Introduction
Throughout Europe more than 2,600 broken rails are found every year leading to reduced reliability of the rail
network and resulting in severe delays and potential derailments. Rail maintenance costs associated with the
occurrence of broken rails is estimated to cost European Member States more than two billion Euros per annum.
With the rapid and continuous increases in train traffic, train speed (4845 km of high speed lines in 2006) and
tonnage carried on rail networks (392 billion tonne- kilometres in 2005), there is an urgent need to increase
the reliability of rail infrastructure and optimise maintenance. It is therefore necessary to use efficient and
cost-effective inspection methods which will enable the accurate evaluation of the structural condition of
rails.
The project objectives based on the market needs. The MonitoRail project, will develop an innovative solution which will contribute profoundly towards the significant reduction of life cycle costs of high value infrastructure assets by improving the safety, reliability, availability, and cost-efficiency of the European rail network. The project will reduce the substantial costs related rail inspection, and contribute to achieving the target set by the European rail industry to reduce the overall maintenance expenditure by 30% by 2020. A 10% increase in the availability of the network due to increased reliability and a reduced requirement for maintenance will also be achieved.
