RENEWAL INTO INNOVATIVE TRACK STRUCTURES

Because of European legislation, the railway market is forced to become much more competitive. One of the main requirements of the European Directive 91/440 is to separate the infrastructure from operations and to avoid subsidy transfers, with a fee being charged for the use of the railway infrastructure. This has triggered new developments and research in order to improve efficiency and innovation. Research on Instant Track Reconstruction focuses on renewal of ballasted track into low-maintenance track, thus to increase the availability and to lower life cycle costs. In Germany and in Austria, innovative ballasted superstructures are being tested. They consist of special sleepers, the design of which results in a significant decrease in the levels of pressure on the ballast. Also the possibilities for the use of slab track systems is being looked at. With a life-cycle-cost analysis, a comparison is made between two kinds of innovative ballasted superstructures, a prefabricated slab track and a traditional track. For the covering abstract see ITRD E123713.