GLOBAL TRENDS IN RAILWAY TRACK TECHNOLOGIES, PART II – under the Light of WHAT MAKES INDIAN RAILWAYS SO UNSAFE AND UNECONOMICAL?

Published on: by Chaminda Weerawarna Category:Rail Track Engineering

Résumé: To operate a railway safely and to keep it in a healthy condition constant input in maintenance and renewal is needed. India falls short in keeping the Quality of its rail-tracks fit for the traffic load/volume the tracks have to carry. This is one of the underlying factors/conditions for the unsafe and uneconomical operation of Indian Railways. Train-Passengers are killed and injured in nasty and unwanted bad events.

With modern highly powered three phase AC asynchronous Traction/Slip-Control Technology (high accelerating and decelerating/breaking forces) the problems of Rail Contact Fatigues (RCF), resulting in rail surface defects like Head-Checks, Squats, Studs, Spallings and Roughness, are on increase.

Rail surface defects have to be eliminated by preventive Rail-Grinding in an early state. If one let the defects to grow too deep, rails might fracture resulting in fatal Derailment-Disasters, killing and injuring train-passengers.

In order to keep Railway Tracks in a sound and healthy condition, assuring nearly Zero Derailments, Railway Tracks must be available for well planned CONDITION BASED and PROACTIVE MAINTENANCE and RENWEAL through modern Railway Track Engineering and Technologies. Digital tools will help to achieve this perspective.

To read more, download :GLOBAL TRENDS, PART II

TRAIN ACCIDENTS IN INDIA, Part II

Published on: by Chaminda Weerawarna Category:Safety & Risk Management

SPATE OF FATAL TRAIN DERAILMENT-DISASTERS IN INDIA

On many routes of India`s vast rail-network the Track Quality does not match the increasing traffic load, the tracks have to carry. This is the underlying factor of the frequent Train Derailment-Disasters.

Since decades UNDERFUNDING and backlog in LONG-TERM CAPITAL INVESTMENT SCHEMES of long-term certainty for Safety related infrastructure and rail-track works and ORGANIZATIONAL SHORTCOMINGS and CONSTRAINTS in achieving on all rail-tracks the laid down quality standards ail Indian Railways.

The ability to make long-term plans for Safety related infrastructure maintenance works has suffered in the past from lack of available funds and recourses and uncertainty about budget provisions.

The new appointed Minister of Railways, Mr. Piyush Goyal faces the challenge to come to a CAPACITY AND FUNDING AGREEMENT with the Government, that will give certainty over a 15 year period, guaranteeing healthy and sound rail-tracks of required quality. He will has to organize to overcome the mismatch between the quality standards as laid down and as achieved in the fields

On healthy and sound modern rail-tracks of high quality there will be ZERO derailments. Other countries around the globe with rail-tracks of high quality do not face frequent train-derailments.

Message: When Wheels, Rails and Rail-Tracks are kept in healthy and sound condition, then there will be no fatal Derailment-Disaster.

To read more, download: TRAIN ACCIDENTS IN INDIA PART II PDF

 

TRAIN ACCIDENTS IN INDIA Part I

Published on: by Chaminda Weerawarna Category:Safety & Risk Management

SPATE OF FATAL DERAILMENT-DISASTERS ROLLING ON

Synopsis:

For the metamorphosis of Poor-Quality Rail-Tracks with high Train-Derailment Risks to High-Quality Rail-Tracks with low Train-Derailment Risks, massive Capital Investment Schemes of long-term certainty in conjunction with organizational Reshuffles and Restructurings are required.

There is no other country around the globe other than India, from where so many nasty and fatal Train Derailment-Disasters can be reported.

The latest fatal Derailment-Disaster is the Utkal-Express with 23 train passengers killed and over 120 injured near Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh on 19th August 2017. It is the country’s fourth major fatal train derailment-accident over the period of 10 month.

The underlying factor of the causeway to Derailment-Disasters of high mortality rates is on many routes the insufficient track quality, not matching the traffic load, due to insufficient track maintenance and renewal.

The fatal Utkal Express Derailment-Disaster reveals again the need of long-term massive capital investment schemes with long-term certainty for safety related track maintenance and renewal works on all routes of the network. The recent fatal Derailment-Disasters also reveal the need for reshuffle and restructuring the Track Maintenance works in order to eliminate the mismatch between Quality Standards as laid down and as achieved on the tracks.

HIGH RAILWAY TRACK QUALITY is a paramount factor in reducing the likelihood of unwanted and nasty DERAILMENT-DISASTERS; see technical railway paper RISK BALLANCE MODEL; Category: SAFETY & RISK MANAGEMENT. On a High Quality Rail-Track the likelihood of a Derailment will be nearly ZERO. Track quality has to match with the traffic load, which the tracks have to carry; if not matching, it comes to the nasty, unwanted and fatal Derailment-Disasters killing and injuring train-passengers.

To tolerate a low quality track or to let the tracks run down, just to keep the trains running on the lowest possible track-quality level, next to the threshold of a Derailment, is not only risky but also very costly. The maintenance expenditures for a poor-quality track can be about 10 fold higher than for a high-quality track.  It is not only risky but highly uneconomical to render a railway service on poor-quality tracks not matching the traffic load.

Global Trends in Track Technologies for HIGH QUALITY RAILWAY TRACKS are elucidated in the technical railway paper GLOBAL TRENDS IN TRACK TECHNOLOGIES, submitted for the International Technical Seminar of I.P.W.E. (India) held on 20th July 2017 at New-Delhi; Category: RAIL TRACK ENGINEERING.

India has to invest far more in Track Quality on all of its routes, not only on prestigious routes for Semi-High Speed. Before going for dedicated High-Speed Trains, the routes for the daily travelling train-passengers have to be made safe.

The UNDERFUNDING and the backlog in LONG-TERM CAPITAL INVESTMENT SCHEMES with long-term certainty in Safety related infrastructure and rail-track works ail Indian Railways.

Without the INPUT in form of massive Capital Investment Schemes of long-term, certainty for Safety and Track Quality related works, and without an organisational reshuffle and restructuring the maintenance works the aim: “The ultimate Goal to prevent Railway Accidents” will not be reached.

The Responsibility has to be fixed at the Indian Government for not allocating sufficient funds with long-term certainty to bring the quality of the tracks in line with the stress and strain exerted by the increased traffic load, as well at the Organisation of Indian Railways for failing in eliminating the organisational shortcomings to bring the prescribed Quality Standards on all tracks of the network.

Several routes have to be better protected against Land-, Earth-, Rock- and Mud-Slides. And for this also more money is needed.

The costs of improving SAFETY all arise immediately, but the benefits emerge only in long-term.

For more information download:TRAIN ACCIDENTS IN INDIA PART I PDF

 

MATARA-BELIATTA RAILWAY EXTENSION PROJECT Sri Lanka

Published on: by Chaminda Weerawarna Category:Rail Track Engineering

The Government of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Transport have entrusted the construction of the Matara to Beliatta Phase I extension to China Machinery Corporation (CMC) of China. The China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation is instrumental in the construction work of the railway line.

The difficult topography and geology of the terrain is challenging. The rail-extension will consist of twelve bridges, and two tunnels. Railway stations will be setup at Babrenda, Kekanadura and Wewrukannala. The alignment is kept without any tight horizontal and vertical curves, gradients and it will come nearly level-crossing free.

It will take probably another 4-6 years to finalise this high costly and prestigious project. Still the earth filling for the Beliatta Railway Station and marshalling yard is not completed. Such high fillings with local available soil will need at least 4 years to settle. It is questionable if the high fillings on marshy subsoil without inside state-to-the-art Geo-Mesh/Grid (Steel or Geotextile) elements for stabilization to prevent yielding will have the appropriate yielding stability, bearing capacity and support modulus for the later to be laid track and to be build Railway Stations. The formation should have a support modulus of at least 20 MPa/m².

Problematical could be also the stiffness transitions (abrupt change of the vertical stiffness) between soft embankment strata and hard open-deck concrete bridges at the numerous abutments.

The costly 26 km rail-extension project might come finally to at least 25-30 Million US Dollar per kilometer track-route (overall Project Costs of about 500 to 600 mio. US $), and it will become a big financial burden for the country.

To read more, download:Matara-Beliatta Railway Extension Project

GLOBAL TRENDS IN TRACK TECHNOLOGIES AND FAST PACED CONSTRUCTION

Published on: by Chaminda Weerawarna Category:Rail Track Engineering

The Institution of Permanent Way Engineers (India) has called for papers for the forthcoming International Technical Seminar of I.P.W.E. (India) with the Topic Global Trends in Track Technologies and Fast Paced Construction, held 20th July, 2017, Venue: Plenary Hall, Vigyan Bhawan, Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi-110003.   Presentations by foreign Experts, Consultants, the Trade, Industry and other stake holders have been welcomed.

The following Technical Railway Paper is a contribution for the discussion.

The global trend in Rail Track Technology is governed and ruled by Overall Life-Cycle Costs Considerations. The demand is to bring Initial High Track Quality on the Rail Roads. World Class Designs, Specification and Standards for High Track Quality are already well known amongst Indian Track Engineering Experts.

Track Quality starts with well bearing Substructure Constituents and with Drainage. A Track is as good as what is underneath and how Water can be taken out and kept away from the Track Bed.

High Track Quality is achieved through the deployment of Heavy-Duty On-Track Machinery. In the last decade many Innovations in Heavy-Duty Track Machineries have been achieved, as revealed at the last International Exhibition iaf, held at Münster, Germany, May 30th to June 01st 2017. Together with Mr. J.S. Mundrey the author had the privilege to attend this top class event.

Many Railways make nowadays use of the benefits of Elastic Under-Sleeper Pads laced on the sole of Concrete Sleepers. The “fit-and-forget” Pandrol Fast-Clip System is superseding worldwide the Pandrol-Type Elastic Rail Fastenings.

Long milled and factory Flash-Butt welded long Rail Panels of High Steel Quality  are prerequisites for higher Speed and make Ultrasonic Testing on Rail Tracks superfluous. In-service failures of Rail Welds can be reduced by robotic Flash-But Welding of long Rail Panels at site. Well supervised proper handling, loading, transport and unloading are essential.

Fiber reinforced Foamed Polyurethane (FFU) has become on several Railways an innovative substitute for timber, where the elastic properties, easy processing and lower weight of Wooden Sleepers are still needed as on bridges, on stiffness-transitions and for tailor made Switches and Crossings.

Turnouts/Switches are the main cost-drivers. The Manufacturer Shwihag and Vossloh are the front-runners in innovative Turnout/Switch Technology resulting in lower maintenance costs.

Friction Management on curvatures include Rail-Profiling achieved by Target Rail Grinding and running Rail Corner Lubrication and/or Top-of-Rail Lubrication.

The Life-Span of Rails is increased by preventive Rail Grinding. With high tractive force Traction through three phase asynchronous AC traction-motors (IGTB Technology) Rail Head-Check Problems are on increase. In order to prevent the growth of rail-surface defects to become cracks in the rails, the global trend is to grind as a counter-measurement the rails in intervals (Preventive Grinding) with Heavy-Duty On-Track Machinery.

Modern Railways prepare a Status Report of the Conditions of their full network with regard to their assets behavior in order to provide correlations with output quantities and the required financial recourses for reinvestment of assets and infrastructure and in maintenance. Such an audit informs how healthy and excellent the system is and behaves.

Modern Railways shift from reactive to proactive Track Maintenance Strategies under Overall Life-Cycle Costs Considerations making use of Train based in-Service Monitoring for Target Planning of Maintenance.

Condition Monitoring, predictive Maintenance Strategies, Target Planning of Maintenance and proactive Maintenance are changing the way in which increasingly busy modern Railways are managed around the globe. With more Sensors fitted to both rolling stocks and infrastructure assets, the key challenge is turning the data into insights, that will support improved reliability and availability.

To read more download: GLOBAL TRENDS IN TRACK TECHNOLOGIES

RISK-BALANCE MODEL – a STRATEGY TO MANAGE SAFETY AND RISKS IN RAILWAYS

Published on: by Chaminda Weerawarna Category:Safety & Risk Management

 The recent increased spate of killed and injured Train Passenger in unwanted nasty Train Disasters in India is alarming.

A German Safety Expert recently stated that he differently knows none country around the globe than India, from where so many nasty Railway Accidents with such high mortality rates could be reported.

An underlying factor of the causeway to Derailment-Disasters of high mortality rates is zhe insufficient track quality on many routes

 RISK is the product of probability that an incident will occur, the impact that it will have and the harm it produces.

In traffic environment, Risk cannot be reduced to ZERO. There is nothing in this technical world around the globe, which might be safe to fail. The “ZERO ATTITUDE” is illusory. It is not possible to bring the likelihood of the occurrence of unwanted bad incidents to zero. In a balanced way, the likelihood of bad incidents should be reduced, impacts of the incidents should be mitigated, and the harm, the incidents produce, should be damped as far as possible.

About 40 to 42% of the Train Accidents in India are associated with the elements of Human Error, Fallibility, Malfunction, Laps and Slips. And about 46 % of the Train Accidents are associated with Train-Derailments, latter mostly due to in-service failures of rolling stocks and track-components.

The RISK of fatal Train-Derailments on Indian Railways is unacceptable high!

The impact and produced harm of the prevailing risky conditions, of a far reaching history, – the present high rate of killed and injured Train-Passengers in unwanted nasty Train Accidents/Disasters – are not acceptable!

The Ultimate Goal for IR should be to bring down as far as possible the rate of killed and injured train-passengers in Train-Disasters.

In the last decades, India has squeezed increasing capacity out of the rail network without answering the increased strain and stress on the rail-roads with adequate increase of capital investment in track repairs, maintenance, strengthening, upgrading, rectifying and renewal. The unbalance or mis-match between traffic-load and investments has resulted in increasing in-service failures of track-components and hence resulted in increased risks of nasty and unwanted derailment-disasters with high mortality rates.

The UNDERFUNDING is a PREVAILING LATENT UNSAFE CONDITION or LATENT FAILURE within the ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEM INDIAN RAILWAYS (see J. Reason Doctrines), from where the fatal derailment-disasters arise, or which promote/produce the unwanted and nasty derailment-disasters with high mortality rates. In the light of the James Reason doctrines, fatal derailment-disasters are “ACCIDENTS IN WAITING”.

Hence, the recent fatal DERAILMENT-DISASTERS are the outcome of ORGANIZATIONAL FAILURES, for which the Government and the Management are responsible. According James Reason, Safety Management is essentially an organizational control problem.

Even today the political leadership and organizational management is much more focused on pushing faster and more luxury trains on the current rail grid than to look on the quality and capacity of the rail tracks.

The spate of recent DERAILMENT-DISASTERS indicates, that the technical organisation INDIAN RAILWAYS has failed to keep all its rail-tracks on a high quality level matching with the increasing traffic load they have to carry, and hence with the increasing stress and strain the traffic load exerts. According the metaphors of James Reason the mischief’s and unhappy endings have to be categorised therefore as ORGANIZATIONAL ACCIDENTS (ORGAX).

A successful drive to improve operational Safety through technological upgrades in order to enhance safety and minimize risk demands massive Capital Investment Schemes with long-term certainty. This has to be on the top agenda.

The priority for this Ultimate Goal should rank higher than the deployment of High-Speed on dedicated routes or Semi High-Speed in combination with an increase of axle-load under a mixed traffic-regime/scheme on selected routes of conventional infrastructure.

The Risk-Balance Model renders in Railways a strategy to manage Safety and Risks on an acceptable level as low as reasonably.

To read more download:
RISK BALANCE MODEL

CHALLENGE TO INCREASE ROUTE TRANSPORT-CAPACITY AND TO CUT JOURNEY-TIME ON INDIAN RAILWAYS

Published on: by Chaminda Weerawarna Category:Safety & Risk Management Comment

With the topic of the International Technical IPWE Seminar, held 12&13th January 2017 at Mumbai:

“Challenges in Design and Maintenance of Track under Mixed Traffic Regime of Semi High-Speed and heavy Axle-Load”

an invitation to the ingenuity of Indian`s Track Experts had been launched to come forward with technical solutions, how the different track-structure requirements for Freight-Train Axle-Load Increase and Passenger-Train Speed Increase can be compiled and how this ambiguous programme can be technically achieved on India`s busy rail-corridors.

Between the lines of some presented Technical Papers, one can read that some experts are NOT so happy with the ambiguous concept of a compiled programme to increase the Axle-Load of Freight-Trains up to 25 t under a “Mixed Traffic-Regime” on on-and-the-same-route of Indian Railway`s conventional track structures simultaneously with the deployment of higher Speed Passenger-Trains running up to 160 kmph.

Measurements to improve operational flexibility without simultaneous Axle-Load and Train-Speed Increase are not yet fully out-bidden. There is still room on IR to increase the transport-capacity and to reduce the journey-time of passenger-trains between major cities, resp. to speed up intercity-links, before IR has to push ahead for a MIXED TRAFFIC-REGIME with higher Axle-Load simultaneously with Semi High-Speed – a costly SIMULTANEOUS PROGRAMME, the implementation of it will become long-term highly Capital-Investment intensive.

The question, Semi High-Speed YES or NOT on India`s busy corridors, is not under dispute. It is disputed, if it is prudent to combine on India`s busy rail-corridors Freight-Train Axle-Load Increase with the Passenger-Train Speed Increase. The message is to increase Train-Speed gradually without simultaneous Axle-Load Increase.

To read more, download:
INCREASE OF ROUTE CAPACITY .pdf

SOME DEMANDS FOR A MIXED TRAFFIC SCHEME WITH HIGHER AXLE-LOAD FREIGHT-TRAINS PLUS SEMI HIGH-SPEED PASSENGER-TRAINS IN INDIA

Published on: by Chaminda Weerawarna Category:Rail Track Engineering

“Challenges in Design and Maintenance of Track under Mixed Traffic Regime of Semi High-Speed and heavy Axle-Load”

had been the topic of the International Technical IPWE Seminar held 12th & 13th January 2017 at Mumbai. The topic is an appeal to the ingenuity and skills of Indian Track Engineers and Experts to make tracks fit to match with the increasing strain and stress exerted by an increased Axle-Load of Freight-Trains up to 25 t running under a mixed Traffic Scheme on the same route together with Passenger-Trains of different Speed-Profiles, of 80 to 110 kmph speed-band and of 130 to 160 kmph speed-band, latter for so-called “Semi High-Speed Trains”.

For such a “Mixed Traffic Scheme” the additional demands on Track & Rolling Stock Technologies, Logistics, Infrastructures, Assets, Signalling Systems, Maintenance-Strategies and on Certainty for Long-Term Capital Investment-Schemes are exorbitant high.

On its network, Indian Railways have a huge backlog in maintenance and safety related rectifying works.

The possibilities and methods to increase the freight transport capacity and to shorten the journey time for train-passengers in the Axle-Load Range of 16 to 21.5 t and in the Speed Band of 80 to 130 kmph are not completely outbidden yet.

Considering the fact

that under the constraints of capital investments, allocated funds, financial recourses and under logistic/organizational bottlenecks, Indian Railways have to struggle hard to keep its rail network in sound condition in order to keep low the number of killed and injured train-passengers in unwanted nasty Derailment-Disasters (since 2014 on increase) due to in-service failures of Rolling Stocks, Tracks and Infrastructures,

  • see Technical Papers HOW MUCH SAFETY ON INDIAN RAILWAYS, PART I, II & III and INDIAN RAILWAYS ON A RISKY COURSE, free for download from the website: http://www.drwingler.com <>

it might be more prudent first of all to increase the transport- and route-capacity and to shorten the station to station journey time by upgrading and enhancement of Traffic Management, Logistics, Infrastructures, Assets, Track-Layouts, by deployment of modern state-of-the-art Signalling Systems with Automatic Train Protection and by deployment of faster accelerating and track friendlier Light Weight Multiple Unites –  without increasing the Axle-Load for Freight Trains and introducing additional “Semi High-Speed” Trains.

 

To know more, download:
Demands for Mixed Traffic Scheme

 

 

Demand for Attendance-free “fit-and-forget” Rail-Fastening on envisaged Indian Railway`s “Semi High-Speed” Routes – Pandrol Fast-Clip an advisable Solution

Published on: by Chaminda Weerawarna Category:Safety & Risk Management, Uncategorized

Indian Railways is fastening the Rails on Concrete Sleepers over its entire network with the so-called MARK III Elastic Rail Clip (ERC), which had been evolved with a modified spatial bend by RDSO from the left-handed Pandrol 401 Series with an anti-clockwise bend of the rod.

The MARK III ERC is far away from being “fit-and-forget”. Each and everywhere on the IR network one can detect loose or fallen off ERCs. Regular controlling by a patrolling key-man is needed to push back loose or fallen off Elastic Rail Clips into the tunnel of the shoulder plate/housing.

To increase the Speed of Passenger-Trains to 160 kmph on existing Routes is a long-term corporate objective in India based on policy initiative. The risk of patrolling key-men on duty increases over-linear with the train-speed. Rails on tracks envisaged for 160 kmph “Semi High-Speed” routes demand a “fit-and-forget” attendance-free Fastening System without the regular need of a patrolling key-man pushing back loose or fallen off Elastic Rail Clips (ERC).

Worldwide the Pandrol Fast-Clips are increasingly superseding the right-handed Pandrol Brand e-Clips resp. left-handed 400 Series Clips. This Fast-Clip takes a trumped around the globe especially in England, Germany, France, Poland, Sweden, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Russia, Serbia, Hungary, Corsica, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Malaysia, Saudis, Australia, China and USA.

With Fast-Clips no patrolling key-man will be needed. This ERC is an advisable solution when it comes to a track renewal or upgrade for envisaged “Semi High-Speed” routes.

 

To read more download:
RAILFASTENING DEMANDS

HOW MUCH SAFETY ON INDIAN RAILWAYS?, PART III

Published on: by Chaminda Weerawarna Category:Safety & Risk Management

“PROACTIVE MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES AND LIFE CYCLE COST MANAGEMENT” had been the topics of the 20th International Convention: OPTIMIZING THE WHEEL/RAIL-SYSTEM – TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS FOR SAFETY, COST-EFFICIENCY AND RELIABILITY – , held at Salzburg, Austria from 15-17th September 2015 by the Österreichische Verkehrswissenschaftliche Gesellschaft, ÖVG. The author together with Mr. J.S. Mundrey, Consultant in Track Technology and formerly Advisor Civil Engineering, Railway Board, had the privilege, sponsored by Plasser&Theurer, to participate at this top level Track Technology Convention.

The lessons learned, prompted the author to elaborate a Preface to Chapter 11, Track Maintenance, of the drafts of J.S. Mundrey for the forthcoming 5th  edition of his handbook RAILWAY TRACK ENGINEERING – see page 360ff of the private edition INDIAN RAILWAY TRACKS – a TRACK ENGINEERING COMPENDIUM, free for download from this website under the rubric PUBLICATIONS. Excerpts one can find on the download below.

Mr. J. S. Mundrey of Rail Consult India processed the topics and the messages of the ÖVG Convention in his technical Paper “REACTIVE TO PROACTIVE APPROACH TO TRACK MAINTENANCE ON INDIAN RAILWAYS”, presented in Session I of the IPWE International Technical Seminar held on 12th & 13th January 2017 at Mumbai, as can be found on the download below.

Nasty Derailment Disasters with killed and injured train-passengers are frequent on Indian Railway`s network. Since 2014 the fatal Derailment- Disasters and the number of killed and injured train-passengers are on increase; see the technical papers “HOW MUCH SAFETY ON INDIAN RAILWAYS”, Part I and II,  and “INDIAN RAILWAYS ON A RISKY COURSE”, free for download from this website.

On HIGH QUALITY RAIL TRACKS of European Railways there are no fatal Derailment Disasters with killed or injured train-passengers. What are a HIGH QUALITY RAIL TRACKS had been defined by Prof. P. Veith and Dr. B. Lichtberger, Austria, amongst others; see Technical Papers of this website.

PROACTIVE MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES in optimizing rail-roads are nowadays a tool of Modern Railways to achieve long-term High Track Quality, Safety, Reliability and Cost-Efficiency. To achieve High Quality HEAVY-DUTY ON-TRACK MACHINERIES and modern TRACK RECORDING CARS, EQUIPMENTS and DEVICES are needed.

 

To learn more, download:
HOW MUCH SAFETY ON INDIAN RAILWAYS, PART III