Economics of Track Resilience

Nowadays, railway infrastructure is a valuable asset throughout the world. Due to the increase in railway traffic, these may lead to the increase in the possibility of railway track deterioration. Thus, the investment in railway infrastructure improvement is growing to prevent disruption, deterioration and reduce maintenance. There are many methods to mitigate these problems. The use of elastic materials has been proposed as an alternative method to improve track resilience. It is seen that if these materials are used properly, track deterioration is decreased. This lead to expanding the service life of railway track and its components. However, track maintenance still needs to be carried out to maintain a railway asset. This paper presents the benefits of rail pad, under sleeper pad, and under ballast mat. Firstly, this study aims to discuss the main method of mitigation for those matters using elastic materials. The main features of these materials are to modify the vertical stiffness of the track, increase damping, reduce vibrations and noise, reduce impact load etc. It should be noted that different types of each elastic material are used for different locations and purposes based on the stiffness of the material. Moreover, elastic materials have a short lifespan as the temperature can affect their properties. This paper analyses the life cycle cost over a 30years time span of railway track with and without elastic materials. The construction and maintenance costs are considered. Based on the previous project, the use of elastic materials can significantly reduce the overall maintenance cost. The result shows that the use of elastic materials can give a fast payback within 4 years, which are still in the service life of elastic materials. However, it is recommended to consider more factors for further research.