DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH SPEED TRACK INSPECTION

The High Speed Track Inspection Machine was developed on the basis of Japanese National Railways' experience with track maintenance of high-speed lines. The HISTIM supplements the conventional track inspection system based on the 10-m versine method; the new unit measures short wavelength irregularities which can produce resonance in the unsprung car components and track structure if not corrected. Measured are wheel load, lateral force, vertical and lateral journal box acceleration and the absolute shape of the vertical track irregularity. The system is undergoing refinement which is expected to simplify some of the measuring processes.