About

Overview

Railway crossings present a significant maintenance challenge, with an effective lifespan considerably shorter than designed specifications. While engineered to last 15 years, these installations typically deteriorate much faster, resulting in substantial costs in unplanned corrective maintenance, installation renewals, and operational delays. This situation significantly impacts railway operators’ budgets, amounting to significant expenditure that could be avoided with better management of these critical infrastructure components.

Project Objectives

The XCROSS project aims to develop an integrated suite of innovative technologies to revolutionise the monitoring, inspection, and maintenance of crossing surface profiles. The project centres around several key objectives:

• Implementing new inspection techniques using 3D laser scanning technology and computer vision to enable fast and accurate crossing measurements
• Creating digital twins equipped with advanced wheel-rail interaction calculation algorithms to optimise maintenance planning
• Developing Augmented Reality (AR) and 3D printing tools to enhance on-site maintenance interventions

These innovations aim to enable maintenance teams to visualise their progress during welding and grinding operations. Additionally, an early warning system will be established to detect early signs of degradation, allowing intervention before damage becomes irreparable. This comprehensive suite of technologies aims to optimise the lifecycle of railway crossings and significantly reduce maintenance costs.