EPSRC-funded research points to current and future rail improvements

The £3.1m research project, entitled “Railway Track for the 21st Century”, took place over five years. It involved a consortium led by the University of Southampton, alongside the Universities of Birmingham and Nottingham plus industry partners who provided additional financial support.

Using computer modelling as well as on-train and trackside measurement, the consortium investigated the forces that railway track is subjected to, coming up with proposals to mitigate against some of the most significant problems.

It concluded that more effective management of lineside vegetation could help manage water content and improve stability, while better risk assessment of earthworks would reduce the risks of trains encountering landslides during periods of high rainfall. Piles driven into banks of land to stabilise slopes could further lower the risks of landslides, and a wider range of grain size supporting the track could help reduce stress and ease maintenance requirements.

“Trains have changed hugely over the last few decades, but the track and earthworks they run on are substantially the same as a century ago,” said Prof William Powrie, University of Southampton.