Abstract
Adequate railway track condition is a prerequisite for safe and reliable railway operation. Many track quality indices (TQIs) have been developed with the aim of assessing the track condition holistically. These indices combine measurement signals of some or all relevant geometry parameters with different mathematical models. In this paper, a selection of important TQIs is evaluated. Using measurement data of a five kilometer track section, the indices are calculated and their properties are discussed. This study reveals that all indices exhibit drawbacks to varying degrees. As a consequence, a new index has been developed—the track quality index of Graz University of Technology (TUG_TQI). Its favorable characteristics are presented by means of the above-mentioned test section. The TUG_TQI combines all relevant track geometry parameters, which are normalized beforehand to eliminate over or underrepresentation of different parameters. Thus, the index reliably describes the overall geometrical track quality.
Highlights
High quality of railway tracks is a prerequisite for reliable railway operation [1,2,3,4,5]
The infrastructure quality can be defined by functioning components [6,7,8,9] and smooth track geometry [10,11,12], which is of particular interest as it determines operational safety to a large degree
The geometry of railway tracks is a key criterion for the comfort of passengers and the safety of railway operation
Summary
High quality of railway tracks is a prerequisite for reliable railway operation [1,2,3,4,5]. The infrastructure quality can be defined by functioning components [6,7,8,9] and smooth track geometry [10,11,12], which is of particular interest as it determines operational safety to a large degree. The defining track geometry parameters—longitudinal level, alignment, gauge, cross level, and twist— need to be regularly monitored and compared with threshold levels to detect critical spots in the network. If the objective is to describe the general track condition, a collective consideration of the above-mentioned parameters is reasonable. For this purpose, many track quality indices (TQIs) have been developed [18,19]
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