Identifying the factors influencing track degradation on the UK rail network

As trains traverse track, the smoothness of its vertical geometry decreases. This degradation is linked to many interrelated factors, making it difficult to identify the primary causes. Through the use of multiple layer analysis, each factor was individuated and nonparametric hypothesis tests utilis...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Clarke, S., Prescott, Darren
Format: Conference or Workshop Item
Published: 2017
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41575/
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author Clarke, S.
Prescott, Darren
author_facet Clarke, S.
Prescott, Darren
author_sort Clarke, S.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description As trains traverse track, the smoothness of its vertical geometry decreases. This degradation is linked to many interrelated factors, making it difficult to identify the primary causes. Through the use of multiple layer analysis, each factor was individuated and nonparametric hypothesis tests utilised. These showed that speed, sleepers and rail joint type have the largest impact on degradation rate. Rail type was seen to be less important than discussed in the literature. The impact of bedrock was more dependent on porosity than stiffness. The importance of minimising fines in the ballast was shown by the negative effect of dirty traffic.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:45:53Z
format Conference or Workshop Item
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institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:45:53Z
publishDate 2017
recordtype eprints
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spelling nottingham-415752020-05-04T18:43:04Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41575/ Identifying the factors influencing track degradation on the UK rail network Clarke, S. Prescott, Darren As trains traverse track, the smoothness of its vertical geometry decreases. This degradation is linked to many interrelated factors, making it difficult to identify the primary causes. Through the use of multiple layer analysis, each factor was individuated and nonparametric hypothesis tests utilised. These showed that speed, sleepers and rail joint type have the largest impact on degradation rate. Rail type was seen to be less important than discussed in the literature. The impact of bedrock was more dependent on porosity than stiffness. The importance of minimising fines in the ballast was shown by the negative effect of dirty traffic. 2017-04-25 Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed Clarke, S. and Prescott, Darren (2017) Identifying the factors influencing track degradation on the UK rail network. In: Stephenson Conference : Research for Railways, 25th-27th April 2017, London, United Kingdom. (Unpublished)
spellingShingle Clarke, S.
Prescott, Darren
Identifying the factors influencing track degradation on the UK rail network
title Identifying the factors influencing track degradation on the UK rail network
title_full Identifying the factors influencing track degradation on the UK rail network
title_fullStr Identifying the factors influencing track degradation on the UK rail network
title_full_unstemmed Identifying the factors influencing track degradation on the UK rail network
title_short Identifying the factors influencing track degradation on the UK rail network
title_sort identifying the factors influencing track degradation on the uk rail network
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41575/