STRAIL is seeking to improve safety in tunnels for maintenance teams and emergency egresses with its rubberised track crossings.
Phoenix has been managing Kraiburg STRAIL’s rubberised crossing systems for level crossings across Australia and New Zealand for almost 35 years, now it’s expanding to support the region’s growing tunnel industry.
The organisation is working closely with KiwiRail on the City Rail Link project to ensure emergency egresses are as safe as possible.
Director and civil engineer Andrew Roseman said that tunnels have parallel walkways that can be accessed by maintenance workers or passengers in the instance of an emergency.
“In set locations along the tunnel, our rubber crossings are placed to allow users to safely cross the track,” he said.
“It is pretty simple; it stops people tripping over the track in what is often an emergency situation.”
Roseman said the company’s experience across level crossings in Australia and New Zealand means it is better prepared to support these exciting new projects – level crossings installed across Australia in the early 2000s are still in operation today.
“I think the organisations we work with are confident with our offering based on the work we have done previously,” he said.
“Our products have been tested to European standards and our track crossing systems have been rolled out across a number of tunnels around the world.”
How it works
Trains are a critical transport option for people with disabilities. However, when evacuating a train a wheelchair user will be unable to get over the tracks. That’s where STRAIL’s level crossing systems come into play. The track crossing system is designed to make access within tunnels as safe as possible. Phoenix works with designers to understand where it’s best placed.
“The rail is also a tripping hazard for people trying to get out in an emergency or for workers. Installing this system makes it safer,” Roseman said.
“The rubber used in the STRAIL system is anti-slip, making it safer for those who walk across and use it,” he said.
STRAIL is developed in Germany and is customisable to suit the needs of individual networks. It’s been installed across multiple gauges and even on tracks with dual gauge or gauntlet track.
“Even if the tunnel has different widths throughout, we can find a rubber solution that can fit that specific part of the network,” Roseman said.
The STRAIL level crossing system is made of recycled rubber core and is encased in a fire-retardant material to allow it to withstand high heat and the lowest smoke emission standards, adding to its safety credentials for tunnel applications.
Roseman said the products have tested to European industry standards for fire classification, as well as ASTM (formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials).
While the STRAIL level crossing system allows tunnels to be safer for those exiting or in an emergency, it can also be used to enhance hi-rail access for maintenance teams and emergency vehicles.
“We have been progressively installing hi-rail pads across Melbourne’s network and are beginning to roll it out in other states as well,” Roseman said. “Now the network has safe and controlled access points to get on and off the track with minimal need for costly traffic management.”
The pads are simple to remove to allow maintenance works to be completed on the rail. They can be pulled out to allow tamping machines and track inspections along the network.
Aside from the safety aspect, the system is also a win for sustainability, Roseman said.
“When asphalt is used it has to be removed and then more asphalt installed after track maintenance work is completed,” he said.
“An operator may hold back its maintenance in these areas so it does not have to remove the asphalt, whereas the rubber pads can be taken out easily and reinstalled quickly, also minimising shutdown time for a network.”
STRAIL has also developed noise walls along tunnels. These noise walls are used to minimise sound pollution in the tunnel to make the journey more pleasurable for passengers.
“It not only makes the noise more bearable for passengers, it minimises noise and vibrations making its way into the ground around the tunnel which can potentially damage infrastructure and buildings nearby.”
Working with stakeholders
Phoenix has worked closely with KiwiRail and Auckland CRL to help deliver this project. Roseman said that the company worked closely with engineers to provide solutions for the track crossings.
“What these tunnels needed was quite unique and we hadn’t provided rubber crossings for something like this before,” he said. “We worked with the engineers to find a way to deliver a system that would work for its specific needs. The engineers saw the work we had done on other tunnels and appreciated the experience we had would be beneficial in setting up this system.”
Roseman said these relationships were beneficial as a level of trust had already been established.
“We provide technical assistance on site as well, particularly with these bespoke installations. This, I believe, is the benefit of the work that we do.
“We are engineers first, so we have the technical expertise in construction to help deliver these massive infrastructure projects.”
Roseman said the team at Phoenix has an appreciation for the challenges Australia’s rail industry faces. The many gauges operating across the country and different operating systems can create headaches but the organisation has worked to manage these complexities.
“Some of the tracks are over 100 years old and with different sleeper profiles it can introduce huge amounts of variability,” he said.
“This is where our experience as engineers and working across a range of networks becomes invaluable. Coupled with the international experience STRAIL provides from its base in Germany supplying rubberised level crossings since 1976, we have that maturity and understanding required.
“We have worked across the country, including from the Pilbara, putting our rubberised crossings in some of the harshest environments and they have stood up to those challenges.
“We can really say we continue to be leaders in this space, working from heavy haul through to tunnels and everything in between.
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