Purpose:The purpose of this study as a part of Trafikverkets continues improvement work is to create ahigher society value with less delayed train traffic. This study will analyze if it’stechnical/administrative possible to eliminate or reduce the delays which accrue when switcheswith swing nose crossing is not in control. The issue has been segmented in three sub issues:1. How does a switch with swing nose crossing work and which factors leads to a stop intraffic?2. What knowledge does train engineer have and how do they work today?3. Is it possible to change the current regulation without decrease the safety?Methodology:Literature study, interview and observation has been performed to see which issues switcheshas and what underlying effects that causes them. A workshop has been held with teacher andstudents in a school for train engineer. Collected data has been analyzed for compilation of thestudies result.Findings:As the regulation is written today it creates a complete stop in traffic when a switch with swingnose crossing goes in control. The studies result shows that train engineers has anunderstanding of the how switches with swing nose crossing works and therefore could it bepossible to alter the regulation. A change in this regulation could mean less delayed traintraffic. But also a greater risk for more collision between train and switches which could lead tothat more switches have to be repaired. A standardized approach in how to control a switchcould decrease this risk.Implications:The purpose of this study through the problem definition is deemed answered. Theunderstanding on the train engineer awareness of switches with swing nose crossing and theirdemands has been a great significance for the development work. More interviews andworkshops would have enhanced the scientific result.Recommendation:I advocate for a change in the regulation so that train engineer are allowed to pass a switch with swingnose crossing even if it’s not in control. There is also of great weight to study the back laying reasonsfor why train engineer misjudge switches position and why the switches doesn’t go in control.

From 2000 to 2015, the cost of operation and maintenance (including reinvestment) and traffic control has increased from approximately three billion to over nine billion Swedish kronor annually. By making more frequent measurements of track irregularities and identifying trends earlier, accurate and effective maintenance can be performed. Therefore, in the industry and academy, different measurement solutions are tested to measure the state of railroad tracks in a simple and more frequent manner. One of the solutions is to use measuring systems mounted on trains in regular traffic. By using regular scheduled services, a higher cost effectiveness regarding inspection frequency can be achieved. When the measuring equipment is mounted on freight trains, a measurement with considerably higher axle load can also be performed. In the course of this work, a literature study have been conducted and a number of scientific articles and reports have been studied at depth. There is a number of different systems that have been manufactured to be mounted on rolling stock in regular service. Different solutions are applied to perform the measurements. Acceleration sensors are robust and reliable, which is necessary because they will be mounted in an exposed environment. A difference that has been identified is the installation of accelerometer sensors that are either mounted before or after the primary suspension. Before suspension the sensors are mounted on the axle box and, after suspension the sensors are mounted on the train bogie. The engineering company Damill is working within monitoring solutions and has developed equipment for mounting on trains in regular traffic called Tracklogger. Earlier evaluations of the equipment have been made with focus on comparison with machine inspections. There is a difference between the technology used in track recording vehicles and the technology that Tracklogger uses, such comparison is not entirely appropriate. In discussion with Damill the focus of this work has been to see if recordings of switches can be linked to maintenance actions. Since the equipment is in the development stage it is important that the measurement data collected is critically reviewed with regard to what information it delivers. The measurements have been carried out on switches in the main train track on track number 119 between Luleå and Boden and the mining company LKAB's ore wagon has been a tool carrier.  Five out of eight cases, a maintenance action can be linked to reduced measured values of switches with fixed crossing points. In one case, maintenance action has increased the measured value. In two cases, there is no signifcant difference in the measured value associated with maintenance actions. In previous evaluation, it was determined that it is good repeatability in the measured position, but not as high repeatability in the measured size. A number of switches have been studied to check the repeatability of the measurement. As the train runs in acircle run in Luleå harbor, there will be a limited number of occasions the equipment is running in the same direction in combination with the sensors on the same axle in the bogie, which may effect the measurement results. When analyzing the repeatability of five passages where the direction of travel is not taken into account, it is determined that three out of five passages show a good repeatability. The repeatability of the measurement is suspected of being related to the condition, as significantly greater differences in the measured signal are obtained just before a maintenance action has been taken.

Turnouts are an important part of railway infrastructure for two reasons: infrastructure andmaintenance. For the infrastructure they provide the flexibility to allow the formulation and branchingof railway network and for maintenance they consume a large part of maintenance budget and have aprominent place in maintenance planning policy and activities. This is because as a “mechanical object”,a turnout often experiences malfunctions. The problem becomes even more complicated, since a turnoutis composed of many different parts and each of them fails for very different reasons (e.g. switch bladesvs crossing part). This is reflected in the different needs for maintenance activities, as railways areforced to pour in excessive amounts of resources to carry out emergency repairs, or to carry outunnecessary scheduled maintenance works in turnouts, which do not need to be inspected or repaired.Therefore, it is difficult to plan and organize maintenance activities in turnouts in an efficient manner.This raises the question of whether malfunctions in turnouts can be predicted and used as informationfor the maintenance planning process in order to optimize it and develop it into a more reliablepreventive maintenance planning.The aim of this analysis is to attempt to model the probability of various malfunctions in turnouts asa function of their main geometric and operational characteristics by using logistic regression modelsand then input these results into the maintenance planning process in order to optimize it. First, it wasimportant to objectify the railway track system and the turnout components, both in terms of parts andinterrelationships. Furthermore, the process and basic elements of railway maintenance planning weredefined, as well as arguments that motivate a turn towards preventive maintenance planningmethodologies. This was done through a comprehensive literature study.The basis of this research was case studies, which described the relationship between geometricaland operational characteristics of turnouts and their wear, as well as risk-based modelling methods inrailway maintenance planning. To create the analysis model, data from turnouts in eastern regionprovided by the Swedish Transport Administration were used, both from the point of view of describingthe underlying causes of turnout malfunctions and to formulate an object-oriented database suitable forusing in logistic regression models. The goal was a logit model that calculated the malfunctionprobability of a turnout, which could be used directly into a maintenance planning framework, whichranked maintenance activities in turnouts.The results obtained showed that although the model suffers from low correlation, differentrelationships between input variables and different functional errors were established. Furthermore, thepotential of these analytical models and modeling structures was shown to be able to developpreventive, predictive railway maintenance plans, but further analysis of the data structure is required,especially regarding data quality. Finally, further possible research areas are presented. / Spårväxlar är viktiga delar av järnvägens infrastruktur av två orsaker: infrastruktur och underhåll.För infrastrukturen ger de möjlighet till flexibla tillåter de formulering och grenning av järnvägsnät ochför underhållet konsumerar de en stor del av underhållsbudgeten och de har en framträdande plats iunderhållsplaneringspolitiken och aktiviteterna. Detta beror på att som ett ”maskinellt objekt”, harspårväxeln ofta fel. Problemet blir ännu mer komplicerat, eftersom en spårväxel består av många olikadelar och var och en av dem bryts ner av mycket olika skäl (t.ex. tunganordning vs korsningsdel). Dettaåterspeglas i olika behov av underhållsaktiviteter. Eftersom järnvägarna tvingas hålla alltför storamängder resurser för att utföra akuta reparationer eller för att utföra onödiga schemalagdaunderhållsarbeten i spårväxlar, som inte behöver inspekteras eller repareras. Därför är det svårt attplanera och organisera underhållsaktiviteter för spårväxlarna på ett effektivt sätt. Detta ställer fråganom funktionsfel i spårväxlar kan förutsägas och användas som information till  underhållsplaneringsprocessen för att optimera den och utveckla den till en pålitligare förebyggandeunderhållsplanering.Syftet med denna analys är att försöka modellera sannolikheten för olika funktionsfel i spårväxlarsom en funktion av deras huvudsakliga geometriska och operativa egenskaper med användning avlogistiska regressionsmodeller och sedan mata dessa resultat in i underhållsplaneringsprocessen för attoptimera den. För det första var det viktigt att objektifiera järnvägsspårsystemet ochspårväxlarkomponenterna, både vad gäller delar och inbördes förhållanden. Dessutom definieradesprocessen och grundelementen i järnvägsunderhållsplaneringen, samt att argument som motiverarförändring till förebyggande underhållsplaneringsmetoder. Detta gjordes genom en omfattandelitteraturstudie.Grunden i denna analys var fallstudier, som beskrev förhållandet mellan geometriska ochoperationella egenskaper hos spårväxlar och deras förslitning samt riskbaserade modelleringsmetoder ijärnvägsunderhållsplanering. För att skapa analysmodellen användes data från spårväxlar i östraregionen som tillhandahölls av Trafikverket, både ur synpunkten att beskriva de underliggandeorsakerna till spårväxlarsfel och för att formulera en objektorienterad databas lämplig för användning ilogistiska regressionsmodeller. Målet var en logitmodell som beräknade sannolikheten för fel i enspårväxel, som kunde användas direkt i en underhållsplaneringsram, som rangordnar lämpigaunderhållsaktiviteter i spårväxlar.Erhållna resultat visade att även om modellen lider av låg korrelation, konstaterades olika sambandmellan ingående variabler och olika funktionsfel. Vidare visades potentialen hos dessa analysmodelleroch modelleringsstrukturer för att kunna utveckla förebyggande, förutsägbarajärnvägsunderhållsplaner, men det krävs troligtvis ytterligare analys av datastrukturen, specielltangående datakvaliteten. Slutligen presenteras ytterligare möjliga forskningsområden.