Data‐driven maintenance planning and scheduling based on predicted railway track condition

Abstract Timely planning and scheduling of railway infrastructure maintenance interventions are crucial for increased safety, improved availability, and reduced cost. We propose a data‐driven decision‐support framework integrating track condition predictions with tactical maintenance planning and op...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quality and Reliability Engineering International
Main Authors: Sedghi, Mahdieh, Bergquist, Bjarne, Vanhatalo, Erik, Migdalas, Athanasios
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/qre.3166
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/qre.3166
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/qre.3166
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Summary:Abstract Timely planning and scheduling of railway infrastructure maintenance interventions are crucial for increased safety, improved availability, and reduced cost. We propose a data‐driven decision‐support framework integrating track condition predictions with tactical maintenance planning and operational scheduling. The framework acknowledges prediction uncertainties by using a Wiener process‐based prediction model at the tactical level. We also develop planning and scheduling algorithms at the operational level. One algorithm focuses on cost‐optimisation, and one algorithm considers the multi‐component characteristics of the railway track by grouping track segments near each other for one maintenance activity. The proposed framework's performance is evaluated using track geometry measurement data from a 34 km railway section in northern Sweden, focusing on the tamping maintenance action. We analyse maintenance costs and demonstrate potential efficiency increases by applying the decision‐support framework.