Monitoring of Switches and Crossings/Tracks Using Smart Sensors

Monitoring the condition of switch and crossings is a challenge for infrastructure managers (IMs). It requires specially trained switch inspectors to manually check the condition of the track. Hence, a fast and cheap system to continuously monitor the Switches and Crossings is a crucial matter for railway IMs. A methodology for continuous and real-time inspection of critical track infrastructures, such as switches and crossings, is developed using sensor technologies. This paper summarises the work done in developing a methodology to continuously monitor Tracks and Switches and Crossings, using inbuilt sensor technologies. The architecture of the sensor network developed contains communication platform to transfer data to a remote station in real time to follow up the status and condition of the track being monitored. A train-track interaction simulation tool developed to select suitable sensors architecture and communication, and to identify optimum sensor location along the track. The system was tested in a lab environment before the inbuilt technology was mounted in field demonstration. The system was installed in track infrastructure and the different stages and levels were tested in field. The monitoring system have been installed at a railway line in Germany to compare the vibration measurements with commercially available and expensive measurements as a validation exercise. The system has proved to have a potential for a smart failure and fault detection in rail infrastructure at network level.