Technical article ETR: Smart rail maintenance in the Barelona metro

The ideal summer reading: The technical article published by the renowned railway magazine ETR and produced by experts on the subject of milling technology from voestalpine Track Solutions Germany GmbH and from our measurement technology team. The new and unique concept involves network-wide recording of the rail condition with the aid of state-of-the-art sensor technology. Subsequently, targeted rail milling work is carried out on tracks and switches. The project was awarded the Austrian State Prize for Engineering Consulting in the spring.

Get the full article (in German language): https://pjm.co.at/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/08/ETR_Schieneninstandhaltung_Barcelona_voestalpine_PJM0322Web.pdf

PJM awarded the Austrian National Award for Engineering Consulting

PJM was awarded the Austrian National Award for Engineering Consulting 2021 on May, 11th. The submitted project convinced the 13 experts of the expert jury chaired by DI Dr. Peter Holzer.

A new technical procedure was developed, which was applied among others for the Barcelona metro, with which the rails and tracks of city railways and underground trains can be measured smartly and digitally in a short time. For this, mobile measuring technology is used that is installed on an existing vehicle - instead of conventional measuring trains. These cannot be used for urban railways due to the smaller clearance gauge profiles. "The jury is unanimously convinced that the attractiveness of inner-city public transport can be increased with this technology, because the availability, safety and comfort of passengers is significantly increased", states the jury.

"What a great award! The expert jury looked at our solution in detail and asked well-founded questions. The State Prize is a wonderful confirmation of our daily striving for reliable solutions and innovative concepts. A big thank you also to our client voestalpine Tracking Solutions Germany GmbH," says Martin Joch, CEO of PJM.

About the State Prize

The State Prize for Consulting has been awarded by the Ministry of Economics since 1990, since 2010 alternately for "Engineering Consulting" (organiser: Austrian Consultants Association - ACA) and for "Management Consulting and Information Technology".

The awarded project

Photos: With courtesy of BMDW © Silveri Matthias

 

Staatspreis_PJM3_kleinStaatspreis_PJM1

Metro Barcelona: Mobile rail milling and monitoring project successfully completed by voestalpine and PJM

The unique service portfolio „efficient rail maintenance in three steps” was presented by voestalpine Railway Systems and PJM only last summer. Recently, the first project was successfully completed. Measuring sensors were installed on an existing vehicle of Metro Barcelona, hence the rail measuring was performed automatically. Within a short time, numerous parameters were determined continuously on all metro lines, such as e.g. the quality of the transverse and longitudinal rail profile, the track gauge, and the vertical rail wear. The generated data was digitized and visualized in the form of a network condition report.

Targeted rail maintenance actions were planned, based on the rail measurement results. Subsequently, rails of over 50km of track, including for the first time turnouts, were efficiently milled by voestalpine Track Solutions Germany using its high-performance rail milling technology. After this process, the rails in track and turnouts were restored to an almost as-new condition. The focus lied on eliminating so-called corrugation on the rail running surface. As a result, unwanted noise emissions during subway operation were significantly reduced and travel comfort for passengers was increased. After completing the milling works, a second measurement campaign was carried out in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of rail milling as well as to provide objective evidence of the improved condition.

What are the benefits for the operator of Metro Barcelona? Objective condition data enables efficient and targeted action planning for rail maintenance. In combination with mobile rail milling, identified rail damage can immediately and sustainably be maintained and restored. This reduces unwanted noise emissions, increases travel comfort, and extends the rail service life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2021-12-09 13_20_50-Mobile Rail Milling & Monitoring at Metro Barcelona@voestalpine_kleinPJM_objective_data_klein@Manuel_Hanschitz

Martin Joch, CEO of PJM, summarizes: “The use of smart measurement technology and the integrated approach to determine rail condition in combination with maintenance measures, enables the operator to significantly increase efficiency in the operation of the infrastructure. Simultaneously, the risk of unplanned maintenance work at short notice is drastically reduced.”

Johannes Wundersamer, Vice President Sales of voestalpine Track Solutions Germany, a subsidiary of voestalpine Railway Systems, says: „With our milling service, operational rail damage in track and turnouts can sustainably be restored. In order to plan this maintenance measure efficiently, it is very important to have the best possible knowledge of the rail condition in advance. With our combined services, including rail measurement technology, we offer an all-round carefree package for our customers.”

 

Further information & project video:

https://www.voestalpine.com/railway-systems/en/company/news/mobile-rail-milling-at-metro-barcelona/

https://pjm.co.at/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/07/2021-07-27_KWO_PR_Kooperation-PJM-vaTSG_FINAL_EN.pdf

 

Efficient rail maintenance for Metro Barcelona with voestalpine

With voestalpine Railway Solutions, we offer a unique overall concept for efficient rail maintenance for metro and suburban rail operators. In order to provide passengers in urban areas with as much public mobility as possible, the train frequencies are constantly increasing, while the engineering hours for maintenance are decreasing. This is a huge challenge for rail maintenance which is however essential to ensure safe and comfortable rail operations at optimal costs.

Together with voestalpine, we have developed a unique overall concept for efficient rail maintenance in just 3 steps, especially for local transport companies: Smart rail monitoring followed by rail maintenance using high-performance milling machines. The concept has already been successfully applied to the Barcelona Metro.

Learn more about the unique overall concept in the practical test:

Get the full project story of Metro Barcelona: 

https://www.voestalpine.com/railway-systems/en/company/news/mobile-rail-milling-at-metro-barcelona/

Rail maintenance: voestalpine Railway Systems and PJM cooperate

1 + 1 = unique. When 2 railway experts team up, they provide a holistic service portfolio. voestalpine Track Solutions Germany GmbH, a subsidiary of voestalpine Railway Systems, the global leader for railway infrastructure system solutions, are pooling their respective core competencies in rail maintenance of urban transport systems  under a new service for customers. This new holistic approach makes possible for the first time the “smart” digital measurement of rails and track on entire subways and light rail systems within a very short time, followed by processing using high-performance milling technology.

 

Get the full presse release:

PJM-019med
PJM-038med

Be up to date with our periodical newsletter

PJ Messtechnik GmbH
PJ Monitoring GmbH

Waagner-Biro-Straße 125
8020 Graz
Austria

Tel.: +43 316 228454
Fax: +43 316 228454-15
[email protected]

© 2019 PJ Messtechnik, PJ Monitoring. All rights reserved

WordPress Cookie Plugin by Real Cookie Banner