A risk-based approach to automatic brake tests for rail freight service: incident analysis and realisation concept

Abstract

Abstract This study reviews the practice of brake tests in freight railways, which is time consuming and not suitable to detect certain failure types. Public incident reports are analysed to derive a reasonable brake test hardware and communication architecture, which aims to provide automatic brake tests at lower cost than current solutions. The proposed solutions relies exclusively on brake pipe and brake cylinder pressure sensors, a brake release position switch as well as radio communication via standard protocols. The approach is embedded in the Wagon 4.0 concept, which is a holistic approach to a smart freight wagon. The reduction of manual processes yields a strong incentive due to high savings in manual labour and increased productivity. Article Highlights Brake tests are time-consuming and hinder the adoption of freight rail. Recent incidents indicate that the mechanical brake rigging does not play a significant role in accidents. A simpler set-up for brake testing, separated from inspections, and the brake test procedure are presented based on the risks observed.

Keywords

• Freight rail
• Brake test
• Incident analysis
• Train composition
• Brake set-up