The European railway faces major challenges in times to come. More people prefer train to fossil-based means of transport, and it is efficient to transport goods by train over long distances. With this comes a need for improvements on the existing rail network, in order to manage the increased travelling and shipping.
Large parts of the railway network in Europe is old, and in need for maintenance and upgrading. The infrastructure managers (the companies or authorities responsible for the railway in each country) want to do the maintenance, but due to the heavy traffic, it is difficult to get the time needed to do the maintenance. Because of this (and for other reasons) things happen that causes delays for travellers and goods, with frustration and disappointment as a result – and perhaps one does not choose the train for their next trip.
In2Track3 cannot create more time for maintenance for the infrastructure managers (IM), BUT we try to help them do maintenance more efficiently and also to improve the railway in itself to reduce the need for maintenance.
How?
Before maintenance can be done, the IM must get the information that there is a need for maintenance. One way of doing that could be to optically see that there is actually a problem. Performing an optical investigation can be difficult – with trains passing continuously on the track, it is not possible to get close enough to inspect the track, some track problems cannot be seen by the eye and special instruments are required, and problems with drainage in tunnels is something you cannot see at all until it is too late.
In2Track3 investigates methods and develops physical prototypes for doing so-called Condition Based Monitoring (CBM). The purpose of CBM is to monitor and predict the need for maintenance. That way, maintenance can be properly planned by the IM and the risk of unexpected failures could be reduced. The project also looks at ways to reduce the need for maintenance, for instance by changing materials, and ways to reduce the environmental footprint from the railway by looking at the possibility to replace chemicals and reducing the amount of material needed for replacing damage rail and sleepers.
The overall objectives for the project are
- Enhancing the existing capacity, fulfilling user demand
- Increasing the reliability delivering better and consistent quality of service
- Reducing life cycle cost, thereby increasing the competitiveness of the European rail system and European rail supply industry
Planning maintenance and preventing the need for maintenance is an important part of the cost-efficient railway prepared for higher capacities that Europe needs. With increased travelling and goods transports, the railway must improve to stay competitive and In2Track3 is part of this improvement.
