Lönsamhetsanalys av återbruk av järnvägsräler - En lagerbaserad GIS-metod för indikativ kostnadsjämförelse i det svenska järnvägsnätet
(2026) VTVL01 20261Transport and Roads
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Den statliga järnvägsinfrastrukturen är central för Sveriges transportsystem men är samtidigt resurs- och kostnadskrävande att anlägga och underhålla. Räler är en särskilt betydelsefull komponent eftersom de har lång teknisk livslängd och tillverkas av energikrävande stål. Skillnader i belastning och slitage inom järnvägsnätet innebär att räler som tas ur drift i vissa delar av anläggningen i andra sammanhang kan ha kvarstående teknisk kapacitet. Mot denna bakgrund finns ett behov av att undersöka under vilka förutsättningar återbruk av räler kan vara ekonomiskt motiverat jämfört med nyproduktion.
Syftet med studien är att utveckla en metod som, utifrån tekniska kriterier, kostnadsfaktorer och geografisk placering, indikerar var... (More) - Den statliga järnvägsinfrastrukturen är central för Sveriges transportsystem men är samtidigt resurs- och kostnadskrävande att anlägga och underhålla. Räler är en särskilt betydelsefull komponent eftersom de har lång teknisk livslängd och tillverkas av energikrävande stål. Skillnader i belastning och slitage inom järnvägsnätet innebär att räler som tas ur drift i vissa delar av anläggningen i andra sammanhang kan ha kvarstående teknisk kapacitet. Mot denna bakgrund finns ett behov av att undersöka under vilka förutsättningar återbruk av räler kan vara ekonomiskt motiverat jämfört med nyproduktion.
Syftet med studien är att utveckla en metod som, utifrån tekniska kriterier, kostnadsfaktorer och geografisk placering, indikerar var återbruk av järnvägsräler har ekonomisk lönsamhetspotential i det svenska järnvägsnätet. Metoden är utformad som en lagerbaserad GIS-analys där tekniska, ekonomiska och rumsliga dimensioner analyseras separat och därefter sammanförs.
I metodens första lager tillämpas tekniska kriterier, där största tillåtna axellast (STAX) används som binärt urvalskriterium för att identifiera bandelar där återbruk är tekniskt möjligt. Därefter beräknas indikativa kostnader för återbruk respektive nyproduktion i två separata lager med fokus på transportkostnader samt teknisk kontroll respektive inköp av nyproducerad räl. Resultaten sammanförs i ett synteslager och visualiseras geografiskt genom en indikator som visar differensen i kostnad mellan alternativen.
Resultaten visar att återbruk av räler i de studerade fallen genomgående uppvisar positiv ekonomisk lönsamhetspotential i jämförelse med nyproduktion. Variationer i indikatorvärde kan huvudsakligen kopplas till skillnader i transportsträcka och geografisk placering i förhållande till noder i transportkedjan. Studien visar att den föreslagna lagerbaserade GIS-metoden kan användas som ett översiktligt planeringsstöd för att identifiera var vidare utredning av återbrukspotential är motiverad men att resultaten är indikativa och inte avsedda som underlag för projektspecifika beslut. (Less) - Abstract
- The state owned railway infrastructure is central to Sweden’s transport system but is at the same time resource and cost intensive to construct and maintain. Rails constitute a particularly significant component, as they have a long technical service life and are manufactured from energy intensive steel. Variations in load and wear across the railway network men that rails taken out of service in certain parts of the infrastructure may, in other contexts, retain remaining technical capacity. Against this background, there is a need to investigate under which conditions the reuse of rails can be economically justified and compared to new production.
The aim of this study is to develop a method that, based on technical criteria, cost... (More) - The state owned railway infrastructure is central to Sweden’s transport system but is at the same time resource and cost intensive to construct and maintain. Rails constitute a particularly significant component, as they have a long technical service life and are manufactured from energy intensive steel. Variations in load and wear across the railway network men that rails taken out of service in certain parts of the infrastructure may, in other contexts, retain remaining technical capacity. Against this background, there is a need to investigate under which conditions the reuse of rails can be economically justified and compared to new production.
The aim of this study is to develop a method that, based on technical criteria, cost factors and geographical location, indicates where the reuse of railway rails has economic profitability potential within the Swedish railway network. The method is designed as a layer based GIS analysis in which technical, economic and spatial dimensions are analysed separately and subsequently integrated.
In the first layer of the method, technical criteria are applied, where maximum permitted axle load (STAX) is used as a binary selection criterion to identify track sections where reuse is technically feasible. Indicative costs for reuse and new production are then calculated in two separate layers, focusing on transport costs as well as technical inspection and procurement of newly produced rails, respectively. The results are integrated in a synthesis layer and visualised geographically using an indicator that represents the cost difference between the alternatives.
The results show that rail reuse in the studied cases consistently exhibits positive economic profitability potential compared to new production. Variations in the indicator value can mainly be attributed to differences in transport distance and geographical location in relation to nodes within the transport chain. The study demonstrates that the proposed layer based GIS method can be used as an overview planning tool to identify where further investigation of reuse potential is warranted. However, the results are indicative and not intended to serve as a basis for project specific decisions. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9230463
- author
- Wester, Adam LU
- supervisor
-
- Max Åhman LU
- organization
- alternative title
- Profitability Analysis of Rail Reuse - An Inventory Based GIS Method for Indicative Cost Comparison in the Swedish Railway Network
- course
- VTVL01 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- M3 - Professional qualifications ( - 4 Years)
- subject
- keywords
- reuse, railway infrastructure, transport costs, Swedish Transport Administration
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9230463
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-03 08:34:47
- date last changed
- 2026-06-03 08:34:47
@misc{9230463,
abstract = {{The state owned railway infrastructure is central to Sweden’s transport system but is at the same time resource and cost intensive to construct and maintain. Rails constitute a particularly significant component, as they have a long technical service life and are manufactured from energy intensive steel. Variations in load and wear across the railway network men that rails taken out of service in certain parts of the infrastructure may, in other contexts, retain remaining technical capacity. Against this background, there is a need to investigate under which conditions the reuse of rails can be economically justified and compared to new production.
The aim of this study is to develop a method that, based on technical criteria, cost factors and geographical location, indicates where the reuse of railway rails has economic profitability potential within the Swedish railway network. The method is designed as a layer based GIS analysis in which technical, economic and spatial dimensions are analysed separately and subsequently integrated.
In the first layer of the method, technical criteria are applied, where maximum permitted axle load (STAX) is used as a binary selection criterion to identify track sections where reuse is technically feasible. Indicative costs for reuse and new production are then calculated in two separate layers, focusing on transport costs as well as technical inspection and procurement of newly produced rails, respectively. The results are integrated in a synthesis layer and visualised geographically using an indicator that represents the cost difference between the alternatives.
The results show that rail reuse in the studied cases consistently exhibits positive economic profitability potential compared to new production. Variations in the indicator value can mainly be attributed to differences in transport distance and geographical location in relation to nodes within the transport chain. The study demonstrates that the proposed layer based GIS method can be used as an overview planning tool to identify where further investigation of reuse potential is warranted. However, the results are indicative and not intended to serve as a basis for project specific decisions.}},
author = {{Wester, Adam}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Lönsamhetsanalys av återbruk av järnvägsräler - En lagerbaserad GIS-metod för indikativ kostnadsjämförelse i det svenska järnvägsnätet}},
year = {{2026}},
}