The TEG is a permanent activity group within the Railway System Forum (RSF) that works on subjects such as track layout, track superstructure design, maintenance strategies/processes, track components and general developments in track-related technology. The TEG is currently chaired by Bernhard Knoll of ÖBB, and its secretary is Kurt Demeersseman of Infrabel.
The TEG’s most recent meeting took place on 4 and 5 October, with about 20 participants in attendance both physically in Amsterdam and Amersfoort (at Barbizon Palace and Railcenter, organised by ProRail) as well as remotely.
The first session was opened by the Chairman, who welcomed the participants. The experts approved the minutes of the previous meeting held on 4 March 2021.
UIC TEG Coordinator, Mercedes Gutierrez, provided updates from UIC and the World Congress for Rail Research, WCRR 2022. The participants congratulated each other on the IRSs awarded during the UIC Excellence in Standardisation Awards: IRS 70719-1: Track & Structure – Earthworks and track bed layers for railway lines – Design and construction principles, and IRS 70723: Technical aspects of vegetation control and tree risk management – Guidance and recommendations. Ms Gutierrez presented the IRSs already published in 2021 as advised by the TEG: IRS 70727 on track superstructure decision-making, the result of the UIC DESMAN project, and IRS 70705 on tilting trains.
UIC thanked the experts for the outstanding work they had done to update the various leaflets, demonstrating strong technical judgement. The TEG decided to continue updating the remaining leaflets with the help of the top experts in the sector.
The second part of the meeting was devoted to exchange of experiences. David Villalmanzo of Adif presented the results of on-site rail web drilling for bolt holes. Taco Sysling of ProRail gave a presentation on ballast dust. Melker Pettersson of Trafikverket shared the company’s experience of designing marshalling yards. Colin Newsome of Network Rail described how NR manages handling of track components. Gennaro Sica of HS2 provided an update on the organisation’s activities with regard to acoustic rail roughness. Finally, Pinar Yilmazer, UIC Sustainability Senior Advisor, provided information on the Noise and Vibration Sector and Eduard Verhelst, General Manager of SD&M, give an update on the UIC LOWNOISEPAD project on acoustic railpad optimisation, measurement and data analysis.
Next, the members discussed ongoing UIC TEG projects and ideas for the coming years. The final part of the session focused on some of the projects underway within the TEG. The respective coordinators and technical leaders presented the status of each project.
After the plenary meetings, the group enjoyed an informative session organised by ProRail on new innovative techniques for next-generation switches at VolkerRail and ProRail (RailRestore).
The TEG plenary was closed by the Chairman, Bernhard Knoll, who thanked the participants for the interesting and efficient meeting.
IRS 70727: https://www.shop-etf.com/en/railway-application-track-superstructure-decision-making
IRS 70705: https://uic.org/com/enews/article/uic-publishes-first-edition-of-irs-70727-railway-application-track
