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Source publication
Railway track geometry deterioration indicates degradation in the underlying track structures. Monitoring and predicting this behavior are important as is investigating the root causes contributing to the deterioration. Without knowing the causes, assigned remediation might not result in a long-lasting correction. However, there is little research...
Context in source publication
Citations
... Negative properties of one of the parameters have a negative effect on the others. Future evaluation methods not only have to indicate turnout sections with poor track geometry behaviour but must additionally search for root causes of poor behaviour [14]. For achieving this aim, every essential component of a turnout must be considered. ...
For future requirements, asset management of turnouts needs to rely on data-based assessment tools. These tools must enable the quantification of quality behaviour of turnouts and identify causes of poor behaviour. In this paper, we provide a toolbox addressing these requirements. We use track geometry as the main criterion for quality behaviour in combination with additional indicators, each associated with a different component, to understand turnout performance. The toolbox is applied to five similar turnouts to compare their performance. It is revealed that one of the turnouts performs significantly worse than the others. A deeper analysis can identify worn ballast in several areas of the turnout as the cause of poor performance. Problems in the ballast bed can be attributed to worn insulated rail joints as well as to stiffness changes in the transition areas of the turnout.
... The data from track recording cars are usually time series data from several years with high accuracy and decent measurement alignment, making the data attractive for further analysis. Track recording car data analyses have been used, for instance, to analyse the effectiveness of maintenance (Soleimanmeigouni et al., 2018a), predict unplanned maintenance needs (Andrade and Teixeira, 2014) and investigate root causes of problematic track deterioration behaviour (Sauni et al., 2020). All this information is vital to successful asset management, for example, in selecting the timing and means of M&R. ...
Purpose
Recent research outputs can be difficult to implement into ongoing safety critical processes. Hence, research is well beyond current practices in railway asset management. This paper demonstrates the process of creating tangible change within a railway asset management organization by introducing a framework for advancing track geometry deterioration analyses (TGDA) in practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was conducted in three parts: (1) maturity models were reviewed and adapted as the basis for the framework, (2) the initial maturity level was investigated by conducting semi-structured expert interviews, and (3) a framework for development was created in cooperation with stakeholders during three workshops. The methodology and findings were tested and applied in the Finnish state rail network asset management.
Findings
The main output of this study is the framework for advancing TGDA in railway asset management. The novel framework provides structure for controlled incremental development, which is essential when altering a safety critical process.
Practical implications
The research process was successfully applied in Finland. Following the steps presented in this article, any organization can apply the framework to plan their development schemes for railway asset management.
Originality/value
Full-scale implementation of novel models and methods is often overlooked, which prevents practical asset management from obtaining tangible benefits from research. This research provides an innovative approach in narrowing the overlooked research gap and brings research results within the reach of practitioners.
... In studying the railway geometry based on optimization, the optimization can be divided into multiple branches. According to the research [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33], dimensional and geometrical optimization to simplify implementation, parameter optimization to increase travel safty and/or comfort, or building and maintenance time and cost optimization can be studied. Due to the researches, right now, the last two cases can be the primary concern. ...
In most developed countries globally, railway lines are designed based on four factors: speed, structure, load, and fleet type and accordingly, various regulations and standards are published to achieve a comprehensive and complete design. The basis of these four factors has been formulated. Regulations and instructions in the world based on the progress of science and technology in the design of railway lines in short periods are reviewed or developed by scientific committees to meet the needs related to the creation of railway lines. This article introduces important parameters in rail line geometry and studies the literature subject; Geometric design regulations in Iran, Sweden, Germany, CEN and TSI laws introduction have been reviewed. The reason for choosing these countries was the similarity of the fleet used, and therefore the study of the rolling stock does not fit into this topic. By comparing these regulations, the tendency to neglect the implementation of geometric parameters in new lines can be inferred except Iran. In Iran regulations do not include trains with new technologies, to the extent that there is no mention of tilting trains in Iranian regulations so that the geometric designs are stricter. In contrast, in other regulations a separate part has been defined for trains with the new technologies such as tilting trains. Finally, to optimize the criteria, the objective function must first be determined. This means that which requirements are the goal to optimize. Dimensional optimization can be done to increase travel comfort or reduce costs, or to minimize duration and cost of construction, repair, and maintenance, the optimization process can be done. According to available studies, determining a parameter as the only useful parameter or weighting the criteria is incorrect. It is only by combining the parameters that significant changes can happen.
