Korean Railways have specified the use of PANDROL FASTCLIP SFC Baseplates on slab track for use on Section 4 of the Phase 2 route of the Seoul – Pusan High Speed Railway, the first time the system has been used in Korea.

At present, the 223.6km section of the new high speed line between Seoul and Taegu is complete, with trains running at 300km/hr. Phase 2 will see the remaining 124km section from Taegu – Pusan constructed as new high speed track. The new track is scheduled for completion by 2010.

Pandrol ‘e’ clips were first installed in the 57km test tracks opened in 2000, and the early phase of track construction. Pandrol Fastclip was selected for the rest of the tracks built from 2001 onwards.

Construction of Section 4 is being carried out by the Korean Contractor Sampyo. The track will be constructed using the Rheda 2000 ballastless track system equipped with PANDROL SFC baseplates fastenings, over a section approximately 60km long. Constuction will commence from two points simultaneously, the first near Taegu and the other near to Kyongju. Construction target speeds aim to achieve 500m of concrete per day.

The Pandrol Fastclip SFC baseplate system can provide up to 50mm vertical adjustment, through the use of shims under the baseplate, and 36 (±18) mm of lateral adjustment through a slotted hole in the baseplate.

The design allows full advantage to be taken of the PANDROL FASTCLIP captive fastening system, making the assembly an ideal product for non-ballasted trackforms, where the speed and ease of installation and alignment, both in the initial build and subsequent re-alignment, is critical.

The system selected by Korean Railways is the SFC In-Line Baseplate, which has been specifically designed to complement the Rheda 2000 system. The Anchor Bolts must be ‘In Line’ to avoid the steel reinforcement in the sleeper structure.