A time-based track quality index: Melbourne tram case study

Track quality indices can be used as an indicator of rail condition concerning the risk of damage or failure. Previous studies have mainly focused on conventional rail track quality indices and light rail tracks have not been addressed properly. In order to fill this gap, this research aims to develop a track quality index which is usable for both conventional and tram rail tracks. In this research dataset of the Melbourne tram network is used. In this research, based on the statistical analysis, track geometry parameters which are statistically significant in the development of the proposed index for the Melbourne tram network are determined. For the evaluation, the predictability performance of the index proposed in this paper is compared with the three major indices in the literature. According to the results of the case study evaluation, the current values of the proposed index has reasonable correlations with its previous values.