AI-enhanced digital twins for real-time assessment of wheel-rail contact conditions exposed to climate change impacts

Railway networks in Europe are one of the world's most developed and dense rail transport networks, spanning over 201,000 kilometers. However, as European railway infrastructure ages and the impacts of climate change become more pronounced, the challenges associated with the operations and maintenance of the infrastructure are increasing, for example, recent reports have highlighted delays and service disruptions on the rail network caused by extreme weather events such as heavy rain, snow, and heatwave. The root of these challenges lies in the monitoring and maintenance of the wheel-rail contact conditions.TwinsRail will revolutionize the rail infrastructure operation and maintenance for climate change adaptation by uniquely integrating state-of-the-art developments in on-board & real-time monitoring solutions, advanced surrogate modelling, physics-informed AI models, and cutting-edge digital twin technologies. The Experienced Researcher (ER), Dr Ruihua Liang, will utilise his unique background in railway dynamics surrogate modelling, in combination of railway-domain expertise with experienced supervisors, to develop a digital twin framework to achieve real-time assessment of wheel-rail contact conditions (including rail adhesion, rail roughness, etc.), enhance safe, stable, comfortable, resource-efficient, and low-carbon transport for over 10 billion passengers and 400 billion tons of goods annually in the EU. TwinsRail substantially offers a reliable solution to minimize operational failures and reduce manual inspection costs for dense rail transport networks. Furthermore, the action will serve as a scalable model for global adoption, driving innovation in the operation, management, and maintenance of infrastructure, while contributing to global efforts in climate change adaptation. Ultimately, the ER will gain unique multi-disciplinary core competencies to create actionable climate solutions and make a positive impact to the railway industry globally.