List view / Grid view

Track/Infrastructure Maintenance & Engineering

 

article

Innovation is important for Network Rail

10 December 2010 | By Steve Yianni, Director of Engineering, Network Rail and Global Railway Review Editorial Board Member

Over the last decade, the UK’s railways have been transformed. When we took over from Railtrack in 2002, we took over a railway that had lost the confidence of the nation. Ten years ago punctuality was running at 79% while the number of broken rails approached 1,000. Today, nearly 94%…

article

Shipshape and Bristol fashion

10 December 2010 | By Dave Curtis, General Manager, Freightliner Maintenance Ltd

Freightliner Maintenance Ltd (FML) faced significant challenges to turn an abandoned freight terminal into a fully-functioning railport for a customer running liquid products. In an interview for Global Railway Review, Dave Curtis, General Manager of FML, explains the work involved with this important project and also the success so far…

article

Deploying Neopul’s know-how in Dublin

10 December 2010 | By Paulo Jorge Ribeiro Corte Real de Oliveira, Project Manager, Neopul

This report describes Neopul’s work on the Luas b1-400 extension of the Green Line from the Sandyford depot to Cherrywood industrial estate, which was opened to the public on 16 October 2010. The green line was the existing connection from Dublin city centre (St. Stephen’s Green Station) and the recent…

article

Predicting the future for switches and crossings

17 September 2010 | By Ian Coleman & Andrew Cornish, Network Rail PhD Students (Switches and Crossings) at the Future Railway Research Centre, Imperial College London

Maintaining and renewing the thousands of switches and crossings (or ‘S&C’ and also known as railway points and/or turnouts) across Britain’s rail network is an expensive business, costing hundreds of millions of pounds every year. Gaining a better understanding of the dynamic forces that occur when a train passes over…

article

Taking the ‘action not reaction’ future approach

4 August 2010 | By Philippe Gauderon, Head of SBB Infrastructure and Member of the SBB Management Board

Most of the SBB rail network is in good condition. That was the conclusion of an external survey commissioned by SBB and published in February 2010. Future maintenance and renewal of the rail infrastructure will cost significantly more than was previously assumed. SBB Infrastructure has embarked on a comprehensive action…

article

Highly elastic tracks for ballast-type permanent ways

5 April 2010 | By Winfired Bösterling, Head of System Technology and in charge of Technical Sales, Development and Engineering, Vossloh Fastening Systems GmbH

The speed of today’s trains and the number of different regional specifications are factors posing stiffer challenges on modern track construction. Vossloh Fastening Systems is addressing these trends by developing new rail fastening systems for ballast-type tracks.

article

FACILITIES SERVICES: expert for maintenance and renewal

5 April 2010 | By Arnold Schiefer, Member of the Executive Board, ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG

Following the merger of the two companies ÖBB-Infrastruktur Bau AG and ÖBB-Infrastruktur Betrieb AG into ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG on 3 October 2009, the two divisions Construction and Maintenance and INFRA.service were also consolidated with effect from 1 January 2010 (see Figure 1).

article

TRACKELAST RPU – the ideal material for noise and vibration reduction

5 April 2010 | By Edilon Sedra

edilon)(sedra is a company active worldwide in the field of products for railway infrastructure projects. edilon)(sedra develops, manufactures and markets innovative, highly durable rail fastening systems for trains, trams, metros and crane tracks, which are an elementary part of the edilon)(sedra track systems.

article

Changing the future

28 January 2010 | By László Mosóczi, Member of the Board, Chief Operating Officer, Head of MÁV Infrastructure

Hungarian State Railways Co. (MÁV) is characterised by limited market and financial opportunities which are determined by the obligation to sustain the level of service, the application of obligatory ticket prices, limited budgetary compensations and by limited debt raising opportunities. After a couple of decades, the first years of the…

article

Major network investments will help reduce UK passenger disruption

12 December 2009 | By Craig Waters, Commissioning Editor

If a railway network is in need of track renewal, it is vitally important that the procedures are carried out to the best possible standards. Network downtime needs to be kept to an absolute minimum and it is therefore essential for infrastructure owners to invest heavily in high-tech track renewal…

article

Predicting deterioration in track condition

23 January 2009 | By Dr. Nick Thom, Lecturer, School of Engineering, University of Nottingham, UK

With ballasted trackbed here for the foreseeable future, Dr. Nick Thom looks at ways of predicting the rate at which it deteriorates and the factors that affect it.

article

Grinding and milling are essential to rail quality

23 January 2009 | By James Abbott, Technical Editor, Global Railway Review

Rail grinding helps to prevent the dangerous build-up of rolling contact fatigue, and also reduces running noise for line side communities. James Abbott, Technical Editor for Global Railway Review, assesses some developments and significant aspects of this important area of our industry.