Coordinated, efficient railway infrastructure maintenance planning

Purpose and goal

The overall purpose of this project has been to optimise rail maintenance planning by combining statistical analysis of maintenance needs with models for optimised maintenance planning. The project has met its objectives by delivering: A method for weighing historical measurement data on the state of the railway system, A method for using predictions for short-term (<1 year) and long-term (1- 5 years) maintenance planning, and a method for assessing and balancing costs and risks of missing or premature maintenance.>

Expected results and effects

The expected long-term result is that the overall maintenance cost can be reduced after the implementation of an improved decision support system for scheduling maintenance activities. Another expected result is that a higher proportion of maintenance can be planned instead of corrective maintenance, which facilitates train scheduling and reduction of delay risks.

Planned approach and implementation

The project group has worked towards the goal via two work packages. The first work package has developed a data-driven approach to predicting maintenance needs based on available track geometry data. The second work package has focused on optimising maintenance planning, taking into account costs and safety. The two work packages are joined through the planning and scheduling modelling of maintenance measures which are based on the probability that a segment exceeds a threshold value, such as the preventive maintenance limit UH1.