High-speed railway embankments : a comparison of different regulation

Sammanfattning: Swedish transport administration initiated this Master Thesis project and the aim was to compare regulations for the design of high-speed railways from three European countries: France, Germany and Spain. The reason why this is of interest for the Swedish transport administration is the design of the first Swedish high-speed railway, called Ostlänken. Therefore, a literature study of the regulations and other literature regarding high-speed railway has been carried out. A basic description of railway components, slab track and ballasted tracks is presented. Ballasted embankments usually consist of a trackbed layer (ballast onto subballast), and the ultimate thickness of this layer is discussed, as there are a number of methods available to calculate the appropriate thickness, with a number of different design parameters. These design methods results in different trackbed thickness and choosing the “wrong” method might lead to an overestimation or underestimation of the trackbed layer. Constructing a ballastless railway line means that the ballast is replaced by another material, usually a slab made of reinforced concrete or asphalt, and the rail is cast onto this slab. Countries design their slab using different methods. Germany has constructed high-speed railway lines with a slab track solution, generally slabs with low flexible stiffness. France has until recently constructed their high-speed line ballasted but is now developing a new slab track technique, called NBT (New Ballastless Track) and Spain uses various methods. It is difficult to compare the regulations, however, there are some factors that at least begin to explain the differences between the countries: the frost hazard, the inherent ground quality, purpose with the railway (mixed traffic, solely passenger traffic, etc.), design parameters (life, axle load, etc.). Furthermore, the settlement requirements, soil classification and bearing capacity are factors that varies from country to country, but the origin for this variation is harder to detect.