Reliability and Inspection Modelling of Railway Signalling Systems

Nikesh Kumar,Kong Fah Tee

doi:10.3390/modelling2030018

Nikesh Kumar, Kong Fah Tee

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/modelling2030018

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Abstract

The railway is one of the most prominent models of transportation across the globe and it carries a large number of people, thus requiring high reliability, maintainability and safety. The reliability of railways mostly depends on an effective signalling system, making it one of the critical parts of railway operation. A signalling system is part of a large array of systems with interconnected components and subcomponents. Therefore, there is a need to make the signalling system more reliable and optimised with enhanced fault detection. Proper inspection and maintenance are required to make the signalling system reliable and safe. In this study, different inspection modelling techniques are applied to find the reliability of the signalling system. The signalling system has been divided into subsystems (signal unit, track unit, point-and-point machine) considering their importance and their effects on the failure rate of the entire signalling system. Inspection modelling of each subsystem has been conducted to provide the basis for the entire signalling system. A case study has been investigated to validate the model developed in one of the busiest tracks in eastern India. The obtained data thus are used to analyse the inspection pattern of signalling subsystems. Special attention to maintenance for inspection activities and logistics support has been taken into consideration, which is required to improve the reliability and maintainability of signalling subsystems and systems to make the railway signalling system sustainable in the long run.

Highlights

Due to the continuous increase in the speed and requirement of traffic, the challenge of highway and railway systems in the different parts of the world is increasing day by day [1,2]
Special attention to maintenance for inspection activities and logistics support has been taken into consideration, which is required to improve the reliability and maintainability of signalling subsystems and systems to make the railway signalling system sustainable in the long run
The signalling system is at present mostly affected by a limited number of causes, such as ‘heavy’ lightning, insulation failure due to passenger interference, interference by lizards, scrap material falling between the stock and tongue rails and cables being chewed by rats

Summary

Introduction

Due to the continuous increase in the speed and requirement of traffic, the challenge of highway and railway systems in the different parts of the world is increasing day by day [1,2]. In addition to the above, there is lots of effect on safety and operations of railway systems, especially in developing countries where there is lack of funds, and the failure of railway infrastructure is very difficult to tackle [4]. Inspections form an important part of the integrity management process as a means of monitoring the performance of signalling systems to ensure their safety and serviceability [5,6,7]. Special attention to maintenance and inspection activities and logistics support is required to be taken to improve the reliability and maintainability of the signalling system [8,9,10,11]. Many works have been performed to improve the reliability of the railway signalling system by modelling the inspection and maintenance process of a railway system. Sysyn et al outlined and analysed the problem of a scheduled inspections system for common crossings [10]

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