NONIs - New development of optimised and sustainable insulation joint systems

With the target network 2025+, the Austrian Federal Railways, together with the State of Austria, are making a clear commitment in the fight against the climate crisis in the overall transport plan. However, the basis for this is an efficient infrastructure. A massive increase in train kilometres in the coming years requires at the same time a low-maintenance infrastructure that can cope with the increasing loads. In order for trains to run, today's signalling system needs block sections that are monitored by track circuits, e.g. to generate track occupancy messages from vehicles on the track. These block sections are separated from neighbouring sections by insulating joints, which allows for finer subdivision. The Austrian Federal Railways currently have around 33,000 of these insulating joints installed in their track network. The service life of the insulated joints in Class A tracks is currently around 8 to 12 years, in places only one to two years, depending on the local load. Despite the half-yearly inspection intervals, they are very susceptible to faults and are one of the main causes of delays, accounting for 42 % of all track faults (excluding points). There are various approaches to improve the susceptibility of insulated joints to faults, but so far there is no systematic overall approach. The aim of this project is to develop a systematic approach ranging from the design of the joints, taking into account the local permanent way, to the alignment parameters and the structural design of the insulated joints. The main objective of the project is to develop sustainable isolated joint systems through new designs and/or materials in order to increase the availability of the infrastructure. The project aims to increase the availability of the infrastructure through new designs and/or materials by reducing disruptions, thus contributing to the reduction of CO2 emissions by extending the service life and to the reduction of noise emissions by improving quality.