Rail Track Fasteners

ATP/Trelleborg track fasteners for the Kowloon Southern Loop

Advanced Track Products and Trelleborg Industrial AVS have won a second major Chinese contract to supply CBP (compression base plate) track fasteners, in this case for the new Kowloon Southern Loop (KSL), which extends Hong Kong’s West Rail heavy rail line from Nam Cheong to Hung Hom.

The CBP fastener is a rugged, low-maintenance design providing moderate track stiffness in ballast-less track, together with long service life in nominal 20 ton axle applications. It improves ride quality and reduces ground and structure-borne vibration, which can cause secondary effects of noise and even structural damage in neighbouring buildings and transit tracks. The design consists of two metal components – the top plate and frame, bonded together with an elastomer, normally rubber, specially compounded to optimise overall performance.

The fasteners are installed with the rail resting on the top plate and are secured by two or four anchor bolts, which do not pierce the plane of the top plate and so the anchor bolts are isolated from the rail forces. The elastomer ensures that the rail is completely separated from its containment frame (which physically limits uplift) and provides excellent electrical insulation as well as cushioning the track.

The current phase of Hong Kong’s railway projects is designed to serve the new growth areas and meet increasing transport demand due to improved links with the mainland. KSL is one of several projects that will expand the present network by 70 per cent to 250km of track, costing some HK$80 billion at today’s prices and bringing more than 80 per cent of the total population within reach of rail services. Floating slab track is used both at stations and in tunnels to prevent vibrations being transmitted to any existing or future developments, including the 40,000 apartments that the government plans to build alongside the stations.