Project S-Code: New Concepts Of Railway S&Cs

Within the S-CODE project (Switch and Crossing Optimal Design and Evaluation), several concepts of revolutionary switches and crossings have been designed and are being further developed. Two of those concepts, which are being dealt with in DT and BUT, have been selected for this paper. These are the concept of the Single Slender Switch and Vehicle Based Switch. The original concept of the Single Slender Switch was characterized by the use of only one moving part ("tongue") passing through the entire turnout which also fulfils the function of the movable crossing. The aim is to reduce the number of moving parts and to simplify the replacement during maintenance. However, the concept will require a more complex system of switching, as well as the solution of a number of technical problems that have not been overcome in the switch part. Nevertheless, the design of the crossing part of this concept is used for further elaboration.Vehicle Based Switch as the second concept solves the possibility of making the entire switch as a completely fixed structure without any moving parts, and the actuation device is transferred to the vehicle. This concept is characterized by very low maintenance requirements in the track thanks to the fixed switch. Two variants of the design are considered either the existing concept of the wheel with flange and rail, where a system transition phase may occur, or a completely new railway system changing the paradigm of the railway system and using an inverse system where the wheel and rail profile will be principally exchanged. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate all the interrupted areas of the running rail surface and edge, and reduce the dynamic load.