Development of a Smart Framework Based on Knowledge to Support Infrastructure Maintenance Decisions in Railway Corridors

In a context of wide use of transport, it is necessary to increase the efficiency of different transport modes as well as their interaction. To that effect, railway transport will play an important role in the future by increasing its capacity and ensuring a sustainable, efficient and safe service. In that sense, it is essential to improve the interoperability and safety of national networks in order to promote a single European Rail Market. On the other hand, the current railways systems need an efficient maintenance in order to extend their lifetime. Within this framework, the main objective of the OPTIRAIL project has been the development a set of new tools to support smart maintenance decision making. These tools are based on Fuzzy and Computational Intelligence techniques. The tools are integrated in a framework built out of railway infrastructure maintenance data and knowledge expertise across European railway corridors. The framework has been evaluated through two case studies. The use of the system for the stakeholders will enable better cross-border coordination for maintenance decision making. Furthermore, some non-participant railway administrators have shown their interest and commitment to the project and its proposal. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.