the purpose of this chapter is to examine mathematically some key components
of the track structure, curves and turnouts, but from a European perspective.
The European railway, in many ways, is significantly different than the typical
railway of North America. High-speed rail plays a very significant role in not only
Western Europe, but also in Eastern Europe as well. In Europe, curves are built broad
and long, favoring high-speed operations. The approach in North America is entirely
different. Privatized North American railways were built to keep construction costs
down and to bridge great distances as quickly as possible. This translates into sharp
curvature and heavy grades, even for heavy haul activities. The need to move bulk
commodities over great distances favored the loading and design approach used by
North American railways. The excellent road system developed over the vast majority
of the populated segments of North America has relegated the majority of passenger
rail travel to a limited few heavily populated corridors. In Europe, the exorbitant cost
of fuel, a very high population density within countries the size of states or provinces,
along with a nationalized system of railways, has necessitated and enabled the
development of an extensive passenger rail based system.