TRACK AND SIGNALLING
The next
heffield’s Supertram service is undergoing work to replace worn tracks, after more than 20 years of use.
With no re-railing, “a substantial part of the system” would have had to be closed down in summer 2013 because of the risk of derailments on the embedded track sections, which form just over half of the whole network.
The Department for Transport has recently announced £5m of funding towards the replacement, which South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) described as “very helpful”. It has calculated the monetised benefits of the rail replacement scheme at £220m (in 2010 prices), compared to a cost of around £23.6m.
Making the announcement at the beginning of December, transport minister Baroness Kramer said: “An efficient and reliable transport system is critical to any city. The Sheffield Supertram network is an important local feature: it contributes significantly to the growth of the local economy and provides reliable and frequent links to many of the key employment, regeneration and development areas in Sheffield.”
twenty years S
The DfT is part-funding Sheffield’s Supertram track replacement, Baroness Kramer has announced. David Young, deputy interim director general of SYPTE, speaks to RTM.
Several alternative measures to extend rail life without full replacement were considered but rejected as “not practical or economic”, SYPTE said, including gauge corner welding, rail head welding, and groove grinding.
SYPTE’s deputy interim director general, David Young, talked to RTM about the scheme, and how minimising disruption was the number one consideration throughout the works.
20 years on
The first contract for the replacement was completed by contractor VolkerRail in autumn 2013, during which 5,450m of track was replaced. This £3.9m contract was for the ‘urgent works’. The second phase, worth about £10.5m, is due to begin in the spring, with the entire programme involving the replacement of 13.5km of life expired rail.
The bid document for the DfT Local Pinch Point funding explains: “This bid refers to the renewal of ‘embedded track’ on the system. This embedded track is made up of a grooved rail held in a slot in a reinforced concrete track slab by a polymer.
The grooved rails have worn vertically on the rail head and horizontally on the rail head and keeper. As a result of wear, cracks have started to appear in some areas. If left unattended this would at some point lead to the derailment of a tram.”
Young said: “After 20 years the embedded sections of the tram track are beginning to wear out, particularly on the track with more significant gradient or curvature, or those that have got both heavy curvature and gradient.”
The original rails, installed over 20 years ago, have worn out sooner than expected he said, adding that while there has been some
60 | rail technology magazine Dec/Jan 14
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