Permanent Way

It could be argued that the most important asset that a railway has is its track. On Network Rail’s website, under ‘About Us’, it states: “Network Rail owns, operates and develops Britain’s railway infrastructure. That’s 20,000 miles of track,...

Early railway track carried trains running at 50km/h (30mph) with three-tonne axle loads. Over almost 200 years, ballasted track has been developed to the point where it can carry heavy freight trains, with axle loads of 25 tonnes or...

Slab tracks, or, more properly, ballastless track systems, are becoming more widely used as alternatives to conventional ballasted track.There are many reasons for this, but, to understand them properly, we need to consider the difference between the two forms...

Writer: Grahame Taylor - Rail Engineer MagazineCatching up with Europe’s materials handlingWhen someone who has had over forty years in the railway industry says that a machine is probably one of the most versatile railway materials handlers available, it...

The track layout for the various junctions at Guildford, serving routes in several directions, were in need of scheduled renewal as a consequence of a level of underinvestment over a number of years. The switch and crossing work (S&C),...

Over the late May bank holiday and the following week, South Rail Systems Alliance (Colas Rail, Network Rail and AECOM) engineers replaced just under one mile (1,400 metres) of single-line track between Fareham and Botley on the Eastleigh-Fareham line,...

What if there was a tried and tested solution to speed up trackside drainage times by a factor of 10, simultaneously reducing installation costs and improving site safety by halving the depth of trenches and the amount of crushed...

Guest Writer: Daniel Pyke - Rail expert and railway technical marketing professionalEarly March was a turbulent time for the UK, with the unfolding virus situation spreading ever closer and rumours about lockdown timing were abound. However, this was not...

Over the years - over generations in fact - there have been many questions that have been posed in the sphere of permanent way maintenance. Surprisingly few have been answered - or, at least, answered with any degree of...

The Highland main line (HML) between Inverness and Perth is the most severely graded line on the UK railway network. It requires southbound trains leaving Inverness at sea level to climb 1,315 feet in 22 miles to reach the...