Systematic risk-analysis to support a living maintenance programme for railway infrastructure

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe an application of an effective risk-based methodology to support a living maintenance programme for railway infrastructure. Design/methodology/approach The overall research strategy is a single case study of switches and crossings at the Iron Ore Line in northern Sweden. The analysis was performed as a risk workshop guided by a methodology that integrates reliability-centred maintenance and barrier analysis. Findings The applied methodology is valuable to systematise and improve the existing maintenance programme, as well as supporting a continued living maintenance programme. Research limitations/implications The single case study approach may decrease the validity of the achieved results. However, similar case studies corroborate the results, which affect the validity in a positive way. Practical implications The resulting maintenance programme is effective, through compliance with external requirements, and more efficient, through improvements of tasks and intervals. Social implications An enhanced railway infrastructure maintenance programme contributes to improved safety, punctuality, and costs. Hence, railway becomes a more attractive mode of transport. Thereby, it also supports a safety performance of the railway that society is willing to pay for. Originality/value Significant improvements of the maintenance programme are achieved through adjustment of inspection intervals and tasks. The results also support the development of indicators, monitoring, and continuous improvement.