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Climate-Resilient Railway Sleepers to Mitigate Track Buckling Risk

Objective

As global temperatures continue to rise due to climate change, the railway industry faces an important challenge: track buckling. Railway tracks, made of steel rail sections welded together and placed on sleepers, are susceptible to thermal expansion during hot weather, leading to dangerous track shifting. Such buckling not only poses a significant safety hazard , and causes train derailments , but also disrupts transportation networks, resulting in substantial delays. For example, recent surges in heatwaves across Europe in 2022 led to widespread buckling-induced service cancellations. Considering climate change projections show that future temperature changes will be geographically dependent (e.g. North vs South Europe), buckling risk will differ depending upon geographical location. This is important because buckling resistance is heavily influenced by the track sleepers, which although designed to last >120 years, do not consider future climate changes in their design. To address this, CRRS will develop a novel railway sleeper design method that reduces track buckle risk compared to traditional approaches. This will be achieved by applying a novel recycled rubber coating to sleepers to increase surface friction, while also designing sleeper geometry to meet expected thermal climate changes in the geographical region it will be installed.

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 260 347,92
Address
WOODHOUSE LANE
LS2 9JT Leeds
United Kingdom

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Region
Yorkshire and the Humber West Yorkshire Leeds
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

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