RAILS

FUNCTIONS
 Transmitting the load to formation
 Provides a smooth pathway - has very less
friction.
 1/5th of road vehicle
 Serves as lateral guide
 Bear the stresses developed
 due to vertical loads
 due to braking forces
 thermal stresses
 Provides continuous and level surface
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF RAILS

Double headed Bull Headed Flat Footed

 DESIGNATION OF RAIL

 In Metric units - Kg. per metre.

 A 60 kg rail denotes its weight is 60 kg per metre.

 DECIDING FACTORS OF
RAIL SECTION & WEIGHT

 Heaviest axle load.

 Maximum Permissible speed.
 Depth of ballast cushion.
 Type and spacing of sleepers
 STANDARD RAIL SECTIONS FOR BG
52 kg
60 kg
68 kg for DFCC and other heavier
loaded routes
 STANDARD DIMENSIONS OF RAILS

Area in Total Flange Head Web Head Flange

Wt.in
Section (Sq. Height width width width height height
(Kg)
mm) (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F)

60 Kg
60.34 7686 172.0 150.0 70.6 16.5 51.0 31.5
(UIC)
 STANDARD LENGTH & GRADE OF RAIL
 Std. Length
 In IR – 13 / 26 m
 In CMRL – 18 m
 In WDFC – 25 m
 Longer rails at present – 65 / 78 m
 Longer rails in future – 130 m
 Grade of rail steel
 The Ultimate Tensile Stress in MPa.
or N / sq. mm.
 880 Grade means-UTS is 880 N /sq. mm.
BRAND MARKS
 BRAND MARKS
 Rolled on one side of the web at every 3.0 meters.
 Letters of size 20 mm in height and min. 1.0 mm above surface
 It shall include:
 The grade of steel
 The rail section
 Process of steel making: - Basic oxygen -O, Electric Arc- E
 Identification mark of the manufacturer
 Month (using roman numbers) and year of manufacture
 Rolling Direction

 For example, “ 880 60 O SAIL V / 2004  ”

 This indicates 880 grade 60 kg rail manufactured by Basic Oxygen
process in SAIL, Bhilai plant during 5 th month of year 2004.
 COLOUR CODE OF DIFFERENT RAILS

COMMON LENGTH WISE COLOUR CODE

1. No paint on Gauge /non gauge face indicates class ‘B’
rails.
2. Yellow paint on each end face on web indicates 13 m,
26 m, 130 m and 260 m length.
3. Blue paint on each end face on web indicates 12 m, 25
m, 129 m and 259 m length.
4. White paint on each end face on Web indicates 11 m,
24 m length.
5. Green paint on each end face on web indicates 10 m
length.
 UTS OF RAILS
 Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) - 72 kg/sq. mm. in
Medium Manganese rails of 220 BHN, in the past.
 90 UTS rails - The service life is about 50% higher
than 72 UTS rails.
 90 UTS rails: wear resistance & having hardness of
about 270 BHN
 110 UTS Rails: BOXN stock have cast wheels having
higher hardness. Due to this,
 shear stress in rails - Higher
 wear in rails - faster and excessive.
 This has led to higher 110 UTS rails.
PRIMARY SERVICE LIFE OF RAILS
RAILS UTS SERVICE LIFE
52 Kg 72 350 GMT

52 Kg 90 525 GMT

60 kg 72 550 GMT

60 kg 90 800 GMT
INSTRUCTION ON USAGE OF 90 UTS RAILS
Micro structure of 90 UTS rail is different as percentage of carbon is too high and
therefore, hardenability is more.
Flame cutting
Flame cutting be done only when it is unavoidable.
Pre-heated to 250-350 degree Celsius to 100 mm of either side
Cooling of Rails
Welding on 90 UTS rails, after heating above 700 degree Celsius, rails are
slowly cooled to 550 to 560 degree Celsius.
Butting Load
During FBW, proper butting load should be used.
Low capacity butting load increase number of preheats, causing very
pronounced heat affected zone.
Support of Rail
Proper wooden supports be provided to avoid dent or seat on bending line
Drilling holes
No holes be drilled unless required for operational use.
 HEAD HARDENED RAILS
 The head is hardened by passing rails
through a thermal treatment plant.
 Top surface hardened for a depth of 12
mm.
 Have longer service life: 2 - 3 times of MM
rails.
 HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS FOR 90 UTS AND
HEAD HARDENED RAILS
1. Protection of straightness
straightness deviations with a deflection of 0.75 mm over 1.5 metres
span, in a rail is unacceptable
AVOID
- Heavy static loading
- Sudden impact or dynamic loading
- Localised point or line contact loading in stacking
- Excessive end drop and flange overlaps while lifting/moving
-Criss-cross stacking of rails of alternative layers at right angles
 HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS FOR 90 UTS AND
HEAD HARDENED RAILS

DO
- Keep rails horizontal and straight while lifting/moving
-Stack rails of same length on firm level base of well drained platform
- Stack subsequent layers on uniformly placed spacers in vertical
alignment with base supports
-Keep rail ends in vertical alignment
-Place rails of shorter length in upper layers.
 HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS FOR 90 UTS AND
HEAD HARDENED RAILS
2. Protection of rail surface
Surface notches of even less than 0.75 mm in depth are liable to cause
rail fracture in service. Therefore,
AVOID
- Impact abrasion of rails against separators in wagons
- Round link chain slings for securing the rails.
DO
- Use conventional slings for lifting rails made of flat link chains
- Lifting of rails preferably with magnet lifting device.
 HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS FOR 90 UTS AND
HEAD HARDENED RAILS
3. Prevention of metallurgical damage
Thermally very sensitive if exposed to localised heating
-produces very hard, brittle and cracked metallurgical structures
-lead to sudden failures.
AVOID
- Heating, flame cutting, on or adjacent to rails
- Contact with electric arcs and molten metal splashes, i.e. from loose
cables or adjacent welding operations.
DO
- Flame cutting when found essential, after preheating minimum of 10
cm of rail length on either side of the cut to about 250-350 degree C
 HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS FOR 90 UTS AND
HEAD HARDENED RAILS
4. Protection from contact with injurious substances
-Localised corrosion pitting may cause subsequent rail
fractures.
AVOID
- Contact with injurious substances which produce high corrosion
of a steel, i.e. acids, alkalis, salts, etc..
DO
- Stack rails on well drained platform preferably on concrete as
per drawing No. RDSO/T-4962.
 HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS FOR 90 UTS AND
HEAD HARDENED RAILS
5. Slinging principles
The single point slinging increases risk of bending and surface damage
to the rails.
The overhang beyond the outer lifting point should not be greater than
one half the distance between lifting points.
AVOID
- Single point slinging.
DO
- Use two point slinging for rail length up to 13 m
 RECOMMENDED LOCATIONS OF LIFTING
POINTS FOR VARIOUS RAIL LENGTHS
Rail length No. of lifting Distance between Max. rail
(metres) points lifting points (m) overhang (m)
12 - 13 2 6 - 6.5 3 - 3.25
26 4 6.5 3.25
39 6 6.5 3.25
130 20 6.5 3.25
260 40 6.5 3.25
Use of lifting beams fitted with slings is desirable.
 HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS FOR 90 UTS AND
HEAD HARDENED RAILS
6. Safety of Personnel
AVOID
- Standing under suspended loads.
DO
- Use protective gloves and clothing to minimise the risk of skin abrasion
- Wear distinctive coloured helmet and clothing to avoid accidents.
 RAIL JOINT
Weakest link in the track
Break in the continuity of the rail in horizontal & vertical
plane
By the moving loads a serve blow is experienced
o loosens the compaction of ballast under the sleeper
bed
o loosens the fittings at the joint become
o heavy wear and tear
Requires about 30% extra maintenance cost than the
plain track.
 TYPE OF RAIL JOINTS
 (A) SUPPORTED JOINT
 The ends of a rail are supported directly on a
sleeper
 No cantilever action
 The rail ends tend to be high due to support
 The running is normally hard
 Wear and tear of the supporting sleeper
 TYPE OF RAIL JOINTS
 (B) SUSPENDED JOINT
 Rail ends are suspended between the two sleepers
 Rail is cantilever at the joint
 The packing under the joint sleepers get loose due
to hammering action of the moving train loads
 The most common type of joint being adopted on
the railway systems of the world.
SUSPENDED JOINT
 FISHPLATE

To provide continuity across rail joint for the

movement of railway vehicles

Rail ends are connected by “fishplates” & “fish

bolt”

The name fish plate is traditionally given to this

fitting as its section looks like a fish.
 FISH PLATES
Hold the two rails together both horizontal and
vertical planes
designed to have roughly the same strength as the
rail section
Strength of a pair of fish plates is less than that of
rail section
About 55% on vertical bending consideration
Fishing angles at the top & bottom surfaces
coincides rail section for perfect contact with the
rail.
FP JOINT
 TYPES OF FISH PLATES & USAGE

Ordinary fishplate: used in normal expansion joints.

1 m long fishplate: used for points and x-ings, SWR track
and PSC sleeper track.
Joggled fish plate : used to protect weld.
Combination fishplate : used to join different Rail sections
Collarless f/plate : used under lock bar on stock rail joint.
Top collar of inside fish plate is trimmed. However,
trimming of top collar is not required in case of 60 kg rails.
 Skimmed fish plate : used in insulated block joints.
 Slotted fish plate : used in case of rail failure.
 SALIENT FEATURES OF F. P JOINT

Standard gap is 6 mm
 bolts, holes in the web of rails and holes in
fish plates are concentric.
– Dia. of Fish bolt = 25 mm
– Dia. of Fish plate hole = 27 mm
– Dia. of rail hole = 32 mm
maximum gap of 15 mm due to play between
bolt , holes in the rails and fish plates
Std. EXPANSION GAP AT JOINT
 METHOD FOR DRILLING HOLES

Clean the web portion for marking.

Apply chalk power for marking.
Measure the pitch of the hole from rail end with steel tape
 use template for both gapless and expansion joints
For 52 kg and 60kg for zero gap it is 83 mm and 80mm for
normal gap from rail end
hole to hole 166 mm pitch
Punch the hole by dot punch to avoid slipping of drill bit
The permissible tolerance is 0.8 mm
All the holes should be chamfered after drilling.
 DRILLING OF HOLES IN RAILS
S. No. location Dia. of hole

1 Rail hole at expansion Joints of Free 32 mm

rail & SWR
2 Adjoining rail of SRJ, CMS Crossing, 26.5 mm
turnout lead joints, LC approach and
Combination Rail joints

3 Glued joints 30 mm
4 Check rail hole 27/28 mm
5 Holes in Tongue rail for fixing stretcher 18/20 mm
bar

6 Stock rail hole for slide chairs 28 mm

 POSITION OF HOLES IN RAIL

Rail Distance of hole Centre from bottom

Section of rail

60 Kg 76.25 mm
 CHAMFERING

Star cracks in the periphery of bolt holes

due to concentration of shear stresses
The correct remedy - ‘Chamfering’.
 CHAMFERING OF BOLT HOLES

For hardening of periphery of holes

Delays the formation of star cracks
Existing bolt holes in fracture prone
zone should be chamfered.
Elongated holes should not be
chamfered to avoid uneven hardening.
CHAMFERING TOOL
SLEEPERS
 FUNCTIONS OF SLEEPERS
• Holding rails to correct gauge and alignment
• Giving a firm and even support to rails
• Transferring the load evenly from the rails to wider
area of ballast
• Acting as elastic medium between rails and ballast
• Providing longitudinal and lateral stability to P.way
• Providing means to rectify track geometry during
service life.
 REQUIREMENTS OF SLEEPERS
• Initial and maintenance cost to be minimum
• Weight of sleeper should be moderate for easy
handling
• Sleeper should have sufficient bearing area
• It should be possible to adjust and maintain gauge
• It should be possible to have track circuiting
• Should be capable of resisting shocks and
vibrations.
• Sleepers should have anti sabotage and anti theft
qualities.
• Should facilitate machine packing
 SLEEPER DENSITY
• Sleeper density is the number of sleepers
used per rail length.
• It is denoted as M+4, M+7 etc., where M is
standard length of rail in metres.
• For LWR and CWR , this is expressed as the
number of sleepers per KM of track.
• This is fixed considering the maximum
permissible speed and the traffic density of
the section.
 MINIMUM SLEEPER DENSITY
a. For all track renewals (complete track renewal and
through sleeper renewal), doubling, gauge conversion, new
line construction works for main lines may be 1660 nos.
per km.
b. For sidings with permissible speed more than 50 kmph
minimum sleeper density may be 1660 nos. per km.
c. For loop lines & sidings (permissible speed up to 50
kmph) it may be 1540 nos. per km.
Higher sleeper density may be provided with the approval of
the Principal Chief Engineer.
(i) In case of SWR, the minimum sleeper density is fixed as
1340 nos. per km.
 Types of Sleepers
 Wooden Sleepers
 Cast Iron Sleepers
 Steel Sleepers
 Concrete Sleepers
 Steel Channel sleepers
 Composite sleepers
 Types of concrete Sleepers:

i) Mono-block Pre-stressed Concrete Sleepers.

Drg. No. RT 2496 for 60 Kg Rails

Drg. No. T - 7008 for 68 / 60 Kg Rails in WDFC

ii) Twin block reinforced concrete Sleepers.

INDIAN RAILWAYS STANDARD DRAWINGS FOR PRC SLEEPERS
 SPECIFICATIONS
CONCRETE SLEEPERS ( IRS -T-39-96)
CONCRETE
Controlled quality with nominal size of aggregate< 20mm
Approved Granulometric curve Concrete Mix Design
Minimum release strength after steam curing- 40
N/sq.mm
15 days characteristics strength after curing – 55 N/sq.mm
80 cubes in 10 batches to be casted - 4 for steam & 4 for
water curing
 ADVANTAGES OF PSC SLEEPERS

• Heavy weight--provides longitudinal & lateral stability

required for LWR
• With elastic fastening, it can maintain gauge and
alignment properly, hence safer
• Flat bottom –suites mech. Tamping
• Cost effective
• Durable--immune to termite, fire, rusts, etc..
• Anti theft & anti-sabotage
• Suited for track circuiting
 DISADVANTAGES OF PSC SLEEPERS

Laying & handling is difficult as it is heavy

Difficult to restore traffic after accident

Not amenable to manual laying or maint.

Requires more ballast and wider formation

No scrap value- difficult to dispose

Maintenance of joint is difficult

 ELASTIC FASTENINGS
• SGCI (Spheroidal Graphite
Cast Iron) INSERT
• ELASTIC RAIL CLIP
• GROOVED RUBBER PAD
• LINERS
– METAL LINERS
– GLASS FILLED NYLON LINERS
 INSERTS
• IT IS EMBEDDED IN CONCRETE AT THE TIME OF
CASTING

• THIS IS ANCHORAGE FOR ERC

• GRIPS THE CLIP EFFECTIVELY

• PROVIDES LATERAL SUPPORT TO RAIL

• SHOULD HAVE ADEQUATE PULL STRENGTH

 INSERTS

• Toe load is function of dia. Of hole and

difference between apex of hole and top of
shoulder

• Correct positioning is important

– Vertical positioning for toe load

– Lateral positioning for gauge

 INSERTS

• TYPES
– MCI ( MALLEABLE CAST IRON) INSERTS
CONFORMING TO GRADE PM 540 OF IS:
2640-1977.
– SGCI (SPHEROIDAL GRAPHITE CAST IRON
) INSERTS IRS T-46 1996 MATERIAL
CONFORMING TO GRADE SG 500/7 OF
IS: 1865 - 1991
 SGCI INSERT
• IT IS FIXED TO PSC SLEEPER AT THE TIME OF
MANUFACTURING OF THE SLEEPER
• FOUR NUMBERS PER PSC SLEEPER
• RDSO DRAWING NUMBER : T 481
• TWO TYPES
– GATE TYPE
– STEM TYPE
 ELASTIC RAIL CLIP
• IT IS MADE OF SILICON SPRING STEEL
• FOUR NUMBERS PER SLEEPER
• IT HAS FIVE PARTS
– CENTRAL LEG
– FRONT ARCH
– TOE
– REAR ARCH
– HEEL
 ELASTIC RAIL CLIP ( Flat Toe)
• TYPES
– MARK III
• RDSO DRAWING NO : T 3701
• FLAT TOE
• USED FOR 52 KG & 60 KG SECTIONS
• TOE LOAD : 850 – 1100 KG
• DIA :20.64 mm
• WEIGHT : 0.91 KG
– MARK V for WDFC
 ELASTIC RAIL CLIP
• TYPES
– J CLIP
• RDSO DRAWING NO : T 4158 J CLIP T 4158
• USED FOR 52 KG & 60 KG
SECTIONS
• TOE LOAD : 300 KG
• DIA : 20.64 mm
• WEIGHT : 1 KG
• USED IN FISHPLATED TRACK
ALONG WITH MODIFIED LINER
 Elastic Fastenings
Grooved rubber pads:
• Provided between rails and sleepers.
• It absorbs the shock.
• Resists lateral movement of the rail.
• Prevents abrasion of the bottom surface of rail.
• Laid in such a way that grooves are parallel to rail .
 GROOVED RUBBER PAD
• 6 MM THICKNESS
• TRAPAZOIDAL GROOVES
• DOUBLE ELASTIC PROPERTY
• HORNS AT FOUR CORNERS TO PERVENT
SHIFTING FROM RAIL SEAT
• TWO NUMBERS PER SLEEPERS
• THE DRAWING NUMBER IS AVIALABLE ON TOP
OF GRP AT ONE END
 GROOVED RUBBER PAD
• SIZE DEPENDS OF DISTANCE BETWEEN INSERTS AT
RAIL SEAT IN PSC SLEEPER

•RDSO DRAWING NUMBER

T 3711 IS USED FOR T 2496
PSC SLEEPER ( 60 kg)
• Composite Grooved Rubber
Pad of 10 mm thick is used
in WDFC
 LINERS
• USED TO FIX THE RAIL IN POSITION
• FOUR NUMBERS PER PSC SLEEPER
• SIZE DEPENDS ON TYPE OF RAIL AND PSC SLEEPER
• RDSO DRAWING NUMBER AVAILABLE ON TOP OF LINER
AT ONE END
• TYPES
– GLASS FILLED NYLON LINER
• USED IN TRACK CIRCUITED AREA
• MODIFIED LINER USED IN FISH PLATED ZONE
– METAL LINERS
• USED IN NON TRACK CIRCUITED AREA
 LINERS

– Distribution of toe load over larger area on rail foot

– Allow flexibility for use of different rail section on
the same/ common sleeper
– Permits gauge adjustment in curved track and
correction in alignment
– Provide insulation between rail and insert
 LINERS

• The requirements of liner

– The liner should have proper slope to match with
rail foot slope
– The vertical leg of liner should fit properly between
rail and mci insert to maintain gauge
– It should be easy to fix & manufacture
 GFN LINERS
• TYPES
– RDSO DRAWING
NUMBER T 3706
• IDENTIFIED BY WHITE
COLOUR LABEL
• USED WHEN 60 KG
RAIL LAID OVER T 2496
SLEEPER
• FOUR NUMBERS PER
PSC SLEEPER
 METAL LINERS
• TYPES
– RDSO DRAWING NUMBER T
3738
• IDENTIFIED BY PINK COLOUR
LABEL
• USED WHEN 52 KG RAIL LAID
OVER T 2495 SLEEPER ( 52 kg)
• FOUR NUMBERS PER PSC
SLEEPER
 METAL LINERS
• TYPES
– RDSO DRAWING NUMBER T
3740
• IDENTIFIED BY WHITE
COLOUR LABEL
• USED WHEN 60 KG RAIL LAID
OVER T 2496 SLEEPER ( 60 kg)
• FOUR NUMBERS PER PSC
SLEEPER
Rail Screw/Plate Screw