The track bed or trackbed is the groundwork onto which a railway track is laid. Trackbeds of disused railways are sometimes used for recreational paths or new light rail links.
According to Network Rail, the trackbed is the layers of ballast and sub-ballast above a prepared subgrade/formation (see diagram). It is designed primarily to reduce the stress on the subgrade.
Other definitions include the surface of the ballast on which the track is laid, the area left after a track has been dismantled and the ballast removed or the track formation beneath the ballast and above the natural ground.
The trackbed can significantly influence the performance of the track, especially ride quality of passenger services.
Read more about Track Bed: See Also
Famous quotes containing the words track and/or bed:
“What is the use of going right over the old track again? There is an adder in the path which your own feet have worn. You must make tracks into the Unknown.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Flash’d from his bed the electric tidings came,
He is no better, he is much the same.”
—Anonymous.
Parody of the style of poet laureate Alfred Austin (1835-1913)