Assessing and Extending Track Quality Index for Novel Measurement Techniques in Railway Systems

A systematic maintenance process is essential to keeping railway systems safe and reliable. However, performing such maintenance is costly and often results in system disruption. There is a tradeoff between system safety and budgetary constraints; understanding the condition of the track infrastructure is essential to find the balance between needs and costs for decisions about when to perform maintenance. In this study, the track quality index (TQI), which is commonly used to evaluate the status of tracks and to decide maintenance interventions, is reviewed, including 12 TQIs for superstructure and six for substructure. A literature review indicates that TQIs for sleepers and subgrade have not yet been developed. The differences between TQIs are compared using a set of hypothetical raw data. Their capabilities for identifying track irregularities are also investigated based on the EN 13848 regulations. To classify TQI characteristics in a systematic way, this study proposes four concepts: accuracy, sensitivity, data required, and specificity. Accuracy indicates a TQI’s capability of detecting defects; sensitivity indicates how TQIs change according to variations in the defects; specificity relates to the amount of parameters considered, and the ability to pinpoint root causes or global consequences of defects. The results suggest a tradeoff between the four concepts, where high sensitivity can increase the ability to detect the smallest defects but may be affected by bias; more parameters considered may indicate low accuracy when detecting a single type of defect. Therefore, this study suggests railway regulators use multiple TQIs with complementary characteristics for classifying track status.