摘要：There are a number of design procedures which have been developed to determine the appropriate thickness of trackbed layers on a railway track in order to reduce train induced stresses to an acceptable level thus ensuring that subgrade.failure does not occur prematurely. This paper briefly describes four such procedures and compares the thickness of trackbed layers proposed by each for a number of hypothetical situations. To demonstrate further the suitability of each procedure, two existing sites in the UK are analysed and the trackbed layer thickness given by each procedure is then compared. The research shows that the procedures do not give consistent results. Subsequently it is suggested that it is important to consider other aspects in addition to the prescription of a suitable thickness of trackbed layers in any new build, renewal or remediation scheme.