Influence of Different Prioritization Approaches of Maintenance and Replacement Measures on Station Infrastructure Quality

Abstract

This paper presents a model that establishes a relationship between the financial resources allocated to maintain and replace railway station infrastructure assets and the resulting infrastructure quality. Until now, there has been no known relationship between quality and financial resources, making targeted planning for railway stations and the control of financial resources challenging. This model aims to predict infrastructure quality by analyzing the age-related degradation of infrastructure assets using historical data. The effects of maintenance and replacement measures are implemented in the model to map quality-improving measures. This allows for the comparison and analysis of different budget allocation scenarios on different assets, with different approaches for prioritizing replacement and maintenance measures. In this paper, the influence of budget allocation and prioritization strategies on station infrastructure quality is quantified by comparing different scenarios. Based on the results of the analysis, a quality assessment method can be evaluated, and disincentives can be identified. The analyses in this paper are carried out for quality measurement defined in Germany and the German railway station infrastructure.