A MULTI-SCALE BIM/GIS FRAMEWORK FOR RAILWAYS ASSET MANAGEMENT

Abstract

Climate change and urban transformations raise new challenges for decision-makers. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and The European Green Deal aim for a sustainable economy by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. An essential task for reaching this result is to minimize transport emissions and their negative impacts on the environment and the human health. Rail is the future of sustainable transport system, and it can be part of the solution in achieving the decarbonisation target. In addition, even more people are using the train and the improvement of the service offered is an essential aspect to fulfil a greater demand for rail transport. More than five million people daily take the train in Italy, and this number is growing over time. It is demonstrated that more investment in rail infrastructure means a greater number of users, and this is even more true when considering the regional rail transport network. This ongoing research aims to test the potential of a Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) integrated system employed to manage this type of existing infrastructure. A methodology was developed and partly tested on a case study. The purpose is the construction of a system that can be used across different phases of the process: linking the data resulting from BIM and GIS makes possible the development of a federated virtual model used as a single source of truth for project development and asset management.