Slab track test section for University of Pretoria Railway Research Facility

Slab track is an alternative to conventional ballasted track and has been used locally and Internationally for more than 50 years. The scale of implementation has varied from extensive, in the case of some metro and high-speed passenger systems in Japan, such as on the Shinkansen network, to intermittent and limited scale in many other countries, including South Africa. The Chair in Railway Engineering at the University of Pretoria (UP), has established several research facilities over the last ten years. These include advanced laboratory testing equipment in the Civil Engineering Laboratory on the Hatfield campus, as well as full-scale test tracks on the Hillcrest campus. The technology behind the PY Slab Track, as Installed at UP, has been in use on the Transnet Freight Rail network since the construction of the heavy-haul lines in the 1970s. lt was designed and developed by Henry de Wet, currently Chief Design Engineer for BridgePort/.RCE.