Keywords: switches and crossings, inspection, automated S&C inspection instrument, optical cutting method, 2000 type S&C, monitoring of S&C.

The East Japan Railway Company (EJR) owns and uses about 13,000 sets of switches and crossings (S&Cs), including about 300 sets for very high speed trains. These S&Cs are essential facilities for railway operations, and they need to be inspected in much more detail than ordinary track because their structure is relatively complicated and contains moving parts.

The method of S&C inspection in the EJR was substantially improved in 2003. Most inspections had been conducted manually before 2003, but a track inspection instrument for S&Cs was developed by the EJR and a collaborating company. Since 2003 the EJR has adopted the instrument for S&C inspection. This inspection instrument has greatly improved the accuracy of measuring values in S&Cs. Tokyo Keiki Rail Techno Inc. calls the instrument a switch profile gauge (SPG) [1].

In addition, a new type S&C was developed from 1998 to 2003 by the EJR and some collaborating companies, and this new 2000 type S&C has a simpler and stronger structure. The number of items to be inspected has been greatly decreased, and the inspection cycles have been lengthened to more than twice the intervals required for older type S&Cs [2].

The 2000 type S&C contains a new switch machine which is able to monitor some items, for example, the throwing force of tongue rails. This monitoring system has a function to preserve this data for investigation of the cause of a switch failure if it happens. The system also has an alarm function that gives warning when values being inspected are outside of their criteria, so that potential throwing failures can be predicted and avoided [3].

Currently, the EJR has a project to develop and utilize monitoring systems for S&Cs. The possibilities are to use the monitoring system of the 2000 type S&C's switch machine and to apply the track measuring system to be installed on commercial trains for ordinary tracks, now under development [4]. However, it is difficult to monitor every S&C measurement item because of technical difficulties. So the author discusses additional inspection technologies with regard to the monitoring system within the EJR. Then the author discusses the possibilities of practical application of a monitoring system for the inspection of the S&Cs.

This paper describes the outline, history, and future of inspection for all S&Cs in the EJR.

1

Tokyo Keiki Rail Techno Inc., "Switch Profile Gauge (SPG)", Tokyo, Japan. URL

2

Y. Hori, M. Wakatsuki, M. Obi, "Performance and variation development of the new type turnout", WCRR2006, Montreal, Canada, 2006.

3

N. Obata, T. Ichikura, H. Narita, H. Tanaka, "Development of an ES2-type point machine (monitoring of Point machine)", COMPRAIL2010, 677-686, Beijing, China, 2010. doi:10.2495/CR100621

4

H. Matsuda, M. Takikawa, K. Ogiso, E. Yazawa, "Study of Condition Monitoring for Track Irregularity and Track Materials using Commercial Test Car", WCRR2011, Lille, France, 2011.

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