“Transportation is regarded as an index of

economic, social and commercial progress of

the country”.
Modes of Transport
• Land transport
• Water transport
• Air transport

Two major means of land transport are Roads

and railways.
WELCOME TO INDIAN RAILWAYS
 RAILWAY ENGINEERING

The branch of Civil Engineering

which deals with the design,
construction and maintenance of the
railway tracks for safe and efficient
movements of trains is called Railway
Engineering
 Features Rail Transport Road Transport
Tractive resistance The movement of steel wheels on steel The tractive resistance of a
rails has basic advantage of low rolling pneumatic tyre on metalled roads is
resistance. This reduces haulage costs almost five times compared to that of
because of low tractive resistance. wheel on rails.
Right of entry A railway track is defined on two rails and Roads, though having well-defined
is within protected limits. Trains work as limits, can be used by any vehicular
per a prescribed schedule and no other traffic and even by pedestrians they
vehicle has the right of entry except at are open to all.
specified level crossings.
Cost analysis Owing to the heavy infrastructure, the The cost of construction and
initial as well as maintenance cost of a maintenance of roads is
railway line is high. comparatively cheaper.
Gradients and The gradients of railway tracks are flatter Roads are constructed normally with
(normally not more than 1 in 100) and steeper gradients of up to 1 in 30
curves curves are limited up to only 10 on broad and relatively much sharper curves.
0

gauge.
Flexibility of Due to the defined routes and facilities Roads transports have much more
required for the reception and dispatch of flexibility in movement and can
movement trains, railway can be used only between provide door to door sevices.
fixed points.
Environmental Railway has minimum adverse effects on Road transport creates comparatively
the environment. greater pollution than the railways.
pollution
Organization and Railways are government undertakings, Barring member state government
with their own organization. transport, road transport is managed
control by private sector.
Suitability Railways are best suited for carrying Road transport is best suited for
heavy goods and large number of carrying lighter goods and smaller
passengers over long distances. number of passengers over short
• RB exercise all powers of central government in
respect of regulation, construction, maintenance,
and operation of railway.
• RB consists of a chairman, a financial commissioner,
and five other functional members.
• Chairman reports to Minister for railway.
• Presently IR is divided into 16 zones.
Locomotive
Wagons
Coaches or vehicles
Gauge
Permanent way: The combination of rails, fitted
on sleepers with the help of fixtures and
fastenings and resting on ballast and subgrade
is called the railway track or permanent way.
1. BALLAST
2. RAILS
3. SLEEPERS
4. RAIL JOINTS
• Gauge: defined as the minimum distance
between two rails. Indian Railway follows this
practice.

• Rails act as girders to transmit the wheel load

to the sleepers.
1.Cost of construction
2.Volume and nature of traffic.
3.Speed of movement
 Ballast
is the granular material usually
broken stone or bricks single and
kanker, gravel and sand placed and
packed and around the sleeper to
transmit Load from sleeper to formation
Layer.
Size = 20mm – 65mm
Ballast material:
1. Broken stone:
✓ It is the best material for the ballast. Mostly stone
ballast is used in all important tracks.
✓ The best stone for ballast is a nonporous, hard and
angular. Igneous rocks such as hard trap, quartzite and
granite are good material and are used in large
quantities for high speed tracks in India.
✓ For stability , graded broken stone ballast is better than
ungraded one.
✓ The size of stone ballast should be 5 cm for wooden
sleepers and 4 cm for metal sleepers.
2. Gravel or river pebbles or shingle:
Gravel is second best material for ballast material.
Source: river bed, gravel pits.
Due to smoothness of the particles these are liable to
displace the sleeper and the packing does not hold.
3. Ashes or cinders:
Earlier this is available in large scale on railways since
coal been used in locomotives.
It can provide excellent properties since it is very porous
in nature.
It is very cheap and can be used in sidings but not in
main lines as it is very soft and gets reduced due the
wheel load pressure and make the track very dusty.
Due to its corrosive quality it corrodes the steel sleepers
and foot of the rail.
But in emergency such as floods ashes or cinders can be
used for the repairing formation or packing tracks.
4. Sand:
It is cheap and provides good drainage. It is particularly
good for packing pot sleepers.
But the drawback is it gets into the moving parts and on
the track causes heavy wear therefore leads to high
maintenance cost.
6. Kanker:
It is a lime agglomerate. It can be used where stone is
not available. It can be used in road and railways as
well. Under the application of loads it will become
powder therefore it can be used only in M.G & N.G.
7. Brick ballast:
Where no stone or other substitutes available it can
be used. It can be easily powdered and creates
dusty tracks.
8. Blast furnace slag:
It is a by-product in the manufacture of pig iron forms.
The material should be hard and with high density
and these are free from gas holes.
Size of ballast:
The broken stones either of too big size or too small size
are found unsuitable for railway ballast.
Size of ballast depends upon
▪ Type of sleepers
▪ Maintenance method
▪ Location of the track.
The size of the ballast used varies from 20mm to 50mm with
reasonable proportion of intermediate sizes. The exact size
of the ballast depends upon the type of sleepers.
▪ For wooden sleepers-51mm
▪ For steel sleepers-38mm
▪ For under switches, points and crossings-25.4mm
Minimum depth of ballast section:
For uniform distribution of load on the
formation, ballast depth should be such that
the dispersion lines should not overlap each
other.
Therefore, depth of ballast can be calculated by
Sleeper spacing (s)=
width of sleeper(w)+2×depth of ballast
 Tests on ballast
S.no Characteristics Tests

1 DURABILITY Los Angeles abrasion

Mill abrasion
Deval abrasion
Clay lumps and friable particles
Crushing value
Impact
2 SHAPE AND Flatness
SURFACE Elongation
CHARACTERISTICS Angularity or Roundness
Fractured particles
Surface texture
3 UNIT WEIGHT Specific Gravity
Absorption

4 GRADATION Size
Size distribution
Fine particles content
 Sleepers

Sleepers are members generally laid transverse

to the rails, on which the rails are fixed to transfer

the loads from the rails to the ballast and the

subgrade.
Functions of sleepers:
▪ To hold the rails to correct gauge.
▪ To act an elastic medium between the ballast and rail
to absorb the blows and vibrations due to moving
loads.
▪ To distribute load from the rail to the index area of
ballast or to the girders in case of bridges.
▪ To support rails - at proper level in straight tracks
- at proper super elevation on curves
 Sleepers also provide longitudinal and lateral stability
of the permanent track on the whole.
Requirements of sleepers: an ideal sleeper
should possess the following characteristics.
• Sleeper should be economical i.e, minimum
initial and maintenance cost.
• Fitting of the sleepers should be easily
adjustable during maintenance operations.
Such as
✓Lifting
✓Packing,
✓Removal and replacements.
✓The weight of the sleeper should not be too
heavy or excessively light i.e. with moderate
weight they should be for ease of handling.
✓Design of sleepers should be such a way that the
gauge and alignment of track and levels of the
rails can easily adjusted and maintained.
✓Sleepers should be capable of resisting shocks
and vibrations due to passage of heavy loads of
high speed trains.
✓An ideal sleeper should be anti-sabotage and
anti-theft qualities.
 Wooden Sleepers

 Metal Sleepers

 Concrete Sleepers
www.ustudy.in
Prestressed concrete sleepers:
1. In this concrete is put under very high initial
compression.
2. The max permissible compressive strength of 211
kg/cm2.
3. Max. cube crushing strength of concrete in the sleeper is
422 kg/cm2 at 28 days.
4. Pre-stressed wires are stressed to an initial stress of 8.82
kg/cm2.
Wooden sleepers

Prestressed concrete structures

 RAILS
The rolled steel sections laid
end to end in two parallel lines
over sleepers to form a railway
track are known as RAILS.
Functions of Rails
• Provide hard, smooth and unchanging surface
for the passage of heavy moving loads with
minimum friction steel rails and steel wheels.
• The rail material should be such that it gives
minimum wear to avoid replacement and
failure.
• Rail transmit loads to the sleepers and
consequently reduce pressure on ballast and
formation below.
Composition of rail steel
For ordinary rails
Carbon (C) - 0.55 to 0.68 percent
Manganese (Mn) - 0.65 to 0.9 percent
Silicon (Si) - 0.05 to 0.3 percent
Sulphur (S) – 0.05 percent or below
Phosphorus (P) – 0.06 percent or below
 The rails used in the construction of
railway track can be divided into the
following three types :

(1) Double Headed Rails (D.H. Rail)

(2) Flat Footed Rails (F.F. Rail)

(3) Bull Headed Rails (B.H. Rail)

The rails having their head and foot
of

same dimensions are known as

double

headed rail (D.H.).

The rail section having their foot

rolled to a flat are known as

flat footed rails.

The rails sections having their head of

more dimension then that of their foot

are known as bull headed rails (B.H.).

 Track Fittings and Fastenings
Track fittings and rail fastenings are used to keep the
rails in the proper position and to set the points and
crossings properly.
The important fittings commonly used are:
1. Fish plates
2. Spikes
3. Bolts
4. Chairs
Spikes:
For holding the rails to the wooden sleepers, spikes of various types
are used.
Wave theory: Wave motion is set up by moving loads of wheels.
The vertical reverse curve ABC is formed in the rail ahead of
wheels, resulting from the rail deflection under the load.
Percussion Theory: This theory states that the creep is due to
impact of wheels at the rail end ahead at joints. Hence as and
when wheel leave the trailing rail and strike the facing rail end
at each joint it pushes the rail in forward direction resulting in
creep.
3. Drag theory:
✓Backward thrust of the engine driving wheels
push the rails backward when a train is
starting and accelerating.
✓When slowing down or stop the vehicle
braking forces are push the rail forward.
4. Unbalanced Traffic:
a) Single line:
✓ Heavy equal loads pass in both direction, the
creep is balanced. If not creep takes place in
the heavy load direction.
b) Double line:
✓ Since loads are in unidirectional creep occurs
in both directions.
Factors effecting the magnitude & direction of
creep.
• Alignment of track: Creep is more on curves than
on tangent tracks.
• Grade of track: More in case of steep curves,
particularly while train moving downward with
heavy loads.
• Type of rails: older rail have more tendency than
new one.
• Direction of heaviest traffic: In heavier load
moving direction occurs more creep.
• Most serious effect of creep is being buckling of track.
• Common effects of creep:
• Sleepers move out of square and out of position, affects
the gauge and alignment of track. As sleepers move
surface is disturbed results uncomfortable riding.
• When joints are opened out beyond the permissible
stress in bolts and fish plates tendency to occurrence of
failure in them.
• Rails ends also battered due to occurrence of excessive
gaps at joints. While at other places , joints are jammed
and prevent required expansion due to thermal stresses.
• Points and crossings get distorted, its too
difficult to set them to correct gauge and
alignment. Movement of switches is made
difficult and interlocking is thrown out of gear.
Causes of Buckling
I. When expansion gap is not sufficient
II. The fish plate are bolted so tight that no slip
is allowed.
III. Due to presence of longer welded rail on
weak tracks.
1. Pulling back the rails:
✓ pull back the rail to its original position. By means of crow
bars and hooks provided through the fish bolts wholes of
rails
✓ By considering the position of joints relative to sleepers
and both rails should be in respective position.
2. Provision of anchors :
✓ By use of anchors and sufficient crib ballast.
✓ For creep 7.5 cm-15 cm 4 anchors per rail
✓ For creep 22.5 to 25 cm 6 anchors.
Gradient
Any departure
of track
from the
level is
known as
grade or
gradient.
On Indian railways, maximum gradient permitted
is1 in 400 in station yards.

 Ruling gradient
 Momentum Gradient
 Pusher gradient
 Gradient at stations

70
Ruling gradient
The steepest gradient
allowed on the track
section. It determines the
max load that the
locomotive can haul that
section. The steep
gradient needs more
powerful locomotives,
smaller train loads, lower
speed, resulting in costly
hauling.
In plains:
1 in 150 to 1 in 200
In hilly regions:
1 in 100 to 1 in 150
Momentum Gradient
The gradient on a section which are steeper than the ruling
gradient acquire sufficient momentum to negotiate them are
known as momentum gradient.
Pusher gradient:
As stated above a
ruling gradient limits
the maximum weight
of a train which can
be hauled over the
section by a
locomotive. If the
ruling gradient is so
severe on a section
that it needs the help
of extra engine to
pull the same load
than this gradient is
known as pusher of
helper gradient. In
Darjeeling Railways
1 in 37 pusher
gradient is used on
Western Ghat BG
Track.
 If a curve is provided on a track with ruling gradient, the resistance of the
track will be increased this curve. In order to avoid resistance beyond the
allowable limits, the gradients are reduced on curves. The reduction in
gradient is known as grade compensation for curves.
 BG track: 0.04% per degree of curve
 MG track: 0.03 % per degree of curve
 NG track: 0.02 % per degree of curve

74
 A curve is defined by its degree or
radius. The degree of a curve is the
angle subtended at the center by a
chord of 100 feet or 30.48m.
 R is the radius of curve;
 Circumference of the curve= 2 ∏ R
 Angle subtended at the center by the
circle = 360 degree
 Angle subtended by the arc of
30.48m =
 Thus, a 1 degree curve has a radius of
1750 m.

360 1747.26 1750

X 30.48  
2 R R R

75
 It depends on various factors such as gauge, wheel base of
vehicle, maximum super elevation and other such factors. As per
Indian railways:

Gauge On plain track On turn out

Max degree Min radius, Max degree Min radius, m

m
BG 10 175 8 218

MG 16 109 15 116

NG 40 44 17 103

76
77
 Cant deficiency: Cant deficiency is the difference between the
equilibrium cant necessary for the maximum permissible speed on
a curve and the actual cant provided there. As per Indian Railways,
Cant deficiency is recommended as follow:
BG Track: 75 mm
MG track: 50 mm
NG track: 40 mm

78
 2
GV
e
127 R
 Where, e is super elevation in mm; G is the gauge in
mm + width of the rail head in mm; V speed of the
train in kmph; R radius of the curve in m.
◦ For BG track: G = 1676 mm+ 74 mm=1.75 m
◦ For MG track: G = 1.058 m
◦ For NG track: G= 0.772 m

G for: BG track-1.676+0.074=1.750 m
MG :1.058m
NG: 0.772m 79
 a) BG track: V  0.27 (Ca  Cd ) R

b) On MG track: V  0.347 (Ca  Cd ) R

C) On NG track V  3.65 R  6

Ca is actual cant provided in mm; Cd is the cant deficiency permitted in

mm;
R is radius in m; V is maximum speed in kmph.

R is the radius in m, V is speed in Kmph: 80

 Maximum permissible speed on curves
Maximum speed of section taking into account the super elevation and cant
deficiency cant deficiency: (use of rational formula)

BG Track: V  0.27 (Ca  Cd ) R

MG Track: V  0.347 (Ca  Cd ) R

NG track: V  3.65 R  6

81
 In figure AB and CD form main line
and AE and CF that of branch line. The
outer rail AB of main line curve meets
D the inner rail of branch line of AE on
curve at C but the outer rail of main line
AB will be at higher level than the
B inner rail CD. Hence point A should be
higher than point C.
Similarly CF is outer rail for branch
line hence rail CF should be higher than
AE and C should be higher than point
F C A, which is contrary and impossible to
P satisfy both conditions simultaneously.
In such conditions a small amount of
deficiency in superelevation is
permitted on branch line and speed on
E A both tracks restricted, particularly on
branch line. Such superelevation is
known as negative superelevation.
 The equilibrium superelevation is calculated for branch line as:
GV 2
e
127 R

 Equilibrium superelevation e is reduced by the permissible cant

deficiency Cd and the resultant superelevation to be provided is
as follows:
X = e – Cd
Where, X is the superelevation to be provided;
Cd (75 mm for BG track and 50 mm for MG track).
 The value of cant deficiency (Cd) is generally higher than e and
thus x is negative. The branch line has thus a negative
superelevation.
POINTS AND CROSSINGS are the special arrangements to divert
the train from one track to another track
POINTS/SWITCHES provide the facility of diverting the vehicle . A pair of

tongue rails with their stock rails is known as point

CROSSINGS is a device introduced at the junction where two rails cross to permit
the wheel flange of a railway vehicle to pass from one track to another track.
TURN OUT is a complete set of points and crossings.
TONGUE RAIL is a tapered movable rail made of high carbon or
manganese steel to withstand wear. It is attached at its thicker end to a
running rail. Sometimes it is called switch rail
STOCK RAIL is running rail against which a tongue rail operates.
Component Parts of a switch or Point:
•A set of stock rail
•A pair of tongue rail
•A pair of heel block
•Two or more stretcher bars to connect tongue rails
•Guard or check rail
COMPONENT PART OF
CROSSINGS:
•TWO RAILS: (Point and Splice rail

): Point rail ends at the nose while

the splice rail joins a little behind the
nose.
•TWO WING RAILS: These are right

and left hand wings rails. They

converse to form a throat and
diverge again on either side of the
nose.
•A PAIR OF CHECK RAILS: To

provide a path for the wheel flange

and guide them, a pair of check rails
is provided.
OBTUSE ANGLE CROSSINGS
TYPES OF RAIL JOINTS
RAILWAY
STATIONS
A train station, railway
station, railroad station, or
depot is a railway facility
where trains regularly stop
to load or unload
passengers or freight.
It generally consists of at
least one track-side
platform and a station
building providing such
ancillary services as ticket
sales and waiting rooms.
Functions of railway station

•To enable the following express trains to overtake the train ahead
•For taking fuels for locomotive
•For changing locomotive and running staff
•For attaching or detaching wagons and compartments
•For sorting of bogies to form new trains
•For exchange of passengers
•For exchange of goods
•For the control of train movements
•To facilitate the trains on a single line track to cross from opposite direction
LOCOMOTIVE YARD
GRAVITY YARD/HUMP YARD
MARSHALLING YARD
 Railway signaling & interlocking

In railway signaling, an
Railway signaling is a system
interlocking is an arrangement
used to direct railway traffic and
of signal apparatus that
keep trains clear of each other at
prevents conflicting
all times.
movements through an
arrangement of tracks such as
junctions or crossings.
HAND SIGNALS
 STOP SIGNALS

COLOURED LIGHT SIGNALS

SEMAPHORE SIGNALS