The impact of cumulative tonnes on track failures: An empirical approach

Kristofer Odolinski ()
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Kristofer Odolinski: Research Programme in Transport Economics, Postal: Forskningsprogrammet TRANSPORTEKONOMI, Att: VTI, Box 55685, 102 15 STOCKHOLM

No 2019:1, Working Papers from Research Programme in Transport Economics

Abstract: Cost-benefit analysis is often used in appraisal of rail infrastructure investments. A corresponding decision support is, however, not available for rail infrastructure maintenance and renewal. To for example decide whether to renew or continue to maintain an infrastructure asset, a relationship between cumulative traffic and infrastructure failures is required. This relationship is established in this paper, using an empirical (top-down) approach on Swedish data for years 2003 to 2016. It is shown that the average elasticity for track failures with respect to cumulative tonnes is 0.32, and that the elasticity varies for different levels of traffic and for different infrastructure characteristics. The results in this paper can for example be used to calculate the impact cumulative tonnes have on train delay costs, which together with a relationship between cumulative traffic and infrastructure maintenance costs are essential in an economic optimization of maintenance and renewal activities.

Keywords: Rail infrastructure; Track failures; Cumulative traffic; Infrastructure management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H54 L92 R49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2019-05-28
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-tre and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:trnspr:2019_001

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