UK university to develop asset management tool for light railways and tramways

Experts at the University of Huddersfield have won more than US$208,000 funding to develop a software-based asset management tool that will enable light railway operators to calculate the most appropriate rail wear limits for their system. This would mean longer intervals between maintenance and replacement, reducing disruption to passengers and costs to the operators, while maintaining safety levels.
December 22, 2015 Read time: 2 mins

Experts at the University of Huddersfield have won more than US$208,000 funding to develop a software-based asset management tool that will enable light railway operators to calculate the most appropriate rail wear limits for their system.

This would mean longer intervals between maintenance and replacement, reducing disruption to passengers and costs to the operators, while maintaining safety levels.

The research is being carried out at the university’s Institute of Railway Research, which has developed expertise in computer modelling of the interface between rail vehicles and track.

This will play a major part in the new project and there is also on-site collaboration with some of the UK’s busiest tramway systems.

The project is funded through UKTram’s Low Impact Light Rail scheme, supported by Innovate UK’s SBRI programme. The project is headed by Dr Adam Bevan, who is the IRR’s Head of Enterprise. It includes Professor Jay Jaiswal, a metallurgist with a speciality in rail steels.

The project, to develop a software tool that will enable tramway and light rail operators to develop more realistic maintenance schedules, was one of fifteen projects awarded funding for a feasibility study. Following an assessment of the outcomes of this work, funding was awarded to progress to the demonstrator phase and trial the developed tools in real-life situations. This phase is due for completion in October 2016 and will deliver a software-based asset management tool and guidance document based on the operating conditions of the specific network.  It will enable infrastructure managers to arrive at the optimum rail wear limits and to select the appropriate grades of rail steel for their systems.

The developed tool will be made available to UKTram members and the University’s Institute of Railway Research will provide technical consultancy to customise it for the specific conditions of the network.  The software and supporting technical consultancy will also be offered on a commercial basis to the large numbers of tramways and light railways around the world.

GIS/ Mapping & Location Based Systems

Related Content

  • Network Rail: campaign to reduce alcohol-related railway incidents
    December 22, 2017
    To combat the 7,419 recorded alcohol-related incidents on or around the railway in 2016/17, 16% of which took place over the festive period; Network Rail, British Transport Police, RSSB and charity Drinkware have launched a campaign called Keep a Clear Head. The scheme is also encouraging the public to keep a clear head on the rail network using local and national communications channels, including across social media.
    Read More
  • Upgrading New Yorks's traffic signal timings
    February 28, 2013
    The New York City Department of Transportation instituted the Midtown in Motion project to promote multimodal mobility in the Midtown Core of Manhattan, a 110 square block area or “zone” from Second to Sixth Avenue and 42nd to 57th Street. Control extended from 86th Street to 23rd Street, focused on the core zone. MiM provides signal timing changes on two levels: Level 1 control starts from a pre-stored library of timing plans. These are designed offline and are relevant to arterials inside the Midtown stud
    Read More
  • Siemens to automate New York’s Queens Boulevard subway
    August 28, 2015
    Siemens has been awarded a US$156 million contract by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to install communications-based train control (CBTC) on the Queens Boulevard Line, one of the busiest subway lines on the New York City transit system. Siemens is supplying the onboard equipment for a total of 305 trains and installing the wayside signalling technology at seven of eight field locations.
    Read More
  • Intertraffic Amsterdam 2016 Innovation Awards finalists
    February 1, 2016
    Smart and innovative thinking will again be awarded at the world’s largest, and best attended, trade fair for the infrastructure, traffic management, safety, parking, and smart mobility sectors, when the winners of the 2016 Intertraffic Innovation Awards are announced on 5 April during the opening ceremony.
    Read More

Highlighted Content