Improvement of railway performance: a study of Swedish railway infrastructure

The volume of rail traffic was increased by 5 % from 2006 to 2010, in Sweden, due to increased goods and passenger traffic. This increased traffic, in turn, has led to a more rapid degradation of the railway track, which has resulted in higher maintenance costs. In general, degradation affects comfort, safety, and track quality, as well as, reliability, availability, speed, and overall railway performance. This case study investigated the needs of railway stakeholders responsible for analysing the track state and what information is necessary to make good maintenance decisions. The goal is to improve the railway track performance by ensuring increased availability, reliability, and safety, along with a decreased maintenance cost. Interviews of eight experts were undertaken to learn of general areas in need of improvement, and a quantitative analysis of condition monitoring data was conducted to find more specific information. The results show that by implementing a long-term maintenance strategy and by conducting preventive maintenance actions maintenance costs would be reduced. In addition to that, problems with measured data, missing data, and incorrect location data resulted in increased and unnecessary maintenance tasks. The conclusions show that proactive solutions are needed to reach the desired goals of improved safety, improved availability, and improved reliability. This also includes the development of a visualisation tool and a life cycle cost model for maintenance strategies.