DB Systemtechnik GmbH is working for a strong rail
DB Systemtechnik GmbH is playing a vital role in improving the reliability and availability of Germany’s rail network. To achieve this, the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary is contracted by DB Netze to inspect the track situation with measuring vehicles at regular intervals. The aim of continuous track monitoring is to identify faults as early as possible and to rectify them before major damage ensues. In addition, the findings help with the targeted maintenance and upkeep of existing tracks.
In this way, the company makes a valuable contribution to a safe and high-performance rail infrastructure. This topic continues to grow in importance internationally as passenger and freight traffic around the globe increasingly shifts from road to rail, and given the major role of climate-neutral transport in protecting the climate.
Further options for continuous track monitoring wanted
For monitoring and inspecting the track, DB Systemtechnik GmbH uses measuring trains to survey the track geometry. Inspections are carried out at fixed intervals, depending on the maximum speed and load on each section. Continuous status monitoring of the rail infrastructure is virtually impossible.
What’s more, with climate change and growing volumes of people and freight switching to rail, the infrastructure – already scarcely growing – is seeing higher and greater traffic loads. At the same time, the increased traffic on the track means that there is less time available for infrastructure repairs and maintenance. Therefore, the company was on the lookout for a powerful solution to optimize its own measuring infrastructure.
The idea was born to use regular regional and long-distance trains as a supplement to routine inspections. Thanks to the mileage they cover daily in any case, and equipped with suitably rugged measurement technology, they would enable comprehensive monitoring of the entire rail infrastructure. For example, installing measurement technology in one high-speed ICE train per series – which covers an average distance of 1,500 kilometers a day – would suffice to completely cover all 10,000 kilometers of the ICE network.
The company launched its own innovation project to test the feasibility of this idea of using regular trains for continuous track monitoring. The project, “Status monitoring with regular trains”, rapidly demonstrated that the data acquired in regular rail traffic was equivalent in quality to that obtained by measuring trains. And this was the case even though the data was gathered completely autonomously and automatically without additional personnel, unlike with the old measuring method.