ARCADIS' Ecotrack helps optimise asset management and maintenance
Rail infrastructure maintenance is one of the most important cost items in the total infrastructure costs. This is the reason management and maintenance have become such important spearheads for rail infrastructure providers. Any reductions of these costs have a significant influence on the total cost of the infrastructure and the general efficiency of infrastructure management.
However, how do you keep the railway system in the desired state against an optimum price/quality ratio? This is only possible by preventive and reactive maintenance of the rail infrastructure based on objective and correct information. And how do you determine which is the most optimum situation for carrying out maintenance and which parts to maintain? The maintenance process is complex. The results are dependent on elements that are variable and parameters that are difficult to influence. Whereas some locations will need regular maintenance, others will only require minimal maintenance for years on end.
ARCADIS has been studying important rail infrastructure management and maintenance issues for years. You will always find a well- established balance between maintenance, function repair and renewal with ARCADIS management and maintenance. Crucial in this balance is the continuous testing and measuring of the tracks since adequate maintenance contributes immensely to the availability of the tracks. Continuous data networking and systematic actualisation visualise the condition and behaviour of the rail infrastructure. Measuring is knowing, knowing is predicting, predicting is preventing. Thus, professional rail asset management can save you over 15% on maintenance costs.
Ecotrack, the only approved and validated decision support system for maintenance and renewal of railway tracks in the world
In order to structure, support and ease the amounts and diversity of information required for maintenance, Ecotrack was developed by ARCADIS. As yet, it is the only tested and released decision support tool approved and validated by the UIC (International Railway Union In Paris) in the world. This decision support system makes a total work plan for the years ahead based on statistic and conditional data. The risk that situations receive too little or too much attention is minimised. Ecotrack enables the infrastructure manager to optimise the maintenance and renewal of the railways. This is noticeable in costs but also in planning and availability of the rolling stock. And we do this against the lowest costs in the shortest period of time. As Ecotrack has proven to be successful for maintenance of the superstructure it is being further developed to be applicable to, amongst others, switches and catenary as well. Its major success is attributable to support in many countries and 10 years of research by the UIC (International Union of Railways) in Paris.
