This paper is based on a development over the past 5 years in France which culminates in early 2013 with the construction of a demonstration of this ballastless trackform on the French network north of Paris. In this paper, we summarise the history of this development, " New Ballastless Track " (NBT) through the conceptual design phases, the extensive laboratory testing, culminating in the construction of the demonstration track. Construction will be completed in June 2013 and train operations are scheduled to start later in 2013. We complete our paper with our conclusions concerning the difference in life cycle costs between NBT and ballasted track. To that end, we confirm the conclusions of many previous studies over the past few years, while throwing some light on the parameters which will tend to accentuate the advantage of NBT.
