The merits of employing infrastructure mapping alongside condition monitoring to improve asset management and performance on UK tramways have been examined by light rail engineers.

The subject was addressed during a best practice workshop for members of the UKTram Engineering Group (LREG), which also included a presentation by Gaist and Polychord and a demonstration of rail products by Sika UK, who hosted the workshop in Leeds.

Phil Terry, UKTram Lead Engineer, explained: “Asset management, supported by cost effective and usable condition surveys, is high on the agenda for operators at the moment, and the workshop provided the opportunity to discuss the topic in detail.

What we saw on the day demonstrated that this approach could provide the critical data and infrastructure status for tramways to enable engineers to make informed decisions on track maintenance.”

The latest LREG meeting, led by its Chair, Marilena Papadopoulou, Renewals Manager at Edinburgh Trams, also included updates from the various networks, including a representation from RKH Qitarat, operator and maintainer of the Doha Metro and Lusail Tram.

There were also updates from UK Tram and the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board, along with discussions on rail and OLE defects, monitoring, and the future work of the group.