- Flying junction
A flying junction is a
railway junction at which one or more diverging or converging tracks in a multiple-track route cross other tracks on the route by bridge to avoid conflict with other train movements. A more technical term is "grade-separated junction". A burrowing junction or dive-under is where the diverging line passes below the main line.The alternative to grade separation is a
level junction or flat-junction, where tracks cross at grade and conflicting routes must be protected by interlocked signals.Complexity
Simple flying junctions may have a single track pass over or under other tracks to avoid conflict, while complex flying junctions may have an elaborate
infrastructure to allow multiple routings among a variety of tracks without trains coming into conflict, in the manner of a highwaystack interchange .High-speed rail
Nearly all junctions leaving or joining
high-speed rail ways are grade-separated. On the French LGV high-speed network, junctions allow 300 km/h+ (normal linespeed) along the direction of the mainline, and a limit of 160 km/h for the diverging path.The LGV network is large enough to contain four fully grade-separated high-speed triangles: Fretin (Lille), Coubert (south-east Paris), Massy (south-west Paris) and Angles (Avignon). A fourth triangle, Vémars (north-east Paris) is grade-separated except for a single-track link on the least-commonly used side (southern end linking Paris Gare du Nord to Paris CDG airport).
Examples
*
Weaver Junction nearDutton, Cheshire , UK [http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=53.300595,-2.63762&spn=0.009105,0.019956&t=k&z=16&om=1]
*Aynho Junction inAynho , Northamptonshire, UK
* Central Station inSydney , Australia;TGV Triangles
* Triangle de Fretin, Lille, France. Connecting Paris, Brussels and London. [http://maps.google.co.uk/?t=k&ll=50.57,3.145&z=14]
* Triangle de Coubert, Paris, France. [http://maps.google.co.uk/?t=k&ll=48.693,2.721&z=14]
* Triangle des Angles, Avignon, France. With two parallel 1.5km viaducts. [http://maps.google.co.uk/?t=k&ll=43.946,4.741&z=14]
* "Triangle de Messy" , Paris, France. Partial four-way junction. [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?t=k&ll=48.951,2.715&z=14]
* Triangle de Vémars, Paris, France. [http://maps.google.co.uk/?t=k&ll=49.055,2.565&z=14] .ee also
*
Double junction
*Interchange (road) External links
* [http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=39.968157~-75.195093&style=o&lvl=1&scene=1915422 Photo link - flying junction on Pennsylvania Railroad north of 30th Street Station, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States]
* [http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=39.962832~-75.2613&style=o&lvl=1&scene=1891525 Photo link - simpler flying junction at terminus of Market-Frankford transit line, 69th Street Station, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States]
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