National Academies Press: OpenBook

Maintenance Planning for Rail Asset Management—Current Practices (2020)

Chapter: Appendix B - Survey Questionnaire

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Page 38
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Survey Questionnaire." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Maintenance Planning for Rail Asset Management—Current Practices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26012.
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Page 38
Page 39
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Survey Questionnaire." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Maintenance Planning for Rail Asset Management—Current Practices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26012.
×
Page 39
Page 40
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Survey Questionnaire." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Maintenance Planning for Rail Asset Management—Current Practices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26012.
×
Page 40
Page 41
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Survey Questionnaire." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Maintenance Planning for Rail Asset Management—Current Practices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26012.
×
Page 41
Page 42
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Survey Questionnaire." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Maintenance Planning for Rail Asset Management—Current Practices. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26012.
×
Page 42

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38 A P P E N D I X B Survey Questionnaire QUESTIONNAIRE TCRP Synthesis Project J-7/Topic SE-07 Maintenance Planning for Rail Asset Management—Current Practices Project purpose: The purpose of this synthesis is to provide state-of-the-practice information for the location, identification and management of rail defects. This is to include both ultrasonic and other non- destructive testing (NDT) inspection practices as well as other techniques such as visual inspection, use of track circuits, etc. Many transit systems use experience-based and regulatory guidelines for scheduling inspections and non-destructive testing. Currently the transit industry does not have uniform methodologies for track inspection to detect rail flaws. The objective of this synthesis is to research and document the current state of the practice of transit systems in the area of rail inspection and maintenance as it relates to preventing rail breaks. The final synthesis report, to be published by the Transportation Research Board, will document the current state of the practice and provide an overview to help transit agencies address the challenges presented. This report will be extremely useful to all rail transit agencies in assessing current policies and practices and identifying actions that have been successful elsewhere. All survey responses will be confidential and will be edited to remove information regarding individual agencies. Thank you for taking the time to participate. Instructions on returning the survey are included on the last page. 1. Date: 2. Name of Respondent: Agency Name: Title of Respondent: City/State: Respondent E-mail Address:

Survey Questionnaire 39 Respondent Telephone Number: 3. System Size (heavy and/or light rail) More than 100 track miles 51 to 100 track miles 26 to 50 track miles Less than 25 track miles What is annual number of passenger miles traveled? 4. Rail Size and Type What are the rail sections most commonly used in your system? Tee Rail (percentage) Girder Rail (percentage) What percentage of rails are welded? 5. Defect History How many rail defects were found in 2019? In 2018? What was the distribution of defects? Detail Fracture Vertical Split Heads Horizontal Split Heads Joint Defects Weld Defects Engine Burn Defects Other (please identify)

40 Maintenance Planning for Rail Asset Management—Current Practices 6. How were defects found? How many broken rails occurred? What percentage of defects are found by: Ultrasonic Testing Eddy Current or Other NDT Track Circuits Visual Inspection by Track Inspector Other (please identify) 7. For rail breaks found by track circuits, What is the distribution of track miles equipped with: (a) Double Rail Track Circuit (broken rail detection in both rails) (b) Single Rail Track Circuit (broken rail detection in only one rail) (c) No track circuits (use alternative means for train location and separation) 8. Derailments Have you had any broken rail–caused derailments in the last five years? If yes, please describe. 9. Test Equipment Do you own your own test equipment? UT Other (please identify) No 10. Do you contract inspection services? Who is your testing contractor? What is your cost of testing? (cost per test or cost per track mile)

Survey Questionnaire 41 11. Frequency of Testing How frequently do you perform UT testing? How frequently do you perform other NDT? How frequently is your track visually inspected? 12. Test Scheduling How do you determine your test frequency? What factors affect your test frequency? • Defect history • Age of the rail • Traffic • Environmental conditions • Characteristics of the rail • Track support conditions • Other (please identify) 13. Are you familiar with risk-based scheduling of UT? Have you adopted “risk-based” scheduling of UT? 14. What are the major challenges and constraints for testing? Maintenance windows Availability of equipment Ability to remove defects in a timely manner Other 15. Regulations, Policies and Procedures Do you have internal standards for UT or other rail NDT testing to include frequency of testing? Do you follow any external regulations or procedures? FRA Title 49 Part 213.237?

42 Maintenance Planning for Rail Asset Management—Current Practices Other (please identify) Can you provide a copy of your rail test standards? 16. Measures of Effectiveness How do you measure the effectiveness of your defect inspection/testing? Do you use any objective measures? If yes, please identify. 17. Would you be willing to participate further as a case example, involving a telephone interview going into further detail on your agency’s experience, if selected by the TCRP panel for this project? Yes No 18. Is there another rail transit system that you suggest we include in this synthesis project? Please provide the agency name and a contact. END: Thank you for participating in this survey. Please return by March 2, 2020, to: Dr. Allan M. Zarembski, PE, FASME, Hon Mbr AREMA Professor and Director of the Railroad Engineering and Safety Program Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Delaware 301 DuPont Hall Newark, DE 19716 We encourage you to complete the survey and submit via e-mail. If you have any questions on the survey or the project, feel free to contact Professor Zarembski by e-mail.

Next: Appendix C - Survey Results »
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The occurrence of rail defects, broken rails, and broken rail derailments is consistent with the rate of development found in other studies that look at larger populations of rail defects. Likewise, the larger and more heavily used transit systems develop increased levels of defects, which is again consistent with what is seen in the railroad industry at large.

The TRB Transit Cooperative Research Program'sTCRP Synthesis 151: Maintenance Planning for Rail Asset Management—Current Practices presents the results of a survey and the analysis of the response data in an effort to synthesize current practices.

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