Question: What made you want to know about how the ground behaves when a high speed train goes over it?

Natalie Wride answered on 13 Jun 2016:

Hi izzzxox 🙂

High Speed 2 is a major construction project in the UK – you might have heard of High Speed 2 or HS2 in the news and see there is lots of debate going on around it!! I think one of the most important things we can do as Engineers is make sure that if projects like this are going to happen, they’re safely designed.

Other countries have these train systems (in Japan they have something called the Bullet Train which travels at 320 km/hour – that’s faster than an aeroplane taking off!!) They’ve also had problems with their trains because of the ground vibrations, things like having to close lines to repair the tracks or having train delays because the trains have to slow down. So it’s really important to look at this to make sure our new train line doesn’t have these problems. I find this really interesting – I’m solving a problem that will benefit me and you in everyday life – we won’t be stood on platforms waiting for delayed trains because they can’t run at their top speed!!

The main focus of my research is how the soil squishes (a bit like playdough) under the vibrations of the train. It might sound a bit boring but I find it fascinating, there’s so much to understand about the ground! If you look under a microscope at soil you’ll see how complex the material is 🙂 I really like the fact my research has a practical application (it is useful to HS2 and the rail industry) – soil squishiness is of no interest to anyone outside research otherwise!!