The Infrastructure Subsystem Sector (ISS) of the Rail System Forum held its Plenary meetings through its main permanent groups: the Track Expert Group (TEG) and the Panel of Structural Experts (PoSE). Marco Iacobini (RFI), Chair of the ISS, attended all the sessions, discussing achievements to date and ongoing projects with the experts, and presented the strategy and action plan for the sector.
23 participants attended the Plenary meeting of the TEG which took place remotely on 28 February. The session was opened by TEG Chair Bernhard Knoll (ÖBB) who welcomed participants.
UIC TEG coordinator, Marcos Conceição and Mercedes Gutiérrez, UIC Head of Asset Management, Infrastructure and TTI, provided updated news from UIC.
The group approved the publication of IRS 80864-3 (steel washers) and explained the strategy to review UIC Leaflets 864-4-4 (fish-plates), 864-5 (rail seat pads) and 864-6-7 (base-plates).
The second part of the meeting was devoted to the exchange of experiences. Andreas Beck (DB Netz) communicated the results of the questionnaire regarding “Concrete sleepers”. Taco Sysling (ProRail) proposed a new questionnaire on “De-icing trains”. Kurt Demeersseman (Infrabel) gave a presentation on “Maintenance & renewal strategy”: whether to review or withdraw UIC Leaflet 715-2 “Recommendations for the management of rails”. The group agreed on the relevance of all these topics, especially for predictive maintenance.
The members discussed the ongoing UIC TEG projects and ideas for the coming years. The relevant coordinators and technical leaders presented the status of each project.
The TEG Plenary was closed by the Chair, Bernhard Knoll, who thanked participants for the interesting and efficient day.
The PoSE held its Plenary meeting on 1 and 2 March at the UIC Headquarters in Paris, with an option to participate remotely. The PoSE is currently chaired by Didier van der Velde (Infrabel). In his absence, Martin Muncke (ÖBB and previous chair) conducted the meeting. Mercedes Gutiérrez, UIC PoSE coordinator, presented the news from UIC.
The group presented the current projects, Drone4Rail and EOLE, and the ongoing migration plan for UIC leaflets into new IRSs.
Marcos Conceição, UIC coordinator of the group in charge of updating IRS 70779-10, presented the group’s initial results on “tunnel asset management and maintenance principles”.
The session devoted to case studies was opened by Luis Esteras (Adif), who presented the experience of “Prestressed cables in HSL bridges”. Chi-Wen Chen and Bastien Sage-Vallier (SNCF) introduced members to the “Platipus Project” on foundations under water. Herbert Friedl (SBB) presented the “SBB approach for risk-based asset management of railway bridges”.
The TEG Plenary was closed by Martin Muncke, who thanked the participants, encouraged them to continue with their assigned tasks, and invited them to the next Plenary meeting in the autumn.
IRS published by PoSE: IRS 70724: https://www.shop-etf.com/en/track-components-for-25-tons-250-kn-axle-loads-on-ballasted-track-9752?ref=1 (Track components for 25 tons (250 kN) axle loads on ballasted track)
