Rail maintenance analysis using Petri nets

Railways are required to operate with a high level of reliability and safety for transporting passengers within a certain budget. One important way of meeting these requirements is to implement proper maintenance activities. However, maintenance cost is always under pressure for operating company. Considering the main maintenance activities for rail, this paper discusses a model for systematic and holistic cost analysis using a Petri nets (PN) methodology. By developing sub-models including: deterioration, inspection, lubrication, maintenance and renewal, a whole model of rail maintenance process is developed based on PN. The Monte Carlo method is applied to the model to simulate the maintenance process and to evaluate the related cost. The application of the model is demonstrated by an example. The model is solved, and the maintenance cost during the rail’s life cycle is presented. The costs resulting from different maintenance activities are also simulated and discussed.