Civil Engineering and Architecture Vol. 10(2), pp. 557 - 566
DOI: 10.13189/cea.2022.100214
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Risk Assessment of Railway Switch and Crossing Failures: Case Study of an Urban Rail Transit in Thailand

Ratthaphong Meesit , Patraphorn Phornthepkasemsant ^*, Rojjanast Rattanawan , Thitinan Ruamsab
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Burapha University, Chon Buri 20131, Thailand

ABSTRACT

Railways are becoming the main transportation mode in Thailand. Thus, maintaining the optimal service level to passengers is one of the significant issues that need to be addressed. This makes the way to manage railway assets extremely important, especially with the essential assets on a railway network such as switches and crossings (S&C). This study presents how the risk of switch and crossing failures could be assessed and managed. The process of the risk management is based on ISO 31000, and the method used to analyse the risk is the Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA). In detail, the switches and crossings on the Airport Rail Link city line (ARL), Thailand, are considered as a case study. The interview data from six experts, engineers and technicians who are responsible for the maintenance of S&C were used to determine the risk of each S&C component. The results show that the point machines, check and wing rails are the most critical components of S&C in the case study, and the least critical components are heel blocks, slide chairs and closure rails. Based on these findings, it is suggested that the current S&C maintenance program of the ARL may need to be improved. The priority of the inspection and maintenance activities of each S&C component could be adjusted according to the risk evaluation results presented in this study.

KEYWORDS
Asset Management, Switches and Crossings, Risk Assessment, FMECA

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Ratthaphong Meesit , Patraphorn Phornthepkasemsant , Rojjanast Rattanawan , Thitinan Ruamsab , "Risk Assessment of Railway Switch and Crossing Failures: Case Study of an Urban Rail Transit in Thailand," Civil Engineering and Architecture, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 557 - 566, 2022. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2022.100214.

(b). APA Format:
Ratthaphong Meesit , Patraphorn Phornthepkasemsant , Rojjanast Rattanawan , Thitinan Ruamsab (2022). Risk Assessment of Railway Switch and Crossing Failures: Case Study of an Urban Rail Transit in Thailand. Civil Engineering and Architecture, 10(2), 557 - 566. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2022.100214.