Analysis of automatic track inspection system output of Heavy Duty Glued Insulated Rail Joint trial sites

Glued Insulated Rail Joints (GIRJ) in modern heavy haul railways are chosen to split track circuit sections that contain continuously welded rail (CWR). The GIRJs are positioned to ensure trains are divided into safe zones, separated from other trains and are visible to Network Train Controllers through Universal Track Circuit (UTC) boards. GIRJs are a high maintenance component that have been prone to failure for many years in heavy haul railway systems due to dynamic wheel / rail contact loadings. Aurizon Pty Ltd owns and controls train movements on a heavy haul railway system in Central Queensland and this railway has an approximately 2,700km of railway track assets which include the maintenance and renewal of thousands of GIRJs. Thermit Australia Pty Ltd has designed a new Heavy Duty Glued Insulated Joint bar (HD GIRJ) that is designed to strengthen and improve upon existing glued insulated rail joints for heavy railway applications and these joint bars have an additional section of strengthened steel across the centre structure of the two joint bars. These new heavy duty joint bars have been trialled within Aurizon’s Central Queensland Coal Network (CQCN) at five separate sites with a specific focus on the monitoring of the new heavier joint bar design comparing performance limitations against the existing older thinner standard joint bar which has been installed at the same location on the adjacent rail to the HD GIRJ. The objective was to compare differences in deflecting behaviour due to wheel / rail cyclic loadings of two different GIRJ designs and ensure appropriateness of design to a modern heavy haul railway. This paper is intended to show the comparable differences of how both types of joints deflect under the loading of train wheels from data obtained from three of the five trial sites using Aurizon’s track geometry measuring system which is an innovation titled Automated Track Inspection System (ATIS).