Economic priorities that enable reliable and attractive railway transportations (RV40)

Project Coordinator - VTI

Project Leader at KTH - Sebastian Stichel

Scientists at KTH - Visakh V Krishna, Saeed Hossein Nia, Carlos Casanueva Perez

Other Project Partners - Trafikverket

Source - Vinnova

The annual increase in traffic creates a high-capacity utilization on many parts of the railway network. Hence, the consequences of disturbances in the traffic due to infrastructure failures are increasing over time. Another issue is the increasing costs for maintenance.

Whilst there is a well-developed methodology for infrastructure investments, there is a lack of corresponding knowledge to prioritize between maintenance activities and to take informed decisions on when to renew the asset instead of continuing the maintenance activities. A multi-disciplinary approach and knowledge from the industry is required in order to tackle the railway sector’s problems and challenges and provide better conditions for prioritizing between activities, as well as creating more reliable and attractive railway transportations. The purpose of the project is thus to generate knowledge on the relationships that are necessary to strengthen the attractiveness of the railway system and its ability to provide transport services. Specifically, by engaging different disciplines and the industry, the project will provide better conditions for carrying out the right maintenance and renewal activities at the right time and to prevent disturbances in traffic. In addition, the project will generate knowledge on how a socio-economic priority of activities can be put into practice in a cost-efficient way, while also providing scope for innovations and productivity improvements.