NeTIRail project
About NeTIRail
Background
Facts and Figures
- Total budget – 5.4m€
- Duration – 36 months
- Project start date – 1st June 2015
- Project end date – 31st May 2018
- Partners – 13 partners from 8 different countries
- Grant agreement no 636237
NeTIRail-INFRA is funded by the European Commission under the Horizon2020 programme
Railway lines across Europe face different demands and challenges, from capacity constrained lines with the challenge is to further increase services and shorten travel time, through to underutilised and subsidised lines with aging infrastructure where cost reduction is critical whilst still maintaining interoperability and safety standards is critical to the sustainability of the track.
The approaches to maintenance and operation, and technology deployed on these lines should differ in order to provide an optimal solution for each scenario. The business cases for the marginally viable lines should also consider the societal impact which railway service provides in connecting communities and providing economic agglomeration effects as well as providing diversionary routes which enhance the overall resilience of the railway system when perturbations occur elsewhere on the network.
Overview
NeTIRail-INFRA is developing and demonstrating technologies and best practice tailored to the needs of different categories of rail systems. The consortium consists of railway infrastructure managers and operators as well as supplier and research organisations who will deliver innovative concepts of new technologies and for railway operation, and analyse current best practice to identify optimal solutions to be applied to different line categories across Europe. NeTIRail-INFRA also assesses the societal impact of railway and the business case for each alternative asset management strategy and the applications of the new technologies developed, including consideration of the incentives and regulatory and financial frameworks across the EU member states.
Key NeTIRail outputs
Guidance and decision support tools
- Assessment of economic and societal impact of rail transportation to examine costs, benefits and viability of lines and their investment decisions
- Decision support software for rail system operators to apply the methods developed to their own lines
Demonstration of technologies and operational strategies
- Track infrastructure design and maintenance optimised for particular routes and track types
- Lean optimisation of S&C and OHL operation and maintenance
- Tailored overhead line power supply infrastructure providing solutions for low cost electrification
- Low cost on-vehicle and lineside monitoring with interfaces to existing railway technology to optimise operation, maintenance and renewal of the infrastructure
