On Track to Cut Rail Costs

Supervision of railways is time-consuming and requires expensive high-tech dedicated diagnostic trains. A team of researchers in Norway, Sweden and France are now building lightweight units that could do most of the work.

- Using known technology, we are constructing units that will significantly reduce maintenance costs throughout Europe. The impact will be tremendous,” says Atle Aalerud, Senior Researcher at NORCE.

In Norway, a single highly equipped train is responsible for inspecting all the 4,000 kilometres of tracks covering the long-stretched country. If a particular part of the track needs inspection, this train – called Roger1000 – will be summoned. It could, however, be hundreds of miles away. And when it arrives, traffic along the lines must be halted or altered for Roger1000 to operate.

- Our solution is to build inspection vehicles that are small and light enough to be lifted onto the tracks by two people. The vehicle can be pulled from the tracks to let trains pass before it is put back to continue its work,” says Aalerud.

The inspection vehicle will be equipped to collect data on tunnel profiles, infrastructure clearance, and – in particular – on overhead line condition.

The overhead line is the heart of the railway system, fuelling the train with the electric energy needed to move. The wear and tear caused by the friction between the line and the pantograph mounted on top of the train to collect the electricity, must be monitored closely. If worn or damaged, the wire must be replaced.

- We can assess the wear level of the overhead wire by measuring how much its cross-section shape deviates from a perfect circle, which is its original form. The wider the flattened surface, the greater the wear, explains Aalerud.

Wear width is determined using direct light reflection. A beam of light is projected onto the contact wire, and the resulting reflection is measured. The width of the reflected light corresponds to the width of the worn surface as the untouched curved surface produces minimal reflection.

Using commercially available LiDAR and industrial imaging equipment, Aalerud has built a prototype which – for test purposes – is placed on the front of a local service locomotive in Southern Norway. The prototype currently operates up to 40-50 kilometres per hour, with efforts underway to increase speed and precision. The finalized system will also be able to inspect tunnels and perform remote inspections of insulators and other components using geolocated inspection points.

- Our goal is to automate both data collection and evaluation. The end product is a robot that will autonomously inspect key infrastructure along the track – and identify and report any problems, says Aalerud.

Part of Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking, a Horizon Europe program

His innovation project is part of the IAM4RAIL project, a large European flagship project with close to 100 partners and a total budget of around €107 million, of which roughly €46 million is funded by the EU. IAM4RAIL is part of Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking, a Horizon Europe program dedicated to modernising and digitalising the continent’s rail infrastructure.

- The work in this Work Package is an important step forward in the automatization and digitalisation of the railway sector, says Stefano Derosa.

He is a senior advisor at the Norwegian Railway Directorate (Jernbanedirektoratet), which is a founding member and beneficiary of the Europe’s Rail research program. The work is carried out in collaboration with affiliated entities, which in this activity are NORCE and Bane NOR.

- The solution can provide a higher degree of precision in the inspection process, while reducing costs and risks for the personnel. This activity, together with the other ones that we support within the Europe’s Rail research program, will contribute to a more sustainable and integrated mobility system, allowing to make the railway the everyday mobility solution, says Derosa.