Ukraine

A much safer (for the perpetrators) and effective way would be to unscrew a number of the locking bolts, which could be done at night, in silence, even with hand tools, on the outward side of the rails in a curve.

I live near a train station, and over a number of days they replaced hundreds of the traverses, in place, working at night. Simply unbolting a few tens I think would make the trick. Having a few cargo trains derail could wreak major havoc.

If combined with a couple of cuts to the track (easily done with a battery angle grinder, under a 100€) the damage would be amplified.

In use, the plough is lowered to rip up the middle of the track as it is hauled along by a locomotive. This action breaks the wooden ties (sleepers) which forces the steel rails out of alignment, making the line impassable by later rail vehicles.

In a lot of places the wood has been replaced by reinforced concrete, I’m not sure if the ploughs can be used anymore.

That's a section of track where the break has been found and documented. At the very least, significant damage that is suspected to be related to sabotage would require additional thorough inspection of the surrounding railway.

Slowing them down and damageing carts is worth while. And accumulates as they do multiple passes on broken rail. Not to mention needing more patrols to catch the Ukrainians doing this. The game is about attrition and headache.

Yeah I know, railroad tracks are extremely hard steel. Just poking fun

Can you not use some form of explosive charge

Battery operated angle grinders are plentiful (noisy though).

This particular rail system is pretty clearly using reinforced concrete ties.

It's concrete. The destroyed one shows the reinforced rebars