Insights

Armament

Prestressed reinforced concrete sleepers

The modern sleeper is a prestressed element designed to always operate in compression. Types, prestressing, geometry, and sizing criteria according to EN…

railway equipmentEN 13230prestressingbibloc crossroads Read → World

The Mont Cenis Base Tunnel: the future longest railway tunnel in the world.

57.5 km beneath the Alps, two single-track tunnels, eight TBMs. The progress of the heart of the new Lyon-Turin line,…

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Fehmarnbelt Tunnel: World's longest submerged tube takes shape on the ocean floor

It will connect Denmark and Germany with an 18-kilometer tunnel on the Baltic Sea floor. The first of 89 73,500-ton sections…

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Ultrasound and induced currents

Ultrasound sees deep but is blind on the surface; induced currents do the exact opposite. Non-destructive rail diagnostics…

non-destructive testinginduced currentsrail diagnosticsrail defects Read → Technique

Cant: Why the outer rail is higher (and by how much)

When cornering, the outside rail is raised above the inside to compensate for centrifugal force. But you can't compensate for everything: from here...

transverse accelerationcurveEN 13803track geometry Read → Reliefs

Wheel-rail contact: from Hertz's theory to meandering

The entire weight of the train passes through a coin-sized ellipse: how the wheel-rail contact works, including Hertzian theory, forces…

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Aluminothermic welding of rails

A chemical reaction exceeding 2,400°C melts steel and welds two rails together in the field: how aluminothermic welding works, from…

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ERTMS in Italy: with the Rome–Florence line, signalling is changing.

With the activation of the Orvieto-Settebagni section, the Rome-Florence line completes its transition to ERTMS. What this means for the infrastructure, and why it directly affects those who work there...

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Digital twins and predictive track maintenance: what the 2026 research says

A 2026 scientific review takes stock of the digital twin applied to railway infrastructure: sensors, artificial intelligence, measurable benefits, and the great…

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Railway axle counter: how it works

No current on the tracks: The axle counter detects whether a section is free by counting the axles entering and exiting. How it works…

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Hangzhou Bay: The World's Longest Transmarine Rail Bridge

29.2 km above sea level at 350 km/h, with a 450 m cable-stayed span on a slab track: inside the railway bridge…

high speedHangzhou Bayplate trackChina Read → Reliefs

Railway surveys with LiDAR and drones: from point cloud to digital twin

Aerial and rail LiDAR, drones, and BIM are rewriting the way we survey a line: point clouds, shape, geometry of the…

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