WP4

Cost and Environmental Assessment of railway innovation concepts

A number of EU projects in the railway sector (e.g. EURAXLES - Minimizing the risk of fatigue failure of railway axles, MODBRAKE - Innovative Modular Brake Concepts for the Integrated European High-Speed Railway System, EUDD+ - European Driver's Desk Advanced Concept Implementation) have performed whole Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of individual elements and components of rail systems either from cost or from environmental aspects. Although costs and environmental impacts are closely related, both are rarely addressed within the same framework and cost assessments are represented more often than environmental ones.

The most extensive recent LCA study for the railway sector was presented for the newly constructed Bothnia line in Sweden. This work presented a comprehensive examination of the relatively modern Swedish railway infrastructure system. It included environmental performance and the development of Environment Product Declaration which included models for the railway track foundation, the railway track, the railway electrical power and control system, the railway tunnel, the railway bridge, the railway passenger station and freight terminal and the passenger and freight train model including train operation.

• Re-construction methods
• Life Cycle Analysis
• Whole Life Cycle Analysis
• Multi-decision tool