Page 325 - 360.revista de Alta Velocidad - Nº 5

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número 5 - junio - 2018. Pág 323 - 331

Control and Maintenance of Railways through Satellites.
Is it possible?

Mayoral, Juan

Jiménez, Pablo Lorenzo

Fernández-Sánchez, Gonzalo

Jardí, Ignacio

Universidad Europea de Madrid
1
Ferrovial

Abstract
The framework of this paper falls within the needs of optimization of the expenses in
maintenance in railroads, contemplating the cost of the infrastructure from a life cycle
approach.
In the last 25 years, there has been a strong investment in new high-speed railway
infrastructures. After putting a new infrastructure into service, it is very important
to avoid losses of the value of this asset by means of adequate maintenance actions.
Given the economic situation of the last years, it is necessary to optimize the resources
allocated to railway maintenance, with criteria of efficiency and austerity.
In this paper, new sources of information have been sought to determine the state of the
infrastructures and their maintenance needs. It analyses the possibility of integrating
aerospace knowledge to carry out these controls and monitoring tasks through satellites
as a substitution of control and visual monitoring or, like the latest innovative proposals,
using drones.
Within the capabilities of the satellites, a more detailed evaluation of those that could be
useful for railway maintenance, such as satellites with capacity to measure soil moisture,
to take high resolution images or to control the surface movements.
Throughout this paper, it is intended to make a comparison between the necessary measurement
ranges in railway maintenance and the possibilities that give us the artificial satellites.

Keywords: maintenance; railways; satellites.

1 Mayoral, Juan. Universidad Europea de Madrid. Email: jmayoralramos@gmail.com
Jiménez, Pablo Lorenzo. Universidad Europea de Madrid. Email: pablolorenzo.jimenez@universidadeuropea.es (corresponding author)
Fernández-Sánchez, Gonzalo. Universidad Europea de Madrid. Email: Gonzalo.fernandez@universidadeuropea.es
Jardí, Ignacio. Ferrovial. Email: Ignacio.jardi@ferrovial.es

International Congress on High-speed Rail: Technologies and Long Term Impacts - Ciudad Real (Spain) - 25th anniversary Madrid-Sevilla corridor 323