Noise↓ Ride Comfort↑…Korea Railroad Develops Technology for Installing Long Rail on Ballastless Railway Bridges

Hancheon Bridge with a long rail installed (Photo by Korea Railroad)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) announced on the 16th that it has succeeded in developing a core technology that allows the installation of long rails with low noise and vibration on ballastless railway bridges.

A ballastless railway bridge refers to a steel bridge where sleepers and rails are directly connected to the bridge without ballast such as gravel filling the space between sleepers and the bridge.

This development was carried out as part of the 'Railway Technology Research Project' by the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement. KORAIL and Korea National University of Transportation led the project, with participation from academia and small and medium-sized enterprises.

The newly developed 'interlocking sleeper fastening device' and 'synthetic resin sleepers' control the forces caused by rail expansion and contraction due to temperature changes, enabling stable fixation of long rails.

Bridges without ballast are structurally vulnerable to rail expansion and contraction caused by temperature changes, making installation difficult.

Synthetic resin sleepers and linked sleeper fasteners installed on Hancheon Bridge (Photo by Korea Railroad)

However, the 'interlocking sleeper fastening device' connects multiple sleepers as a bundle and fixes them to the bridge deck, providing about five times greater resistance to track distortion compared to the conventional method of fixing each sleeper individually.

Also, the 'synthetic resin sleepers' made from basalt material have greater durability and better environmental friendliness than wooden sleepers.

Installing long rails on steel bridges reduces noise generated when trains pass rail joints and improves ride comfort. It is also effective in increasing train speed and reducing maintenance.

KORAIL plans to conduct a trial installation of the interlocking sleeper fastening device and synthetic resin sleepers on the Hancheon Bridge track near Cheongnyangni Station on the Gyeongwon Line and evaluate their performance for about one year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.