Determination and Optimization of the Maintenance Frequencies in the Overhead Contact Line System

This paper proposes a methodology to determine the optimum maintenance frequencies for the components of an electric railway overhead contact line system. This methodology is aimed at improving the reliability and availability of each component within its operational context and calculates the maintenance frequencies according to the criticality of each component, the importance of the area in which they are installed, and the component performance. The available maintenance team resources are also taken into account in order to optimize the frequencies and make them feasible for the maintenance team. The proposed methodology uses statistical and optimization tools to take advantage of the information obtained through the careful analysis of the historical data related to the system performance, which allows an objective determination of appropriate maintenance frequencies. Furthermore, it allows establishing the frequencies in a dynamic way through a feedback process. To prove the usefulness of the proposed methodology, a case study is presented in which maintenance frequencies of some components of the overhead contact line of the Spanish railway network are determined.