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Elasto Ballast Track Slab is the new standard for modern rail ballast track

In August 2008, the Hungarian Government approved the 100 million Euro upgrade to the Szeged electric tram public transport network. Upgrades included the rehabilitation of 18.3km of tram track and the construction of 4.8km of new tram track.

The tram lines were originally designed with a traditional rail pad system, however, concerns over durability, costs, stray current and construction time resulted in the contractor (SzKT) ordering the designs changed to a synthetic fiber reinforced track slab system, making it the first project of its kind in Europe.

Fiber testing at the University of Budapest showed that BarChip fiber was the highest performing synthetic fiber available, and that the performance of 5kg/m3 of BarChip was equivalent to 55kg/m3 of steel fiber.

SzKT worked closely with Barchip on the design to maximise both the performance and durability of the track slab met and exceeded all of the design life requirements.

The design used for the Szeged tram lines are usable in all types of flexible supported tracks and traditional superstructures. The structures can be built with BarChip synthetic fiber reinforcement with any type of pavement, traffic volumes and road traffic up to 10-11t permissible axle load.

Fill in the form below to download the paper this blog post is based upon “The Beginning: The Tramway in Szeged”

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