N2RAIL
IN2RAIL will pave the way for the optimisation of the design of core infrastructure elements as well as improve the management of the railway system by adopting a holistic approach.
Sponsors: EU, H2020, SHIFT2RAIL, Trafikverket
Duration: 2015-2018
Researchers: Matti Rantatalo, Stephen Famurewa, Iman Arasteh Khuoy, Johan Odelius, Christer Stenström, Adithya Thaduri, Johan Odelius, Lennart Elfgren, Jonny Nilimaa, Björn Täljsten
Objective: The next 20-30 years will see unprecedented demand for growth in transport. European railways have to deliver increased productivity to fulfill the growth demand across all modes in freight and passenger services by 80% and 50% respectively by 2050. IN²RAIL will pave the way for the optimisation of the design of core infrastructure elements as well as improve the management of the railway system by adopting a holistic approach.
IN2RAIL is to set the foundations for a resilient, consistent, cost-efficient, high capacity European network by delivering important building blocks that unlock the innovation potential that exists in the SHIFT²RAIL Innovation Programmes (IP) 2 and 3.
IN²RAIL will make advances towards achieving the overall SHIFT2RAIL objectives:
- enhancing the existing CAPACITY fulfilling user demand of the European rail system;
- increasing the RELIABILITY delivering better and consistent quality of service of the European rail system;
- reducing the LIFE CYCLE COST (LCC) increasing competitiveness of the European rail system and European rail supply industry
WP2 – Smart Infrastructure - Innovative S&C Solutions: Improved performance, safety and reduced life cycle of S&C will be investigated through technologies including mechatronics, self inspection/correction/adjustment, embedded sensors, and novel locking mechanisms. The performance and safety critical S&C asset and its reliability will be targeted. Failures associated with S&C currently account for some 25-30% of all infrastructure failures on European railways.
WP3 – Smart Infrastructure - Innovative Track Solutions: Fast and efficient railhead repair methods, optimised ballast track system, solutions to decrease noise and vibration, and a radical hybrid track system will be areas of research. The track system has significant safety, efficiency and costs implications for European railways. WP3 will target key aspects to deliver cost effective solutions.
WP4 – Smart Infrastructure - Bridges & Tunnels: Improved knowledge on bridge and tunnels asset condition and rates of degradation is required to reduce cost, and improve performance. Better information and intelligence to create predictive capabilities. The challenge is to develop inspection and monitoring methods that can be used with minimal traffic disruption.
WP6 – Smart Infrastructure - Maintenance Strategies & Execution: Delivers a consistent and holistic approach to asset maintenance improving the reliability of the railway system reducing recurring maintenance costs. The research will focus on an asset maintenance framework, a dynamic model for track system maintenance, and condition and risk based maintenance planning.
A framework and process for KPI decisions that support infrastructure managers and the supply chain to define and evaluate their own KPIs have been developed. The process is demonstrated by connecting it to In2Smart asset management requirements and by conducting two case studies on Trafikverket maintenance records. The case studies involves KPIs of availability and risk matrices.
WP9 Intelligent Mobility Management (I2M) – ‘Nowcasting’ and Forecasting: WP9 will focus on the design and development of an advanced asset information system with the ability to ‘nowcast’ and forecast network asset status with the associated probabilities. This will allow TMS/dispatching systems to seamlessly access heterogeneous data sources.
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