GENERAL CONCEPTS OF RAIL

TRANSPORT

Student: Katherine Molina

Teacher: Patricio Tapia
 WHAT IS RAIL TRANSPORT?

Is a mode of land transport.

Is constituted by two parallel steel bars.

The first type of railroad operated with coal.

Today the most advanced work is the electric

one.
 RAILROAD TRACK
Transport infrastructure consisting of two specialized steel profiles
(rails) and the elements that support it:
Sleepers

ballast

On the rails they support the wheels of the vehicles.

 RAILS

The parallel steel bars of variable length.

Its function is to be the support and guide of trains.
It is a reinforced steel element that consists of the following parts:

Head

Soul

Base
 SLEEPERS
They are elements that are placed in a direction transverse to
the axis of the track.

Their purpose is to provide the rail with adequate support.

The sleepers are separated a distance that varies between 55

to 60 cm according to the track.

Can be composed of the following materials:

Wood

Prestressed concrete
Metallic (they are in disuse).
 BALLAST AND TRACK WIDTH
BALLAST: Is the base of the railroad tracks and is composed of
coarse aggregates (gravel) that provide good soil stability.

The separation between the parallel rails that form the

track. It is measured between the internal faces of the head
of the rails, a few millimeters below the support surface.

There are several types of indicators, the most common are:

narrow: 1.00 m
medium or universal: 1,435 m
width: 1,676 m
 RAILWAY VEHICLES
MOTOR MATERIAL:

LOCOMOTIVE: Vehicle equipped with steam

engine (obsolete), electric or internal combustion
(Diesel), which drags a set of coupled vehicles.
There are also those designed for the repair and
maintenance of the road.

MOTOR CAR: Vehicle to transport people with its

own motive power located in the same box.
Diesel engine car.
Electric car.
 TOWED MATERIAL: These are the vehicles that
lack their own motive power, which can only be
moved by the locomotive. According to the use,
it is divided mainly into:

Wagons

Cars

Van
 TRAIN

Group of coupled railway vehicles,

which move together. Includes the
locomotive Can form tens or hundreds
of vehicles. Exceptionally, it can be a
vehicle that only circulates (locomotive
or automobile).
 ADVANTAGES OF RAIL TRANSPORT

Large capacity
The costs of the operation are quite low.
Flexibility
Low accident rate.
Little pollutant.
Compared to road transport, it avoids the problems of traffic
congestion.
 DISADVANTAGES OF RAIL TRANSPORT

Share the railroad with the transportation of people, who are

preferred.
Low speed.
Subjected to physical restrictions of height and volumes.
Infrastructure unit.
The merchandise can only be transported to where the tracks arrive,
that is, it can not reach specific warehouses or production centers.
Need to use another transport to transfer the cargo to the storage site
or the place of operations.
 QUESTIONS

1.What are the advantages of rail

transport?
 2. How is the railroad track constituted?
 3.What are the most common widths of
railways?