Railway Engineering

6th semester

Introduction to Railway Engineering

(Lecture # 1)
Subject : Railway Engineering

Department of Transportation Engineering and Management,

UET Lahore.

What is railway?
“A railway can be defined as an engineered structure consisting of two metals
guiding rail on which cars are either self propelled or pulled by a locomotive.”

What is railway engineering?

“Branch of Transportation Engineering involved in the planning, design,
construction, operation and maintenance of railway land facilities used for the
movement of people and goods serving the social and economic needs of
contemporary society and its successors.”

Why Railways are built?

There could be several reasons, some might be:

A
C
B
’ ______ ACB (Existing Line)

-------- AC’B (Proposed shortened

line)
• Military Purpose (strategic conditions)
• Linking of trade centres
• Connecting port with interior of country
• Shortening existing route

D
C
B
A

______ ACB (Main Line)

• Laying of a Branch Line
-------- ACD (Proposed Branch
Line)
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uniform in quality between companies that produce/sell it

usually produced and/or sold by many different companies
6th semester

A commodity is a good which is:

A commuter is a person who
makes the journey from
home to work and back every
working day using some form
of transportation system

Place of Railways in Society

At one point in time, railroads were most important (In terms of usage) part of
transportation system, because they were the only ones which made the mass
movement of people and goods possible. Today railway industry is famous for its
use in transport of freight.

Because of their higher weights and increased volumes, bulk products like coal, iron
ore, wheat, building material, etc. railways as the mode of their transportation is
desirable as compared to other modes.

Comparison Among Modes (Freight Transport)

Motor Truck: Rapid movement of freight over short distances and flexibility of
movement in urban areas.

Airlines: Rapid service for passengers, mail and small shipments of lightweight,
valuable commodities where speed is a controlling factor

Waterways: Bulk freight is transported at low cost but slow speed.

Pipelines: Direct, low cost and dependable movement of petroleum and gas.
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Railroads: Provide rapid, economical and dependable movement for all types of
commodities especially bulk freight. Mass commutation is also possible through
railways (interchangeably called as railroads)

Right of Way
“A railway right of way, abbreviated as ROW or R/W, is the land upon which the
roadbed and other necessary facilities are constructed.”

On single track railways, the width of R/W is usually measured at right angles to the
centre line of track and from the centerline to the edge of the railway’s property, a
PAK-WATCH boundary known as right of way line. On a multiple track railway,
the centre line of the R/W may coincide with the centerline of one
R/W is usually 100’ in Pakistan
of the tracks or it may come midway between the tracks.

Width of Right of Way

Common widths are 50’, 60’, 80’, 100’, 200’, or even 400’. Within
station limits the width is increased to incorporate necessary
structures, facilities and tracks.

What should be considered while acquiring Right of Way?

1. Depths of cuts and fills
2. Slopes
3. Side ditches
4. Erosive action of wind and water, etc.
5. Future double tracking
6. Price of land, as the land value increases after construction of railway facility.
Increasing or acquiring R/W afterwards could be more costly.

Elements of railway track and their

functions (Lectures 2+3)
Subject : Railway Engineering

Department of Transportation Engineering and

Management, UET Lahore.

• Roadbed
• Ballast
• Sleeper
• Fastenings
• Rails

Figure 1: Elements of Railway Track (figure not to

scale)
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6th semester

Roadbed
A railway roadbed is a regular, prepared subgrade on which are laid the ballast
section, ties and rails.

Purpose of subgrade
1. Weights of tracks + ballast + train loadings are supported as uniformly as
possible and transmitted with diminishing uniform pressures to the
supporting natural ground beneath.
2. Drainage is facilitated.
3. Smooth, regular surface is provided on which the ballast section and track
structure can be laid.

Design of roadbed section

Three important factors have to be considered:

1. Width of subgrade (or base of cut)

2. Depth of cut or fill
3. Side slopes of the cut or fill

Width of roadbed
• It is determined in part by width of ballast section which depends on several
variables like subgrade and ballast material, weather, size of ties, weight of
rail, volume and speed of traffic and axle loadings.
• Design of ballast section & width of subgrade is based on expected traffic at
least 10 to 15 years in future.
• The cost of extra width at the time of construction should be balanced
against estimated future cost of roadbed widening.
• Separate standards of roadbed & ballast are used for mainline and branch
line.
• Road bed shoulders should extent a minimum of 18” beyond the toe of
ballast slope to give adequate support to ballast section.
• More widening of subgrade is required where soils are susceptible to wind /
water erosion.
• In case of settlement, final top subgrade width must be maintained.
Otherwise with successive ballast layers (also called as lifts) to hold the
established gradient, top of fill becomes too narrow for it’s height and for the
width of ballast section.
• The most important factor affecting width of cuts is side ditches.
• Base width of 3’ – 6’ with side slopes of 1:1 are standards in common use for
width of cuts.
• If gradient is steep, shoulder must be protected against erosion.

Depth of Fill (Embankment)

• Allowance for settlement & erosion must be given.
• High water levels must be considered.
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Side Slopes
• Depends primarily upon shearing strength & angle
of repose of the materials forming the slope.
• A slope of 1 12 : 1 is commonly used in railway
design for both cuts and fills and gives reasonable
stability for most materials.
• Sands / Clays may require 2 : 1 or even 3 : 1
• Solid rock cuts may stand on 12: 1 or 14 : 1
• A final decision on rate of slope must depend on type of soil used rather than
on rule of thumb.
• A slope of 2 : 1 is approximately one third longer than 1 12 : 1 and receives,
approx. one third more rainfall. Therefore effects of erosion must be
considered while deciding whether to make slope wider or flatter.

Slope Protection
Different options exist, some are:

1. Paving:
To pave means to make hard, durable and permanent.
It gives pleasing appearance. There are options of stone Figure 2: Asphalt Paving
paving, asphalt paving, etc. Decision must be made
according to budget.

2. Rip Rap:
Loose placement of stones along slope with toe wall.

Protects saturated fills along rivers and lakes.

Grouting between stones could be used for greater stability.

3. Planting:
Choice of plantings is determined by conditions of local soil, climate and rainfall.

Native plants are likely to give best results.

4. Cinder Blankets:
Used for clay embankments.

5. Retaining Walls:
Provided when angle of slope is considerably greater than angle of repose of slope
materials.
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Roadbed Materials
Functions of soils
• Soils have a dual function for roadbed. 1) Soils constitute the foundation on
which railways are constructed. 2) Soils are also the materials of which the
roadbed is constructed.
• An engineer can’t always select soils entirely by his own choice because a
railway track is hundreds of miles long and a variety of soils are encountered
in the field. Proper knowledge of soils & their functions can help creating a
stable and purpose fulfilling track. This knowledge is primarily based on
classification of soils and their properties.

Testing of Soils for Selection

There are many tests related to soils which help in determining their behavior in
field.

1. Classification by Grain Size

Soil Type Grain Size
(mm)

Gravel Coarser than 2

mm

Coarse 2 – 0.6
Sand
Medium 0.6 – 0.2
Sand
Fine Sand 0.2 – 0.06

Silt 0.06 – 0.002

Clay 0.002mm and

finer

Uniformity coefficient = Cu = D60D10

The uniformity coefficient is defined as a ratio: the size at which 60 percent (by
weight) of a sample passes through a sieve (in other words 60 percent of the
sample is finer than a given size) divided by the size at which 10 percent of the
same sample (by weight) passes through a sieve (10 percent is finer than a given
size). A Cu of 1 indicates all the particles are the same size. As the number goes up
the size differentiation becomes greater and hence sample becomes less uniform.
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2. Atterberg Limits
• It compares the differences in physical properties of clays at various water
contents
• Plastic limit Pw is that lowest water content at which the soil begins to
crumble when rolled into threads.
• Liquid limit Lw is that highest water content at which the soil will not flow
under standard conditions.
• Some highway departments prohibit soils as fill materials having a Lw greater
than 65%
• With consistency limits, we are able to know about the swelling and shrinking
potential of clays & silts.
○ Other tests include specific gravity, moisture content and shearing

strength.

Effect of Soil Properties On Roadbed / Subgrade

Properties of good roadbed materials
To fulfill the functions of subgrade, the greatest uniformity and permanency is
obtained when subgrade material is free of excess moisture and has physical
characteristics providing high internal friction, high cohesion, and density, low
compressibility, low capillarity and low elasticity.

Why High Internal Friction and Cohesion?

• To hold the soil firmly in place
• Soil with less cohesion, such as wet sand , is likely to slump and slide in
addition to being susceptible to surface erosion.
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Why High Density?

 A dense soil tends to exclude moisture since the volume is largely filled with
soil particles and little room is left for moisture to intrude

Why low compressibility?

 A highly compressible soil is slow in consolidating. If not fully compacted at
the beginning, it continues to compress under traffic, causing the top of
subgrade to settle.

Why low elasticity?

• The unfavourable reaction of compressibility is intensified if the soil is
highly elastic.
• The compressed soil rebounds when the load is removed, and the process
of consolidation is prolonged.

Adverse Properties
• Tendency to flow or run because of rounded shapes of sand & silts. Flow
occurs due to low internal friction and cohesion.
• Swelling and frost action.
• Lateral flow under pressure

Use of soils
• Gravel is the only natural soil which does not require an admixture to make it
suitable.
• Theoretically ideal soil is one in which several constituents are equally
proportioned. Greater percentage of gravel is desirable due to its hardness
and structural strength. To this should be added sand to “bed” larger gravel
particles, silt to act as filler & clay to fill remaining voids and provide a water
film for cohesion.

Soil Proportioning
First Method
Bring from scattered pits the desired soils in proper amounts and mix the several
types in spreading and compacting operation.

Second Method
Engineer may obtain helpful selection at pit. If several grades and soil types are
available in one or more pits, the loading and unloading can be performed to place
the individual soils in proper relation to each other in fill.
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Control Tests
Standard tests are done on actual construction samples and curves, charts & other
guides are provided, against which to measure & obtain the desired degree of
compaction. These tests are

1. Compaction Test
2. Moisture Content – for use in compaction test.

Inspection Tests
1. These tests are done to insure that the standards established by the control
tests are being secured. These tests are:
2. Dry density test – to determine adequacy of compaction
3. Soil-Volume Relations – determination of unit weights before and after
excavation to establish change in volume.
4. Moisture-density relations – amount of water required per unit of borrow
material to bring the moisture content of borrow material upto that of
compacted material.

Drainage
What is Track Drainage?
• Drainage is defined as interception, collection and disposal of water away
from track.
• If you intercept someone or something that is travelling from one place
to another, you stop them before they get to their destination
• You have to intercept the evil water before it reaches its destination which
is your very own railway formation.

Sources of Water Entering Track

Why Drainage is so important to study?

Because:
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• There is scarcely any item of maintenance cost which is not increased by

effects of poor drainage.
• A poorly drained subgrade permits cinders, stone dust and dirt to accumulate
in and foul the ballast, leading to pumping joints.
• Pumping joints cause excessive rail end batter, joint bar wear & tie
deterioration.
• Washing out of tracks, poor line surface of gauge, accumulation of ice &
snow, obstructing tracks in tunnels.

Drainage Types
• Intercepting & diverting ground water
• Containing and channeling streams
• Disposing of rainwater and snow run-off
• Tapping and draining water pockets and springs
• Intercepting seepage and underground streams
• Drying Saturated fills
• Lowering water tables
• Drying the ballast section by draining water from under the ties

All these could be broadly classified into Surface Drainage and Subsurface
Drainage.

Surface Drainage
• Most important factor in embankment design and maintenance
• Generally, provision of 1 in 30 cross slope on top of formation towards cess,
side and catch water drains, culverts and bridges comes under this category.

Types of Surface Drainage

1. Side Drains
2. Catch Water Drains

Side Drains

• Normally not needed for embankment

• Required if blanket is below ground level due to height of embankment
• In case of cuttings, properly designed side drains of required water carrying
capacity are to be provided

Catch Water Drains

• Surface water flowing from top of hill slope towards the track is controlled by
provision of catch water drains
• Providing side drains for the same purpose is not feasible
• Catch water drains are provided running almost parallel to the track upto a
point where the water can be safely discharged off
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Discharge Capacity of Catch

Water Drains

Channel Capacity = Q=A ×V

Where,

Q=Channel capacity

A=Cross-sectional area

V=Flow velocity

The flow velocity could be assumed or

found from manning’s formula as under,

V= 1.486n r23 s12

Where,

r=hydraulic radius= AWetted Perimeter

s=energy slope per foot of length

n=roughness coefficient

Gradients of ditch may be same as track’s but not less than 0.3% to make
ditches self flushing & free of standing water. Too high gradient, giving
velocities of 5’ – 10’ per second leads to scouring.

Subsurface Drainage
• Main objectives of sub surface drains are to lower the level of water table and
to intercept or drain out underground water
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• The sub-surface drains may consist of perforated pipe or open jointed solid
pipe in a trench with backfill around it or it may simply be free draining
material in the trench without any pipe
• The subsurface drains can also be provided with geotextile either along the
trench or around the pipe or both

Backfilling Backfilled with excavated soil and thoroughly compacted so as to stop

water directly percolating from backfill material around the pipe. See the above
figure on this page.

Use of Free draining materials in subsurface drains

When only free draining material is used in trench, the main drain may be
constructed without any pipe. The trench may be filled with material such as gravel
or stone aggregate free from organic and deleterious substances.

Types of Subsurface Drainage (Group Discussion on 5th March)

• Boulder Drains
• French Drains
• Horizontal Drains in Cuttings

Failure of Railway Embankments

Read this topic from the book Roads, Railways, Bridges, Tunnels & Harbor
Dock Engineering by B.L Gupta.