Lifecycle cost evaluation of turnouts on a reinforced concrete base for especially heavy-duty track sections

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the economic efficiency of turnouts on a reinforced concrete base under harsh operating conditions by providing a model of their lifecycle and costing their maintenance and repair works. The article analyses failures in turnouts of Projects 2750 and 2768 and the costs of their elimination along two operational railway lines: O-N, V-S. An analysis of the data revealed that 90 % of the costs related to turnout failures were due to speed limit warnings and a mere 10 % of the costs were due to track possessions. The cost of turnout maintenance was calculated for four options (the 1st option was O-N, 1st track; the 2nd option was O-N, 2nd track; the 3rd option was V-S, 1st track; the 4th option was V-S, 2nd track). The calculation revealed that the highest maintenance cost per turnout related to the first track of the V-S direction. The model, cost elements and lifecycle cost for turnouts of Projects 2768 and 2750 from their installation to disposal is justified. While analysing the average annual total lifecycle cost of a turnout, it was concluded that option 3 (the V-S section, 1st track) had the highest lifecycle cost due to excessive operating time and no works on the complete replacement of metal parts. The optimal life cycle length for turnouts of Projects 2768 and 2750 is in the range of 1000-1200 million tons of gross running hours with required replacement of the metal parts of turnouts upon reaching them 0.6 of standard running tonnage.