Regional railway lines with heavy traffic require track of the highest quality and perfection and need regularly conducted, continuous monitoring and supervision of the condition of the track and the rails. Only then can the required operating safety of the track also be guaranteed. The same also applies for the catenary. Here too, information about the state of the overhead lines is essential for any maintenance that may be needed.

Moreover, for the economical operation of track maintenance machines it is also essential to have information on the changes in the track geometry. Maintenance work can be performed more effectively when it is based on the actual state of the track.

To obtain basic data for decision-making concerning the deployment of the maintenance machines, modern track recording cars are used today which not only provide graphic recordings of the track condition but also instantly produce the results of a real-time track analysis. Faults in the track geometry and the subsequent dynamic effects can thus, under similar load conditions as they occur when a train passes over, be continuously measured as well as recorded and analysed using the computer system installed on board the recording car.

Besides the economic advantages, there are also technical reasons for measuring all the required data in one or at most two measuring runs. Many Plasser & Theurer track recording cars therefore have a multi-purpose character. The sensible combination and integration of all recording and technical inspection requirements is a major element in the planning and design of a track recording car.

Plasser & Theurer has many years of experience in the sector of track and catenary recording and offers a comprehensive range of industrially manufactured track recording cars to perform the monitoring and condition-analysis of a track network or section of track.

• Track geometry measurement (track gauge, versines of both rails, longitudinal level of both rails, cross level, twist)
• Measuring speed
• Rail profile measurement (corrugations, rail breaks or rail joints, worn-down welds, ball indentations, wheel burns, missing clips or fastenings)
• Ballast profile measurement
• Clearance gauge measurement
• Live-rail distance measurement
• Geometrical measurement of the contact wire (height and stagger of contact wire, position of catenary masts, position of distance marking, position of structures such as bridges)
• Video monitoring for track and track environment
• Exact location assignment of the measuring values via GPS (global positioning system) and the inertial data of the vehicle measuring system (even when there are no GPS data)

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