ETR – Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau | Ausgabe International/2015
Use of Sylomer® under-sleeper pads to reduce ballast wear on a Scandinavian heavy-haul railway line
The heavy-haul railway line between Luleå and Narvik can conveniently be considered in two parts: the Swedish section (Malmbanan) and the Norwegian section (Ofotbanen). This line has been carrying continuously increasing loads, and so the infrastructure manager decided in 2014 to insert under-sleeper pads as a means of improving the quality of the track geometry. This decision was influenced by the positive experience that the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) had had with the use of pads under concrete sleepers and also by projects such as Innotrack and RIVAS. This article contains a brief description of the Iron Ore Line in Scandinavia and the challenges due to heavy train loads. It also explains how under-sleeper pads work and describes the approaches tried out for switches and crossings.