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Assessing the causal and dynamic effects of tamping on railway track geometry using onboard mounted and regular track geometry measurements
Luleå University of Technology, Department of Social Sciences, Technology and Arts, Business Administration and Industrial Engineering.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-1473-3670
Swedish Transport Administration, Luleå, Sweden.
Luleå University of Technology, Department of Social Sciences, Technology and Arts, Business Administration and Industrial Engineering.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3911-8009
2025 (English)In: Proceedings of the Institution of mechanical engineers. Part F, journal of rail and rapid transit, ISSN 0954-4097, E-ISSN 2041-3017, Vol. 239, no 8, p. 700-709Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This article illustrates a method to measure, visualize, and statistically test tamping effectiveness on track geometry using and comparing two different measurement systems: an onboard system mounted on a regular passenger train and a specialized measurement train system. The proposed analysis method can be generalized to assess the impact of other track maintenance activities. Track quality variables, such as the longitudinal level, were measured to assess tamping effects on a 1250 m section of the Swedish Iron Ore Line in autumn 2022. The onboard system provided frequent measurements before and after tamping, capturing immediate to 3-month effects, while the regular system enabled a 21-month follow-up. The analysis segmented the tamped and comparative track sections into 100 m segments, employing t-tests for statistical analysis. For our studied section, tamping induced a direct improvement of track quality by significantly reducing the standard deviations of longitudinal level and alignment, decreasing maximum twist values, and increasing the composite track quality index (QS). The paper also compares the two measurement systems, highlighting their combined value in assessing tamping efficacy. Both measurement systems yielded comparable track geometry measures, highlighting the potential of combining frequent data from onboard-mounted systems with regular measurements for maintenance analysis and decision-making.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
SAGE Publications Ltd , 2025. Vol. 239, no 8, p. 700-709
Keywords [en]
Track geometry, track geometry quality, tamping, track geometry degradation, railway technology
National Category
Other Civil Engineering Infrastructure Engineering
Research subject
Quality Technology & Logistics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-112586DOI: 10.1177/09544097251336495ISI: 001472740500001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105003400608OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-112586DiVA, id: diva2:1957326
Projects
Fact or FictionASSET
Funder
Swedish Transport Administration, TRV 2020/25832, TRV 2022/29194
Note

Validerad;2025;Nivå 2;2025-11-06 (u8);

Available from: 2025-05-09 Created: 2025-05-09 Last updated: 2025-11-06Bibliographically approved

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Vanhatalo, ErikBergquist, Bjarne

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