Systems Interface Committees

Vehicle/Track

Contact – Ken Timmis; Stakeholder Support Manager – Nagina Webb

The Vehicle / Track (V/T) SIC was the first SIC to be formed, on 29 March 2004. This SIC replaced WRISA, which ceased trading on 31 March 2004. The V/T SIC provides a focus for wheel / rail and vehicle / track interaction for the railway industry.

The purpose of the V/T SIC is ‘to assist the railway industry to manage all aspects of vehicle to track interfaces in the most cost effective and efficient way.’ Whilst the primary focus of the V/T SIC is set upon the point of contact between the wheel and rail, we recognise that many other parameters of the track and rolling stock also affect this interface.

The V/T SIC is chaired by Andy Doherty of Network Rail and meets every six weeks to discuss the current issues surrounding the vehicle and track interface and propose system level solutions to the problems encountered. Supporting the V/T SIC in this work are two other groups. The V/T Permanent Project Group (V/T PPG) is a small full time team of experts who are seconded from their parent organisations in order to work full time on the vehicle / track interface. The V/T PPG and the V/T SIC are supported in their work by the V/T Technical Advisory Group (TAG). The V/T TAG is an established body of experts in the field who are able to shed light peer review and comment on the difficult technical issues encountered frequently at the V/T interface.

The SIC has produced advice and guidelines to the industry on how to manage rolling contact fatigue (RCF) and other wheel problems. It has the ability using dynamic models (such as Vampire) to evaluate the interaction of the wheel and rail profiles, track geometry and vehicle dynamics and propose solutions that provide a cost effective solution for Network Rail, train operators, ROSCOs etc.

The SIC has developed a Whole Life Rail Model (WLRM) and recently a Vehicle Track Interface Strategic Model (VTISM) to enable whole life economic evaluations of vehicle and track designs. These are particularly helpful to optimising the design of new vehicles for the railway.

The SIC will produce a ‘Best Practice Guide’ of the Wheel/Rail Interface in the UK for a mixed traffic railway mid-2010.

The SIC provides an advice service to industry to help resolve specific wheel/rail interface related issues.

In addition to the formal groups established, the V/T SIC will continue to liaise with the existing groups, such as the Adhesion Working Group and the Wheelset Maintenance Best Practice Group.  For more information on the Adhesion Working Group, visit: www.awg-rail.co.uk

V/T SIC Bulletins

Related Research & Development projects

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