MorePosted on 20 August 2009 by Railways Africa Editor
It is reported that the Channel Tunnel between England and France is the most heavily used railway line in Europe, with annual traffic of more than 100 million tons. The heavy traffic causes rapid degradation of the rails, both in the tunnel and in the terminal loops. Studies initiated by Corus with its bainitic and MHH extra-hard heat-treated rails are aimed at increasing their life by 50%.
Eurotunnel encounters two types of problem related to rail wear. Firstly, in the tunnel, rails are affected by cracks (fatigue defects), which oblige the operator to regrind them regularly and replace them completely after 650 million tons of traffic – about every six years. Secondly, the rails in the terminal loops in France and England wear extremely rapidly because of the small radius of the track curve (between 300 and 500 metres). These lines are used by shuttles turning around to return through the tunnel in the opposite direction.
Wouldn't it have been simpler to reverse the shuttles at the terminals instead of putting in loops?