ON DISPLAY at the Mena Rail event in Dubai in December was a slab track design developed by two German companies, Naumburger Bauunion and ThyssenKrupp GfT Gleistechnik. The suppliers said that NBU track was suitable for speeds of up to 220 km/h and also for light rail projects.
The NBU track uses a continuously cast reinforced concrete slab which is poured over a hydraulic setting layer with joints every 5m; this in turn rests on a layer of frost protection material.
The slab is laid with a special fabricator shaped to leave four channels to accommodate the support fastenings to which resilient rail pads are attached. Rails delivered in 120m lengths with support fastenings attached are adjusted to their final position before a jointing compound is poured into the channels. Krupp elastic compact rail fasteners, which can be adjusted vertically and laterally, are then fixed to the slab. A production rate of 400m to 500m in an 8h shift is indicated.
A test installation exists on the premises of Naumburger Bauunion, and there is a proposal to install a section at the Siemens test centre at Wegberg-Wildenrath. Following tests at München University, approval for use on German Railway is being sought from the Federal Railway Office.
Naumburger Bauunion GmbH & Co
Reader Enquiry Number 145
