Abstract
Railway transport is generally acknowledged for its low cost, environmental friendliness, energy efficiency, safety and fast speed, both for short and medium distances, compared to other means of transportation.
The adhesion between train wheels and the rail has a key role on all of these factors. As railway systems are open systems, the adhesion between the wheel and rail is inevitably affected by contaminants reducing the capability of the train to transfer force to the rail, thus reducing the efficiency of traction and braking processes.
As shown in Figure 1, the current axes of improvement in the railway sector aim to increase the efficiency of the infrastructure and increase line capacity. This means a general reduction of the time/distance slots between trains through the use of predictable and optimised braking distances.
KEYWORDS - Roller rig, wheel-rail adhesion, rail contaminant, cleaning, Wheel Slide Protection