• Period | 2002 - 2005
  • Country | Europe
  • Market | Geotechnics and Environment
  • Project Manager | Jörgen Johansson
  • Partner | SNCF, ADIF, GDS, CEDEX, ECP, BV, Linköping University
  • Client | EC 5th FP - GROWTH
R&D program|

Supertrack - improve high speed railways

Supertrack was motivated by the need for ensuring a better performance of high speed railway lines, and the project was run by nine partners from France, Spain, Sweden and Norway in the period 2002-2005.
SUstained PERformance of Railway TRACKs,
is a R&D project
funded by the European Commission's 5th Framework Program GROWTH.

Generating PDF file

The wide spectrum of background of the partners provided the expertise and experience required to address the various aspects of the mechanical behaviour of high speed railway lines.

The main objective was to enhance the performance of ballasted tracks, hence reduction of maintenance, by better understanding the geotechnical behaviour of the elements of the embankment and subgrade as well as the dynamic behaviour of the complete embankment-ground-train system. The main emphasis is on high-speed lines, but the findings of the project are equally valuable for conventional railway lines.

Objectives

The main objectives of the project can broadly be described as

Enhancement of the performance of ballasted tracks, hence reduction of maintenance, by better understanding the geomechanical behaviour of elements of the embankment and subgrade as well as the dynamic behaviour of the complete embankment-ground-train system

Assessment of performance of various track retrofitting methods for the selected segments of two railway lines which have been subjected to excessive deformation and settlement.

To achieve these objectives the following activities are undertaken:

  • Measurement of track and ground responses at several problematic sites with regards to settlement and maintenance
    Track responses
  • Characterisation and modelling of the behaviour of soil and ballast using large-size specimens
    Vacuum triaxial setup
  • Laboratory testing of track using a large-scale track-box facility
    Large scale track box facility
  • Advanced numerical modelling of non-linear dynamic behaviour of embankment and ground accounting for train-track interactio
    Simul swed data
  • Assessment of traditional and innovative Methods of retrofitting track, embankment and sub-grade
    Embankment subgrade track

Sub-projects

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Project management

The Supertrack project partners are:

Supertrack Deltakere logoer

Reports and publications

Reports

The following is an overview of reports published through the Supertrack Project, available as pdf-documents:

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Papers

The following papers were produced and presented from the Supertrack Project:

  1. Kaynia, A.M. (2003): Sustained performance of railway track. Proc. 3rd World Cong. on Railway Research, Edinburgh, Scotland, Sept. 29 - Oct. 3.
  2. Cuellar, V. and Vadillo, S. (2003): Instrumentation of a high-speed track in Spain for the European Supertrack. Proc. 3rd World Cong. on Railway Research, Edinburgh, Scotland, Sept. 29 - Oct. 3.
  3. Lundqvist, A. and Dahlberg, T. (2003): Dynamic train/track interaction including model for track settlement evolvement. Proceedings 18th IAVSD Symposium at Atsugi, Japan, August 24-29, 2003. Vehicle System Dynamics, Vol 41(Supplement) 2004, 667-676.
  4. Dahlberg, T. (2004): Railway track dynamics - a survey. To appear in Handbook on Railway Vehicle Dynamics, Swetz & Zeitlinger, 2005, 50 pp.
  5. Chebli, H., Clouteau, D. and Modaressi, A. (2004):  Three-dimensional periodic model for the simulation of vibration induced by high-speed trains. Italian Geotech. Review.
  6. Chebli, H., Othman, R., Clouteau, D., Arnst, M., Degrande, G. and Chatterjee, P. (2004): 3D periodic model for soil-structure dynamic interaction: Common physical features and numerical rules. Proc. 11th Int. Conf. Soil Dyn. & Earthquake Eng., San Francisco, USA, vol 2, 790-797.
  7. Lundqvist A. and Dahlberg T. (2004): Load impact on railway track due to unsupported sleepers. Accepted for publication in J of Rail and Rapid Transit.
  8. Lundqvist, A. and Dahlberg, T. (2003): Dynamic forces in railway track due to unsupported sleepers. Twelfth Nordic Seminar in Railway Mechanics, June 1-3, 2004, Luleå
  9. Lundqvist, A. and Dahlberg, T. (2004): Dynamic forces in railway track due to unsupported sleeper. Proceedings, Nordic Vibration Research 2004, KTH, Stockholm, June 3-4, 2004.
  10. Kaynia, A.M., Lacasse, S. and Madshus, C. (2005): Geodynamic issues in high speed railway lines on soft soil. Keynote lecture, Proc. 5th Int. Geotechnical Eng. Conf., Cairo University, Jan. 11-13, 89-115.
  11. Lundqvist, A. and Dahlberg, T. (2005):  Railway track stiffness variations - consequencies and countermeasures. Proc. 19th IAVSD Symposium on Dynamics of Vehicles on Roads and Track, Milan, Italy, Aug 29 to Sept 2, 2005.
  12. Giraud, H. and Schmitt, L. (2004): Experimental Site on high speed line in Northern France for European Project SUPERTRACK. Proceedings, 7th International Railway Engineering Conference & Exhibition, London, UK.
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