MODERN METRO TRACK

Designing and building rail track are not so very different in a metropolitan railway and on an interurban line, even though the traffic pattern, infrastructure and environmental constraints are extremely dissimilar. Ballasted track, which is continuously being perfected, is still used on a massive scale by Metro systems. However, because of the constant need to improve antivibration performances and reduce maintenance costs, the method of track-laying on concrete with two resilient layers--and even on floating slabs--is being adopted on a general basis. In this respect, coaching stock with rubber-tyred wheels today represents the optimum solution for Metro systems. French rail-based systems constitute a broad cross-section of these different solutions, ranging from the most classical to the most modern.