The Development of a Railway Track Inspection System for Track Maintenance

The railway-track inspection system for track maintenance being developed in this research project consisted of 2 sub-systems, namely (1) Railway-track Locomotion sub-system, consuming electric energy to propel itself along the track in the inspection operation, with light gross weight, operated by one person, and (2) Railway-track Inspection and Data Recording sub-system with high-speed and high-resolution image capturing capability to suit the requirements of railway-track inspectors’ field operations. The 2 parts were researched, designed and developed such that the railway-track inspection system had simple construction and operation, and could be built with locally available supplied parts and equipments, leading to low manufacturing costs. A prototype of the system was built and tested on a mock-up test track simulating a real operation. The test results were used for later improvements of the system to yield an appropriate performance for real railway-track operation. The prototype had been planned to be tested on a real track in a real field operation in a near future. This developed system had been expected to put into real inspection and maintenance service of the railway operators to help ensuring safe tracks for railway passengers safety and comfort.