Research project

TRACK21: Railway Track for the 21st Century (Workpackage 6)

Project overview

It is widely acknowledged that a transformation in railway track performance is essential if the UK Government’s aspirations of reduced cost and increased capacity on the rail network are to be realised.

This Programme Grant aimed to bring about a step-change improvement in the engineering, economic and environmental performance of railway track making it fit for a 21st century railway, by developing new techniques for its design, construction and maintenance.

Research in the project has been enhanced by support from external stakeholders, notably Network Rail, who have provided access to software including Track-Ex and the Vehicle-Track Interface Strategic Model (VTISM). Industry stakeholders have also made a range of datasets available for use in the project, such as GEOGIS and ACTRAFF. TRG’s work has focused on using these tools to model the whole life cost and carbon impacts of a range of alternative sleeper and ballast systems tested in other areas of the Track21 project. Reviews of previous work on whole life cost and carbon modelling for a range of factors relating to railway track systems have also been produced. In particular, a detailed assessment of Under sleeper Pads (USPs) has indicated that there may be wider benefits related to reduced vibration and improvements in ride quality.

The Track21 legacy website is here: www.track21.org.uk

Staff

Lead researchers

Professor William Powrie

Professor of Geotechnical Engineering

Research interests

  • Railway track and trackbed behaviour and performance
  • Geotechnical transportation infrastructure (earthworks, retaining walls, tunnels)
  • Groundwater and groundwater control
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Other researchers

Professor John Preston

Professor in Rail Transport

Research interests

  • Demand, capacity and cost modelling for sustainable transport infrastructure.
  • The design, monitoring and evaluation of transport interventions designed to promote sustainable choices.
  • The determination of pathways for future mobility transitions to net zero carbon.
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Professor David Thompson MA PhD CEng FIMechE FIOA FHEA

Professor of Railway Noise and Vibration

Research interests

  • Low noise design in railways
  • Ground vibration and ground-borne noise
  • Aerodynamic noise from high-speed trains
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Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups

Research outputs

Daniel Bull, Joel Smethurst, Gerrit Meijer, Ian Sinclair, Fabrice Pierron, Tiina Roose, William Powrie & Glyn Bengough, 2022, Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 478(2257)
Type: article
Letisha Blackmore, Christopher R.I. Clayton, William Powrie, Jeffrey A. Priest & Louise Otter, 2020, Géotechnique, 70(4), 292-302
Type: article
Xianying Zhang, David Thompson, Hongseok Jeong, Martin Toward, David Herron, Chris Jones & Nicolas Vincent, 2020, Journal of Sound and Vibration, 468
Type: article
William Powrie, Louis Le Pen, David Milne, Geoff Watson & John Harkness, 2019, Transportation Geotechnics, 21
Type: article
Xianying Zhang, David Thompson, Erika Quaranta & Giacomo Squicciarini, 2019, Journal of Sound and Vibration, 461
Type: article