Overview
Growing demand on rail-bound public passenger transport systems requires new maintenance strategies in terms of economic efficiency, safety, availability, transport quality and environmental impact.
The “UI2P InfraIntegrity” Project should identify the scientific fundamentals of defining a long-term and integrated wheel/rail maintenance strategy based on prognosis-oriented LCC (Life Cycle Cost) and RAMS (Regional Atmospheric Modelling System) models. The Project will produce the necessary framework for an appropriate management system including targets, quantities, parameters, limit values, assessment methods and data, as well as the requirements to be met by data collection and evaluation tools. It aims to take a holistic approach to identifying, assessing and optimising infrastructure construction, maintenance and management strategies.
This aim is to be achieved by using state-of-the-art methods and a field study (practice report) to examine data references, as well as the quality and consistency of data available to infrastructure managers. Examination will cover the existing stock of data on generating (design and construction data), usage (operational control systems), recording the condition (of inspection and measurement data), and maintaining (process and activity data) infrastructure assets in interaction with rolling stock. For this purpose, methods and models will be used which are capable of robustly handling indistinct, inconsistent and incomplete data. The option of integrating supplementary measurements generated by new technologies will be examined.
Based on the above the Project will study the suitability of available and if required, new methodological approaches and models for implementing an appropriate maintenance strategy. This will lead to the development of a practical and useful management approach with due regard to operational and macroeconomic conditions and their special dynamics.
The “UI2P InfraIntegrity” Project will create the basis for a comprehensive and integrated management approach, including the necessary tools, to ensure efficient maintenance of urban rail infrastructure and its scheduling across an entire life cycle. This will be achieved by identifying and shaping the relevant "levers" and their impact on the cost effectiveness of proposed and implemented policies. Special attention will be given to the usability of methods and tools in daily practice. Based on integrity checks and optimised LCC/RAMS methods, this management system will provide recommendations on necessary maintenance operations and their planning. Such a management system will also meet deregulation requirements with due regard to European developments and Austrian legislation (such as §39 of the Federal Railways Act [EisbG], SMS). The management system’s rulebook may provide a standard for urban transit providers.
Funding
Results
Over the course of the project, the following milestones have been achieved:
- A detailed analysis of the basic conditions in terms of law, technology and economy was carried out. Furthermore, a comparison to other railway operators was done.
- In a second step, a catalogue of relevant metadata was created
- A prognosis tool for material wear was developed
- Within a test phase at the Vienna railway lines, the prognosis model was tested successfully.
Findings of the study are published in a short presentation (German only) which is available online via the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) at:
www2.ffg.at/verkehr/file.php?id=393