SAFERAIL
Development of Novel Inspection Systems for Railway Wheelsets
| Coordinatore | TWI LIMITED
Organization address
address: Granta Park, Great Abington contact info |
| Nazionalità Coordinatore | United Kingdom [UK] |
| Totale costo | 4˙448˙701 € |
| EC contributo | 3˙000˙000 € |
| Programma | FP7-TRANSPORT
Specific Programme "Cooperation": Transport (including Aeronautics) |
| Code Call | FP7-SST-2007-RTD-1 |
| Funding Scheme | CP-FP |
| Anno di inizio | 2008 |
| Periodo (anno-mese-giorno) | 2008-10-01 - 2011-09-30 |
Partecipanti
| # | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
TWI LIMITED
Organization address
address: Granta Park, Great Abington contact info |
UK (CAMBRIDGE) | coordinator | 675˙000.00 |
| 2 |
THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
Organization address
address: Edgbaston contact info |
UK (BIRMINGHAM) | participant | 402˙500.00 |
| 3 |
ALFA PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGIES
Organization address
address: Troonstraat 98 contact info |
BE (Brussels) | participant | 392˙618.00 |
| 4 |
INSTITUTO DE SOLDADURA E QUALIDADE
Organization address
address: AVENIDA DO PROFESSOR DOUTOR CAVACO SILVA 33 PARQUE DAS TECNOLOGIAS contact info |
PT (OEIRAS) | participant | 384˙882.00 |
| 5 |
MISTRAS GROUP HELLAS ABEE
Organization address
address: El. Venizelou & Deflon 7 contact info |
EL (ATHINA) | participant | 278˙300.00 |
| 6 |
TECHNICAL SOFTWARE CONSULTANTS LTD
Organization address
address: "Mill Square, Featherstone Road 6" contact info |
UK ("Wolverton Mill, Milton Keynes") | participant | 253˙750.00 |
| 7 |
Feldman Enterprises Limited
Organization address
address: ANGIOU PAVLOU 15 contact info |
CY (NICOSIA) | participant | 169˙150.00 |
| 8 |
Vlaamse Vervoersmaatschappij De Lijn
Organization address
address: Motstraat 20 contact info |
BE (MECHELEN) | participant | 139˙300.00 |
| 9 |
Nome Ente NON disponibile
Organization address
address: "Grupo Oficinal do Entroncamento, Apartado 118" contact info |
PT (ENTRONCAMENTO) | participant | 113˙500.00 |
| 10 |
SOCIETE NATIONALE DES CHEMINS DE FER FRANCAIS
Organization address
address: PLACE AUX ETOILES 2 contact info |
FR (ST DENIS) | participant | 107˙500.00 |
| 11 |
VTG Rail UK Ltd
Organization address
address: "Berkely Business Park, Wainwright Road 4A" contact info |
UK (WORCESTER) | participant | 83˙500.00 |
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Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)
'The contribution of the rail industry to the economic growth of the EU member states is widely acknowledged. Very recently, the European rail industry has started showing signs of recovery after a long period of steady decline. The technological advances in train design during the last few decades have led to the manufacturing of faster and more comfortable trains making rail transport a more attractive option for passengers in comparison to other means of transportation. The need for the society to employ greener transportation policies is expected to further enhance the role of rail transport in the global economy. Today rail networks across Europe are getting busier with trains travelling at higher speeds, carrying more passengers and heavier axle loads than ever before. The combination of these factors has put considerable pressure on the existing infrastructure, leading to increased demands in inspection and maintenance of rail assets. The expenditure for inspection and maintenance has thus, grown steadily over the last few years without however being followed by a significant improvement of the industry’s safety records. A large proportion of all equipment related accidents in the rail industry is due to failed train wheels and axles. The continuous increase in train operating speeds means that catastrophic failure of a wheel or axle may result in very serious derailments, such as the one that took place in Eschede, Germany in 1998, causing loss of life, injuries, severe disruption in the operation of the network, damage to the tracks, unnecessary costs, and loss of confidence in rail transport by the general public. SAFERAIL seeks to minimise wheelset failures by developing and successfully implementing a novel on-line system for the inspection of wheels and axles of moving trains, and a combined ultrasonic-electromagnetic system for faster and more reliable inspection of the quality of new and old wheelsets during their production and maintenance.'
Introduzione (Teaser)
Train wheels and wheel sets must be at their most reliable if Europe is to reduce fatal accidents and ensure the rail sector's viability. A new project is working on new safety technology in this respect.
Descrizione progetto (Article)
With advances in rail technology, concerns for the environment and the rising importance of efficient public transport, the rail industry in Europe is seeing a turnaround. Faster and more comfortable trains are making rail transport a more attractive option as they are now capable of carrying more passengers and heavier axle loads than ever before. This puts considerable pressure on the existing infrastructure, leading to increased inspection and maintenance of rail assets. While inspection and maintenance costs have grown steadily in recent years, no significant improvement of the industry's safety records has been observed.
Many rail accidents are due to failed train wheels and axles, where derailment can have catastrophic results at high speeds. The EU-funded 'Development of novel inspection systems for railway wheelsets' (Saferail) project is developing and successfully implementing a novel online system to inspect wheels and axles of moving trains and upgrade safety standards. It is proposing a combined ultrasonic-electromagnetic system for faster and more reliable inspection of new and old wheel sets during their production and maintenance.
In recent years, rail accidents in Germany and elsewhere in Europe have highlighted the need for better safety measures. In 1996, a freight train accident occurred due to an axle failure in Rickerscote, UK; it resulted in the death of one person and injury of several others. The 1998 accident in Eschede, Germany, initiated by a single failed wheel, caused the death of more than 100 passengers and 88 severe injuries. More recently, the S-Bahn derailment at Kaulsdorf, Germany in 2009 was brought about by a wheel set failure. As rail networks become busier and train speeds increase, the number of incidents linked to failed train wheel sets is expected to grow. Yet minimising wheel set failures also helps reduce maintenance costs, representing an important consideration for both train and light rail vehicle operators.
Current available online systems detect severe wheel set defects just before they result in a catastrophic failure. Consequently, severe surface-breaking or deep internal defects are not being properly detected until the defective wheel set is taken out of service for inspection and maintenance.
In other words, the current technology deployed cannot inspect wheel sets with maximum reliability. The Saferail project is very close to developing the necessary technology for reliable and accurate inspection of wheel sets online, as well as during their production and maintenance. This technology will improve reliability and punctuality, and more importantly, decrease the number of fatal rail accidents on the tracks.