AS THE British government grapples with the problems following the failure of
the nation’s privatised railway line operator, Railtrack, a new technology has
emerged that may bolster the travelling public’s confidence in the safety of the
troubled network. It’s an infrared scanning system that, when fitted beneath
ordinary trains, can locate worn-out sections of the track bed, pinpointing
areas where the stony ballast supporting the rails is weak, threatening to
derail a train.
Ballast is needed to spread the forces that trains exert on the ground
beneath the track. It must also allow water to drain freely. But when ballast…
