New maintenance contract in Province of Limburg

Railway manager ProRail has awarded the performance-based maintenance contract to Strukton. The five-year contract goes into effect on 1 March 2019.

Strukton Rail has been maintaining the railways in this region since 1997. Even before this time, a large number of our engineers were working in this region. There is a good team of colleagues from this region. They contribute regional knowledge, which, in addition to a performance-based approach and innovative technology, is important for meeting the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). 

Strukton has several maintenance contracts in the region. We look after the maintenance of the tracks at the Chemelot/DSM industrial park and the technical systems of the King Willem-Alexander tunnel. This enables us to create optimal combinations.

Innovation
The contract goes into effect on 1 March 2019, but we have already started on implementing innovations. For example, we are equipping most switches with our POSS monitoring and diagnosis system. Furthermore, 400 fences, gates and emergency escape doors will be equipped with the Strukton Action Detection (SAM) system, an Internet of Things solution that provides real time insight into whether everything is locked properly. The team in Limburg is subsequently directed from our Control Centre in Utrecht to ensure that fences are locked before unauthorised persons have the opportunity to pass through.

Various tools will be used to determine the maintenance status on and around the tracks, such as 360-degree camera images. This provides quick insight into any changes. Another innovation concerns the combination of a measuring vehicle with a tamping machine, which helps avoid deviations in track geometry.

Flora and Fauna
What is special in the contract region is that there are many different types of safety systems, with three different voltages on the overhead line. Furthermore, the Limburg contract region is unique in the sense that it borders on two countries, with three border-crossing track sections to Belgium and two to Germany. Because of its hilly character it seems as if you are in a different country. In addition, due consideration must be given to the animals and plants in the Province of Limburg. Flora and fauna are rare, and include various species such as the viviparous lizard and the fire salamander. Limburg will become the first performance-based contract that includes different requirements for plant growth along the railway embankments. The maintenance of this growth consequently forms an important part of the contract.

This news item is based on a Spoorpro.nl news item dated 14 November 2018