OPERATIONAL VALIDATION OF SPACE-ENABLED RAIL BUCKLING RISK MONITORING IN THE SPATRA RAILWAY PILOT

Abstract

SPATRA project developed and demonstrated a Railway Pilot (RWP) that combines Earth Observation (EO)-derived land-surface temperature, meteorological forecasts, in-situ rail and environmental measurements, and track data to predict rail-track temperature and heat-related buckling risk. This paper summarises the integrated rail-pilot results. The RWP was operated from 1 July to 31 August 2025 on a 22 km Red Cross-Jasenovik section of the Niš-Svrljig line. The reported pilot results showed that 15 of 17 rail-temperature predictions were within ±5 °C of in-situ measurements. Retrospective analysis of 22 hot-weather slow-order days indicates that risk-based restriction windows would reduce slow-speed operation from 264 to 146 h, a reduction of 118 h (about 45%). The system also identified the documented 24 July 2025 buckling location as high risk in advance. After interface refinements, all user-oriented KPIs exceeded 90% satisfaction, with section scores between 4.64 and 4.90/5. The results support more targeted speed restrictions, inspection prioritisation and traceable hot-weather decision-making, while wider deployment requires sustained sensor coverage, up-to-date asset data and integration with Railway Infrastructure Manager procedures.