Turf (grass) track for light rail systems

Abstract

[Abstract:] Light rail systems are experiencing a revival in several countries in the world. In many of the new networks, as well as in refurbished ones, turf (grass) tracks are being used as a means to get a reserved right of way that entails enhancements in the city landscape, improving the acceptance of the system by citizens and politicians. Nevertheless, the visual impact of turf tracks is only one of their many advantages, which are going to be presented in this paper. These advantages range from environmental aspects, as reduction of noise and suspended fine particles, “green lung” effect, improvements in rain water management and heat island mitigation, to the decrease of operational and construction costs of the system. On the other hand, this solution has, of course, some inconveniences or additional precautions that must be taken into account to ensure a good performance in the long term, as the need for vegetation maintenance and for rail-environment separation. There are, also, some limitations as their non-drivability for buses and emergency vehicles, the additional problems in case of derailment, and the possible incidences in operation due to irrigation, mowing and to vegetation waste and sand combination. This paper focuses on the explanation of these advantages, inconveniences and limitations, in order to provide a better understanding of the solution and to make the decision of whether to use turf tracks in a new light rail system easier.