Railway and Tunnel construction

Students Learning module

Edition - First

Target: 4th year CoTM students

Dire Dawa Institute of technology

Author: Wondwosen Kenea, Dire Dawa Institute of technology, Ethiopia

Alexander Zeleke, Dire Dawa Institute of technology, Ethiopia

Year 2018, Dire Dawa

 Content

Chapter One - Basics of railway and tunnel ………………………………………………...... 1

Introduction
1.1. Railways
1.2. Tunnels

Chapter Two – Railway line and track structure ……………………………………………… 21

Introduction
2.1 Railway line geometry
2.2 Railway Track structure

Chapter three – railway stations and train operation …………………………………………. 28

Introduction
3.1. Station planning, distribution & location
3.2. Train operation
3.2.1 Train formation
3.2.2 Train organization
Train schedule

Chapter four – Tunnel design and construction ……………………………………………… 40

Introduction
4.1 Tunnel design methods
4.2 tunnel Installations
4.3 Tunnel construction techniques

Chapter five – Railway and tunnel maintenance ……………………………………………. 48

Introduction
5.1. Railway maintenance
5.2. Tunnel maintenance

ii
Intentionally left page

iii
iv
 Chapter One – Basics of railway and tunnel

1.1 Railways

Rail transport refers to the land transport of people or goods along guided paths called railways.
A railway consists of two parallel rail tracks at a fixed distance (gauge) apart, usually made of
steel and mounted upon cross beams called ties or “sleepers”.

A railroad consists of two steel rails

which are held a fixed distance
apart on a roadbed. Vehicles,
guided and supported by flanged
steel wheels and connected into
trains, are propelled as a means of
transportation.

Functions: Characteristics:

 Important infrastructure of a country  large transport capacity/volume

 Artery of national economy  Low cost/energy cost, travel time,
 Backbone of traffic and transport power etc./
system  Energy saving and
 Environmentally friendly

Some of Railway transportation significance/ importance include:

 It has a high level of passenger or cargo utilization over a

 limited space (Limited use of space compared to large transport capacity)
 Most efficient energy consumer (1/3 of road transport and 1/7 to 1/5 of air transport)
 Minimum friction and minimum air resistance/guided movement/
 Environmentally friendly
 Mostly electric powered
 Safest and Reliability mode of land transport with the lowest accident rate

v
  It offers comfortable ride options such as meal, sleeping and entertainment
 High degree of automation and management

However, some of the Drawbacks also should be noticed to circumvent their disadvantage in the
future:

 Huge initial investment and operation costs

 Cannot support severe alignments such as steep slopes and sharp curves
 Low flexibility in terms of network operations
 Severity of accidents is high (but low frequency)
 Security threat as it is prone to attacks

Historical development of Railway transportation

Up to the 18th century

On the 19th century

vi
From 20th century onwards

History of Ethiopian railway

The Legacy railway

 1000 mm gauge and diesel traction
 Owned and administered by the

vii
  governments of Djibouti and Ethiopia
 781km (681 in Ethiopia and 100 in Djibouti)
 Suffers from old-age, lack of spares
 high operating cost, worn out track
 no Locomotives, very low capacity

Ethiopian national railway program[ENRP]

 5000 km of national railway line  34km of Fully electrified LRT for
 Standard Gauge (1435 mm) Addis Ababa
 Electric Traction  Standard Gauge (1.435 meters)
 High capacity (25 ton/axle)  double track for the whole route
 High speed (120 -160 km/hr for  Capacity: 80,000 PPH (Passenger/hr)
passenger and  Headway: 6min with a potential of
 80 -120 km/hr for freight) reducing to 90secs
 Concrete sleeper (160cm  Passenger-km based fare system
X20.5cmX22cm)

There are regional integration plans in Africa.

viii
Components of Railway

Railway is a permanent way composed of subway, bridge, culvert, tunnel, track, station, switches
etc. In order to provide smooth and stable geometry state, earth structures shall be built by
cutting and filling the ground. For spanning rivers or gorges, bridges or culverts shall be built.
For pass through mountains, mountains shall be excavated to construct tunnels. For trains
passing and overtaking, stations shall be built. As for unfavorable geologic body which is
difficult to detour, engineering improvement measures shall be taken in order to ensure operation
safety.

ix
The types of civil works in railway involve:

 Design,  Operation &

 Construction,  Maintenance

General principles for railway construction and development include:

 based on the strategies of national economy and social development and the demands of
territorial

x
  development,
 national defense
 transport market
 highlighting key points and strengthening weak links,
 coordinated development with other traffic and transport modes and relevant industries
such as energy industry.

Therefore, the general principles are directed by national development strategies Oriented by
market, centered with benefit and on the premise of transport safety Actively adopting mature,
advanced, economic, practical & reliable technologies and emphasizing comprehensive
integration of technologies Insisting on the principle of using optimized system to maximize
comprehensive benefit.

Design year of railway construction is classified into:

 Short term: The tenth year after delivery for operation

 Long term: The twentieth year after delivery for operation

Note that traffic volumes in short term and long term are both forecasted.
Railway Classification & Main Technical Standards
Railway Classification
It is the class/ grade of a railway classified according to its role in railway network, properties,
volume of passenger traffic, goods traffic volume, maximum allowable axle load, design speed,
etc. is the basic standard of a railway system. Which is the basis to determine the technical
standards and equipment types.

When railway is designed, railway classification should be determined due to the reasons of:
 vast territory,
 complicated topography,
 unbalanced population and resources distribution and the different economic conditions
 volume of passenger & goods traffic,
 maximum allowable axle load and
 speed are different.

Hence, railways should be classed in to different grades.

Therefore, bases for railway classification include

xi
  axle load of rolling stock,
 maximum running speed,
 volume of passenger and goods traffic,
 designed speed, and
 significance of railway construction.
1) Axle load of rolling stock

Axle load is one of major basis to determine the design load standard. For locomotives it affects
the power and car’s axle load affect train’s load per meter.

2) Maximum speed

The maximum speed is one of the most important marker of railway transportation quality.It
affects the travelling time of passenger and freight trains, traffic capacity and the using condition
of rolling stock. It also affects construction cost, expenditure for buying rolling stock, locomotive
energy consumption transportation cost, etc.

The running speed is limited by the power of locomotive, the standards of alignment and track,
level of signal facilities, method of traffic control, traffic organization, etc. The Maximum speed
is the major technical parameter to determine the radius of horizontal & vertical curves length of
transition curve the type of track.

3) Annual Volume of Passenger and Goods traffic

it is the main base for

 designing transport capacity

 evaluation of economic effectiveness
 determination of route alternatives

The annual volume of passenger and goods traffic affect the track-train interaction track
deformation, residual life of structures.

In general, railway investment cost, cost of railway traffic and traffic revenue shall be decided by
annual volume of passenger and goods traffic. For these reasons, under the same service life,
equipment with high standards should be used in the railway with heavy traffic volume.

xii
Example: - In china, railways are classified in to three categories based on the annual volume of
passenger and freight traffic, role they played in railways network, and maximum design speed.
These are:

1. Railway line for passenger traffic

2. Railway line for mixed passenger and freight traffic
3. Line for goods traffic
These further classified in to seven grades:
 High speed line
 Rapid speed line
 Classes I ~ IV
 Heavy haul railway

Railway line for passenger traffic

Mainly responsible for transportation of passenger with design speed of passenger car not less
than 200km/h. Further classified as:

1) High-speed railway:
Railways for passenger with maximum design speed of 250km/h and over and play trunk parts in
railway network. Generally built in a developing region where is densely populated and has a
heavy volume of passenger traffic.

It links political center and economic center, or economic center and economic center. On high-
speed line, passenger trains could operate with speed of 250km/h or over in main section, the
seating capacity could be up to 1600 persons per train, the maximum traffic carrying capacity
could be 2*32000person or over.

2) Rapid -speed railway

Railways are classified as rapid-speed railways which play a linking and auxiliary part in railway
network for passenger traffic, with designed speed of 250km/h or lower. In China, rapid-speed
line also classified as rapid-speed trunk line for passenger traffic or inter-city line in terms of the
role in rapid railway passenger transport network, transport demand, and service area.

Railway line for mixed passenger and freight traffic

xiii
These railway lines are responsible for passenger and freight transportation, with design speed of
160km/h or lower (passenger train) and 120km/h (freight train). Railways for mixed passenger
and freight traffic can be classified into 4 grades,

 Class I, Class II, Class III, and Class IV.

The class of a new line or reconstructed Railway should be determined in terms of :

 the role in railway network

 Properties
 Design speed of passenger train and
 volume of passenger and freight traffic

And should meet the following requirements

Class I Railway: Play a trunk part in railway network, and the volume of short-term traffic is no
less than 20 million tons.

Class II Railway: Play a linking and auxiliary part in railway network, and the volume of short-
term traffic is less than 20 million tons.

Class III Railway: Give service to a local zone, and the volume of short-term traffic is less than
20 million tons and larger than 5 million tons.

Class IV Railway: Give service to a local zone, and the volume of short-term traffic is less than 5
million tons.

Items of Main technical standards

Main technical standards include the basic standards and types of railway facilities, which shall
give obvious influence on the traffic capacity, construction cost, operation quality, and the
selection of other equipment standards.

The design of railway of mixed service shall include main technical standards of the following:
 ruling grade
 minimum radius of curvature
 available length of arrival & departure
 kind of energy supply
xiv
  types of locomotives
 tonnage rating
 locomotive routing and
 type of blocking.

Main technical standards for railway of passenger traffic include:

 designed speed
 distance between centers of main line tracks
 minimum plane curve radius
 maximum gradient
 available length of arrival and departure line
 EMU type
 train operation control mode
 train operation command mode
 minimum head

Railway Signals, Communication and control

Railway communication

From the method of transmission: From the service area:

 Cable and wireless communication.  toll communication;

xv
  area communication, From the service nature:
 section communication,
 Public communication,
 station communication.
 private communication and
 data transmission.

Railway private communication system consists of:

1.Train dispatching telephone

The train dispatching phone is a kind of wired phone, which is used to communicate between
dispatchers and station attendants.

2. Train dispatching radio phone

The train dispatching radio phone can be used as the communication tool between train
dispatchers, locomotive dispatchers, station attendants or others and the driver.

3.Wireless dispatching telephone in a station

The wireless dispatching telephone in a station is used by dispatchers, hump attendants or other
commanders to communicate to the shunting locomotive driver.

4.Other railway private communication equipment

 Private telecom system

 Railway local telephone
 Long distance telephone and telegraph within

xvi
  railway administration and mail lines
 Train out report telegraph and telephone
 Railway station communication system

Railway signaling & control system

Signaling consists of the systems, devices and means by which trains are operated efficiently and
tracks are used to maximum extent, maintaining the safety of passengers, the staff and the rolling
stock. It includes the use and working of signals, points, block instruments and other equipment.
Signals have aspects and indication:
 Aspect is the visual appearance of the signal
 Indication is the meaning

The various objectives of providing & operating signals are:

 To provide facilities for the efficient movement of trains

 To ensure safety between two or more trains
 To provide facilities for the maximum utility of track
 To provide facilities for safe and efficient shunting operations
 To guide the trains movement during maintenance and repair of tracks

Signals can be placed:

 At the start of a section of track

 On the approach to a movable item of infrastructure, such as switches or a swing bridge
 In advance of other signals
 On the approach to a level crossing
 Ahead of platforms or other places that trains are likely to be stopped

Railway signal equipment are the key facilities to organize and command train operation, ensure
safety, enhance the transport efficiency, transfer information, improve working conditions of
driving personnel. The foundation of railway signal equipment includes signal machine, switch
machine, track circuit, signal relays, etc.

Signal machine

xvii
Signal and signal repeater say a signal that used to command train operation and shunting
homework.

The switch machine plays an important role on train operation, which is used to complete the
conversion and locking of switch. ZD6 series are used for the existing line S700K are used for
speeding track line.

Track circuit

The track circuit is used to monitor the occupancy of the train and transfer the traffic
information.

Signal relay

Signal relay is not only the key component of various relay control system but also the interface
unit of electronic or computer control system.

xviii
The basic colors of the visual signal are:

 Red - stop
 Yellow - Noting and reducing speed
 Green- driving at the required speed
 Bluish-white calling-on signal or permitting shunting signal
 Blue - permissive signal or prohibiting shunting signal

xix
Home signal
Function: Protecting stations, indicating the train operating conditions to ensure the receiving
route safe and reliable. The entrance of the station must be fitted with home signal

Through signal
Function: protecting block section, Indicating the train can enter the next block section.
 Three-aspect automatic block
 Four-aspect automatic bloc

Departure signal
Function: indicating the train can enter the section or not, and the parking place

xx
Shunting signal
Function: Indicates the various shunting operation, be Installed in interlocking yard with
shunting operation.
A: single shunting signal
B: double shunting signal
C: difference shunting signal
D: stub-end shunting signal

xxi
Cab signal

Control of movement of trains

One of the basic objectives of signaling is to control the movement of trains with a view to
ensure safety by preventing accidents. To achieve this goal, a particular system of working
should be adopted keeping in view three important aspects i.e. safety, speed and traffic density of
operation.

The Various systems of controlling the movement of trains are:

1) one engine only system 5)Absolute block system

2)Following train/time interval system 6)Automatic block system

3)Pilot guard system 7)C.T.C system

4)Train staff & ticket system 8)A.T.C system

xxii
1.2 Tunnels

Design of tunnels is the complete process of specifying the tunnel lining requirement which
includes:
 The establishment of project end-use requirements;
 Defining ground and material properties;
 Analyzing and calculating structural requirements;
 Identifying construction assumptions and requirements;
 Detailing inspection and testing regimes.

Engineering design process involves all design related activities from concept through to the
post-construction stage.

Design steps/ procedures

Driven tunnels: any underground space constructed by enclosed methods and where ground
support is erected at or near the advancing face (rather than cut and cover, immersed tube, jacked
pipe or directionally drilled methods).
Hard ground: comprises rock that following excavation in a tunnel face and the removal of
support to any loosened or unstable material would be expected to remain stable for an extended
period.
Hazard: is something with potential to lead to an unfavorable outcome or circumstance for the
project or anybody /anything associated with it. By definition, any hazard that is not identified is
uncontrolled and measures cannot be taken to mitigate any potential risks.

xxiii
 Risk: the likelihood of particular hazard being realized together with the consequences
for persons that should occur
Risk management -Risk analysis and management (RAM): the process of identifying,
analyzing, assessing and controlling risks on a project.
Lining: the necessary permanent ground support system to periphery of tunnel or shaft
excavation and /or the material installed in the same position with an inner surface suitable for
the specific end-use of the underground excavation. It might vary from limited support in stable
rock to continuous support in unstable ground.
Primary/ initial lining: ground support installed immediately after the excavation. It is
a temporary structure for safety and operation during tunneling and is normally
associated with hard rock tunneling. E.g. rock dowels, steel set, or shotcretes
Secondary (final) lining: is tunnel support installed following and independent of
excavation to satisfy user/ function requirement. It is normally cast in place concrete
mostly.

Final lining

One pass lining: is a system of support that is installed integrally with the advancing head. This
could include segment lining or several layers of reinforced or unreinforced shotcrete applied
tight up against the advancing head.
Two pass lining: is with primary/initial support installed as temporary ground support and
followed by an in-situ final concrete lining.
Shaft: is a vertical or sub-vertical excavation of limited cross-section in relation to its depth in
which ground support is provided as excavation proceeds.
Tunneling procedure

xxiv
Tunnel hazards include:
 Fire
 Emergency
 Ventilation
 Lighting
 Collapse/sink
 Monitoring

xxv
 Chapter Two – Railway line and track structure

Railway line/ geometry

Railway line is the foundation of operation which is a whole structure consisting of roadbed,
bridge and rail. Center line of the route is all about the following:
 Economy (cost)
 Safety
 Station location
 Types of structures to design etc

xxvi
 Typical ballasted track section
Economic survey and route selection involves three stages:
 Earlier stage: research, survey and preliminary design
 Basic construction stage: first to do the measurement, technical design and construction
design, then begin to construct it, finally check it into production
 Effect of feedback: several years later, to evaluate design and construction quality by
investigating the engineering quality, technical index and economic benefits

Route selection criteria:

 Shortest, direct route  Minimum earthwork
 Detour unsuitable geology, link  Locally materials
important sites  Environmental friendly
 Cost effective (user and  Aesthetic value …
construction)

xxvii
 Railway system interaction
Center line is used to show the place of a line in space.

Railway alignment is a space position of the central line of railway permanent way. It is
expressed in the line linked central points of cross section longitudinally:
 Planar section of alignment – planar projection (straight line and curved – circular &
easement/ transition curve)
 Longitudinal section of alignment – vertical projection

xxviii
It is harmful while curve radius is small, because it:
 Limit the speed of train
 Increase wheel abrasion
 Increase rail equipment
 Increase maintenance costs

Maximum permissible value for elevation of outer rail – super-elevation:

 125mm for single track
 150mm for double track
 Some inadequate super-elevation: 70mm for ordinary district
90mm for hard district

easement/ transition curve is set between straight line and circular curve for safety and riding
comfort.

Characteristics of easement curves include:

 Radius decreases gradually from the infinite to circular curve radius R, or on the contrary
 Centrifugal force of train is gradually reduced
 Track gauge widening gradually reduced
 And so as to the elevation of outer rail

Longitudinal section of railway line consists of:

 Flat road

xxix
  Ramp/ gradient
 Vertical curve – circular or parabolic curve

Algebraic difference between adjacent gradients shall be expressed in absolute value of algebraic
difference

Radius of vertical curves ensure no derailment, riding comfort, no couple separation and meeting
maintenance requirement. The gradient which can decide the maximum cargo weight of
locomotive is called the limiting gradient. It is often equal to the maximum gradient.

Resistance from gradient and curve are converted into an equivalent resistance (conversion
gradient). On some special hard sections, we can:
 Build a tunnel to cross it
 Use ramp with its gradient beyond limiting gradient called pusher grade.

Track structure

xxx
In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are
are directionally guided by the tracks they run on. Tracks usually consists of steel rails installed
on sleepers/ ties and ballast, on which the rolling stock usually, with metal wheels, move.

Components of track structure

The requirements of the bearing strength and quality of track depend to large extent on load
parameters:
 Axle load: static vertical load per axle
 Tonnage borne/ accumulated tonnage: sum of the axle loads
 Running speed: which has effect on the dynamic load together with horizontal and
vertical track geometry

xxxi
In structural design of track structure, the principle is that components do not function
independently and each component layer must protect the one below.
The main track components include:
a) Rail
b) Rail pad & base plates
c) Fasteners
d) Sleepers
e) Ballast and / or sub-ballast
f) Subgrade

The two basic classes of track forms are:

I) Ballasted track-form
II) Ballast-less/ non-ballasted track-form

Some of the ballast-less track are:

 Embedded in concrete
 Prefabricated slab – Japanese Shinkansen track
 Monolithic slab
 Asphalt concrete-road bed
 Embedded rail
 Rheda 2000

xxxii
Turnouts (Switches and crossings –S&C)
They are special track works of special importance as a prerequisite for railway network
development – for branching and joining of tracks. The productivity and line speed is influenced
by the number and type of turnouts (S&C). They facilitate the rolling stock to run from one track
into / across another track. Their structure is far more complicated and expensive than that the
other parts of a track, like the tangent section.

Railway clearance
To ensure safety all that buildings and equipment close to the line must be kept their distance
which includes:
a) Locomotive clearance
b) Structure approaching clearance

xxxiii
 c) Out-of-gauge clearance for freight

Railway clearance diagrams have rail surface as a vertical reference and center line as a
horizontal reference. Also for locomotive clearance, widening while on curve is important.

xxxiv
 Chapter three – Railway stations and train operation
Station is a basic production unit of railway transportation, integrating technical equipment
relating to transportation. The basic tasks in passenger traffic service and goods traffic service
involve such as passengers’ boarding and alighting, goods consignment, goods loading and
unloading, goods delivery and safekeeping, etc.

Whereas the Various technical operations of railway transportation within stations involve such
as train reception and departure, passing, overtaking, disassembly and marshalling, change of
locomotive and train crew, train technology and freight examination.

Classification of rail transport

According to the character of technical operation
 In passenger traffic line: the overtaking station, the intermediate station, and the
originating train departure-arrival station
 mixed passenger and freight railway: crossing station, overtaking station, the
intermediate station, district station and marshalling station

According to the passenger and freight traffic volume

 in passenger traffic line: super-large station, large station, medium station, and small-
sized station
 mixed passenger and freight railway: super class station, Class-I, II, III, IV and V stations

Meaning of distribution and location of station

Complying with the transportation requirement,
xxxv
Distribution and location of station shall be confirmed after comprehensively considering
factors including topographical and geological conditions, difficulty degree of engineering;
conditions for other tracks connecting, and whether it is convenient for local passenger and
freight transportation.

Basic principle of distribution of station:

 To ensure an enough passing capacity, a railway line is divided into several sections.
 Combining distribution of station with route selection

Steps for distribution of station:

I) railway line for passenger traffic

firstly, distribute the large station according to the distribution of cities along the route of line,
and then distribute medium and small station based on the plane location

II) line for mixed passenger and freight traffic

firstly, distribute district stations together with the design of locomotive routing; then combining
the paper location of line, distribute generally intermediate station, passing station or overtaking
station to meet the required passing capacity

Method of distribution of station

a) District station

xxxvi
District station is one kind of important technical operation stations on mixed passenger and
freight
Railway. Distribution of district station has great influence on the strike of alignment,
engineering and operation conditions, especially the operation efficiency of the locomotive.
District station shall be layout together with the location of track connection station.

“Try to close to distribute them to large cities, larger towns

industrial and mining enterprises to meet the requirements for
collection and distribution of passenger and freight flow and
improve the production and living conditions of the railway
personnel. And also Location of these stations shall be planned in
accordance with the development of the city and town.”
b) Intermediate Station, Passing Station or Overtaking Station (mixed line for passenger and
freight)

The Purpose of setting the stations are:

 To meet the desired carrying capacity of railway and serve the passenger and freight
transportation of urban and rural along the line.

The passing station and overtaking station shall be distributed according to the running-time
standards of freight trains required by carrying capacity.

The intermediate station for passengers and freight transportation shall be properly distributed as
per the average daily volume and in combination with other transport ways in local areas, and in
coordination with the urban or regional program.

The shuttle running time of the adjacent districts in single-track technical station shall be shorter
than the maximum shuttle running time from station to station. The regulations are specified as
follows:

xxxvii
  Running time between the adjacent stations in the district station shall be reduced by 4
min in district station respectively;
 In other technical stations, if the carrying capacity from station to station is influenced by
the technical operation time, and such influence cannot be eliminated easily in the future,
the station-to-station running time needs to be reduced as required
 Single-track: no less than (≥) 8km
 Double-track: no less than (≥) 15km
 The intersection distance of railway junction terminal shall be no less than (≥) 5km.

Stations in too short distance will cause additional construction and operation costs, and even
worsen the operational indicators. The distance between two stations of high-speed railway with
passenger transportation business is mainly constrained by the city layout and distance between
cities. In addition, as train running speed of high-speed railway is not the same, it’s necessary to
set up an overtaking station between passenger stations with long-distance for high-speed
railway to keep the distance between stations balanced. Generally, the average distance between
two stations including an overtaking station is preferably 30-50 km.

Rules of station location selection

 Combining the urban and rural layout and meeting the requirement of local passenger and
freight transportation
 Engineering conditions including landform, geology, relocation and reconstruction
 Making full advantage of the existing railway facilities
 Combination of station location and urban planning
 Reasonable combination between station location selection and section main line

Passing stations are set on the passenger-and-freight single-track railway

Overtaking Stations are set on double track railways and responsible for dealing with the
surpassing of trains travelling in the same direction are called overtaking stations

xxxviii
Passenger traffic facilities in stations:
 passenger station building
 Platform
 level corridor or overpass facilities

Passenger station building shall coordinate with urban planning and the general layout diagram
of the station and shall be convenient for passenger passing. The station building shall be placed
near residential area and to the best shall be erected at the middle part so that the passengers
alighting and boarding may be as convenient as possible.

Passenger platform classification:

 Basic and intermediate platforms

Length of platforms
 length of the platform shall be set as 300~500m, subject to the recent passenger amount and
train length and enlargement needs.
 When passenger amount is relatively small and the train is relatively short, the platform
length may be reduced properly.

xxxix
Width of platforms
 Single-track railway intermediate platform width shall be no less than 4m and double
track railway shall be no less than 5m. When overpass facilities are provided the platform
shall be widened as needed.

Height of platform
 High platform（1100mm）
 Middle platform（500mm）
 Low platform（300mm）

Freight platform

 ordinary platform——1.1m higher than the top of rail

 high platform ——over 1.1m higher than the top of rail

The scale of station building is subject to the largest number of the passengers waiting for trains
at one time. Intermediate station building scales are mostly medium or small, and generally fixed
design is adopted. Common capacity of small station building may be 50, 100, 200 and 400
persons.
Tracks Equipment
 Main line
 Station tracks
 arrival-departure track
 freight track
 lead track
 storage siding
 Private sidings
 Branch
 special line
 industrial enterprise line
 tracks for special purposes
 safety line
 refuge siding

Train Formation

xl
The train refers to the marshalling train set with locomotive and prescriptive train signs.
Classification of the train according to the nature of transportation
1. Passenger train (express, fast and ordinary passenger train)
2. Mail and parcel train (express, fast mail, baggage and parcel train)
3. Troop train
4. Freight train (five out scheduled, express, heavy-duty, through, direct, insulated, self-
owned vehicle, district, pickup, overrun and exchange train)
5. Service train
Classification according to the place and driving distance of formation
 Through train (through train originated from one loading point, coal direct, oil direct,
through train with empty cars, technical through train)
 Direct train
 District train
 Pickup and drop train
 Exchange train (district exchange train, junction terminal transfer train)
 Short-haul train

In order to identify the nature and grade of the train, and to facilitate the train organization and
management, each train is labeled particular number which is called train number.

 Car flow—the collections of vehicles with some destination by railway transport. When it
comes to traffic flow, we use number of passing vehicles in one day to calculate
 Train flow—the collection of trains with same destination.

xli
Traffic flow and train flow are called transport flow totally. Managing traffic flow into train flow
is the main task of freight train formulation plan (for short “train formulation plan” or
“formulation plan”). While the organization of train flow which manipulate the train traffic order
mainly depend on the train diagram to accomplish the task. Converting the car flow into train
flow is called wagon

flow organization. Accordingly, the plan of converting the wagon flow into train flow is called
formulation plan. Specifically, wagon flow organization mainly resolves two problems:

 How to marshal trains in every direction of road network

 Every branch absorbs what kind of wagon flow

Train diagram is to indicate the range of operating trains and in railway stations or through the
time to send the technical file, which provides train occupies the interval procedures, train arrival
and departure of each station (or through) time, the train in the run-time interval, the train stops
at the station and the locomotive routing time, weight and length of trains, train the whole way
the basis of the organization.

Function
① railway enter the market, competing products in the market;
② railway transport enterprises to train safe, on-time operation and cost-effective to organize the
work of the train rail transport production plans
Carrying Capacity of Line: In the conditions of using certain types of rolling stock and certain
train operation organizational methods, the maximum number of trains that can be passed by a
variety of fixed equipment in railway section in unit time.

 Designed carrying capacity

 Existing carrying capacity
 Required passing capacity

The carrying capacity of the block Section can be calculated according to the following fixed
equipment:

Block section
station
Depot equipment and conditioning equipment
Water supply equipment
xlii
 Electrified railway power supply equipment
The carrying capacity calculated by fixed equipment above may be varied. The weakest capacity
of fixed equipment limits the capacity of the entire section; the capacity is the final carrying
capacity of the block section.
To meet the demand, railways should take measures to strengthen the railway carrying capacity
mainly by:
 Expanding the railway network length
 Improving the weight of the train
 Increasing the traffic density

Station daily operating plan Includes:

 Shift operating plan,
 Stage operating plan and
 Shunting operation plan.

Shift operating plan contents

（1）receiving plan
（2）departure plan
（3）car loading, car unloading and Emptying plan
（4）Shift work index
（5）Key tasks and higher-level indicators

Stage operating plan

Stage operating plan mainly solves the following three questions:
1、Determine the source cars of starting train
2、Shunting locomotive plan
（1）hump locomotive
（2）lead track locomotive
（3）locomotive to receive or send vehicles
3、 Receiving-departure track operating plan
（1）using receiving-departure track compactly
（2）reduce cross-interference

Key indicators of station work

1. Indicators of the Numbers
Number of Loading and unloading cars

xliii
 Tonnage of cargo sent，
Number of Sending and receiving trains and cars
Number of inbound and outbound car handled
2. Quality indicators
Remain time of a goods vehicle
Average remain time of transit trains
Punctuality rate of freight trains at departure

Planning process
Timetable is statement of where trains should be and when. But also Relationships between
trains how services are resourced. Commercial requirements in time table preparation include:

 Journey time  Frequency

 Stopping pattern  Regularity
 Connection opportunities  Clock-face departures

Train planning rules agreed between infrastructure owner and operators. And calculated from
signaling principles, simulation or observation. Timing allowances is given for Engineering,
Performance, Pathing, and Adjustment. A good timetable has the following characteristics:

 Realistic planning assumptions

xliv
  Balance between commercial aspirations and resourcing implications
 High revenue
 Low cost
 Robust
 On good days
 On bad days

Generally, Timetable planning yields the following important outputs:

 Timetable Development
 Fleet size
 Vehicle scheduling

Example data for time table AM peak period Base period

planning
(6-9 AM) (after 9 AM)

Headways 20min 30min

Scheduled trip time (A>b or B>A) 40min 35min

Minimum layover time 10min 10min

Dominant direction of travel in AM is A=>B

xlv
xlvi
 Chapter four – Tunnel design and construction
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings or egress,
commonly at each end. It is an artificially constructed underground passageway for move of
mankind, animals, water or goods. For example, underpass, water conduits, diversion tunnels,
subway, highway tunnels, and railway tunnels, etc. A tunnel is relatively long and narrow; in
general, the length is more (usually much more) than twice the diameter.

A tunnel may be used for the following purposes:

 foot traffic  routing power cables, or
 vehicular road traffic  telecommunication cables, or
 rail traffic  permitting wildlife to cross
 a canal highways, or
 aqueducts to supply water for  giving an entrance to escape
consumption or for hydroelectric from an area, fortifications, or
stations or for sewers  storages, etc.

Parts of a tunnel
1. Main body building—tunnel portal and tunnel trunk. The role is to keep the stability of tunnel
and to ensure the safe operation of train.

2. Ancillary building—refuge hole, drainage and ventilation facilities. To ensure the safety,
maintenance and repair of tunnel.

xlvii
Tunnel trunk: The materials should have enough strength and durability; While on special
section, there also requires anti-freeze, anti-permeability and resistance for
erosion.
Tunnel lining and support design requires values of:
- Rock mass classification
- Loads etc
Tunnel portal: The main question is to choose the location of entrance to considerate it to
combine with the terrain, geology, hydrogeology, construction and operation conditions.

Ancillary building
1. Refuge hole

The small ones — to ensure the safety of workers

The big ones — to store the materials
There sets a small hole per 60m and a big hole per 300m on both sides of the tunnel.
2. Ventilation facilities- to expel from harmful gas

Two forms: natural ventilation and mechanical ventilation.

3. Drainage facilities- to drain out water (from seepage or GWT) with longitudinal drains to
minor side outlet tunnels

xlviii
Choice of tunnel alignment criteria should consider the following:
1. Depends on geotechnical conditions, traffic, hydrological, risk management, excavation
method (drill & blast or TBM).
2. To minimize the disturbance of the environment, aspects of vibration (e.g. due to blasting),
noise and ventilation should be considered.
3. In road tunnels, straight alignments longer than 1,500m should be avoided, as they could
distract the driver.
4. Furthermore, to avoid excessive concentration on one point, the last few meters of a tunnel
should have a gentle curve in plan-view.

 A high level tunnel is much shorter and reduces geological risk (because of the reduced
cover). On the other hand, the operation is more expensive because of increased power
consumption and increased wear of the wagons. Velocity is reduced and traffic
interruptions or delays during winter must be factored in.
 A base tunnel is much longer and, therefore, much more expensive and difficult to
construct. But it offers many operational advantages.

xlix
Installations in tunnels include:
 Installation for traffic control
 Installation for telecommunication
 Ventilation
 Fire protection
 Illumination of road tunnels
 Drainage

Design of tunnel support methods

Analytical methods
Observational methods
Empirical methods
All the methods require geological input data and consideration of statutory safety regulations.
Uncertainties in tunneling include:
 Load
 Material (rock condition)
 Water
 Caves
 Shear zones

The empirical approach, based on rock mass classifications, is the most popular probably
because of its basic purpose of simplicity and ability to managing uncertainties which are useful
for assessing the stability of underground openings in rock, including:

l
  RSR, Rock Structure Rating, 1972, by Wickham
 RMR, Rock Mass Rating, 1973, by Bieniawski
 Q system, 1974, by N. Barton

Observational methods Rely on actual monitoring of ground movement during excavation to

detect measurable instability, and on the analysis of ground-support interaction, including:
 NATM, New Austrian Tunneling Method
 NMT, Norwegian Method of Tunneling
 ITM, Informational Tunneling Method

Analytical method Utilize the analyses of stresses and deformations around openings. They
include such techniques as:
 Closed form solutions
 Numerical methods (FEM, FDM, BEM, DEM etc.);
 Analogy simulations
 Electrical
 Photo-elastic
 Physical modeling.

li
Assumption in tunnel analysis include:
 Homogeneous  Circular tunnel
 Continuous  Infinite overburden
 Isotropic  No water
 Elastic or, elastic ideal plastic but
obey Mohr -Coulomb Criteria

Tunneling techniques
The New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) is a misnomer, as it is not a method of
tunneling but a strategy for tunneling which does have a considerable uniformity and sequence.
The NATM is based on the philosophy of "Build as you go" approach with the following
caution:
 Not too stiff, Nor too flexible
 Not too early, Nor too late
The New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM) appears most suitable for soft ground which can
be machine or manually excavated,
 where jointing and over break are not dominant,
 Where a smooth profile can often be formed by smooth blasting and,
 where a complete load bearing ring can (and often should) be established.

Basic principles of NATM are:

 Mobilization rock mass strength,
 Rock bolt and shotecrete protection (soft support) to preserve the load-carrying capacity of
the rock mass,
 Monitoring the deformation of the excavated rock mass,
 Providing flexible but active supports, and
 Closing of invert to form a load-bearing support ring to control deformation of the rock
mass.

Features of tunneling：
 Tunneling method changes with geological condition；
 Less working face, usually 2 working faces only;

lii
  Narrow working space, more disturbances to each other；
 Poor construction environment, poor air quality, dark, wet;
 Difficult in repair during operation.

NMT (Norwegian method of tunneling) appears most suitable for good rock even where
jointing and over break are dominant, and where drill and blasting method or hard rock TBM's
are the most usual methods of excavation. Bolting is the dominant form of rock support since it
mobilizes the strength of the surrounding rock mass in the best possible way. It is understood in
NMT that [B+S(fr)] are the two most versatile tunnel support methods, yet devised and used
extensively, because they can be applied to any profile as temporary or as a permanent.

ITM (Informational Tunneling Method) has become the dominant method in tunneling. It
combines advantages from NATM, NMT, etc. and adopts new development in modern
technologies to collect informational data during the tunneling.
 Geological data
 Rock deformation data
 Rock support stress
 Construction quality data
 Environmental data (gas density, working face monitoring, etc.)
 Other data

Micro-tunneling is a digging technique used to construct small tunnels. These small diameter
tunnels make it impossible to have an operator in the machine itself. Instead, the micro-tunnel
boring machine (MTBM) must be operated remotely.

liii
• MTBM are very similar to tunnel boring machines (TBM) but on a smaller scale. These
machines generally vary from 0.61 to 1.5 meters
• The operator is given constant feedback about the machine’s location, orientation and
hydraulic devices via a computer console or CCTV camera. Most machines also have
video cameras set up to enable the operator to monitor activities

liv
 Chapter five – Railway and tunnel maintenance

Maintenance is the process of preserving a condition or situation or state of being preserved.

There are three major maintenance types/ strategies:

 Corrective maintenance

 Preventative maintenance

 Predictive maintenance

Corrective maintenance gave way to preventative maintenance as technologies expand.

 Corrective maintenance: repair or replacement is made after wear, malfunction or

breakdown

 Preventative maintenance: facilities are inspected, maintained and protected before

breakdown

 Predictive maintenance: use sensor’s data to monitor and continuously evaluate

historical trends to predict breakdowns before they happen. Its due to advances in sensing
and computing technologies

lv
Railway maintenance

With respect to safety, maintenance should be preventative; regarding comfort, maintenance

should be corrective, as regards financial aspects, optimum solution should be sought to ensure
a satisfactory safety and prevent irreparable degradation.

 There are two fundamental classes of maintenance parameters/ damages:

 Geometric parameters/damages
 Mechanical parameters/ damages
Geometric damages happen much faster than mechanical damages.

lvi
Geometric damages are mostly reversible and restoration /repair is possible, however
mechanical damages are mostly not restorable in a sense that replacement is required except
in some defects like rail grinding repair.

 Longitudinal defects are mostly accompanied by transverse defects which are differences
between the real and theoretical cant/ super-elevation.

 The distribution of the various defects is stochastic in nature and be approximated with
the aid of spectral analysis.

 For each defects the frequency of occurrence, wave-length, their relation to train speed,
etc. can be calculated.

Track quality indices from processed values of various types of defects are used to ensure
safety and comfort for speeds of varying range (low, medium, high speeds)

 Two track quality indices are specified:

 Alarm limits ( Linf): require intervention

lvii
  Emergency Limits (Lsup): should not reach otherwise track quality deterioration
become Irreversible
Initial track defect will evolve as a function of traffic load where knowing it helps a timely
scheduling of remedial action before limits exceed.

Some exemplary limits imposed on track defects:

Some of current developments in railway monitoring and maintenance include:

 Vehicle inspections/ track defect recording vehicles
 Inspection Drones
 Big data and IoT
lviii
Maintenance tools include
1) Machines 1) Hand tools/machines
 Heavy and light ballast packing  Bolt and screw machine
machine
 drilling machine for timber sleepers
 Ballast sizing machine and rails
 Ballast compacting machine  Rail cutting
 Ballast cleaning machine  etc.

Tunnel maintenance

An effective tunnel maintenance reduces costs, decrease the number of tunnel closure and
increase public safety.

Maintenance activities range from simple to complex as follow:

 Removing debris, snow

 Washing tunnel structure, flushing drains, tightening bolts and changing light
bulbs

 Servicing equipment, painting fixture and restoring tracks

 Tests, measurements and calibrations

 Planned interventions

 Unplanned interventions

 Rehabilitation-large scale repairs and upgrades

lix
Air entrainment admixture help resist damage from freeze-thaw effects by repetitive cycles.

Parameters considered for repair mechanism selection include:

 Constructability  Suitability
 Cost  Movement sensitivity
 Impact on traffic/  Rigidity
disruption

Inspection and monitoring

 Inspection vehicles

 Ultrasonic testing & infrared tomography

 Image scanning systems using sensors

 Radar, drone and robotic tunnel inspection

 Sensor network

lx
 References

• Modern Railway Track 2nd ed., Coenraad Esveld, 2001.ERA Manual 2002.

• The American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association, 2003. Railroad
Engineering, 2nd ed. W.W. Hay, 1982.

• Tunnel Engineering Handbook, by J.O. Bickel and T.R. Kuesel

• Rock Mechanics Design in Mining and Tunneling by Z.T. Bieniawski

lxi
 Appendices

Appendix A – Conventional Vs. Mechanized track laying procedures for ballasted track

There are two main procedures of constructing ballasted tracks on site which are:

 Track laying with track panels

 Alternative conventional procedure

I) Track laying with track panels

a- Track panels are loaded on flat wagons with gantry cranes from assembly work bases
b- After arriving on site, track laying machines pick up the panels and install on the track
(first layer ballast)
c- In curves the inner rail needs to be cut
d- Then temporary/permanent fish plates and flush butt welding follows as per the design
e- Secondary layer ballast will be filled by hopper trains
f- One tamping as soon as ballasting and two passes before distressing commences
g- Distressing is carried out before final tamping

II) Alternative conventional method – shorter length of work is achieved with this method
a- Sleeper transported to site
b- Excavator with sleeper holding attachment takes four sleepers and place on the first layer
of ballast as per the marking
c- Rails are loaded and transported on flat wagon
d- Rails are laid on sleeper’s rail seat either with excavators or track laying machines like
VIACAR
e- Rails are fastened
f- Then temporary/permanent fish plates and flush butt welding follows as per the design
g- Secondary layer ballast will be filled by hopper trains
h- One tamping as soon as ballasting and two passes before distressing commences
i- Distressing is carried out before final tamping

lxii
Appendix B – Blasting patterns in drill and blast technique of tunnel boring

The drill and blast technique follows work flow as stated below:
 Probing
 Pre-excavation grouting
 Drilling
 Charging the blast
 Detonating the blast
 Ventilating the tunnel
 Scaling crown and walls
 Removing the blasted rock
 Installing initial ground support

In this method there are cut pattern types of drill holes with burn cuts and angled cuts:
 Diamond cut
 Fan cut

lxiii