The conventional ballast track needs to be improved and replaced due to the rapid degradation of the track. While operating the conventional line, the track structure needs to be rapidly improved and constructed in a narrow restricted tunnel space during railway blockade time. Therefore, the precast slab track of discrete panel supporting rapid construction was developed, and analysis and performance tests were conducted. In this study, vehicle track interaction analysis was performed to evaluate the behavior that may occur in the transition of the ballast track and the slab track in the field and to evaluate the safety of the structure during the train operation. In addition, to verify the performance of the prefabricated slab under the load of the train and its applicability to the actual operating line, a load test was performed on the assembly test body consisting of precast panels, rails, and panel-discretely supporting elastic rubber. The results of the test indicated that the rails and panels of the assembled test body satisfied the required performance test and secured structural safety.

In Korea, a precast floating track with anti-vibration isolators was recently developed to reduce the vibration and noise in urban railway stations, without disrupting train operations. This precast floating slab track is a newly developed structure and differs from existing conventional slab tracks. In this study, a Finite Element Method program (MIDAS CIVIL 2019) was used to analyze the load-carrying ability of structures under the train axle loads. After finishing the design, to understand more precisely about load transfer efficiency of this type of track, an assembly test (two load cases) was conducted with three precast panels (with rail 60 K mounted on) and compared with Finite Element Analysis results. The final results satisfied the test standards in Korea, which confirms that the precast floating track has an acceptable safety factor and structural behavior.

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Recently, precast slab tracks have been used widely in railway applications, especially in conventional urban railway lines. These types of tracks are rapidly constructed and limit interruptions to train operation. However, the problems of dynamic stability when the trains run on the discontinuous type of tracks must be seriously considered. This paper focuses on analyzing the train-track interaction in two types of tracks under the dynamic load by using the numerical analysis program (APATSI) to evaluate the structural response as well as the running safety to precisely understand the load transfer efficiency of precast slab track systems.

To reduce railway vibration, prefabricated precast floating track along with an isolator for reducing vibration and noise was recently developed in Korea by removing existing gravel tracks within the required time without disturbing railway operations for station on the track, station below the track, and underground station sections. This study verifies the structural performance of the prefabricated precast floating track. To this end, three precast slab track panels with friction-type vibration isolators were fastened with rails for static and dynamic tests, and fatigue tests were conducted on one panel. The test results indicated that the rails and panels of the three-panel assembly test specimens satisfied the required performance. The floating track is considered to have sufficient structural safety.