ABSTRACT
Simultaneously with the development of CWR new possibilities have been searched to create competitive and sustainable railway tracks. A good alternative for classical ballasted tracks were found to be the slab tracks. Its main advantage is the reduction of the railway track life cycle costs. In slab tracks the durability of the small steel parts of the fastenings is longer. Also, thanks to the rigid substructure the track gauge doesn’t change in time, which significantly saves maintenance costs. This is especially suitable for construction of HSR. Slab tracks also allow reduction of substructure construction height, which is convenient especially when considering railway bridges. Higher lateral stiffness prevents the slab track from buckling. Unfortunately the initial costs related to newly built slab tracks are much higher in comparison with traditional ballasted tracks. Ballastless tracks generally consist of CWR directly fastened to in-situ poured or precast concrete slab, or a steel bridge deck plate. The most frequently used slab track type in Europe is the system Rheda 2000 using the Vossloh DFF 300 direct fastening system.
