The integration of railway condition monitoring technologies to establish continuous track asset management improvement

Abstract

The view of the author presented in this dissertation is that the integration of modern railway technologies and information technology systems establishes effective maintenance management and ensures continuous asset management improvement. In conjunction with the integration of different technologies is the requirement to implement these technologies and strategies in a systematic process according to a prioritised order of value adding, to improve the required service objectives (Mitchell et al., 2007; Woodhouse, 2001). The dissertation describes the planning of maintenance activities on railway assets. It involves various aspects through the asset management life cycle from asset inventory and condition data acquisitioning methods and the utilization of maintenance history to assist in the work identification, planning and work execution of maintenance activities. The challenge in the railways includes a large geographic area resulting in challenges to minimize maintenance visits and resulting costs. It further provides details on the integration and efficient utilisation of information and presents the value it adds to ensure maintenance effectiveness. The study focuses on methods for data collection and a systematic process for decision-making analysis with the ultimate aim of producing an effective maintenance plan (specifically for mechanised tamping) based on all available infrastructure management data including operational requirements. Lastly the effect of condition-based maintenance is illustrated, demonstrating that this strategy increases maintenance effectiveness (doing the right things), resulting in a decrease in maintenance cost and an increase in capacity.