ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF THE LIFE-CYCLE COST STRUCTURE FOR RAILWAY TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF THE LIFE-CYCLE COST STRUCTURE FOR RAILWAY TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS

Summary/Abstract: In the case of complex technical systems that should deliver long life, highavailability, safety and reliability, such as railway traffic control systems, the ownership costsmany times exceed the costs of its acquisition. Therefore, infrastructure operators in order tomake optimal economic decisions, regarding the systems purchase or and modernization,expect that system delivers will give complex information not only about the initial costs ofpurchasing the system, but also about the costs of its operation and liquidation. It allows toinclude in budget plans, growing requirements for the reliability availability of infrastructureas well as crucial issue - the traffic safety. Considering the widespread use of railway trafficcontrol systems, which are part of the railway infrastructure, even small savings obtained forindividual systems can be resulted into significant financial benefits for infrastructure ownersand operators. One of the methods which helps to consider all of the above-mentioned types ofcosts is the Life Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis. In the case of railway traffic control systems it is amandatory part of RAMS (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, Safety) / LCC analysis. Itsrequirements are defined in the European Union directives, and the methodology is included inthe CENELEC standards. The methodology of the LCC analysis, including economic aspectsas well as safety and reliability requirements specific to railway traffic control systems waspresented by the authors. LCC structure for three various examples of railway traffic controlsystems were considered. This economic analysis includes level crossing protection system,axle counting system and automatic block signalling. Based on these examples the differencesin the LCC structure for individual systems were presented.

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