The maintenance of the railway superstructure and its influence on the track geometry of regional line

Abstract

The results of the railway track quality assessment, obtained as part of the diagnostics during its operational phase, are used by the construction manager to plan repair activities. The aim of the railway infrastructure manager is to maintain the longest possible good condition of the structure, most often represented by a stable track geometry quality. In the case of low economic efficiency of quality assurance of the structure through the improvement of diagnosed parameters, according to the monitored factors in the diagnostics results it is possible to decide on the operability of the structure or its individual structural elements. The interval between repairs of determining geometrical parameters or representative quality indicators, shortened to technically, technologically, and economically inefficient time, indicates the end of life of the component or structural unit and it is necessary to plan and perform its replacement. In many cases, the structure continues to operate at the final phase of its life, for example, due to financial constraints. The infrastructure manager continues to carry out regular diagnostics and then plans and carries out routine maintenance activities to ensure a safe and reliable track. The article deals with the issue of interval diagnostics and related effects of corrections of the track geometry quality of the selected section of the regional railway line with a continuously repaired railway superstructure. Attention is paid to determining the degradation rate of track geometry quality in relation to achieving the limit values of quality indicators and the efficiency of corrective maintenance.