Flexible asset monitoring system improves railway infrastructure availability

Dutch rail operator ProRail is tasked with increasing the availability of their network and has set a goal of zero avoidable faults. As ProRail outsources maintenance of the rail network to contractors, going forward new contracts will be based on performance and the number of faults, rather than unit based charging. Additionally, penalties will be issued for failing to meet the requirements of a contract. Condition based maintenance is considered to be the most effective strategy to significantly reduce service affecting faults, especially when combined with real-time online monitoring for gathering condition data of assets. This paper discusses the delivery of an application to address `Zeeland´ a performance-based contract in the Netherlands. The contractor VolkerRail, in cooperation with ProRail, utilised real-time monitoring to reduce avoidable faults and improve availability of the network. The paper will describe the flexible asset monitoring system itself, which was developed by VolkerRail´s measurement and inspection department Inspectation.