Quadruple-track railway

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Quadruple track section of the West Coast Main Line, England

A quadruple-track railway (also known as a four-track railway) is a railway line consisting of four parallel tracks with two tracks used in each direction. Quadruple-track railways can handle large amounts of traffic, and so are used on very busy routes or sections. Such conversion is referred to as "quadruplication".

A railway line consisting of six parallel tracks, or a sextuple-track railway, consist of three tracks in each direction. The corresponding term is "sextuplication".

There are also instances of railway lines or sections with eight tracks, and cases with three or five tracks.

Advantages[]

  • Quadruple track can manage a larger amount of traffic with usually twice the capacity of double track. It is often seen around large metropolis or on busy inter-city corridors.
  • In quadruple track, faster trains can overtake slower ones, and quadrupling can contribute to faster operation of trains. High-speed rail of 200 km/h average speed and commuter rail of 40 km/h average can co-exist in quadruple track without interrupting each other.
  • It is relatively easy to do maintenance and engineering work of tracks in quadruple line with minimum effect of train delay because double-track service is kept even if the other two double tracks are halted during the work.

Disadvantages[]

  • Quadruple track costs more due to requiring more materials and increased land acquisition costs. This also applies to tunnelling and bridge costs.
  • When adding tracks, land acquisition can become prohibitively expensive.
  • Maintenance costs are higher and often more complex as there may be more switches (points) on the track than on a two-track line (to facilitate switching from outer to inner tracks and vice versa).
  • For safety, costly grade separations are almost always required.
  • If needing more capacity, it can be better to add a double track along a different route, because it could improve local and regional transit much along an under-served route, and reduce land acquisition cost by choosing a less built-up area.

Operation[]

In quadruple track, trains are sorted in various ways in order to make maximum use of track capacity. These can include one or a combination of:

  • Sorting by speed

A faster express line and a stopping local line are separated, with each having a separate pair of tracks. Construction of new double tracks dedicated to high-speed rail alongside existing conventional double track used by regional and local passenger trains and freight trains is a form of quadruple track. It increases the capacity of that route significantly, and allows for significant increases in inter-city high-speed train frequency with reduced travel times.

  • Sorting by distance

Long-distance inter-city rail and freight trains are separated from short distance commuter rail. This helps to prevent delays on one service affecting the other, and is commonly seen in metropolitan areas. Quadrupling may be necessary when a new commuter rail service begins to operate on an existing line. Sometimes the local trains have separate technology, such as electrical system or signalling, which requires strict separation, for example in Berlin or Copenhagen.

  • Sorting by destination

When a quadruple-track line divides to different destinations part way along, trains need to be sorted by their destination.

  • Sorting by passenger/ freight

Passenger trains and freight trains can be separated with each different track.

A variation of this can be found on the quadruple track section of the Main Northern line in New South Wales between Waratah and Maitland where one pair of tracks are used exclusively for coal trains and the other pair are used for passenger trains and general freight. A similar process, but with all intercity and commuter passenger trains on the outer tracks and thru-freight trains on the inner tracks, was done by the Pennsylvania Railroad on its New York–Washington and Philadelphia–Pittsburgh mainlines prior to the takeover of operations by Amtrak and Conrail (and later Norfolk Southern). This is somewhat still done to this day by NS, CSX, and Conrail Shared Assets trains on Amtrak-owned trackage in the Philadelphia area.

  • Other modes

Two separate double-track lines in proximity to each other, e.g., two double-track lines along opposite sides of a river, can operate as a quadruple track line. Examples of this can be found in Rhone in France and Rhine in Germany.

Layouts[]

As it can be seen from the pictures below in the Gallery of diagrams, the four tracks can be paired either by direction (slow and fast in each pair) or by purpose (speed or direction in each pair). Pairing by direction allows the railway to interface to a double track more easily. With fast trains in centre, local stations can be on the outside, eliminating staircases for half the passengers. With slow trains in centre or when pairing by speed there can be a common platform for local trains with one staircase and one ticket booth.

Sometimes two of the tracks go more straight and with a little distance from the two other. This is a design decision when widening a double track section, and allows higher speed on the faster tracks.

Examples[]

Europe[]

Belgium[]

Several lines radiating from Brussels are quadrupled, for instance the Ghent-Ostend line as far as Essene-Lombeek. Further quadrupling has recently been carried out as part of the development of the Brussels Regional Express Network. The building of high-speed lines has also led to quadrupling - for instance the HSL 2 high-speed line between Brussels and Cologne runs inside the local lines as far as Leuven. Meanwhile since 1934 Brussels and Antwerp have been connected by two separate pairs of double track. Fast trains normally use line 25, while line 27 serves slow trains. In places they run parallel, but at times diverge and cross over each other.

Denmark[]

There are two places in Denmark with four tracks:

  • Between Klampenborg and Høje Taastrup, through Copenhagen, Denmark, there are four tracks; two are for the separated S-trains and two for mainline trains; where the two tracks closest to Copenhagen (the oldest and central parts of Copenhagen) are reserved for S-trains (on much the lines this is the Northern and Western two tracks).
  • Also between Høje Taastrup and Roskilde, where the two center tracks are for InterCity, long distance commuter trains (further than Roskilde or Ringsted), while the outer two tracks are for commuter trains to/from Ringsted or Holbæk. It has been suggested that the S-trains should continue from Høje Taastrup to Roskilde, but this plan was abandoned; partly due to Roskilde refusing the offer for fear they would become a suburb of Copenhagen, and partly due to construction costs which would exceed the advantages.

Finland[]

Germany[]

By definition German railway lines have one or two tracks. Where more tracks are running parallel to each other, they are considered two or more separate lines. Such routes include:

  • The Berlin Stadtbahn, Germany, has four tracks. Two are for the separated S-Bahn and two for mainline trains.
  • The 112 km long Hamm–Minden railway between Hamm and Minden in Germany is completely quadruple-track with separate tracks for freight and passenger trains.
  • The 50 km long railway from Rastatt to Offenburg in Germany has four tracks.
  • The Hohenzollern Bridge, with six tracks
  • The line from Munich to Augsburg has four tracks and near Munich even more.

Ireland[]

Quadrupled section of the Dublin Suburban Rail system
  • In Ireland, the busiest section of railway in the country, on the approach to Dublin's Heuston station from Hazelhatch & Celbridge was quadrupled in 2009.

Italy[]

  • The Rome–Naples high-speed railway and the Rome–Sulmona–Pescara railway in Italy combine to form a quadruple track section between Roma Prenestina railway station and Salone railway station.
  • The Milan-Chasso railway and the Milan-Lecco railway run parallel in a quadruple track section from Milan to Monza.
  • The main section of Ferrovie Nord Milano line between Milan and Saronno in Italy. Outer regional trains are segregated from the inner suburban trains.

Netherlands[]

Norway[]

There are some quadruple-track railways in the Oslo region. They are mostly two double tracks with slightly different routes, one old with local stations for local trains, and one newer mostly in tunnels for high-speed and regional trains.

  • Drammen Line and Asker Line between Asker and Lysaker.
  • Trunk Line and Gardermoen Line between Oslo and Lillestrøm.
  • Østfold Line and Follo Line (under construction to be finished at the end of 2022) between Oslo and Ski.

Portugal[]

Sweden[]

  • All of the mainline railway through Stockholm County (between Järna and Myrbacken north of Märsta, 83 km or 52 mi) has four tracks, sometimes having two routes. There are plans to widen Stockholm–Bålsta and Myrbacken–Uppsala to quadruple track with parts finished or under construction. After this, the Stockholm commuter rail would have its own tracks everywhere. The Swedish Transport Administration is currently planning on extending the quadruple track from a few kilometers north off Upplands Väsby to Uppsala Central Station within the upcoming decade. When having four tracks the local trans go in the middle, which allows a common ticket booth per station.
  • The section between Malmö and Arlöv on the Southern Main Line has four tracks. As of 2018, an extension to Lund is expected to be finished in 2024.[1] It will have local stations on the outside tracks, because manned ticket booths aren't used here.

Switzerland[]

United Kingdom[]

Quadruple track section of the Midland Main Line, England
  • Significant lengths of the West Coast Main Line, Great Western Main Line, South Wales Main Line, Midland Main Line, South West Main Line, Brighton Main Line, Chatham Main Line, South London line, Windsor Lines between Barnes railway station and Clapham Junction railway station and East Coast Main Line in Great Britain are quadruple track, with the remainder of the lines being double track. These lines are high capacity, intercity rail routes.

The Americas[]

United States[]

4-track section of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor in New Jersey
East coast[]
  • The New York Central's Water Level Route across upstate New York was four-tracked in the majority as early as 1876, claiming to be the earliest 4-tracked steel main.[2] This was extended to Buffalo by 1936.[3] Financial troubles and changing traffic patterns caused this to be downgraded to a double track by 1975.[4]
  • The Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line is four-tracked from Grand Central Terminal in New York City to New Haven Union Station in New Haven, Connecticut, while the system's Hudson Line features quadruplicated tracks for most of its length between Croton-Harmon and Spuyten Duyvil.
  • Much of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor from Washington, D.C., to New Haven, Connecticut, is a four-track line, except for the segment between New Rochelle and the Sunnyside Yard in Queens, New York. In the Bronx, the Amtrak trains run separately from the New Haven Line. The right-of-way from Woodside, Queens, over the Hell Gate Bridge to Co-op City, Bronx, is three-tracked due to the presence of the single-tracked New York Connecting Railroad.
  • The Erie Lackawanna Railway had a four-track mainline on the former Erie Railroad, from its Pavonia Terminal in Jersey city to Suffern yard in Rockland County, New York. This allowed the separation of freight and commuter trains. The EL Rwy also inherited former Lackawanna four-track Boonton Main Line from Dover, NJ, to Delawanna (Passaic), NJ.
  • The Central Railroad of New Jersey had a four-track main from the CNJ Terminal in Jersey City to Phillipsburg, NJ, across from Easton, PA.
  • The Long Island Rail Road's Main Line is four-tracked from its East River Tunnels portal in Long Island City to Queens Village, NY.
  • The Pennsylvania Railroad had a four-track mainline carrying freight from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg via the Horseshoe Curve (Pennsylvania). This was how the name Broadway Limited came about from the "Broadway of a 4-track main." Much of the route between Pittsburgh and Paoli has been downgraded to three or two tracks.[citation needed]
  • Many lines of the New York City Subway are quadrupled – one of the few rapid transit systems in the United States to have extensive duplication. Hence, many express services are operated in the New York City Subway. Express trains and local trains are separated from each different track.
  • SEPTA's Center City Commuter Connection in Philadelphia is quadruple track, as is about half of Philadelphia's Broad Street Subway.
  • Reading Company's New York Branch between Neshaminy Falls and Yardley station was originally quadruple-tracked before being reduced to three tracks between Neshaminy Falls and Woodbourne station and two tracks between Woodbourne and Yardley. In 2016, the third track between Woodbourne and Yardley was relaid by SEPTA in order to separate SEPTA's West Trenton Line and CSX's Trenton Subdivision.
Midwest[]
  • The BNSF Railway Line in Chicago has a quadruple track section from Union Station to LaVergne.
  • The Chicago "L" has a four-track section on the North Side Main Line (Purple, Red, and Brown Lines) between Howard and Fullerton.
  • The Metra Electric District Line mainline in Chicago is quadrupled between 11th street and 111th street.
West coast[]
The four tracks of the Pacific Electric Watts Line in Los Angeles, 1906
  • Market Street in San Francisco had quadruple track streetcars for much of its length in the early 1900s – two tracks operated by United Railroads of San Francisco and two tracks operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni). As the streetcar system was acquired by the government and was modernized to light rail, capacity was maintained by tunneling an additional right-of-way for Muni vehicles parallel, under the surface. The Market Street Subway's two subterranean levels are both double-tracked, and the (retained) double-tracked surface section runs heritage trolley cars for a total of six tracks in the same thoroughfare. The surface and upper level are laid at standard gauge and maintained by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency while the lower level is Indian gauge track operated by Bay Area Rapid Transit.
  • Bay Area Rapid Transit is quadruple tracked for a short section at the approaches to and at MacArthur station in Oakland, California. The transit system had plans that called for Market Street Subway to be fully quadruple tracked to their unique operational specifications, with express trains running on a separate level than local trains; the final system was reconfigured due to budget constraints.
  • Caltrain commuter rail service was partially quad-tracked in short sections to enable Baby Bullet express service.
  • The Pacific Electric Watts Line was the interurban system's quadruple-tracked southern trunk, running from Downtown Los Angeles to Watts. After the line's discontinuance in 1958, two tracks were maintained for freight rail while two were converted to light rail for the Los Angeles Metro Rail Blue Line.

Asia[]

China[]

Huning Lines

Hong Kong[]

  • The Tung Chung line and the Airport Express of the MTR in Hong Kong are quadruplicated between Kowloon and Tsing Yi stations, but share two tracks through the Western Immersed Tube tunnel and between Tsing Yi and Sunny Bay stations and between Sunny Bay station and Tai Ho Wan junction.
  • The West Rail runs parallel to the Tung Chung line and the Airport Express near Nam Cheong station, meaning six tracks running side-by-side, though the three lines serve different destinations and passenger interchange is only possible between Tung Chung line and West Rail at Nam Cheong, and out-of-system across the three lines between Austin and Kowloon stations.
  • The Tung Chung line section between Lai King and Hong Kong stations serves also as a short-cut to the section on the Tsuen Wan line between Lai King and Central stations. The same is true for the West Rail section between Mei Foo and East Tsim Sha Tsui stations, and the corresponding section on the Tsuen Wan line between Mei Foo and Tsim Sha Tsui stations.
  • The West Rail and the Light Rail between Siu Hong and Tuen Mun stations.
  • The Ocean Park Cable Car system has two pairs of ropeways.
  • Between Shau Kei Wan and Sheung Wan stations, the Island line of the MTR runs underneath or in close proximity to the Hong Kong Tramway.
  • Multiple sections on the East Rail, where Intercity Through Trains may overtake domestic trains on the third or fourth track, as well as an extra pair of tracks near Racecourse station.

India[]

Indonesia[]

  • The line between Manggarai and Cikarang on Rajawali-Cikampek line.

Israel[]

  • The Coastal Railway between Tel Aviv Central and Herzliya. In 2020 construction started on an NIS 5.5 billion (US$1.5 billion in 2018 dollars) project to extend the 4 track section along about 10 km south from Tel Aviv Central to Tel Aviv HaHagana and from there to the Ganot/Shapirim interchange on the Tel Aviv–Lod Railway. In the future, four tracking of the Coastal Railway is also planned to extend north of Herzliya to Haifa in stages.

Japan[]

Four track stretch of the Keihan Main Line in Japan
  • Between Tokyo and Odawara (JR East) 83.9 km is paired by use (not including Shinkansen).[7]
    • Tokyo – Shinagawa 6.8 km: 6 tracks (8 if include Sobu-Yokosuka Line Underground)
    • Shinagawa – Tsurumi 14.9 km: 4 tracks
    • Tsurumi – Yokohama 7.1 km: 6 tracks
    • Yokohama – Totsuka 12.1 km: 4 tracks
    • Totsuka – Ofuna 5.6 km: 6 tracks
    • Ofuna – Odawara 37.4 km: 4 tracks
  • Between Tokyo and Omiya (JR East) is paired by use (not including Shinkansen)[8]
    • Tokyo – Akihabara: 6 tracks
    • Akihabara – Ueno: 6 tracks
      • (Tokyo – Ueno 3.6 km)
    • Ueno – Nippori 2.2 km: 10 tracks (2 for Ueno Depot)
    • Nippori – Tabata: 4 tracks
    • Nippori – Oku: 4 tracks
    • Tabata – Akabane: 4 tracks
    • Oku – Akabane: 2 tracks
      • (Nippori – Akabane 7.4 km)
    • Akabane – Omiya 17.1 km: 6 tracks
  • Between Kusatsu and Nishi-Akashi (JR West) 120.9 km (not including Shinkansen)[9]
    • Kusatsu – Kyoto 22.2 km is paired by direction: 4 tracks
    • Kyoto – Umekoji – Mukomachi 6.4 km is paired by direction: 5 tracks
    • Mukomachi – Ibaraki 21.8 km is paired by direction: 4 tracks
    • Ibaraki – Suita is paired by use: 6 tracks
    • Suita – Shin-Osaka is paired by use: 8 tracks
    • Shin-Osaka – Osaka – Tsukamoto is paired by direction: 6 tracks
      • (Ibaraki – Osaka 14.6 km)
    • Shin-Osaka – Miyahara – Tsukamoto: 2 tracks
    • Tsukamoto – Hyogo is paired by direction: 4 tracks
    • Hyogo – Takatori is paired by direction: 5 tracks
      • (Osaka – Takatori 38.2 km)
    • Takatori – Nishi-Akashi 17.7 km is paired by use: 4 tracks
  • Between Ochanomizu and Mitaka (JR East) 21.5 km is paired by use.[10]
    • Ochanomizu – Yoyogi: 4 tracks
    • Yoyogi – Shinjuku: 8 tracks
    • Shinjuku – Mitaka: 4 tracks
  • Between Kinshicho and Chiba (JR East) 34.4 km is paired by use.[11]
    • Kinshicho – Nishi-Chiba: 4 tracks
    • Nishi-Chiba – Chiba: 6 tracks
  • Between Ayase and Toride (JR East) 29.7 km: 4 tracks/paired by use[12]
  • Between Osaki and Komagome (JR East) about 20 km is paired by use.[13] (see Yamanote line)
    • Osaki – Yoyogi: 4 tracks
    • Yoyogi – Shinjuku: 8 tracks
    • Shinjuku – Komagome: 4 tracks
  • Between Souen and Heiwa (JR Hokkaido) about 9 km[14]
    • Souen – Sapporo is paired by use: 3 tracks
    • Sapporo – Heiwa is paired by direction: 4 tracks
  • Between Niigata and Kami-Nuttari (JR East) 1.9 km: 4 tracks/paired by direction[15]
  • Between Imamiya and Tennoji (JR West) 2.2 km: 4 tracks/paired by direction[15]
  • Between Inazawa and Nagoya (JR Central) 11.1 km/paired by use: 4 tracks[16]
  • Between Hiroshima and Kaitaichi (JR West) 6.4 km: 4 tracks/paired by direction[17]
  • Between Orio and Moji (JR Kyushu) 24.6 km[18]
    • Orio – Kokura: 4 tracks/paired by use
    • Kokura – Higashi-Kokura 1.6 km/paired by direction: 6 tracks
    • Higashi-Kokura – Moji is paired by direction: 4 tracks
  • Besides JR companies, the following private railway companies in Japan run their own quadruple (or more) tracked sections:
    • Tobu Railway, Keikyu, Seibu Railway, Keisei Railway, Tokyu, Odakyu, Keio and Tokyo Metro in Greater Tokyo.
    • Meitetsu and Kintetsu in Greater Nagoya
    • Keihan Railway, Kintetsu, Hankyu Railway, Hanshin Railway and Nankai Railway in Keihanshin.

Philippines[]

The country never implemented a quadruple-track line throughout its history, but there are plans for sections of the North–South Commuter Railway (NSCR) to be quadruplicated.

  • The NSCR will run alongside the Metro Manila Subway between FTI and Bicutan stations from ARCA Road to Mañalac Avenue. Length is 2,628 m (8,622 ft).[19]
  • A branch line to Clark International Airport will have a flyover interchange with the mainline, creating a 1,520 m (4,990 ft) quadruplicated section.[20]
    • A spur to the Mabalacat depot will diverge from the main branch, the latter heading underground. Length is 1,000 m (3,300 ft).[20]

South Korea[]

  • The Gyeongbu Line in South Korea is quadruplicated on 84.9 km on its route, and sextuplicated on a further 11.7 km
  • The Gyeongin Line is quadruple track line, except 1.9 km of double track line between Dongincheon Station and Incheon Station.

Thailand[]

  • The SRT Northern Line from Bang Sue Central Station to Rangsit Station is quadruplicated on 26 km., 2 tracks for local commuter SRT Red Lines trains and 2 tracks for Intercity trains.
  • The SRT Airport Rail Link runs beside the older SRT Eastern Line between Phaya Thai and Lat Krabang. Making quintuple tracks (5 tracks).

Turkey[]

  • The Istanbul-Ankara railway has a 37 km (23 mi) long quadruple-track section between Sincan and Kayaş in Ankara, Turkey.

Oceania[]

Australia[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Lund–Arlöv, fyra spår" (in Swedish). Swedish Transport Administration. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  2. ^ "New York Central and Hudson River Railroad". www.history-map.com.
  3. ^ "New York Central Mileage Chart 1936" (PDF). multimodalways.org.
  4. ^ "Penn Central Transportation Company Track Chart 1975" (PDF). multimodalways.org.
  5. ^ Japan Railfan Magazine (Koyusha) No. 478 p. 36
  6. ^ Japan Railfan Magazine (Koyusha) No. 478 p. 37
  7. ^ Japan Railfan Magazine (Koyusha) No. 478 p. 10
  8. ^ Japan Railfan Magazine (Koyusha) No. 478 p. 14
  9. ^ Japan Railfan Magazine (Koyusha) No. 478 p. 16
  10. ^ Japan Railfan Magazine (Koyusha) No. 478 p. 20
  11. ^ Japan Railfan Magazine (Koyusha) No. 478 p. 22
  12. ^ Japan Railfan Magazine (Koyusha) No. 478 p. 23
  13. ^ Japan Railfan Magazine (Koyusha) No. 478 p. 24
  14. ^ Japan Railfan Magazine (Koyusha) No. 478 p. 25
  15. ^ a b Japan Railfan Magazine (Koyusha) No. 478 p. 26
  16. ^ Japan Railfan Magazine (Koyusha) No. 478 p. 27
  17. ^ Japan Railfan Magazine (Koyusha) No. 478 p. 28
  18. ^ Japan Railfan Magazine (Koyusha) No. 478 p. 29
  19. ^ "Sec. A2". Basic Design. The Detailed Design Study (including Supplementary Feasibility Study) of the South Commuter Railway Project Package CP S-03b (Report). II. Japan International Cooperation Agency, Tokyo Metro, et al. 2021-03-24.
  20. ^ a b "Sec. 6". MCRP Detailed Design. The Detailed Design Study (including Supplementary Feasibility Study) of the Malolos Clark Railway Project Package CP N-04 (Report). II. Japan International Cooperation Agency, Tokyo Metro, et al. 2019-05-06.
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