Arne Nissen

Optimisation of track geometry inspection interval

The measurement and improvement of track quality are key issues in determining the time at which railway maintenance must be performed and its cost. Efficient track maintenance ensures optimum allocation of limited maintenance resources which has an enormous effect on maintenance efficiency. Applying an appropriate tamping strategy helps reduce maintenance costs, making operations more cost-effective and leading to increased safety and passenger comfort levels. This paper discusses optimisation of the track geometry inspection interval with a view to minimising the total ballast maintenance costs per unit traffic load. The proposed model considers inspection time, the maintenance-planning horizon time after inspection and takes into account the costs associated with inspection, tamping and risk of accidents due to poor track quality. It draws on track geometry data from the iron ore line (Malmbanan) in northern Sweden, used by both passenger and freight trains, to find the probability distribution of geometry faults.

Evaluation of track geometry maintenance for a heavy haul railroad in Sweden: A case study

The measurement and improvement of track quality are key issues in determining both the restoration time and cost of railway maintenance. Applying the optimal tamping strategy helps reduce maintenance costs, making operations more cost-effective and leading to increased safety and passenger comfort. In this paper, track geometry data from the iron ore line (Malmbanan) in northern Sweden, which handles both passenger and freight trains, are used to evaluate track geometry maintenance in a cold climate. The paper describes Trafikverket’s (Swedish Transport Administration) tamping strategy and evaluates its effectiveness in measuring, reporting and improving track quality. Finally, it evaluates the performance of the maintenance contractor and discusses the importance of the functional requirements stated in the outsourcing contracts.

Measurement of vertical geometry variations in railway turnouts exposed to different operating conditions

Turnouts are critical units in a railway system; they perform the switching procedure that allows trains to change between routes. Monitoring the track geometry of a turnout is necessary for maintenance planning and design optimisation. Monitoring is usually done by track recording cars, however, to isolate the ageing and dynamic behaviour of the track it is also necessary to study the unstressed track geometry of the turnouts. Such measurements can be used to develop degradation models to optimise maintenance and design, thereby increasing availability and reducing life cycle cost. This paper introduces a new method to measure the vertical position of the track geometry over time during non-operational conditions (unstressed) to show track degradation. The new method includes a smart system that uses relative measurement reference points to create a better accuracy and lower costs compared with fixed reference points. It evaluates various types of measurement equipment and uses levelling equipment to measure the unstressed vertical geometry of 13 turnouts located on Swedish railway lines, with three follow-up measurements over a year and a half. The turnouts were categorised into four groups: based on their accumulated capacity in million gross tonnes (MGT) and whether they were on a straight or curved main track. Surprisingly, the first three measurements showed the geometry of turnouts on the straight main track to have a vertical elevation tendency towards the mid-section, whereas the turnouts on the curved main track had a general vertical downwards bend tendency towards the mid-section. The results also showed that a higher capacity in MGT has a greater influence on track geometry changes over time.

Geometrical degradation of railway turnouts: A case study from a Swedish heavy haul railroad

Turnouts are critical components of track systems in terms of safety, operation and maintenance. Each year, a considerable part of the maintenance budget is spent on their inspection, maintenance and renewal. Applying a cost-effective maintenance strategy helps to achieve the best performance at the lowest possible cost. In Sweden, the geometry of turnouts is inspected at predefined time intervals using the STRIX / IMV 100 track measurement car. This study uses time series for the measured longitudinal level of turnouts on the Iron Ore Line (Malmbanan) in northern Sweden. Two different approaches are applied to analyse the geometrical degradation of turnouts due to dynamic forces generated by train traffic. In the first approach, the recorded measurements are adjusted at the crossing point and then the relative geometrical degradation of turnouts is evaluated by using two defined parameters, the absolute residual area and the maximum settlement, In the second approach, various geometry parameters are defined to estimate the degradation in each measurement separately. The growth rate of the longitudinal level degradation as a function of million gross tonnes / time is evaluated. The proposed methods are based on characterisation of the individual track measurements. The results facilitate correct decision-making in the maintenance process through understanding the degradation rate and defining the optimal maintenance thresholds for the planning process. In the long run, this can lead to a cost-effective maintenance strategy with optimised inspection and maintenance intervals.

Cost-effective track geometry maintenance limits

In the past, railway maintenance actions were usually planned based on the knowledge and experience of the infrastructure owner. The main goal was to provide a high level of safety, and there was little concern about economic and operational optimisation issues. Today, however, a deregulated competitive environment and budget limitations are forcing railway infrastructures to move from safety limits to cost-effective maintenance limits to optimise operation and maintenance procedures. By so doing, one widens the discussion to include both operational safety and cost-effectiveness for the whole railway transport system. In this study, a cost model is proposed to specify the cost-effective maintenance limits for track geometry maintenance. The proposed model considers the degradation rates of different track sections and takes into account the costs associated with inspection, tamping, delay time penalties, and risk of accidents due to poor track quality. It draws on track geometry data from the Iron Ore Line (Malmbanan) in northern Sweden, used by both passenger and freight trains, to estimate the geometrical degradation rate of each section. The methodology is based on reliability and cost analysis and facilitates the maintenance decision-making process to identify cost-effective maintenance thresholds.

Augmented utilisation of possession time : Analysis for track geometry maintenance

The demand for increased capacity on existing railway networks is a challenge for many Europe-based infrastructure managers; addressing this challenge requires augmented utilisation of track possession time. It is considered that large-scale maintenance tasks such as geometry maintenance can be improved; thus, reducing the on-track maintenance time and allowing more traffic. In this study, an analysis of track geometry maintenance was performed with the objective of reducing the required possession time. The procedure and models for planning and optimizing track geometry maintenance are presented. A statistical model that uses a simulation approach was used to determine the condition of the track geometry, and a schedule optimization problem was formulated to support intervention decisions and optimize the track possession time. The results of the case study show that optimizing the maintenance shift length and cycle length are opportunities to reduce the extent of track possession required for the maintenance of the track geometry. In addition, continuous improvement of the tamping process through lean analysis promises about a 45% reduction in the required possession time for a tamping cycle.

Modelling the evolution of ballasted railway track geometry by a two-level piecewise model

Abstract Accurate prediction and efficient simulation of the evolution of track geometry condition is a prerequisite for planning effective railway track maintenance. In this regard, the degradation and tamping effect should be equipped with proper and efficient probabilistic models. The possible correlation induced by the spatial structure also needs to be taken into account when modelling the track geometry degradation. To address these issues, a two-level piecewise linear model is proposed to model the degradation path. At the first level, the degradation characteristic of each track section is modelled by a piecewise linear model with known break points at the tamping times. At the second level, Autoregressive Moving Average models are used to capture the spatial dependences between the parameters of the regression lines indexed by their locations. To illustrate the model, a comprehensive case study is presented using data from the Main Western Line in Sweden.

Scheduling of Railway Infrastructure Maintenance Tasks Using Train Free Windows

Condition based maintenance scheduling is a promising approach towards effective track possession management in railway transport. If the maintenance tasks arising from condition monitoring and inspection of railways are efficiently scheduled, high service quality and capacity would be assured. In this paper, the authors presents a short-term maintenance scheduling problem to efficiently use available train-free periods for restoration of potential failures such that availability and capacity are maximised. The formulated problem focuses on reducing the possession cost and penalty cost. It is modelled as a quadratically constrained mixed integer programming problem and solved using a branch and cut algorithm. A case study on the Swedish iron ore line is used to demonstrate the use of the scheduling approach for effective track possession management.