Progressive automation of track maintenance machines offers a solution. Digital products support operating staff, reduce interfaces, create process reliability, and increase output. Familiarisation times and training requirements for operation go down. In addition, staff can now monitor and carry out several maintenance tasks simultaneously.
Increasing demand for more capacity
Worldwide, demand for both passenger and freight rail transport is on the rise. In Belgium, the Federal Planning Office projects a 9% increase in passenger transport and a 62% increase in freight transport between 2012 and 2030. Similarly, Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) announced in 2024 their goal to double main line capacity by 2040. Looking ahead, railway infrastructure will need to be more available than ever, with line closures, lengthy detours, and rail replacement services increasingly viewed as measures of last resort.
Finding staff, reducing pressure
Attracting skilled labour to the rail industry is a growing challenge. Training and retaining staff for track maintenance is becoming more difficult, particularly due to the need for work shifts to occur during less favorable hours, such as weekends or nights, for operational reasons.
The various developments by Plasser & Theurer within the Plasser SmartTamping initiative have created pioneering technological foundations for autonomous track maintenance machines over the last 10 years. They control the work process, monitor the result, and ensure consistent quality. Additionally, this unburdens operators. Optimum results can be achieved when people and machines work together.
A digitalised, automated workflow ensures consistent results, independent of the operator's experience, and provides clear added value for the infrastructure manager through transparent documentation. The extensive use of camera systems and remote control units removes personnel from danger zones on the track, significantly enhancing safety. Networked, standardised, and secure data processing is crucial to this process.
Optimising maintenance management
Increasing train capacity on existing tracks is a challenging task. However, the strategic planning and execution of construction and maintenance projects are essential to achieving this objective, rather than conflicting with it. Around the world, various strategies and approaches to infrastructure asset management are employed. Regardless of the specific methods used for work and monitoring within a company, consistent, high-quality maintenance coupled with comprehensive solutions helps reduce costs and additional efforts.
The approach of Plasser & Theurer is based on a simple premise: accurate measurement supports effective maintenance planning, leading to efficient execution and the creation of transparent documentation as a basis for future work.
Assistance systems for performing tasks
For the core processes of track maintenance work, Plasser SmartTamping offers solutions for automated tamping unit positioning (Plasser TampingAssistant), automated tamping parameters (Plasser TampingControl), and digital verification management (Plasser TampingReport).
SmartTamping includes a wealth of functions that support machine operators, increase process reliability and efficiency, and provide detailed digital verification of the work carried out and the condition of the infrastructure. Laser sensor systems and analyses based on artificial intelligence (AI) are fully integrated into the Plasser machine control system. End-to-end digitalisation is already offered today, from pre-measuring and documentation of maintenance work to post-measuring.
The next milestone for Plasser & Theurer is to bring all of its digital products together on a single operating platform. The track machine operating system tmOS will play a key role in implementing the "end-to-end approach" for digital and automated track maintenance.
To learn more and to see a video of the machines in action, click here.
