A full railway life cycle assessment covers considerably more ground than a building assessment. The asset boundary typically runs from earthworks and geotechnical foundations through to the permanent way, overhead contact and power systems, signalling and control, and the buildings within the asset boundary such as stations and depots. The construction process itself, including on-track plant and maintenance machinery, adds further emission sources that building LCA rarely needs to model. One Click LCA holds generic data across all of these scopes. The sections below walk through what is available by category.

Rail steel is available in the full range of international profiles used in mainline, heavy-haul, regional, metro, light rail and tram applications: UIC60 (60E1), UIC54 (54E1), 136RE, 115RE, 90ARA-A, R65, R50, S49 (49E1), BS80A (39E1), BS95R bullhead, light rail S18/S24/S30, and tram grooved rail 59R2.

Concrete sleepers cover the main structural types encountered across different operating regimes: standard-duty monoblock prestressed (22.5 t axle load), high-speed class, heavy-haul (25 t and 30 t axle load), reinforced non-prestressed, twin-block prestressed with steel tie bar, Y-shaped prestressed, low-height metro, bridge deck, turnout long, slab track embedded block, wide monoblock, corrosion-resistant coastal, cold-climate silica-fume mix and low-height reinforced siding types.

Wooden sleepers are available in oak (creosote-treated mainline, copper-azole treated, CCA heavy-duty, untreated depot), pine (creosote-treated, copper-azole branch line, untreated temporary works), tropical hardwood (untreated and bridge heavy), and beech (creosote-treated metro), covering the treatment types and species combinations used across different network types and geographies.

Rail fastenings include elastic rail clips in e-clip design for tram and metro fastening, e-clip for mainline fastening, SKL design, Nabla design for concrete sleeper applications across tram/LRT/metro/mainline, and Deenik design for broad-gauge fastening. Rail pads are available in SBR rubber, EPDM rubber, polyurethane, and grooved SBR rubber. Rail joints cover non-insulated (with fishplates and bolts), glued insulated for 60E1 and 50E2 profiles, compromise type for mixed 60E1/54E1 profiles, and heavy-duty corrosion-protected types.

Turnouts include standard 1:9 and extended 1:12 types with concrete bearers, high-speed 1:18.5 with moveable point, heavy-haul 1:12 with timber sleepers, and urban 1:9 with concrete bearers. Crossing frogs are available in cast manganese steel for standard speed, cast manganese steel for heavy haul, welded fabricated, moveable point for high speed, and compact urban types.

Guard rails cover plain steel compatible with 54E1 and 60E1 profiles, heavy-duty bridge type, light tramway type, and manganese steel compatible with 60E1. Ballast mats for vibration isolation are available in SBR rubber, EPDM rubber, polyurethane foam composite, SBR rubber high-load type, and asphaltic bitumen-bound material.

Buffer stops include friction steel sliding design for terminal tracks and hydraulic steel absorber for high-speed depots. Derailers cover single manual steel switch, double powered steel switch, and hinged portable forged steel body for temporary work zones.

Catenary and contact wires span the full material range used in modern electrified rail: copper (25–240 mm², 7 to 61 strands), copper-silver (49–178 mm²), copper-magnesium (24–174 mm²), phosphor bronze (51–182 mm²), aluminium-clad steel (78–163 mm²), and galvanized steel (50–177 mm²). Each wire type is available across multiple cross-sectional areas, making it straightforward to match the dataset to the actual specification on the project.

Droppers connecting the contact and messenger wires are available in aluminium, copper, copper-magnesium, stainless steel, and copper-tin, each across six cross-sectional sizes from 10 to 50 mm².

Tensioning equipment covers both automatic spring tensioners (single, double, triple, quadruple, quintuple, compact three-spring, compact four-spring, compact five-spring, hydraulic-damped, cam-profile, pneumatically-assisted, lightweight 25 kV, and multi-pulley types) and counterweight tensioners (direct 1:1, pulley 3:1 and 5:1 ratios, compact frame, heavy-duty twin stack, guided arbour, tracked arbour hoist, sensor-integrated tension wheel, high-density concrete-filled steel shell, and conical pulley 1:5 types).

Neutral section insulators are available in conventional, light (LTN), high-speed, compact, and half-section types.

Feeder cables cover aluminium-core XLPE wire-screen (630 mm²), copper-core XLPE/PVC sheathing (400 mm²), aluminium-core XLPE/PVC (500 mm²), aluminium-core XLPE (185 mm²), copper-core XLPE/PE (240 mm²), and copper-core XLPE/PVC (95 mm²). Return conductors are available in copper (95, 150, and 185 mm²) and ACSR (120/20 and 240/40). Cross-span wires cover 19-wire constructions from 12 to 22.2 mm diameter.

Tunnel mounting hardware includes galvanized steel medium-duty and heavy-duty hangers, stainless steel brackets, and fibre-reinforced polymer supports with steel inserts. Anchor clamps cover Y-clamp, feeder clamp and universal clamp types. Cable terminations include tee (24 kV), elbow (36 kV and 245 kV), joint (170 kV), and cold-shrink MV joint (12–24 kV) types.

Signalling relay cabinets are available in steel single-door (IP54), steel double-door (IP55), stainless steel single-door (IP65), aluminium double-wall, and glass-reinforced plastic types. Interlocking equipment covers a steel relay cabinet for route control and an aluminium electronic rack for digital signalling.

Track detection equipment includes audio-frequency jointless track circuits (standard and high-power), DC track circuits with insulated joints, coded track circuits, digital jointless track circuits, and tramway DC track circuits. Axle counter systems are available in 2-channel, 4-channel, 8-channel, and 16-channel redundant evaluator configurations, plus detector pairs.

Signal heads include 3-aspect LED with aluminium housing, 4-aspect LED with aluminium housing, dwarf/shunt type with GRP housing, route indicator alphanumeric LED with steel housing, position/shunt disc LED, feather direction indicator LED, and heavy-duty vandal-resistant 3-aspect types. Signal posts cover single-head (5 m), dual-head (8 m), cantilever bracket, portal gantry (6 m and 10 m span), and twin mast bracketed structure types.

Level crossing equipment includes barrier types (half with aluminium boom in 6 m and 8 m, full double-boom, short urban half, half with lower skirts, and pedestrian swing gate), warning lights (incandescent twin-head steel housing, LED aluminium housing, and integrated LED barrier head), and warning bells (mechanical striker cast aluminium, electronic piezo ABS housing, and electronic multi-tone aluminium housing).

Balises and transponders include fixed polycarbonate-housing, switchable polycarbonate-housing, and inductive epoxy-composite types. Point machines cover mainline AC motor clamp-lock, mainline DC motor, high-speed in-bearer, heavy-haul torque, compact metro, and dual-control redundant types.

Trackside antennas cover wayside panel multi-polarised, radome multiband (LTE/Wi-Fi/GPS), directional aluminium (216–222 MHz), high-gain directional (220–222 MHz), rugged multi-element directional (220 MHz), omni-directional aluminium-base, panel for critical communications (380–500 MHz), and trackside panel multi-band hardened types. Trackside junction boxes are available in GRP 8-way, GRP 16-way, stainless steel 60-way, aluminium conductor-rail feed, and EMC-shielded aluminium for control electronics.

Rail grinding trains are modelled in several configurations: diesel-electric consist (32–96 stone, 160 t), modular consist (16–48 stone, 120 t), heavy-duty 9-car (180 t), international 32-stone (150 t), standard 24-stone (120 t), high-output continuous (135 t), medium-capacity 8–20 stone (110 t), and modular on-track (90 t).

Ballast tampers cover continuous action (135 t), universal (78 t and 110 t), high-output (98 t), combined levelling and tamping (125 t), production (90 t), switch and production (82 t), high-output continuous (140 t), compact on-track (32 t), and two-sleeper types (120 t).

Track trolleys are available in motorized, light inspection, crew and material transport, compact motorized, inspection, utility and inspection, platform cargo, personnel carrier, and modular motorized types.

Underfloor wheel lathes include twin-tool, compact, re-profiling, heavy-duty (60 t axle load), and standard types, with above-floor CNC, CNC re-profiling, and large-capacity variants also available.

Rail lifting jacks cover hydraulic portable, hydraulic track, mechanical or hydraulic, portable hydraulic, compact hydraulic, and heavy-duty mechanical types.

Ultrasonic testing equipment includes portable flaw detectors, manual push trolleys, light rail trolleys, walk-behind trolleys, motorized trolleys, and vehicle-mounted testing systems.

Overhead line maintenance vehicles are available in diesel-electric (350 kW, crew 8, 45 t), battery-electric (300 kWh LFP, 360 kW, 38 t), and diesel (240 kW PTO, 9 m boom reach, 18 t) types.

Dedicated railway drainage datasets include trackside drain from precast concrete with U-section, trackside drain from polymer composite GFRP for electrified zones, and HDPE twin-wall culvert pipe for under-track drainage.

The wider civil scope of a railway project is supported by a broad range of materials. Concrete covers ready-mix from C12/15 to C40/50 at multiple SCM substitution levels, GGBS-blended mixes, lightweight aggregate concretes, foamed and pervious types, plus precast hollow-core slabs and solid wall elements. Reinforcement steel (rebar) is available from 0% to 100% recycled content. Structural steel profiles (I, H, U, L, T sections in S235/S275/S355), hollow sections (HSS), and steel sheets are each available at multiple recycled-content levels. Hot-dip galvanized steel sheets cover 0% to 100% recycled content.

Aggregates include crushed gravel, sand, LECA, and recycled concrete aggregate in multiple processing variants. Asphalt concrete is available in base, binder and surface course for hot-mix, relevant to depot aprons, station forecourts and access roads. Geotextiles include woven polypropylene. Insulation relevant to tunnel portals, stations and depots covers mineral wool panels, EPS, XPS, PUR and PIR. Pipes for drainage and utility networks span steel, stainless steel, galvanized steel, copper, aluminium, PVC, HDPE and PP across a wide range of diameters. Valves for trackside utility services include gate, globe, check and butterfly types at multiple sizes.

Yes. Each wire type and cross-section is a separate dataset, so you can model copper on one section and copper-magnesium on another within the same assessment, reflecting actual procurement.

On-track machinery is modelled as an asset with an embodied footprint per unit, which is then allocated to the project based on expected service life and the share of that life attributable to the asset. Guidance on allocation methodology is available in the dataset descriptions within One Click LCA.

Can I request data for highway items not yet in the library? Yes. Requests are evaluated against the needs of the global customer base and the availability of credible background data. The Customer Success team can advise on both using existing data as a proxy and on commissioning new datasets where needed.