Proactive monitoring and management of the wheel-rail interface for improved freight rail performance

2013年发生在魁北克省梅甘蒂克湖的列车脱轨事故提高了加拿大（以及整个北美）对货运铁路安全以及更普遍的货运铁路性能的认识。虽然这起特殊事故的原因与铁路或轨道问题没有直接联系，但基础设施状况是导致列车脱轨的已知因素。因此，轨道基础设施状况受到监管和仔细监控，以确保各种参数不超过规定的监管阈值。然而，尽管在铁路监测技术的部署和复杂性方面有了明显的改进，但在监测能力的空间和时间范围、对铁路磨损根本原因的理解、有助于预测未来状况的铁路磨损趋势知识以及以支持更积极主动的管理决策的方式整合大型但往往不同的铁路系统的能力方面仍然存在差距。拟议的研究旨在通过提高先进铁路管理（加拿大）公司的能力来帮助解决这些差距。拟议的研究的目的是通过积极主动地监测和管理复杂的力，相互作用和磨损，发生在铁路和火车车轮之间的接口，以提高货运铁路的性能。研究重点是：（1）提高分析磨损钢轨的能力，并支持有关如何通过主动钢轨打磨最好地重塑磨损钢轨的决策;（2）提高对影响钢轨磨损的轨道和铁路交通因素的认识。建议的研究方法需要先进的技术技能和务实的知识，由一个合作的研究团队交付。这项研究支持积极主动，数据驱动的铁路维护和管理计划，提高加拿大货运铁路行业的生产力，安全性和效率。当铁路行业以这些方式受益时，行业托运人，加拿大消费者和加拿大经济都可以直接节省资金。

The train derailment at Lac-Mégantic, Québec in 2013 raised awareness in Canada (and across North America)about freight rail safety and, more generally, freight rail performance. While the cause of this particularincident has not been directly linked to rail or track issues, infrastructure condition is a known contributor totrain derailments. As such, track infrastructure condition is regulated and carefully monitored to ensure variousparameters do not exceed prescribed regulatory thresholds. However, despite marked improvements in thedeployment and sophistication of rail monitoring technologies, gaps remain concerning the spatial andtemporal extent of monitoring capabilities, the understanding of the underlying causes of rail wear, knowledgeof rail wear trends to help predict future conditions, and the ability to integrate large but often disparate datasetsin ways that support more proactive management decisions. The proposed research aims to help address thesegaps by enhancing the capacity of Advanced Rail Management (Canada) Inc.The purpose of the proposed research is to improve freight rail performance through proactive monitoring andmanagement of the complex forces, interactions, and wear that occur at the interface between the rail and therailcars' wheels. The research focuses on: (1) enhancing capabilities to analyze worn rail and support decisionsabout how best to re-shape worn rail through proactive rail grinding; and (2) improving knowledge about thetrack and rail traffic factors that affect rail wear. The proposed research approach requires advanced technicalskills and pragmatic knowledge delivered by a collaborative research team.This research supports proactive, data-driven rail maintenance and management programs that improve theproductivity, safety, and efficiency of Canada's freight rail industry . When the rail industry benefits in theseways, there are direct financial savings for industry shippers, Canadian consumers, and the Canadian economy.