TrackWater: Supporting High-Value, Low-Cost Rail Network Drainage Asset Management

铁路网络依靠广泛的轨道旁排水系统来排除地表水，并将洪水和网络损坏的风险降至最低。未能维护排水基础设施可能会对母公司资产产生重大的成本和安全影响;例如延误分钟数、轨道几何形状不良、线路关闭以及可能发生故障。我们的重点是改善铁路基础设施的排水系统的性能-这是网络基础设施中一个关键但经常被忽视的元素，以帮助“以更低的成本设计，建造和运营铁路基础设施”。我们的方法是利用先前在公路部门维护排水网络的创新自学习系统方面的工作，并将该技术（包括物联网传感器网络，数据模型和决策支持系统）应用于铁路部门。这代表了最先进技术的重大进步，因为它将解决Network Rail确定的关键挑战，并实现对轨道旁排水资产的主动维护。我们的联盟包括Network Rail作为挑战的所有者，InTouch Ltd作为技术供应商和主要的市场途径，以及由Transport Systems Catapult和兰开斯特大学组成的强大的科学基础。由此产生的系统将在14英里的网络铁路测试轨道上进行测试。

The rail network relies on an extensive system of trackside drains to remove surface water and minimise the risk of flooding and damage to the network. Failure to maintain the drainage infrastructure can have significant cost and safety implications for the parent asset; such as delay minutes, poor track geometry, line closures and the likelihood of earthwork failures. Our focus is on improving the performance of the rail infrastructure's drainage system - a critical, yet often overlooked element of the network infrastructure in order to help "design, build and operate railway infrastructure at reduced cost". Our approach is to leverage previous work on an innovative self-learning system for maintaining drainage networks in the highways sector and adapt this technology – including the IoT sensor network, data models and decision support system - for use in the rail sector. This represents a major advance in the state of the art as it will address key challenges identified by Network Rail and enable proactive maintenance of trackside drainage assets. Our consortium includes Network Rail as a challenge owner, InTouch Ltd as a technology supplier and primary route to market, and a strong science base consisting of the Transport Systems Catapult and Lancaster University. The resulting system will be tested on 14 miles of Network Rail test track.