Smart rail infrastructure, maintenance and life cycle costs

Abstract

This paper discusses smart railway infrastructure systems. The meaning of “smart” is described followed by a discussion on the benefits of the use of smart infrastructure. Some key components of smart infrastructure, few examples and case studies are presented. Our analysis suggests that the implementation of a smart system may well lead to energy savings of 25%, therefore smart systems should be implemented in larger scale.

Keywords

• railways
• smart infrastructure
• ERTMS
• power grid management
• track circuit
• regenerative braking