A Methodology Linking Tamping Processes and Railway Track Behaviour

Today’s railway transport is built upon high-performance infrastructure. Cost-effective yet sustainable infrastructure presumes tracks with a precise and durable geometry. At ballasted tracks, the geometry is created and restored through tamping machines, which position the track panel and compact the ballast beneath the sleepers. It is commonly agreed that the ballast compaction plays an important role in the long-term stability of the track. Yet, there is no method available which allows a direct correlation between the compactness of the ballast and the stability of the track geometry. Available studies either model track behaviour without considering the bedding, or analyse ballast compactness locally while disregarding its influence on the track geometry. This paper presents a new methodology which establishes a relation between these two topics—ballast compaction during tamping and subsequent track behaviour. A state-of-the-art tamping machine has been equipped with an experimental measurement setup, constantly recording relevant data during every tamping process. These data can be used to derive an indication for the achieved compaction under every sleeper. Utilising the tamping machine’s internal measuring system for track geometry documentation, every tamping process (every sleeper) is assigned to the precise position along the track. The data set is merged and synchronised with regular track geometry measurements of the infrastructure manager. The result is a comprehensive data set which allows precise analyses between tamping machine measurements and track behaviour. This data set provides the foundation for future research, aiming towards a better understanding of the tamping process and its influence on the quality and durability of the established track geometry.