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

• 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: Northern Sweden
• 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

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.