RailTEC Studying High-Speed Rail Track Components

 

Many of the proposed and planned high-speed intercity passenger rail lines in the U.S. would require passenger trains to share the same tracks as heavy-axle-load freight trains. A $3.3 million study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to study the performance of certain track components aims at making these joint corridors safer and more efficient.

 

The research to improve concrete crossties and fastening systems will be undertaken by the university’s Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC), part of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), which contributed approximately $2.4 million to perform the in-depth, applied research. Industry partners will contribute the remaining $900,000.

 

Shared corridors in which both high-speed rail (HSR) and heavy-axle-load (HAL) trains must share tracks present unique challenges in terms of the design, inspection, and maintenance of infrastructure, said railroad engineering instructor J. Riley Edwards, who is leading the study at Illinois.

“High-speed passenger rail operations require the use of concrete crossties or slab track because these track systems allow railways to maintain the tight geometric tolerances, such as track gauge, necessary to accommodate their operation,” Edwards said.  “This research project is aimed at improving concrete tie and fastener design in order to increase safety and reliability and lower their life cycle cost.”

 

During the two-and-a-half-year study, researchers will conduct laboratory and field testing to compile empirically gathered performance data. Improved understanding of the tie and fastening system is expected to facilitate the development of performance requirements and design recommendations for concrete tie and fastening systems in the United States, specifically those used in joint passenger-freight railway infrastructure. They will also develop a centralized knowledge and document depository, to be housed at the University of Illinois, about concrete ties—commonly known as “sleepers” outside of the U.S.—and fastening systems.

 

“The University of Illinois’ preeminence in railroad engineering education and research makes it a natural choice for HSR and HAL research,” said RailTEC Director Chris Barkan. The railroad engineering program at the University of Illinois has the most extensive curriculum of any university in North America, he said, complemented by an active research program in rail engineering and transportation through RailTEC.”