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The Iarnród Éireann/Irish Rail (IÉ) network currently extends to ap-proximately 2400 km of operational track. This includes main line, Dublin sub-urban and commuter passenger routes, together with freight-only routes. A cross-border connection, located between Dundalk and Newry, connects to the railway system in Northern Ireland. This paper describes a circular asset management approach to the management of our track asset. An overview of the IÉ rail milling process is discussed and how at its inception, it was devised to address defects observed during our in-house, bi-annual non-destructive rail testing programmes. Rail milling is a low heat generating process which removes a thin layer of metal from the head of the rail, restoring the rail head profile. Through our innovative rail milling pro-gramme, which is underpinned by our bi-annual ultrasonics and eddy current rail testing campaigns. We will demonstrate how we are balancing costs, opportunities and risk against desired performance. Consequently, as a result of optimising the life cycle of our rail assets, we will show how we are reducing whole-life costs, along with both the economic and environmental impact associated with maintaining these strategic railway assets of national importance. Lastly, we will demonstrate how since the introduction of the programme, we have observed a decrease in rail defect across the Irish Rail network. We will outline how this is giving rise to a new focus, one which is not centred on milling for defect removal but towards a predominantly preventative maintenance rail milling regime.

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Rail Milling: Evolving from A Linear to Circular Infrastructure Asset Management Approach

  • 会议论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Mick Coen,
  • David Dunne,
  • Cian O’Cinneide,
  • John McEvoy,
  • Tom Ruane,
  • Cathal Mangan,
  • Éamonn Ballance,
  • David Aschauer,
  • R. Hardwell

摘要

The Iarnród Éireann/Irish Rail (IÉ) network currently extends to ap-proximately 2400 km of operational track. This includes main line, Dublin sub-urban and commuter passenger routes, together with freight-only routes. A cross-border connection, located between Dundalk and Newry, connects to the railway system in Northern Ireland. This paper describes a circular asset management approach to the management of our track asset. An overview of the IÉ rail milling process is discussed and how at its inception, it was devised to address defects observed during our in-house, bi-annual non-destructive rail testing programmes. Rail milling is a low heat generating process which removes a thin layer of metal from the head of the rail, restoring the rail head profile. Through our innovative rail milling pro-gramme, which is underpinned by our bi-annual ultrasonics and eddy current rail testing campaigns. We will demonstrate how we are balancing costs, opportunities and risk against desired performance. Consequently, as a result of optimising the life cycle of our rail assets, we will show how we are reducing whole-life costs, along with both the economic and environmental impact associated with maintaining these strategic railway assets of national importance. Lastly, we will demonstrate how since the introduction of the programme, we have observed a decrease in rail defect across the Irish Rail network. We will outline how this is giving rise to a new focus, one which is not centred on milling for defect removal but towards a predominantly preventative maintenance rail milling regime.