adequate provision for easy renewals and replacements.
• The track structure should be strong, low in initial cost as well as
maintenance cost.
• The various components of track i.e., rails, fittings, sleepers, ballast and
formation must fully satisfy the requirements for which they have been
provided. If any component is lacking in fulfilling its requirements then
either it should be improved or replaced.

• Choice of Gauge: The choice of gauge is very limited, as each country
has a fixed gauge and all new railway lines are constructed to adhere to
the standard gauge. However, the following factors theoretically
influence the choice of the gauge.
• Cost Considerations: There is only a marginal increase in the cost of the
track if a wider gauge is adopted. In this connection, the following points
are important.
(a) There is a proportional increase in the cost of acquisition of land,
earthwork, rails, sleepers, ballast, and other track items when constructing
a wider gauge.
(b) The cost of building bridges, culverts, and tunnels increases only
marginally due to a wider gauge.
(c) The cost of constructing station buildings, platforms, staff quarters,
level crossings, signals, etc. associated with the railway network is more or
less the same for all gauges.

(d) The cost of rolling stock is independent of the gauge of the track for carrying
the same volume of traffic.
Traffic Considerations:
The volume of traffic depends upon the size of wagons and the speed and hauling
capacity of the train.
(a) As a wider gauge can carry larger wagons and coaches, it can theoretically
carry more traffic.
(b) A wider gauge has a greater potential at higher speeds, because speed is a
function of the diameter of the wheel, which in turn is limited by the width of the
gauge.
(c) The type of traction and signalling equipment required are independent of the
gauge.

Physical Features of the Country: It is possible to adopt steeper gradients and sharper curves
for a narrow gauge as compared to a wider gauge.
Uniformity of Gauge: The existence of a uniform gauge in a country enables smooth, speedy,
and efficient operation of trains. Therefore a single gauge should be adopted irrespective of the
minor advantages of a wider gauge and the few limitations of a narrower gauge.
1.3 Rails
• Rails on the track can be considered as steel girders for the purpose of carrying axle loads.
• They are made of high carbon steel to withstand wear and tear.
Types of Rails
• The rails used in the construction of railway track are of following types:
1. Double headed rails (D.H Rails)
2. Bull headed rails (B.H Rails)
3. Flat footed rails (F.F Rails)

• Double headed rails
• The rail sections, whose foot and head are of same dimensions, are called
Double headed or Dumb-bell rails. In the beginning, these rails were widely
used in the railway track.
• The idea behind using these rails was that when the head had worn out due
to rubbing action of wheels, the rails could be inverted and reused.
• But by experience it was found that their foot could not be used as running
surface because it also got corrugated under the impact of wheel loads. This
type of rail is not in use in Indian Railways now-a day.

• Bull headed rails
• The rail section whose head dimensions are more than that of their foot are called
bull headed rails. In this type of rail the head is made little thicker and stronger
than the lower part by adding more metal to it. These rails also require chairs for
holding them in position. Bull headed rails are especially used for making points
and crossings.
• Merits
(i) B.H. Rails keep better alignment and provide smoother and stronger track.
(ii) These rails provide longer life to wooden sleepers and greater stability to the track.
(iii) These rails are easily removed from sleepers and hence renewal of track is easy.
• Demerits
(i) B.H. rails require additional cost of iron chairs.
(ii) These rails require heavy maintenance cost.
(iii) B.H. rails are of less strength and stiffness.

• Flat footed rails
• The rail sections having their foot rolled to flat are called flat footed or
vignole`s rails.
• This type of rail was invented by Charles Vignole in 1836.
• It was initially thought that the flat footed rails could by fixed directly to
wooden sleepers and would eliminate chairs and keys required for the B.H.
rails.
• But later on, it was observed that heavy train loads caused the foot of the rail
to sink into the sleepers and making the spikes loose.
• To remove this defect, steel bearing plates were used in between flat footed
rails and the wooden sleeper.
• These rails are most commonly used in India.

• Merits
(i) F.F. rails have more strength and stiffness.
(ii) No chairs are required for holding them in position.
(iii) These rails require less number of fastenings.
(iv) The maintenance cost of track formed with F.F. rails is less.
• Demerits
(i) The fittings get loosened more frequently.
(ii) These rails are not easily removed and hence renewal of track becomes
difficult.
(iii) It is difficult to manufacture points and crossings by using these rails.

• Functions of rails
1. Rails provide a hard, smooth and unchanging surface for passage of heavy
moving loads with a maximum friction between the steel rails and steel wheels.
2. Rails bear the stresses developed due to heavy vertical loads, lateral and braking
forces and thermal stresses.
3. The rail material used is such that it gives minimum wear to avoid replacement
charges and failures of rails due to wear.
4. Rails transmit the loads to sleepers and consequently reduce pressure on ballast
and formation below.
• Composition of rail steel
• For ordinary rails: high carbon steel
• For rails on points and crossing: medium carbon steel

• Requirements of Rails
1. They should be of proper composition of steel and should be manufactured
by open fireplace or duplex process.
2. The vertical stiffness should be high enough to transmit the load to several
sleepers underneath. The height of rail should therefore adequate.
3. Rails should be capable of withstanding lateral forces. Large width of head
and foot endows the rails with high lateral stiffness.
4. The head must be sufficiently deep to allow for an adequate margin of vertical
wear. The wearing surface should be hard.
5. Web of rails should be sufficiently thick to bear the load coming on it and
should provide adequate flexural rigidity.

6. Foot should be wide enough so that rails are stable against overturning
especially on curves.
7. Bottom of the head and top of the foot of rails should be so shaped as to
enable the fish plates to transmit the vertical load efficiently from the head to
the foot at rail joints.
8. Relative distribution of material of rail in head, web and foot must be
balanced for smooth transmission of loads.
9. The centre of gravity of the rail section must lie approximately at mid height
so that maximum tensile and compressive stresses are equal.
10. The tensile strength of the rail piece should not be less than 72kg/m2.

•Requirements of sleepers
1. The sleepers to be used should be economical i.e., they should have
minimum possible initial and maintenance costs.
2. The fittings of the sleepers should be such that they can be easily adjusted
during maintenance operations such as easy lifting, packing, removal and
replacement.
3. The weight of sleepers should not be too heavy or excessively light i.e., they
should have moderate weight for ease of handling.
4. The design of sleepers should be such that the gauge, alignment of track and
levels of the rails can be easily adjusted and maintained.
5. The bearing area of sleepers below the rail seat and over the ballast should
be enough to resist the crushing due to rail seat and crushing of the ballast
underneath the sleeper.

6. The sleeper design and spacing should be such as to facilitate easy removal
and replacement of ballast.
7. The sleepers should be capable of resisting shocks and vibrations due to
passing of heavy loads of high speed trains.
8. The design of the sleepers should be such that they are not damaged during
packing processes.
9. The design of sleepers should be such that they are not pushed out easily
due to moving trains especially with steel sleepers.

•Classification of sleepers
1. Wooden sleepers - 12-15 years
2. Metal sleepers - high cost and short life metal sleepers
a. Cast-iron sleepers - resistance to corrosion.
b. Steel sleepers
3. Concrete sleepers - homogenous material. 40-60 years
a. Reinforced concrete sleepers
b. Pre-stressed concrete sleepers

• Spacing of sleepers and sleeper density
• The space between two adjacent sleepers determines the effective span of
the rail over the sleepers.
• The spacing of sleepers, therefore in a track depends on the axle load which
the track is expected to carry and lateral thrust of locomotives to which it is
subjected.
• The number of sleepers in a track is indicated by the number per rail length.
• Since sleeper also provides lateral stability to the track, so more the number
of sleepers more is the lateral stability.
• The number of sleepers however cannot be increased indefinitely as certain
minimum space between sleepers is required for packing of ballast.

• In India, this minimum distance for manual packing of ballast is kept 30.5cm
to 35.5cm
• The number of sleepers per rail varies in India from M+4 to M+7 for main
tracks,
where M= length of rail in metres.
• Sleeper density is the number of sleepers per rail length and it is specified as
M+x or N+x, where M is the length of the rail in metres and N is the length of
rail in yards and x is a number, varying according to the factors.
• Factors governing the sleeper density are:
axle load, speed, type and section of the rails, type of ballast and ballast
cushion, type and strength of sleepers and nature of foundation.

Ballast
• The size of stone ballast should be 5cm for wooden sleepers, 4cm for metal
sleepers and 2.5cm for turnouts and crossovers.
• Types of ballast
• Broken stone
• Gravel or river pebbles or shingle
• Ashes or cinders
• Sand
• Moorum
• Kankar
• Brick ballast
• Blast furnace slag
• Selected earth

• Size and section of ballast
• The size of the ballast varies from 1.9cm to 5.1cm
• Stones of larger size are not desirable and the maximum size as 5.1cm is
preferable as interlocking of stones of this size is better than that of stone of
larger sizes.
• The best ballast is that which contains stones varying in size from 1.9cm to
5.1cm with reasonable proportion of intermediate sizes.
• The size of stone ballast should be 5cm for wooden sleepers, 4cm for metal
sleepers and 2.5cm for turnouts and crossovers.
• The section of ballast layer consists of depth of ballast under the sleepers
and the width of the ballast layer.

• The depth of the ballast under the sleepers is an important factor in the
load bearing capacity and uniformity of distribution of load.
• In America, a depth of ballast equivalent to the sleeper spacing is
recommended, because of heavier loads and the closer spacing of sleepers
being used in that country.
• In India, this recommendation will give unnecessarily thicker layer of ballast
due to large spacing of sleepers being used.
• The width of the ballast layer is also important as the lateral strength of
track depends partly upon the quantity of ballast used at the ends of the
sleepers.

• The lateral strength increases with increase in width of ballast layer but
there is a limit beyond which no useful purpose is served by widening.
• This width limit is at 38cm to 43cm from the end of this sleepers as
computed.
• Although the lines of equal pressure in ballast through wheel loads are in the
shape of a bulb yet simplicity purpose, the load dispersion can be assumed at
45° to the vertical.
• For uniform distribution of load on the formation, the depth of ballast should
be such that the dispersion lines do not overlap each other.

Railway planning RHTA - VTU Module 1

• 1.6 Track fittings and fastenings
• Track fittings and fastenings are fittings requires for joining of rails end to
end and also for fixing the rails to sleepers in a track
• Functions of track fittings and fastenings
Rail fixtures and fastenings have the following functions:
(i) To join the rails end to end to form full length of track.
(ii) To fix the rails to sleepers.
(iii) To maintain the correct alignment of the track.
(iv) To provide proper expansion gap between rails.
(v) To maintain the required tilt of rails.
(vi) To set the points and crossings in proper position.

Fish plates
Fish plates are used in rail joints to maintain the continuity of the rails.
Two types of fish plates are commonly used on Indian Railways for joining F.F. and
B.H. rails, each fish plate is 457 mm long and provided with four holes 32 mm at a spacing of
114 mm c/c.
These are manufactured of steel and are so designed that they fit in between the head
and foot of the rail

• Spikes
• Requirements of a good spike
(i) It should be easy in fixing or removing from the sleepers.
(ii) It should hold the rails and bearing plates in proper position.
(iii) It should be cheap.
(iv) It should require minimum maintenance.
(v) It should not come out of the sleepers under vibrations
Dog spikes

Bolts
• Fish bolts
• Fish bolts are used for connecting fish plates with the rails. Four bolts are
required for each pair of fish plates. These bolts are inserted from outside
the track and bolted on the inside of the track.
• Hook bolts
• Hook bolts are also known as dog bolts due to the shape of their heads.
These bolts are used to fix sleepers which rest directly on a girder. Two
bolts per sleeper are used. Dog bolts are of two types.
(i) Sloping lips- for fixing sleepers to plate girder spans.
(ii) Straight lips- for fixing sleepers to joint spans.

• 1.7 Track stress:
The wheel loads: The static load due to wheel is transmitted to the point of
contact of the wheel and the rail
Dynamic effect of wheel loads: The dynamic effect is caused due to speed and
hammer blows by the moving wheels.
Hammer blow: Due to over balance of driving wheels of locomotive.
The horizontal thrust: Due to nosing action of the locomotive.
The pressure by the flanges of wheels on the sides of the rail: There is lateral
pressure due to flanges collision with the rails because the locomotive or train
moves in zig-zag manner.
Stresses due to irregularities in the track: When ballast or subgrade are not
evenly laid, non-uniformity in the gauge and top of the rails are not in one level.
Additional stresses on curves: Lateral bending due to rigid wheel base of the
vehicle and non-uniform distribution of pressure over outer and inner wheels.

• Creep of rails
• It is defines as the longitudinal movement of rails with respect to sleepers in a
track.
• Creep is common to all railway tracks, but varies in magnitude considerably,
the rail in some places moves by several centimetres in a month while in other
location the movement of rails may be negligible.
• It is observed that the rails have tendency to move gradually in the direction
of dominant traffic.
•Indications of creep can be noticed from the following
observations:
– Closing of successive expansion spaces at rail joints in the direction of creep
and opening out of joints at the point from where creep starts.
– Marks on flanges and webs of rails made by spike heads, by scraping or
scratching as the rail slide.

• Causes:
– Wave action.
– Drag theory.
– Starting, accelerating, slowing/stopping of train.
– Expansion or contraction of rail.
– Unbalanced traffic.
– Alignment of track.
– Grade of track.
– Type of rails.
– Poor maintenance of track components and ill design.

• Remedies:
– Pulling back the rails.
– Provision of Anti-creepers.
– Use of Steel Sleepers

• Wear on the ends of the rails:
– This type of wear occurs, when a wheel jumps over the gap, giving blow to
the end of the rail, as rough riding in the track, loosens the ballast under the
joints and even disturbs the sleeper.
• This type of wear is occurs due to following factors:
– Due to lose fish plates and fish bolts
– Due to heavy loads and large joint openings
– Difference in levels at joints
– Bad conditions of the vehicle springs
– Poor maintenance of the track

• Wear on sides of the rail head
– This type of wear is only prominent when the rails are laid at curves.
– This wear most destructive in nature.
– This wear occurs due to following causes
• At curves, there is greater thrust on inner rail, when trains run at lesser
speed than equilibrium speed.
• Due to the rigidity of the wheel base.
• Slipping and skidding of wheel at curves.
• Allowable limits of wear: in India prescribed limit of wear is 5% of rail weight

• Wear Prevention
– Better maintenance of track
– Reducing number of joints
– Use of special alloy steel
– Interchanging inner and outer rails
– Regular maintenance of rail joints
– Maintenance of correct gauge
– Application of heavy mineral oil-corrosion
– Lubricating gauge face
– Using check rails in sharp curves

• Route alignment surveys
• 1.8.1 Conventional method: In the manual method how we can get
generate railway alignment by the following various surveys which consume
a huge time and money and sources too. In order to have a proper and
satisfactory new route, various surveys are carried out:
1. Reconnaissance Survey
2. Preliminary Survey
3. Location Survey

1.8.2 Modern methods of designing of railway alignment
• GIS study: This how we can generate various thematic maps for any particular
area
• Planning of proposed railway alignment with the help by generating
thematic maps:
Safety: The track should be aligned so as to ensure that goods and passengers are
transported with minimal chances of accidents and derailment.
• Aesthetic aspect: The railway line should be constructed to provide a memorable
and pleasant railway journey to train passengers by keeping the track within
beautiful natural surroundings.
• Economy: The track should be as short and direct as possible with minimal
construction, maintenance and operating costs from an engineering perspective.
• Linking of centres: A new railway line should connect and inter link important
town centers and cities so as to provide the necessary transportation services

• 1.9 Geometric Design of Track
• Necessity of geometric design of a railway track
• The need for proper geometric design of a track arises because of the
following considerations:
(a) To ensure the smooth and safe running of trains
(b) To achieve maximum speeds
(c) To carry heavy axle loads
(d) To avoid accidents and derailments due to a defective permanent way
(e) To ensure that the track requires least maintenance
(f) For good aesthetics

• Gradients:
• Gradients are provided to negotiate the rise or fall in the level of the
railway track.
• A rising gradient is one in which the track rises in the direction of
movement of traffic and in a down or falling gradient the track loses
elevation the direction of movement of traffic.
• A gradient is normally represented by the distance travelled for a rise or
fall of one unit.
• Sometimes the gradient is indicated as per cent rise or fall. For example,
if there is a rise of 1m in 400 m, the gradient is 1 in 400 or 0.25 per cent

Gradients are provided to meet the following objectives:
• (a) To reach various stations at different elevations
• (b) To follow the natural contours of the ground to the extent possible
• (c) To reduce the cost of earthwork
The following types of gradients are used on the railways:
• (a) Ruling gradient – it’s a steepest gradient -
• In plain terrain: 1 in 150 to 1 in 250
• In hilly terrain: 1 in 100 to 1 in 150

• (b) Pusher or helper gradient : Gradients steeper than the ruling
gradient are provided to reduce the overall cost. In such situations, one
locomotive is not adequate to pull the entire load, and an extra
locomotive is required.
A Pusher gradient of 1 in 75, 1 in 100 with additional one engine is
generally used.
• (c) Momentum gradient : The momentum gradient is also steeper than
the ruling gradient and can be overcome by a train because of the
momentum it gathers while running on the section. In valleys, a falling
gradient is sometimes followed by a rising gradient

(d) Gradients in station yards
(a) It prevents standing vehicles from rolling and moving away from the
yard due to the combined effect of gravity and strong winds.
(b) It reduces the additional resistive forces required to start a locomotive
to the extent possible.
• It may be mentioned here that generally, yards are not levelled
completely and certain flat gradients are provided in order to ensure
good drainage. The maximum gradient prescribed in station yards on
Indian Railways is 1 in 400, while the recommended gradient is 1 in 1000.

Grade compensation on curves
• The ruling gradient is the maximum gradient on a particular section but if a
curve lies on ruling gradient, the resistance due to gradient is increased by
that due to curvature and this further increases the resistance beyond the
ruling gradient.
• In order to avoid resistances beyond the allowable limits, the gradients are
reduced on curves and this reduction in gradients is known as grade
compensation for curve.
• In India, compensation for curvature is given at 0.04% per degree of curve
for B.G, 0.03% for M.G and 0.02% for N.G.

• Super elevation or Cant
• When a train moves round a curve, it is subjected to a centrifugal force
acting horizontally at the centre of gravity of each vehicle radially away from
the centre of the curve. This increases the weight on the outer rail.
• To counteract the effect of centrifugal force, the level of the outer rail is
raised above the inner rail by a certain amount to introduce the centripetal
force.
• This raised elevation of outer rail above the inner rail at a horizontal curve is
called super elevation (e).

• Limits of super elevation
• Super elevation should be provided in such a way that train as to
accommodate various trains running with different speeds from time to time.
• Normally the maximum value of super elevation according railway board is
1/10th of gauge.
• But recently, the following values of maximum super elevation have been
prescribed on Indian railways varying from 1/10th to 1/12th of the gauge.

• Cant deficiency
– The equilibrium cant is provided on the basis of equilibrium speed of
different trains. But this equilibrium cant or super elevation falls short of that
required for the high speed trains. This shortage of cant is called cant
deficiency.
– Cant deficiency is the difference between the equilibrium cant necessary
for the maximum permissible speed on a curve and the actual cant provided.
• Cant deficiency = Equilibrium cant - Actual cant
• Cant deficiency is limited due to two reasons:
– Higher cant deficiency gives rise to higher discomfort to passengers.
– Higher cant deficiency means higher would be the balanced centrifugal
forces and hence extra pressure and lateral forces on outer rails. This will
require strong track and fastenings for stability

• Negative super elevation:
• – When the main line is on a curve and has turnout of contrary flexure
leading to a branch line, the super elevation necessary for the average
speed running over the main line cannot be provided.

– BQ is the outer rail of the main line curve must be higher than inner rail or
in other words, the point B should be higher than point A.
– For branch line, however AC should be higher than BD or the point A should
be higher than points B.
– These two contradictory conditions cannot be met at the same time within
one layout.
– So instead of outer rail AC on branch line being higher, it is kept lower than
the inner rail BD.
– In such cases, the branch line curve has negative super elevation and
therefore speeds on both tracks must be restricted, particularly on branch line

• 1.10 Point and Crossing
• Points and crossings are provided facilitates the change of railway vehicles
from one track to another.
• The tracks may be parallel, diverging, or converging to each other. Points
and crossings are necessary due to the inside flanges of wheels of railway
vehicles and, therefore require special arrangement to navigate their way on
the rails.
• The points or switches aid in diverting the vehicles and the crossings provide
gaps in the rails so as to help the flanged wheels to roll over them.
• A complete set of points and crossings, along with lead rails, is called a
turnout.

• Turnout It is an arrangement of points and crossings with lead rails by
means of which the rolling stock may be diverted from one track to another.
Figure (a) shows the various constituents of a turnout.
Figure (a)

• Direction of a turnout A turnout is designated as a right-hand or a left-
hand turnout depending on whether it diverts the traffic to the right or to the
left.
• In Fig. (a), the turnout is a right-hand turnout because it diverts the traffic
towards the right side.
• Figure (b) shows a left-hand turnout. The direction of a point (or turnout) is
known as the facing direction if a vehicle approaching the turnout or a point
has to first face the thin end of the switch.

• The direction is trailing direction if the vehicle has to negotiate a switch
in the trailing direction, that is, the vehicle first negotiates the crossing
and then finally traverses on the switch from its thick end to its thin end.
• Therefore, when standing at the toe of a switch, if one looks in the
direction of the crossing, it is called the facing direction and the opposite
direction is called the trailing direction.

• Tongue rail: It is a tapered movable rail, made of high-carbon or -manganese
steel to withstand wear. At its thicker end, it is attached to a running rail. A
tongue rail is also called a switch rail.
• Stock rail: It is the running rail against which a tongue rail operates.
• Points or switch: A pair of tongue and stock rails with the necessary
connections and fittings forms a switch.
• Crossing: It is a device introduced at the junction where two rails cross each
other to permit the wheel flange.

Railway planning RHTA - VTU Module 1

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