kSIST FprEN 16431:2026

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
oSIST prEN 16431:2025
01-januar-2025
Železniške naprave - Infrastruktura - Votli pragovi in nosilci
Railway applications - Infrastructure - Hollow sleepers and bearers
Bahnanwendungen - Infrastruktur - Hohlschwellen für Gleise und Weichen
Applications ferroviaires - Voie - Traverses et supports creux
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: prEN 16431
ICS:
45.080 Tračnice in železniški deli Rails and railway
components
93.100 Gradnja železnic Construction of railways
oSIST prEN 16431:2025 en,fr,de
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

oSIST prEN 16431:2025
oSIST prEN 16431:2025
DRAFT
EUROPEAN STANDARD
prEN 16431
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
November 2024
ICS 93.100 Will supersede EN 16431:2014
English Version
Railway applications - Infrastructure - Hollow sleepers and
bearers
Applications ferroviaires - Voie - Traverses et supports Bahnanwendungen - Infrastruktur - Hohlschwellen für
creux Gleise und Weichen
This draft European Standard is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee
CEN/TC 256.
If this draft becomes a European Standard, CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations
which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration.

This draft European Standard was established by CEN in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other
language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are
aware and to provide supporting documentation.

Warning : This document is not a European Standard. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change without
notice and shall not be referred to as a European Standard.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2024 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. prEN 16431:2024 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

oSIST prEN 16431:2025
prEN 16431:2024 (E)
Contents Page
European foreword . 4
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviations . 5
3.1 Terms and definitions . 5
3.2 Abbreviations . 7
4 Requirements . 7
4.1 General. 7
4.2 Mechanical requirements . 7
4.3 Functional requirements . 8
4.4 Design requirements . 9
4.5 Materials . 9
4.6 Environmental requirements . 9
4.6.1 General. 9
4.6.2 Cold and hot temperature . 9
4.6.3 Flammability . 9
4.6.4 Effect of exposure to severe environmental conditions (optional) . 9
4.7 Requirements for interfaces with mechanical equipment in case of integrated system
(optional) . 10
5 Test and calculation methods. 10
5.1 General. 10
5.2 Tests for fastening system interface . 10
5.2.1 Effect of repeated loading . 10
5.2.2 Pull-out test (Optional test) . 10
5.2.3 Pad and assembly stiffness (Optional test) . 11
5.3 FEM calculation for the body (applicable for steel body only) . 11
5.3.1 General. 11
5.3.2 Service fatigue design for centre section . 11
5.3.3 Service fatigue design for rail seat section . 12
5.3.4 Maximum load at rail seat section . 12
5.4 Bending test for the body . 12
5.5 Electrical resistance (Optional test) . 13
5.6 Field test . 13
6 Acceptance criteria for homologation . 13
6.1 Fastening system interface acceptance criteria . 13
6.1.1 Effect of repeated loading . 13
6.1.2 Pull-out test (Optional test) . 14
6.1.3 Pad and assembly stiffness (optional test) . 14
6.2 Body acceptance criteria . 14
6.2.1 Bending test acceptance criteria . 14
6.2.2 FEM calculation acceptance criteria (for steel body only) . 14
6.3 Electrical resistance acceptance criteria . 14
6.4 Field test acceptance criteria . 14
7 Tests and tolerances for quality control . 15
oSIST prEN 16431:2025
prEN 16431 :2024 (E)
7.1 Dimension tolerances . 15
7.2 Electrical resistance . 15
8 Quality . 15
8.1 General . 15
8.2 Quality control during homologation tests . 16
8.3 Quality control during manufacturing (Routine tests) . 16
9 Traceability . 16
Annex A (normative) Bending test for body only . 17
Bibliography . 23

oSIST prEN 16431:2025
prEN 16431:2024 (E)
European foreword
This document (prEN 16431) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 256 “Railway
applications”, the secretariat of which is held by DIN.
This document is currently submitted to the CEN Enquiry.
This document supersedes EN 16431:2014.
In comparison with the previous edition (EN 16431:2014), the following technical modifications have
been made:
— update clauses concerning the fastening system and references to the new fastening system standard
series;
— improve the document with the latest experience acquired by suppliers and customers in the field of
design of hollow sleepers and bearers;
— include improvements about acceptance procedures, particularly with regard to the testing of hollow
sleeper body and its fastening system interface.
oSIST prEN 16431:2025
prEN 16431 :2024 (E)
1 Scope
This document defines technical criteria and control procedures which are satisfied by hollow sleepers
and bearers used in ballasted track with Vignole rails. The hollow sleepers and bearers designed for
ballasted track can also be used in ballastless track. In this case, the requirements are defined by the
customer.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
EN 13481 (all parts), Railway applications - Track - Performance requirements for fastening systems
EN 13481-7:2022, Railway applications - Track - Performance requirements for fastening systems - Part 7:
Fastening systems for switches and crossings, check rails, insulated rail joints and rail expansion devices
EN ISO 22074-3, Railway infrastructure — Rail fastening systems — Part 3: Proof load test method for pull-
out resistance (ISO 22074-3)
EN ISO 22074-4, Railway infrastructure — Rail fastening systems — Part 4: Test methods for resistance to
repeated loading (ISO 22074-4)
EN ISO 22074-5, Railway infrastructure — Rail fastening systems — Part 5: Test method for electrical
resistance (ISO 22074-5)
EN ISO 22074-6, Railway infrastructure — Rail fastening systems — Part 6: Test method for resistance to
severe environmental conditions (ISO 22074-6)
EN ISO 22074-8, Railway infrastructure — Rail fastening systems — Part 8: Test method for vertical
stiffness (ISO 22074-8)
EN 50125-3, Railway applications - Environmental conditions for equipment – Part 3: Equipment for
signalling and telecommunications
EN 13230-2:2016, Railway applications - Track - Concrete sleepers and bearers - Part 2: Prestressed
monoblock sleepers
EN 17343, Railway applications - General terms and definitions
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviations
3.1 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in EN 17343 and the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:

— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
oSIST prEN 16431:2025
prEN 16431:2024 (E)
3.1.1
hollow sleepers
sleepers and bearers with hollow structure, with support for Vignole rails on ballasted or ballastless
track, including the fastenings systems and all components, with a minimum of 50 % of the cross
sectional-area hollow throughout its length
3.1.2
special hollow sleepers
sleepers and bearers with a length > 2,6 m and minimum of three fastening points at different positions
(for example bearers in moveable crossings, inside double slips…)
3.1.3
body
hollow structure which is in contact with the ballast/slab and supports the fastening system and other
components
3.1.4
other components of the hollow sleepers
parts inside or around the body of the hollow structure except fastening system components
3.1.5
interface
any device used to fix the fastening system to the top of hollow sleeper or bearer body
3.1.6
top width
maximum width of the hollow sleepers at the top (including the body and the fastening system)
3.1.7
bottom width
maximum width of the hollow sleepers at the bottom level of the body (in the tamping area)
3.1.8
tamping area
distance on each side to the rail centre where the ballast has to be tamped
3.1.9
bending moment
moment applied on the hollow sleeper or bearer which produces tension and compression in the element
3.1.10
positive bending moment
moment which produces tension at the bottom of the hollow sleeper or bearer
3.1.11
negative bending moment
moment which produces tension at the top of the hollow sleeper or bearer
oSIST prEN 16431:2025
prEN 16431 :2024 (E)
3.2 Abbreviations
For the purposes of this document, the following abbreviations apply:
MGT Mass Gross Tons
USP Under Sleeper Pad
FEM Finite Element Method
fyk Characteristic value of yield strength
S&C Switch and Crossing
4 Requirements
4.1 General
A hollow sleeper or bearer is different from a regular sleeper or bearer by the fact that at least 50 % of
the cross-sectional area is hollow to permit containment of devices and/or systems as:
— switch and crossing actuation, detection and locking (in the case of bearers);
— wheel detection;
— rods, bars, cables, pipes, etc.
A sufficient space for maintenance of these devices and/or systems shall be considered.
In this document electrical, mechanical, chemical and corrosion tests for approval are defined which
provide assurance of the capability of hollow sleepers and bearers to resist repetitive loading and provide
sufficient durability.
Additional controls during the manufacturing process are not part of this document and shall follow the
corresponding material test standards.
4.2 Mechanical requirements
The body of the hollow sleepers and bearers shall be designed in order to withstand the bending
moments due to the traffic load.
The fastening system interface and the mechanical resistance of the body shall be checked according to
Clause 5 and 6 of this document.
Elastic fastening systems should be used.
Elastic fastening systems shall only use components from homologated fastening systems according to
EN 13481 series.
Specific design may require rigid fastening systems (e.g. bearers housing actuation, detection and locking
system for turnouts).
NOTE Test load, given in Table 1 and Table 2correspond to the category C of EN 13481 and category E limited
to a maximum axle load of 300 kN.
oSIST prEN 16431:2025
prEN 16431:2024 (E)
4.3 Functional requirements
All types of hollow sleepers and bearers shall meet the following requirements:
— the height between the top of the rail and the bottom of the hollow sleeper or bearer shall be defined
by the customer. This height is usually the same as the neighbouring sleepers or bearers;
— the tamping area shall be defined by the customer;
— the mass per unit of length of the hollow sleeper (including rail fastening, cover plates) shall
be ≥ 80 kg/m;
— the length of the hollow sleepers and bearers shall be defined by the customer (regarding,
transportation and installation limits or regulations);
— the maximum bottom width shall be 350 mm, and flat part of the bottom shall represent minimum
70 % of the bottom width (see Figure 1);
— the electrical resistance shall be checked according to subclauses 5.5, 6.3 and 7.2 of this document.
Hollow bearers shall fulfil the following additional requirements:
— the maximum top width in the tamping area shall be 425 mm (see Figure 1);
— the position of the tamping area and the dimensions of the hollow bearer body shall be agreed
between supplier and customer.
Hollow sleepers in track shall fulfil the following additional requirements:
— the maximum width shall not exceed 350 mm (see Figure 1);

Key
1 maximum top width
2 maximum bottom width
3 flat part of the bottom
The bottom of the hollow sleeper or bearer should be aligned at the same level as the bottom of the
adjacent sleepers and bearers (mounting on same ballast level).
Figure 1 — Dimensions of hollow sleeper or bearer
oSIST prEN 16431:2025
prEN 16431 :2024 (E)
4.4 Design requirements
Cover plates on both end faces and on the top of the hollow sleepers and bearers shall be installed to
prevent ballast penetration. Cover plates shall also be designed to withstand aerodynamic effects.
If there are two (or more) consecutive hollow sleepers or bearers, the lateral track resistance shall be
considered.
If an USP is used, the USP shall be fixed on flat part of bottom area. The connection between USP and the
bottom of the hollow sleeper or bearer shall be verified on the principle of the relevant USP standard
(pull out test).
Sufficient drainage shall be incorporated in the design.
Hollow bearers shall be designed to ensure that the normal operation of actuation, locking and detection
equipment is not adversely affected by temperature, ice formation, snow or water penetration.
4.5 Materials
Metallic body mat
...