Network Rail reviewing use of steel sleepers

[LWB]

I have been waiting for someone to pick up on this line from the RAIB report on the Gloucester derailment. This was caused in part by (so I understand) the difficulty of packing under the hollow sleepers in order to re-establish top without recourse to stone blowers I would have thought that this was a major reversal - or am I wrong?

 

[edwin_m]

The report says Railtrack standardised on steel sleepers for secondary routes, but some secondary routes carry heavy freight so they took something of a pounding. Didn't the Settle and Carlisle suffer this too?

 

[Ploughman]

When doing some relay work between Skipton and Hellifield a few years back, the policy was Up line Concrete and Down line Steel due to Loaded and Empty trains.
Has this backfired on NWR?

 

[Pumbaa]

Nothing new. Been fairly common knowledge for a while now. One job going in for Christmas was almost scotched last minute by a change from steel to concrete.

 

[Trog]

Nothing wrong with steel sleepers if used in the right place. That being a minor line with light traffic, and the sleepers being installed on decent ballast.

 

[krus_aragon]

I've cast a brief eye over the report. The difficulty of repairing the ballast formation under steel sleepers was mentioned: shovel-packing isn't practical, and neither is stoneblowing. Given these inconveniences, what are the advantages of steel sleepers? I assume lower cost is one...

 

[edwin_m]

The only one I can think of is that they stack inside one another so are easier to transport than concrete.

 

[Trog]

I've cast a brief eye over the report. The difficulty of repairing the ballast formation under steel sleepers was mentioned: shovel-packing isn't practical, and neither is stoneblowing. Given these inconveniences, what are the advantages of steel sleepers? I assume lower cost is one...

The advantages of steel sleepers are that the overall cost per yard of relaying is reduced, in that although the sleepers themselves are dearer than concrete. By installing them you save the cost of re-ballasting, as they sit on top of the old crib ballast, so you get 5" more ballast for no expenditure. They are also quick to lay which is another reason they are cheap per yard, this can also be useful if you need to get a lot of relaying done quickly on a line with restricted access.