Railway rail pad

A railway rail pad for location between a foot of a railway rail and an underlying rail foundation, the pad comprising:

• a rail seat portion for receiving a foot of a railway rail, the rail seat portion having two opposite edges which extend parallel to a longitudinal axis of the rail when the pad is in use, the rail seat portion is provided with a plurality of studs on at least one major face thereof, wherein at least some of the studs are located along the centre line parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rail or wherein substantially no studs are located in the inner region of the centre line which lies perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rail, wherein the studs are unevenly distributed across the face of the rail seat portion such that the ratio of the area of the face occupied by the studs to the area of the face free of the studs is greater in an edge region of the rail seat portion than in a central region of the rail seat portion with the edge region being adjacent to one of the edges wherein the central region is adjacent to the edge region
• wherein the studs are arranged in columns, extending substantially parallel to the opposite edges, each stud being of substantially the same size, and the number of studs in a column in the central region which is closest to the edge region being greater than in a column closer to the center of the rail seat portion, and
• wherein the studs are also arranged in rows extending substantially transverse to the opposite edges, wherein the ratio of protrusions to free area in a row of studs adjacent to, but spaced from, the center of the rail seat portion is greater than that in a row further from the center.