October 18, 2013

€15 million project to revolutionise railway tracks

Pictured: Innovative steel-track construction prototype by Tata-Steel, 
on which the Institute of Railway Research was closely involved, 
developed from the EU-backed INNOTRACK project.

Institute of Railway Research to play key role in the CAPACITY4RAIL project to develop modular, all-steel track sections embedded with fibre optics

SINCE the advent of railways in the 1800s, tracks have been laid by fixing individual rails to individual sleepers on a bed of ballast.  Now, a team of University of Huddersfield researchers is to break with tradition and work on the development of modular, all-steel track sections that can be laid quickly and embedded with fibre optic technology, which provides instant safety alerts.  This could lead to massive cost savings and gains in efficiency.