Decision support for railway track facility management using OpenBIM

Abstract

Despite rapid advancements in track condition assessment technologies, current railway track facility management (FM) often results in cost-ineffectiveness as well as maintenance- and operation-inefficient outcomes. However, the challenges in current practice and the requirements for enhancing track FM decision-making processes have not been identified in a comprehensive and structured manner by any existing study. To address this gap, case studies and interviews were conducted to identify the challenges, along with the necessary information and functions. Based on these findings, a conceptual decision-support framework for railway track FM, utilizing openBIM, was proposed. This framework addresses data integration, track condition diagnosis, root cause identification considering the interrelationships among multiple components, long-term deterioration prediction, and FM plan optimization. A focus group interview was also conducted, and existing studies were examined to validate the proposed framework, which was found to support informed decision-making for railway track FM, thereby enhancing predictive maintenance.