About Luleå Railway Technology Center
Järnvägstekniskt Centrum (JVTC) is a non-profit research center within Luleå University of Technology focusing on the development of operation and maintenance in the railway sector. We offer a platform for effective cross-border cooperation between universities, companies and authorities.
It is important to develop the knowledge, methods and tools to be used in improved maintenance as a measure to create reliable transport and more capacity on new and existing facilities and thereby create more social benefit for investments made. This provides a socio-economic benefit that can be quantified and compared with other capacity-enhancing measures such as investments and removing bottlenecks.
Long-term management of the transport sector's asset base requires a maintenance system based on well thought-out and elaborate regulatory systems, maintenance strategies, maintenance concepts and descriptions of how selected measures and their costs can be linked to the effect achieved on the performance of the facilities. Concepts such as resilience, maintenance safety and operational reliability become particularly important when plants are used close to their maximum capacity. It is important to find new ways of designing regulatory systems and maintenance strategies that allow innovations while maintaining the level of risk and safety. The regulatory system should ensure at least the same level of safety but also allow for innovation and dynamics.
Luleå University of Technology is one of the few universities in the world that currently offers education and research in operation and maintenance technology. Järnvägstekniskt Centrum (JVTC) is a strategic competence center for the transport sector, which conducts research and development with a focus on streamlining the operation and maintenance of the entire railway system. With its applied research, JVTC has delivered results that have already been of great and valuable benefit to industry and the public sector even before the research was completed. JVTC's ability, research results and knowledge have also been in demand internationally, including from Finland, Norway, Iran, India, the UK, France, UIC and Australia.
Vision and mission
JVTC will be a leading center of excellence and the obvious platform for education, research and innovation in operational safety and maintenance for the railway system.
JVTC's mission is to contribute knowledge that makes rail transport more attractive and sustainable through better punctuality and lower climate impact.
Background
JVTC was formed by LTU together with a number of interested companies in 1998 with support from Luleå Tillväxtakademi, in order to improve the efficiency of heavy rail transportation in cold climates and mixed traffic. In the fall of 2000, it was decided to focus on operation and maintenance issues.
Development of heavy transport in cold climates (T2K2)
During the development of heavier trains on the Malmbanan in the 1990s and later, heavier freight trains on other lines, T2K2 worked actively to develop knowledge, competence and experience in the field of heavy transport by rail. This was unique in Europe and the work has led to many improvements in the Swedish railway system since the formal start in connection with the upgrade of the Ore Line to 30 tons axle load.
Work on sustainable bridges
A European research project initiated by structural engineering was a so-called integrated project submitted in April 2004. The project started on 1 December 2004 and ran for four years with 32 participating parties from 12 countries. The program had a turnover of 100 MSEK, of which about 65 MSEK came from the EU.
The goal was to increase the permissible load capacity and train speed of railway bridges in Europe by developing better methods for classification calculation, measurement of condition and function as well as repair and reinforcement.
Simulation of the dependence of maintenance costs on traffic flow
DeCoTrack (Degradation Cost of Track) was a track degradation simulation model that investigates how changes in traffic affect maintenance costs. Initially, the aim was to support impact assessments for increased axle loads, but the model design and research results have proved very useful for assessing the marginal effect of different vehicles on maintenance costs. The project carried out in-depth studies of how to classify vehicles based on measurement data collected from track-mounted measuring stations. The information showed a strong link to the maintenance status of the vehicles. The information can be used for planning vehicle maintenance by the vehicle owner and/or operator.
Establishment of the research station
A requirement for several of JVTC's ongoing research projects is the availability of online railroad data. In 2006, JVTC, in close cooperation with the satellite company Damill AB, established a measuring station in Sävast on the Malmbanan. The decision to locate in Sävast was based on a large variance in traffic volume and the proximity to Luleå University of Technology. The measuring station has instruments to measure forces from vehicles on the track and data is stored in the system. The measurements start automatically when a train passes the sensors on the track. The sensors separate vertical and horizontal forces. An accelerometer is used to measure the vibration of the rails as the train passes. Measurement data was transferred to a web platform, SAMPLA, where further processing of the data was carried out and useful information was produced. The first grant to establish the research station was made by Banverket, The Kempe foundation and LKAB. Later, a wheel profile meter was installed in Sunderbyn and used in several research projects.
Expansion via European projects
During 2011-2015 JVTC participated in several large European projects in the Seventh Framework Program (FP7), i.e. AUTOMAIN, SUSTRAIL, TREND, BGLC, MAINLINE, SAFT Inspect and OPTIRAIL etc. During this time the number of PhD students and researchers at JVTC increased.
Establishment of labs and platforms
During 2013-2023, JVTC increased the capacity of connected labs and platforms to primarily support excellent research and innovation. The ePilot project was initiated and developed in close cooperation between the Swedish Transport Administration, JVTC, and many stakeholders from the railway industry. Within ePilot, 38 sub-projects were implemented during 2013 to 2020. ePilot is an innovation platform that enables the testing and implementation of innovations for the railway system in eMaintenance and Industrial AI. Research within ePilot resulted in a framework that facilitates digitalization of operations and maintenance on the Swedish railway. ePilot was included in the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences' 100 list in 2020 and was awarded the Strukton Innovation Prize in 2019. Since then, three other research projects from JVTC have made the IVA 100 list.
Business model
The operating model is based on four pillars:
Research and innovation:
- Act as a national center of excellence for conducting research and development on operational safety and maintenance issues for the railway sector.
- Offer services in the form of contract research (0-2 years) and applied/strategic research (5 years).
Collaboration and cooperation
- Maintain and further develop a Swedish FOI platform to create a more efficient, environmentally friendly and safer railway transportation system through interdisciplinary and bridging technologies and through collaboration with other railway-related FOI in universities/institutes and companies.
- Cooperation and collaborative projects with members and strategic alliances.
- Provide a natural platform for LTU units.
Education:
- Postgraduate education in operation and maintenance.
- Conceptualize, initiate and implement competence supply activities such as academic courses and assignment training in the field of operation and maintenance and offer members the opportunity for degree projects and internships via LTU's students.
Knowledge dissemination:
- Conceptualize, initiate and implement activities and contribute to knowledge dissemination and competence provision through doctoral theses, scientific and popular science publications, workshops, conferences, congresses, webinars, etc. in the field of operation and maintenance technology.
TURSAM - a process for focusing on continuous improvement
TURSAM (Applied Maintenance in Collaboration) is a forum for JVTC stakeholders to work on identifying areas where a small amount of effort can lead to large improvements. To quickly and efficiently identify areas for improving the efficiency of operation and maintenance in the railway sector with relevant stakeholders. The group is led by a process manager and meets a few times a year. The group works goal-oriented and in partnership towards the common goals:
- Reduce the total cost of track and rolling stock maintenance - Efficiency process
- Optimize the capacity and availability of the network for train traffic and track maintenance - Capacity process
- Reduce train delays i.e. increase punctuality - Train delivery and quality process
Implementation of FOI
To ensure that knowledge transfer of research and innovation results is carried out to the client, the following requirements are imposed on projects carried out within JVTC:
- There must be a clear recipient within the commissioning organization.
- The client must have knowledge in the project area to be able to continuously control the direction of what is requested and be involved at an early stage of the project.
- The research project must conclude with a recommendation for further work, the estimated benefits of the application and a suitable packaging of the results.
Board and management
Board members
Björn Dellås, Trafikverket, chairman
Fredric Bonnevier, Alstom
Håkan Jarl, Tåg i Bergslagen
Margareta Groth, Luleå University of Technology
Niklas Johansson, Transitio
Per Gustafsson, LKAB
Susanne Rymell, SJ
Gabriel Sas, Luleå University of Technology
Thor Braekkan, Bane NOR
Malin Syk, Trafikverket, adjunct
Director
Dr. Uday Kumar, Professor of Operations and Maintenance Engineering, Luleå University of Technology.
Deputy director
Dr. Veronica Jägare, Operations and Maintenance Engineering, Luleå University of Technology
Member companies
The member companies pay a membership fee to JVTC and take part in information and results, collaborate on research assignments and through their membership have good opportunities to influence the direction of JVTC.
- Alstom
- Bane NOR
- Duroc Rail
- LKAB
- Predge
- Railway Metrics and Dynamics Sweden
- SJ
- Trafikverket
- Transitio
- Tyréns
- Tåg i Bergslagen
- Vossloh Nordic Switch Systems
Area of excellence
To strengthen Swedish railway research and the Swedish university environments, the Swedish Transport Administration, together with the academies, has developed the direction for railway research for the period 2021-2030. Ten areas of excellence have been defined where the academies gather strength and build up knowledge in their respective areas of strength.
JVTC at Luleå University of Technology has been given responsibility for excellence area 8 - Operation and maintenance, due to the research and innovation that has been conducted at the center for many years.
Excellence-creating projects according to a business plan approved by the Swedish Transport Administration will be conducted in collaboration with other academic parties and participation continues in European projects within Shift2Rail and the upcoming R&I program Europe's Rail.
Area of excellence 8 will conduct applicable research, education and innovation in operation and maintenance to strengthen the railway system, i.e. infrastructure and rolling stock.
Operational safety is a fundamental necessity for the sustainability, reliability, robustness, punctuality and capacity of the Swedish railway system. The operational safety of the railway system consists of its functional safety, maintainability and maintenance safety. Achieving a high level of reliability requires optimization of these three aspects throughout the life cycle of the railway system.
Research in O&M engineering focuses on optimizing the reliability of a system during its lifetime. This is done by streamlining the O&M processes through appropriate maintenance strategies such as predetermined, condition-based, predictive or corrective maintenance and fact-based decision support.
The railway system in general and the Swedish railway system in particular, including infrastructure and rolling stock, is a complex technical system with a large number of components and a broad heterogeneous set of stakeholders. The complicated composition of the system increases the complexity of the analysis and optimization process.
JVTC is also involved in other areas of excellence, mainly:
- Area 2: Wheel pairs and brake systems
- Area 3: Automotive Engineering
- Area 4: Civil Engineering/Civil Engineering (focus on bridges)
- Area 10: Railway system
The Swedish university environments that collaborate in the Swedish Transport Administration's areas of excellence are:
- Railway Technology Center, Luleå University of Technology
- Charmec, Chalmers
- Railway Group, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
- Industry program KAJT (KTH, Linköping University, Blekinge Institute of Technology, RISE, Uppsala University, Lund University, VTI).
Training in railway maintenance
In maintenance, Luleå University of Technology can offer training at several different levels:
Courses:
Courses in Operations and Maintenance Engineering
Collaboration guest lectures and projects
Programs:
Bachelor of Maintenance Engineering 180 credits
Master of Maintenance Engineering 120 credits
MOOC:
Maintenance Engineering
Lifelong learning:
We can tailor programs to fit the industrial needs
Updated:
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