Experimental study of ladder track on a rail transit elevated bridge

Ladder track is a new type of vibration-reduction track system that has been applied to several urban railways in China. A series of experiments were carried out on the ladder track installed on the trial section of an elevated bridge on the Beijing Metro Line 5. The vibration transmission behaviours of the track were tested in the lab. The track irregularities were measured and the dynamic responses were measured of rails, sleepers and bridge deck when the train running on the ladder track and the common nonballasted slab track. The data are analyzed in the time domain and the frequency domain. The experimental results show that as compared to common nonballasted track, the ladder track has good vibrationreduction characteristics.

Keywords:

rail transit , elevated bridge , ladder track , experiment , track irregularity