Geometry for High Speed Railways with Special Reference to Indian Railways

M. M. Agarwal * K. K. Miglani **

Synopsis : The High Speed Railway requires not only the sound infrastructure of strong resilient track but also has to be supported with properly designed track geometry. The paper covers most of the vital issues concerning track geometry viz curvature, cant, cant deficiency & cant excess, cant gradient and ruling gradient etc and gives technical details about these various parameters existing on high speed railways of world. Indian Railways are planning to introduce high speed trains in some of its important sections as per present planning of Railway Ministry. The authors have carefully analysed the details of various parameters of track geometry existing on world railways & have made some suggestions which may be helpful in introduction of high speed trains in India.

1.0 Introduction 1.1 History of High Speed Railways in the world The Construction of first high speed railways started in 1959 in Japan of Tokaido Shinkansen area. It started operations between Tokyo and Osaka on 1 Oct, 1964. Starting with nearly 45 million passengers per year, it now, annually carries well over 65 million passengers. Starting with the 210 kmph Tokaido Shinkansen in 1964, the now 2,459 km long network has expanded to link most major cities on the islands of Honshu and Kyushu at speeds up to 300 kmph. The length of high speed lines in the world exceeding 250 kmph is about 18000 kms.

* Formerly Chief Engineer / Northern Railway ** Dy. Chief Engineer (TP) / Northern Railway, New Delhi

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Table 1 : Important High Speed Lines in the world exceeding 250 kmph. Country Length of High Speed Lines (Kms) 2678 1893 1300 1687 3320 3120 830 890 360 412 245 17892 Details of Important Fast Train

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11)

Japan France Germany Spain Portugal China Belguim Italy USA South Korea Taiwan Total World

'NOZOMI':AV speed 256 kmph, Max speed limit 300 kmph. 'TGV': AV speed 272 kmph, Maximum speed 320 kmph. ICE: AV Speed 226 kmph & Max Speed 300 kmph 'AVE': AV speed 236 kmph & Max Speed 300 kmph High Speed C Class: AV speed 236 kmph & Max Speed 250 kmph Thayls: AV speed 236 kmph, Max speed 300 kmph Eurostar:AV speed 200 kmph, Max speed 250 kmph Acela Express: AV speed 162 kmph, Max. speed 250 kmph KTX: AV speed 200 kmph, Max speed 300 kmph Chiayi : AV speed 245 kmph, Max speed 300 kmph AV Speed varying 200-245 kmph Max Speed varying 250-350 kmph

Though the French hold the world train speed record of 574.8 kmph, set on 3 April 2007, a Japanese magnetic levitation train (maglev) achieved 581 kmph in trials. 2.0 Technical Requirement of High Speed Rail Corridors i) Sound Infrastructure: Consisting of strong & resilient track structure, well compacted formation, well designed ballasted track or ballastless bed, properly designed bridges & tunnels including approaches.

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ii)

Proper Track Geometry: Consisting of smooth curves (horizontal & vertical) with well designed transition curves and superelevation ramp, proper cant excess & cant deficiency, correct spacing of track, well designed turnout etc.

iii) Motive Power & Signalling: Dedicated coaching stock, high power traction & appropriate signaling technology. iv) Misc issues: like grade separation, fencing, environment protection etc. 3.0 Track Structure on High Speed Routes: 90% of the HS track in the world is on conventional ballasted structure. French TGV marked a record of 525 KMPH on conventional ballasted track and conventional track is strong enough to bear the stresses of speed up to 300 KMPH. It is not the heavy structure which is required for HSR, but it is the High standard maintenance which is warranted for HSR. Track structures used over world railway are as under.
Table 2: Track Structure for high speed Railways in world. Component Gauge Rails Rail Cant Sleeper SNCF 1435 mm UIC 54 and 60 kg. 1:40 Concrete/ Wooden 1666 TGV Nabla/ICE Vossloh German Railway 1435 mm UIC 60 Kg 1:40 PSC/ Polyurethane foam/glass fibre 1724 Leaf spring/ wire spring Japanese Railway 1435 mm UIC 60 kg 1:40 PSC/ polyurethane foam/glass fibre 1724 Leaf springs/ ICE Vossloh

Sleeper Density Fastenings

Double elastic rail fastenings are necessary for the concrete sleeper track. Rubber pads are used as cushioning material between the rail and sleepers fastened by leaf spring/ wire spring/ TGV Nabla/ ICE Vossloh fittings for distribution of vertical load and for dampening the vibrations. SNCF uses two types of rubber pads. Normal rubber pads of 9 mm thickness with a resistance of 90 KN/mm and soft type rubber pads of same thickness with low resistance of 56 KN/ mm. Soft type rubber pads are mainly used for noise mitigation.

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Ballastless Track vis--vis Conventional ballasted Track Ballast less track is used in France in the underground sections where trains run through at a speed of 220 kmph. Certain railway (DB AG, FS, SNCF, JR) have developed high-speed ballastless track. Experience shows that the maintenance costs are less on ballastless track than the costs of ballasted track (of the order of 1/5th), due to the slower degradation of the geometrical parameters of these tracks. The German experience shows that the cost of building ballastless track is between 50 % and 75% higher than that for ballasted track. There are certain advantages particularly easy maintainability & increased service life, but no doubt the ballastless track is much costlier than ballasted deck. The management, therefore, has to take a conscious decision whether ballasted deck or ballastless track has to be adopted. 4.0 Geometrical Parameters of High Speed Railway Line The main factors governing the standards required for the geometry of a high-speed railway is to ensure safety and comfort of passengers duly keeping unbalanced lateral and vertical acceleration within limits. The various parameters, which affect passenger comfort and safety, are as under : i) ii) iii) v) Centre to centre Distance or Spacing of tracks Radius of horizontal curvature Max. cant, cant deficiency and cant excess Longitudinal grade or Ruling gradient

iv) Rate of change of cant and cant deficiency vi) Radius of vertical curve. Let us discuss these items in detail: 4.1 Distance or Spacing of tracks Wide spacing between the two adjacent lines is important for highspeed track because when two trains pass each other, in the opposite direction, speed difference can be as much as 300 to 500 Kmph. If two trains are too close together, there is burst of air pressure when they first pass and then a drop of pressure between the carriages. Although this is not enough to push the trains off the track, repeated

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stress on the windows may cause fatigue, which result in breakage of window glasses. Wider spacing between tracks has economic implications. Studies show that an increase of 30 cm in the width of the subgrade would involve an increase in cost of the civil engineering works by 1%. Minimum distance between track centre adopted by some of the high-speed networks using standard gauge is given as under:Table 3 : Minimum distance between tracks having standard Gauge (1435 mm)

Country Italy France Spain Germany Belgium Japan

Minimum distance between track 250 Km/h 4.5 m 4.2 m 4.3 m 4.5 m 4.2 m 4.2 m 300 Km/h 5.0 m 4.2 m 4.3 m 4.5 m 4.5 m 4.3 m 350 Km/h 5.0 m 4.5 m 4.7 m 4.5 m 4.7 m 4.3 m

4.2 Horizontal Curve The most distinguished parameter for a circular curve is the radius, which is inversely proportional to curvature, k= 1/R. It is known fact that a vehicle running at a speed V in a curve with a radius R undergoes a centrifugal lateral acceleration V 2/R which results in a number of undesirable effects. Gentle curves become necessary in view of restriction on maximum values of cant deficiency and cant excess along with maximum speed of operation. The minimum radius of curvature for the high-speed lines on developed High Speed Railway networks generally varies from 4000 m to 7000 m for standard gauge. The lateral acceleration, which is created by trains negotiating a curve is quite high and it can have adverse effects on safety & comfort of passengers. The minimum radius of curvature existing in some of the high speed railways of the world is given in Table 7. This radius for speeds upto 350 kmph varies from 4000 m to 6500 m for standard gauge.

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4.3 Cant & Cant Deficiency The cant deficiency allowed in real train operations is determined by the factors like, track construction (with respect to its ability to resist high forces), state of track components, track alignment (i.e. magnitude and shape of geometrical irregularities), type of vehicle and running gear, axle loads and unsprung masses, state of maintenance of the rolling stock and passenger comfort. The lateral strength inversely varies with the axle loads as defined by Prud'homme formula. Track structure should be specially designed to resist this heavy lateral force. Based on the comfort criteria, Cd works out to about 150 mm for standard gauge (170mm for BG). However over IR and various world Railways, we permit Cd up to 100mm only. Considering the limiting values of 165 mm and 180 mm for Ca & 100mm for Cd, the radii required for various speeds are:
Table 4 : Radius required for various speeds with given values of C a + C d

Speed in KMPH Radius in metres for Radius in metres for Ca + Cd = 265 mm Ca + Cd = 280 mm 200 250 275 300 325 350 Kmph Kmph Kmph Kmph Kmph Kmph 2077 3245 3927 4672 5484 6360 m m m m m m 1965 3071 3716 4423 5191 6020 m m m m m m

Cant Deficiency The uncompensated lateral acceleration, which is proportional to cant deficiency, should not be too large. The permissible cant deficiency and the corresponding lateral acceleration for three different categories of rolling stock based on experience according to Banverket, is given in table below.

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Table 5: Permissible cant deficiency and the corresponding lateral acceleration.

Train Category

A)

B)

C)

Conventional vehicles with older running gear and freight train Vehicles with improved running gear, according to approval Vehicles with improved running gear and car body tilt system

Permissible Lateral cant deficiency acceleration (mm) 100 0.65

150

0.98

245

1.60

4.4 Transition curve and superelevation ramp According to Banverket transition curves should be arranged with linear curvature changes (clothoids) and superelevation ramps should be arranged with linear changes of cant. The length of transition curve is dependent on the allowed amount of jerk. The allowed rate of cant deficiency is a question of comfort. In Sweden, used values for maximum rate of cant and rate of cant deficiency is shown in Table 6.
Table 6 : Maximum rate of cant and rate of cant deficiency

Train Category A B C

Maximum rate of cant 46 mm/s 55 mm/s 70 mm/s

Maximum rate of cant deficiency 46 mm/s 55 mm/s 79 mm/s

4.5 Cant, cant deficiency and cant excess The recent research shows that the non-compensated lateral acceleration should not exceed 0.10 to 0.15 g according to comfort requirements. SNCF allows a cant deficiency of 150 mm (exceptional value 160 mm) and a cant excess of 70 to 100 mm (exceptional values between 105 and 135 mm, in dedicated high-speed operations, without freight trains).

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At SNCF the limiting value of cant is about 160 mm and exceptionally 180 mm. A cant of 180 mm was utilized as limiting value at the highspeed line Paris-Sud Est. The cant is given to respect the limiting values of cant deficiency (150 mm) and cant excess (100 mm) in France. 4.6 Vertical Curves In vertical curves, if the vertical acceleration on a crest is too great, the loads on the vehicle wheels can cause the wheels to climb the rail and thus cause a derailment. Furthermore, the resistance against vehicle overturning at side-winds will be lower. Summarising, the vital parameters of track geometry of high speed railway are with a view to provide better safety & comfort to passengers. The technical details of these parameters are given in table 7.
Table 7 : Practices on some high speed railway systems in world.
COUNTRY FRANCE 350 6250 180 85 35 SPAIN 300 4000 150 100 12.5 350 6500 150 65 25 GERMANY 300 3350 170 130 40 350 5120 170 112 40 BELGIUM JAPAN 300 4800 150 100 15 -21 350 4000 180 50 --10000 ----

Design Speed (kmph) 300 Min R of 4000 curvature (m) Max. Cant (mm) Cant Deficiency (mm) Max cant Gradient Min. Vertical Radius (m) Transition Curve length (m) 180 85 35

16000 21000 24000 300 350 360

25000 14000 460 408

20000 20000 476 420

5.0 Tilting Trains To overcome the limitation of speed on account of tight curves where it is not possible to cant the track, vehicles with tilting suspension system having tilting mechanisms can be used. Trains that tilt can go up to 25% to 40% faster around curves than conventional trains without upsetting the passengers and this can significantly increase the speed on existing lines. With tilting trains, Cd of up to 275mm is

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permitted on standard gauge. Tilting technology is used normally for speed exceeding 350 Kmph. 6.0 Turnouts for high speeds 6.1 Factors affecting Turnout speed When the speed on straight track is above 250 Kmph, high speed turnouts with speed on curved track from 80 to 100 Kmph are warranted. Factors affecting design of turnout are i) Entry from straight to curve without transition ii) Lead curve without superovulation iii) Entry from curve to straight without transition iv) Kink in the turnout route at the toe of switch rail v) Gap at the V of crossing On turnouts, the magnitude of force primarily depends on switch entry angle. By reducing the switch angle, entry gets smoothened and flange force gets reduced. Tangential types of switches are is the answer to this and are being used over foreign railways for HSR. Upgradation in turnout technology in the railway system has been guided by the following considerations: i) Higher speeds on straight and curved tracks with reasonable level of passenger comfort. Designs have been evolved for a speed of over 220 Kmph on turn out track. ii) Least life cycle cost with minimum traffic interruption for repairing. iii) Track geometry maintainability comparable with the normal track Safety and comfort. iv) Planned maintenance without emergencies. 6.2 Type of Design for Turnouts i) Flatter Switch entry angle by tangential layouts thereby reducing the angle of attack and reduced lateral forces resulting in increased passenger comfort. ii) Movable nose crossing: Use of movable nose crossings housed in a specially designed cradle, thereby avoiding gap at crossing. iii) Flatter angle of crossing: Use of flatter angle of crossing i.e. 1 in 32 or 1 in 24 and 1 in 20 P&C (curved switches) permit higher speeds.

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iv) Special rail profile section: Use of asymmetrical profile section ZU- 1 in 60 kg forged to standard rail profile (UIC 60) at the end. v) Spring operated switch setting device: Use of spring operated switch setting device to ensure proper flange way clearance. vi) Speed rail pads: Use of specially designed synthetic rail pads for reduced vibration of switch assembly. vi) Miscellaneous factors like transition curves for improving the running at curved track, continuation of canting of rails, use of higher UTS rails, use of non-greasing box plate, surface handing of load bearing areas & sophisticated filling technologies. By above modifications, the forces, accelerations and rolling movements, were less than the normally allowed limits. Further the actual sensation felt by the passenger was very good. Based on the above data turnout for HSR 250 Kmph can be designed. 7.0 Level Crossing/Grade separation Normally level crossing is not suitable for high speed train operation and therefore, for road transport, either road over bridges or road under bridges needs to be planned. However, in unavoidable circumstances, level crossings may be required. Then it must be interlocked with the signals. Sophisticated arrangement of interlocking the signals of train with that of road transport with help of video camera is used on JNR. Similar type of arrangements may be made here also. 8.0 Fencing In high-speed lines, trespassing is very risky and thus not at all permitted. Therefore, the entire high-speed track is to be provided with fencing. It is noticed from the experience of high speed corridors, world around that at very high speeds, track ballast stones sometimes fly off and hits the surroundings. To avoid such incidences, track fencing is required to be provided. 9.0 Introduction of High Speed Trains in India 9.1 High speed projects to be taken in India The Ministry of Railway in Railway budget 2010 has announced i) Construction of high speed passenger rail corridors is another transformational initiative that Indian Railways will embark upon 132

in the coming years. Indian Railways propose to go ahead in developing high speed corridors of 250 to 350 kmph speeds. ii) High speed rail corridor should become a catalyst for India's economic growth, a stimulus for the development of satellite towns and reduction of migration to metropolises. It is, therefore proposed to set up a National High Speed Rail Authority for planning, standard setting, implementing and monitoring these projects. iii) Already six Corridors have been identified. These projects would require large investments and will be executed through PPP model. The six corridors earmarked for high speed routes, where prefeasibility studies are being conducted, are as follows: i) Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar (450 km approx.) ii) Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad (650 km approx) iii) Hyderabad-Dornakal-Vijaywada-Chennai (664 km approx.) iv) Chennai-Bangalore-Coimbatore-Ernakulam (649 km approx.) v) Howrah-Haldia (135 km approx.) vi) Delhi-Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi-Patna (991 km approx.) 9.2 Benefits of high speed trains A high speed railway system is, considered essential in India for avoiding congestion in cities, facilitating wider regional development, providing a thrust to economic growth and launching healthy competition to civil aviation and to retain technological relevance. From the experience of many countries, high speed railway projects can improve employment potential, human exchanges, regional development and overall economic growth. The main benefit a high speed railway line is likely to bring in Indian conditions are Saving in time (from 7 hrs. to 2.5 hrs.), Safety, Eco Friendly (high speed trains produce 7.7 times lower carbon emission compared to airlines and 4.5 times lower than cars), fuel efficient (energy consumption of high speed trains per passenger km is 3.5 times less than the private cars and 5 times less than aeroplanes

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thereby making them highly fuel efficient), efficient use of land (high speed trains require only 30% of the land than required by expressways ), on board services ( catering, conferencing, comfort), connectivity of communication via wi-fi and easy connectivity. 9.3 Recommendations/suggestions of proposed high speed railway & corridors on Indian Railway: i) Basis for recommendation Out of six corridors, earmarked for high speed routes as brought out earlier, the case studies of Mumbai-Ahmedabad has been conducted by RITES. Based on the Rites recommendations and also on the basis of experience of high speed railways for various countries in the world, the following suggestions/ recommendations are made for the high speed routes on IR. ii) General High speed rail system would require quality infrastructure and improved rolling stock. It would require modern signaling techniques and overhead current collection system to ensure maximum safety of train operations on the new line. Following in-built features are prerequisites for a high speed route: a) A separate track with a minimum of curves and carrying no other traffic. b) No level crossing. c) Derailment guides. d) Fences or walls for total isolation of the track from both human and animal interference. e) Ultra-modern electronic safety system that intervenes automatically when speed limit is exceeded or distance to preceding train falls below safe limit.

9.3.1 Technical details Track Structure: 60 Kg 90 UTS UIC continuous/long welded rails with 1660 concrete sleepers per km and a ballast cushion of 30 cm on well compacted formation.

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9.3.2 Present track geometry on existing railway routes. Indian Railways at present have the following parameters for various items of its Track geometry for Broad Gauge (1676 mm) as well as for Meter Gauge (1000 mm).
Table 8 : Existing Track Geometry of B.G & M.G routes Details of Parameters B.G. (1676 mm) M.G.(1000mm) 1) Distance from centre to centre 5300 mm 3960 mm of track of double line section. 2) Minimum radius of the curve 3) Maximum Cant 175 m 109 m 165 mm (for A,B 90 mm (Normally & C routes) 100 mm with permission of CE) 75 mm 50 mm (in normal cases) 100 mm (in special cases) 75 mm 1 in 720 35 mm/sec (Desirable) 55 mm/sec (maximum) 1 in 100 4000 m 65 mm 1 in 720 35 mm/sec Item

4) Maximum cant deficiency

5) Cant excess 6) Maximum cant gradient 7) Rate of change of cant or cant deficiency

8) Maximum gradient * 9) Min. length of vertical curve * * As proposed for LWR section

1 in 100 2500 m

9.4 Proposed track geometry on high speed routes of IR Geometrical track parameters for high speed routes have to be very special because of the impact of high speeds. The following points require special consideration. i) Distance from centre to centre of track on double line section: For standard gauge (1435 m) the distance is varying between 4.3 to 5.0 metres. The spacing of 5.30 metre already exists on IR for new construction project and that appears to be sufficient for speeds from 250 to 350 kmph. Minimum radius of curvature: The radius of curvature for various H.S. Railways of the world with speed of 350 kmph is

ii)

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varying between 4000 m to 6500 metres and 7250 metres for UIC. It is technically necessary to have a very flat curve for high speeds in order to provide proper comfort to passengers. The present standard of IR for 10 degree curve on BG (Radius 175 m) will not be workable. Looking to safety & comfort for high speeds, it would be desirable to have minimum radius of 10,000m for IR. iii) Maximum cant & cant gradient : Maximum cant adopted by various high speed railway systems is varying from 150 to 180 mm, UIC standard is 140 mm. Limiting value of cant to be provided is based on safety criteria along with reasonable level of comfort for specified rolling stock. Indian Railways are already permitting maximum cant of 165 mm on Group A,B & C category of track. This can be increased to 180 mm for improved vehicles of High speed railway. The cant gradient should be more smoother and it is therefore recommended that the same should be 1 in 1000 instead of existing particularly 1 in 720. iv) Cant deficiency & cant excess : Conventionally Comfort Criteria governs the decision of cant deficiency. The excessive cant deficiency causes heavy lateral forces on the track & there are more likelihood of gauge widening & buckling. Therefore, the track needs to have more lateral strength. Indian Railways are already permitting cant deficiency of 100 mm and can remain the same even for high speeds due to improved vehicles of HSR on BG. Cant excess is recommended to be 100 mm instead of 75 as existing at present on IR. v) Vertical curve : A very smooth vertical curve is necessary for high speed railway to provide maximum comfort to passengers. The minimum vertical radius in various HSR system in the world is varying from 20000 m to 25000 m. Considering the comfort criteria for high speed trains, it is recommended to have minimum radius of vertical curve as 24000 m.

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vi) Ruling gradient or maximum gradient : Generally steeper gradients can be allowed on high-speed lines in comparison to conventional lines as very high momentum of HS trains makes it feasible to negotiate steeper gradients. Practices followed by some important H.S. Railways are as below. Railway 1) SNCF (French Railways) Practice being followed Max. gradient on TGV is 0.35% to 0.25% However transition between two different gradients is always provided by a circular transition curve whole radius is more than 12000m. The maximum gradient may attain 0.15% as long as the average over a distance of 12 Km does not exceed 0.12%. Between two successive gradients, a circular transition curve is always provided. 0.125% longitudinal grade has been used.

2) Japanese Railways

3) DB German Railway

It is suggested that Indian Railway having BG, which is wider than standard Gauge, should have 0.1% longitudinal grade i.e. 1 in 1000.

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The proposed parameters to be adopted on IR are as given in Table 9.

Table 9 : Proposed parameters for high speed railway for IR

1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8)

Figures for various High Speed Railways of world Min distance varying from 4.3 m between track to 5.0 m Minimum radius varying from 4000m of curve to 6500 m Max. superele- varying from 150mm vation (cant) to 180 mm Cant deficiency varying from 50mm to 112 mm Cant excess -maximum Cant gradient 0.21 to 0.35 % in 1000 Minimum varying 20000 m to vertical radius 25000 m Maximum 0.15 to 0.20 % gradient

Parameter

UIC figure Proposed for H.S. for IR Railway -7250 m 140 mm 65 mm 80 mm 5.3 m 10000 m 180 mm 100 mm 100 mm 0.1 % or 1 24000 m 0.1% or 1 in 1000

9.5 Misc. technical features: i) ii) Motive Power & Signalling : Dedicated coaching stock, high power traction & appropriate signaling technology. Turnouts for HSR projects: Special turnouts for HSR projects having speed in range of 80 to 100 kmph from curved track should be developed which can provide the reasonable level of comfort. For this purpose special sturdy high speed turnouts with swing nose crossing, flatter switch entry angle, flatter angle of crossing and using special rail profile section should be used. Such design already exists for a speed up to 220 kmph in HS railway system in world and IR can accordingly develop the required turnout.

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iii) Tilting Train: Improvement of the conventional railway system by the adoption of tilting train technology offers very limited advantage in the increase of speed only upto a maximum of 30 percent. Otherwise also even on dedicated high speed corridors, tilting train technology should not be tried in the Ist stage on IR. iv) Level crossing/ Grade Separations: For high-speed operation, all level crossings are required to be replaced by suitable grade separation works. v) Fencing: On high-speed lines trespassing on tracks cannot be permitted. Thus the entire high-speed line has to be fenced.

vi) Environmental issues: Due to increase in speed on HS lines noise problem will also get intensified due to track noise, Pantograph noise & other such allied factors. The measures adopted to reduce the noise are (i) Noise protection walls (ii) Noise protection embankments (iii) Covered sections (iv) Artificial tunnels for noise protection (v) High and modified maintenance practices (vi) Modification in rolling stock (vii) Modified Pantographs. 10.0 Final Recommendations Indian Railway should immediately go ahead with the project of introduction of high speed railways on various assigned routes. There is rich experience available for high speed railways of the world for all technical issues including track geometry. Certain recommendations for track geometry are given in the para 9 above and IR can consider these suggestions for introduction of high speeds on certain specified routes. *****

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