Draft Details

This Standard outlines methods to manage continuous welded rail systems used in transit and passenger railways. It focuses on identifying and mitigating factors that contribute to track buckling and rail breaks under various operating conditions with particular focus on the impact of climate change. This Standard includes practices for design, construction, operation, and maintenance of CWR systems to ensure rail stability.

1.1 Inclusions

This Standard gives guidance on the appropriate rail neutral temperature for a passenger rail system including during design, construction and management of CWR in extreme hot and cold weather events caused by climate change. This standard also applies to the management of rail breaks caused by rail in tension.

1.2 Exclusions

This Standard does not apply to the management of rail breaks for reasons other than rail in tension such as corrosion, and surface and internal rail defects. Additionally, guidance for the maintenance and inspections (e.g., ultrasonic, track geometry, visual, etc.) of rail and track to prevent rail breaks is not covered in this standard.  This Standard does not provide specific guidance on how to manage risks associated with track disturbance caused by work such as surfacing, tie replacement, or other track work.

1.3 Terminology

In this Standard, “shall” is used to express a requirement, i.e., a provision that the user is obliged to satisfy in order to comply with the standard; “should” is used to express a recommendation or that which is advised but not required; and “may” is used to express an option or that which is permissible within the limits of the Standard.

Notes accompanying clauses do not include requirements or alternative requirements; the purpose of a note accompanying a clause is to separate from the text explanatory or informative material.

Notes to tables and figures are considered part of the table or figure and may be written as requirements.

Annexes are designated normative (mandatory) or informative (non-mandatory) to define their application.

1.4 Units of measure

The values given in SI units are the units of record for the purposes of this Standard. The values given in parentheses are for information and comparison only, which includes imperial units.