The paper presents a universal and extremely simple method for studying railway traffic safety, which enables the measurement of safety-related aspects to be conducted with reference to both infrastructure and rolling stock at the same time. The method proposed in the article is an attempt to face up to the challenge of the aforementioned constraint, enabling measurements of characteristics of the railway line infrastructure and of the rolling stock by means of common accelerometers installed in mobile phones. Result obtained illustrates accelerations recorded in three axes. Studying average characteristics for the same train set, one can reveal anomalies related to the track or the rolling stock condition

Ireneusz Celiński

Jakub Młyńczak

Jan Warczek

Szymon Surma

English

Vibroengineering PROCEDIA

 238 © JVE INTERNATIONAL LTD. VIBROENGINEERING PROCEDIA. OCT 2015, VOLUME 6. ISSN 2345-0533  
Mobile analysis of railway traffic safety 
Szymon Surma1, Jakub Młyńczak2, Ireneusz Celiński3, Jan Warczek4 
Faculty of Transport, Silesian University of Technology, Krasińskiego 8, 40-019 Katowice, Poland 
3Corresponding author 
E-mail: 1szymon.surma@polsl.pl, 2jakub.mlynczak@polsl.pl, 3ireneusz.celinski@polsl.pl, 
4jan.warczek@polsl.pl 
(Accepted 2 October 2015) 
Abstract. The paper presents a universal and extremely simple method for studying railway traffic 
safety, which enables the measurement of safety-related aspects to be conducted with reference to 
both infrastructure and rolling stock at the same time. The method proposed in the article is an 
attempt to face up to the challenge of the aforementioned constraint, enabling measurements of 
characteristics of the railway line infrastructure and of the rolling stock by means of common 
accelerometers installed in mobile phones. Result obtained illustrates accelerations recorded in 
three axes. Studying average characteristics for the same train set, one can reveal anomalies related 
to the track or the rolling stock condition. 
Keywords: rolling stock, railway safety, railway infrastructure, MEMS, GPS, statistical analysis. 
1. Introduction  
Railway traffic safety may be analyzed from the perspective of personal, infrastructural, rolling 
stock specific and railway traffic control related aspects. Each of the said analyses is basically 
conducted by application of separate measurement procedures and using different measuring 
equipment. The authors of this article have proposed a universal and extremely simple method for 
studying railway traffic safety, which enables the measurement of safety-related aspects to be 
conducted with reference to both infrastructure and rolling stock at the same time (also from the 
personal angle, to a certain extent). 
Measurements of railway infrastructure related parameters are currently conducted by means 
of dedicated equipment (measuring trolleys, manual gauges). The available specialized rolling 
stock intended for studying technical condition of the infrastructure is not capable of servicing the 
entire network length with a frequency which may be regarded as satisfactory considering the 
actual needs [1, 2]. The Polish railway network is managed by PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe (PKP 
PLK). As of 31 December 2011, this company was managing ca. 22 thousand kilometers of 
railways, out of which ca. 88 % of lines are currently in service (18 thousand kilometers). Official 
records mention that there are ca. 50 thousand turnouts in the PLK network, which translates into 
ca. 2.63 turnouts per a running kilometer of track in service. 
Safety of railway traffic is affected by a number of parameters, including switch clearance, rail 
cracks, status of rolling profile of wheels in a wheel set, rail mounting to substructure elements, 
technical condition of the railway track substructure and of the railway embankment, rail head 
defects and deformations, rolling stock condition, on-board personnel status etc. [3-5]. There are 
multiple methods used to study the technical condition of each of the aforementioned facilities 
and elements of the railway network. The competence in this respect has been divided between 
different bodies of railway institutions and companies. Works comprising inspection of technical 
condition of the railway infrastructure are often conducted with long intervals (usually counted in 
months, e.g. every half a year). Using dedicated high-precision machines (trolleys, special trains) 
to examine the technical condition of railway infrastructure elements causes (on account of their 
low availability across the entire network) that intervals between specialized technical tests 
become extended. Therefore, it is reasonable to seek other methods which, bearing their reduced 
measuring accuracy in mind, may be used to characterize the condition of both railway 
infrastructure and rolling stock with increased frequency and in larger numbers of measuring 
cross-sections of the railway network (simultaneously). 
MOBILE ANALYSIS OF RAILWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY.  
SZYMON SURMA, JAKUB MŁYŃCZAK, IRENEUSZ CELIŃSKI, JAN WARCZEK 
 © JVE INTERNATIONAL LTD. VIBROENGINEERING PROCEDIA. OCT 2015, VOLUME 6. ISSN 2345-0533 239 
2. Research  
Studies of the infrastructure in question should be essentially divided into tests of track and 
substructure condition (flaw detection in rails and track geometry measurement). In Poland, 
supplementary tests using auxiliary equipment (mobile measuring trolleys, ultrasonic flaw 
detectors, road-rail vehicles etc.) are conducted for purposes of track examination by 24 
defectoscopy teams equipped with two pieces of apparatus [1]. A single team examines up to 8 km 
of track a day, on average, and these are very accurate examinations. The only vehicle in disposal 
of the Diagnostics Centre, running with the speed of 40-50 km/h, is capable of testing 250 km of 
track a day, on average. According to the information provided by the Diagnostics Centre, it allows 
for examination of up to 52 thousand km of track per annum [1]. This translates into ca. 2 tests of 
each running kilometer of track throughout a year. For most types of railway lines, the foregoing 
is an unacceptable parameter. Track geometry of the network administered by PKP is currently 
examined by two EM 120 measuring trolleys conducting measurements of up to 35 thousand km 
of track per annum. This translates into a factor only slightly exceeding 0.5 of a visit per each 
track kilometer throughout a year [1]. It should also be added that the examinations conducted 
using trolleys are not as accurate as those performed by means of manual measuring instruments 
[1]. A single trolley can cover an area of 150 thousand square kilometers, and one diagnostic set 
– 13 thousand square kilometers.  
Unlike the studies of infrastructure, studies of rolling stock are slightly less inconvenient, since 
they are limited to examinations conducted in discrete elements of track infrastructure, usually in 
specific time intervals and circumstances. In a limited scale, the examinations in question are also 
repeated before a train set is put into service. However, the foregoing paradoxically constitutes a 
significant constraint for the practice, since – as the authors claim – the rolling stock may also be 
diagnosed in the course of operation on route. This matter has been discussed in this article. 
The method proposed in the article is an attempt to face up to the challenge of the 
aforementioned constraint, enabling measurements of characteristics of the railway line 
infrastructure and of the rolling stock by means of common accelerometers installed in mobile 
phones. According to this method, examinations of both the infrastructure and the rolling stock 
are conducted through simplified measurements, this being essentially an innovation. The method 
proposed for studying technical condition of railway infrastructure and rolling stock is based on 
measurements of linear accelerations observed in vehicles and means of rail transport by means 
of standard recording devices, such as accelerometers (ACC, MEMS). The simplicity of the 
method in question consists in application of systems commonly installed in GSM (Global System 
for Mobile Communication) telephony devices [6, 7]. The method proposed is basically to be 
deployed at the same time across the entire railway network in a system of distributed studies. 
On-board personnel of every rail vehicle or train set put into service in the network (drivers and 
conductor teams in passenger trains) will be equipped with device(s) enabling accelerations to be 
measured (mobile phones with the authors’ software installed). By that means, the railway 
network can be studied from a holistic perspective. It is obvious that the inferior accuracy of the 
measurements taken (using medium-class mass-produced MEMS recording devices) in this kind 
of examination and the fact that specialized studies of characteristics (using dedicated measuring 
rolling stock) are substituted with mere measurements of accelerations in three axes are 
compensated with a large number of measuring points at which data can be recorded 
simultaneously across the entire network as well as with much shorter intervals separating 
consecutive recordings of the railway infrastructure characteristics. Such a holistic nature of the 
method in question, even on lower measurement accuracy, yet with a far larger statistical data 
sample, is essentially aimed to enable recording deviations of parameters of the railway 
infrastructure and of the rolling stock from average values recorded in longer periods. Regardless 
of how considerable the deviations found in such an examination are, they must be diagnosed from 
the perspective of establishing the railway traffic safety of trains on individual lines where the 
deviations might have occurred and bearing in mind that specific safety procedures (checking the 
MOBILE ANALYSIS OF RAILWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY.  
SZYMON SURMA, JAKUB MŁYŃCZAK, IRENEUSZ CELIŃSKI, JAN WARCZEK 
240 © JVE INTERNATIONAL LTD. VIBROENGINEERING PROCEDIA. OCT 2015, VOLUME 6. ISSN 2345-0533  
line) may be potentially initiated. 
Fig. 1 provides a diagram illustrating the layout of installation of a recording device on board 
of a vehicle or a means of rail transport. The number of recording devices to be installed on a train 
set mainly depends on the type of the set being marshalled. In the least favorable arrangement, the 
recording device should be mounted on every unit or in every car of the train set (for different 
train set compositions). The recording device is assumed to measure at least three linear 
accelerations (in longitudinal axis of movement, in transverse axis and in vertical axis). When 
highly advanced mobile phones with state-of-the-art MEMS solutions are used, it is also possible 
to measure angular accelerations. Thus the vibration signal can be considered as source of proper 
information [8-13]. 
 
Fig. 1. Diagram showing sample installation of a recording device  
with the mobile measuring application installed 
The authors are convinced that such a measurement of chosen characteristics of the railway 
network infrastructure and of the rolling stock, being simplified yet holistic in its range and scope 
(enabling reference to be made simultaneously to the entire network and rolling stock), makes it 
possible to assess railway traffic safety to a certain extent. The rationale behind the concept is 
substantial, since any anomalies in characteristics of the railway infrastructure or the rolling stock 
(statistically examined) found in the course of measurements may constitute premises for 
undertaking well-grounded corrective measures in this scope. The foregoing will basically be 
limited to dispatching dedicated measuring equipment to railway network infrastructure elements 
exposed to the hazards revealed in order to verify the data obtained by application of the simplified 
method. It is also reasonable as the method proposed does not require high investment expenditure 
to be incurred. 
 
Fig. 2. Concept of the measurement method 
Fig. 2 illustrates the concept behind the measurement method addressed. While running on the 
track, the train collects data from recording devices installed on board. Passing next to traffic 
control stations, it remotely feeds local servers with the data which, in turn, are transferred to the 
MOBILE ANALYSIS OF RAILWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY.  
SZYMON SURMA, JAKUB MŁYŃCZAK, IRENEUSZ CELIŃSKI, JAN WARCZEK 
 © JVE INTERNATIONAL LTD. VIBROENGINEERING PROCEDIA. OCT 2015, VOLUME 6. ISSN 2345-0533 241 
main data center via the infrastructure operator’s ICT system. This is where the data are archived 
and processed. Special software based on statistical procedures seeks anomalies in the 
measurement data with reference to the given line as well as to the rolling stock. In a breakdown 
into specific measurement groups, data are each time compared with historical (averaged) entries. 
Fig. 3 provides a section of such a measurement data entry acquired by studying accelerations 
of a passenger train running between Mikołów and Katowice (Poland). This graph illustrates 
accelerations recorded in three axes. Studying average characteristics for the same train set, one 
can reveal anomalies related to the track or the rolling stock condition. Following the measurement 
method proposed, as the authors postulate, based on numerical data of linear accelerations in 
individual axes, one may correlate the results in disposal with the condition of the railway line in 
which the given train set runs. In each free axis, characteristic amplitude spectra occur, indicating 
characteristic elements of the railway network, such as bends and switches, crossings, culverts, 
overbridges etc. 
 
Fig. 3. Sample characteristics recorded on 6 November 2014 at 6:17 a.m. 
3. Conclusions  
By application of the method proposed, one cannot conduct direct studies of such aspects as 
track gauge, differences in rail heights, track twist, horizontal irregularities of rails, vertical 
irregularities of rails as well as values of synthetic track condition factor “?”. Nevertheless, for 
instance, rail heights should be reflected in the lateral linear acceleration (?) values obtained. In 
accordance with the applicable official instruction, the track condition assessment is conducted by 
comparing the measurement results obtained for individual parameters with their nominal values. 
Such nominal values may be acquired through test runs on a classified track with the recording 
device proposed installed on board, using traditional testing techniques or by means of a 
simulation micromodel as the source of reference points. In such a case, the linear acceleration 
values recorded should be treated as nominal, i.e. providing a reference pattern for further 
comparisons in the course of the track operation. Similarly, irregularities of vertical rail sections 
should be recorded under the characteristic of vertical linear accelerations (?), and analogically, 
irregularities of horizontal rails – in longitudinal linear accelerations (?). Developing guidelines 
for the application of such a method is mainly a matter of organization of wide-scale statistical 
studies conducted across the entire network on different train sets. 
Acknowledgements 
This article is the result of Research Program DEMONSTRATOR+ Supporting Scientific 
Research and Development Works in Demonstration Scale, the title of the Project is Integrated 
System for Support the Management of Information in Passenger Railway Transportation 
MOBILE ANALYSIS OF RAILWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY.  
SZYMON SURMA, JAKUB MŁYŃCZAK, IRENEUSZ CELIŃSKI, JAN WARCZEK 
242 © JVE INTERNATIONAL LTD. VIBROENGINEERING PROCEDIA. OCT 2015, VOLUME 6. ISSN 2345-0533  
(No. DEM/1/RT4/2013/0 PASAŻER). 
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Mobile analysis of railway traffic safety

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Mobile analysis of railway traffic safety

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