Soon, a Motorcar for 
Infrastructure Diagnosis at CFR SA

Within the main objective of the activity for CFR SA - the administration of the railway infrastructure - a primordial place is taken by the maintenance and the overhaul of the track and of the contact line with modern and performant means.

Pursuant to an international auction, during the fall of the year 2001, CFR SA has signed with the company Plasser & Theurer a design, fabrication and delivery contract of a motorcar for the diagnosis of the track and contact line geometry - TMC, EM-130 type, which according to the appreciations of our specialists, is one of the most modern vehicles of this type existing around the world currently! The financing has been provided from a loan granted by BIRD for the achievement of the rehabilitation program of the railways from Romania.
We asked the chief of the project, Mr. Mihai Gheorghe, within the Mechanization Unit of the Tracks Department, which are the advantages of the endowment with such a motorcar. He has the kindness to answer us:
"This motorcar is one of the "doctors" of the railway. It weights 82 tons, in comparison with a locomotive, allowing the performance of the complex measurements in interdependence, requiring the railways in similar conditions with the operating trains. TMC (track measuring car), being self-propelled, with speeds up to 140 km/h, recording the values of a large number of geometrical parameters of the track. Concomitantly, it records on optical disks and on magnetic bands the state of constructive elements of the track and of the contact line (CL), processes in real time the information sampled, performs a global diagnosis, calculating the operation speed allowed on the measured area and the quality traces of the track, on the elementary sectors of 200 m, as well as between the stations selected or on the entire operation section.
Presently, the administration of the railways with infrastructures where the trains operate with speeds up to 250 km/h apply modern methods for the maintenance of the track and of LC in a state close to the designed one, with expenses as low as possible. This desideratum could not reach through the renouncement at the overhaul cycles calendar programmed and the elimination of the defects that are still in incipient phase. In order to apply this maintenance procedure there have been conceived and achieved more and more complex measuring and diagnosis vehicles, allowing the operative localization of the defects. Therefore, there has been substantially reduced the shutting down times of the lines in order to perform long lasting overhauls, necessary in the case of worsening the defects.
For example, in Netherlands there are use several vehicles belonging to certain companies outside the railways, measuring quite often the state of the tracks and of the CL. The Dutch Railways also is endowed with measuring and diagnosis vehicles, but it is mainly used at checking the measurements performed by the vehicles of the external companies. At the end of a section, there are made available for the maintenance personnel the data electronically recorded, which operatively reach at the intervention teams, having the possibility to eliminate the defects even in the respective day or in the next period. Therefore, through this modern methods for tracking down from the beginning of the defect and the more prompt intervention, have substantially reduced the maintenance expenses, and the railways is most of the time in a good state.
Consequently, such a diagnosis motorcar is very necessary, because at the Railways from Romania should be included as soon as possible in the current world trends - to create optimal conditions for the development of the traffic in full safety and increased comfort, reducing the level of the wear produced by the defects at the track elements and CL, as well as the rolling stock." at CFR, the basic parameters of the geometry of the track have been measured and are measured with the help of certain wagons endowed with mechanical data transmitting elements. These, besides the recording of the parameters on a continuous paper band - which is afterwards subjectively interpreted by the specialized personnel -, do not allow the information processing in real time. Another disadvantage consists in the fact that the measuring elements samples the information through the mechanical contact with the tracks, fact that implies wears and de-gauging of the measuring chain, the materialization in the alteration of the real values of the defects.
TMC eliminates these disadvantages because there are no elements for mechanical contact between the measuring translators and track elements, the measuring performed with optic/laser sensors, with inertial, gyroscopic translators etc.
The new acquisition of CFR SA, that will arrive in the country on September, a complex railway vehicle, where there are practically included the functions of two vehicles; one for measuring the geometry of the track and one for measuring the contact line, being endowed with video systems also performing the inspection of the track and CL elements.
Among the main measured parameters and the functions performed by TMC is included: - the longitudinal level on each line of the railway; - the alignment or the direction (measured through the chord method) on each line of the railway; - the gauge of the railway; the torsion of the track (based on variable measures, from 0.5 m to 20 m); - the transversal level of the track and the super-elevation; - the curvature of the track in horizontal plan (the range for the curve); - the deviation (zigzag) the statistics and the dynamics of the track/contact lines; - the transversal surfaces (profiles) of the tracks of both railway lines; - the wear of the track rims on the horizontal rolling surfaces, respectively the vertical, interior ones, of the tracks on both railways; - the direction (alignment) and the inclination of the height of the contact line and anchoring length; - the relative, vertical and horizontal distance, between the multiple contact lines; - the temperature of the environment; - the position of the electrification pillars, the distance/opening between the successive pillars; - the speed of the motorcar during the measuring; the kilometrical position, date/hour/minute/second to the data sampling; - marking the position of the works of art (passages, bridges, tunnels, stations, track equipment, etc.) and of the events useful for the analysis; - the measurement of the run and synchronized distance with the track distance in kilometers, through GPS or other systems; - the video inspection of the track, the recording in digital system of the track images, of the slippers, fastening, ballast, eclipses, counter-rails etc.; - the video recording of the track panorama and, separately, of the CL, of the neighbor tracks etc; - marking with paint the tracks on the defect areas and which are considered as being dangerous or on any area programmed by operator.
As a conclusion, TMC measures, inspects, records and analysis the parameters of a great importance for the evaluation of the state and the geometry of the track and the contact line; performing recordings in the conditions of loads on axles similar with the ones of a train, the diagrams show the existing situation in the track in the conditions of real dynamics. This way, there are identified all the signals of incipient danger, in the track, as well as in LC, so there could be interfered in real time.
The diagrams and the reports drawn up in real time can be analyzed on the screens of the displays, being printed and recorded on the electronic support, for ulterior detailed analysis, besides TMC, fact allowing the drawing up of certain maintenance plans on short and medium term. By comparing the data purchased in various rounds of measuring and the corroboration of data, offered by IRIS system, can be achieved an efficient planning, on long term, on priorities, of the maintenance operations of the track and the CL.
Presently, the railway men from Tracks Department, and not only, waits with much interest the arrival in our country of this motorcar, that will enter "in operation" as soon as possible. Waiting for this event, the Romanian railway men who will work on this motorcar are assiduously getting ready, studying the necessary documentation, and they are also going to attend specialization sources. In order to shorten the term for putting it into operation in Romania, the agreement test of AFER, as well as the majority of the reception tests of CFR will be performed on the Austrian railway network.
We are also assuring you that we will revert with articles presenting the multitude of operations that such a vehicle can perform and its role in the well development of the Romanian railway system.

Silvia Mirea