Railway Metrics & Dynamics at “Järnvägsdagen 2024”

Last Wednesday, “Järnvägsdagen 2024” was held at Sergel Hub on Sveavägen in Stockholm. The event delved into the factors shaping the future of railways and featured numerous discussions about the industry’s progress towards the vision for Sweden’s rail network.

The topics covered were varied, but the clearest focus was on the Swedish business sector’s need for a reliable railway with guaranteed capacity. While the investment plan for Sweden’s railways is finalized, several speakers returned to the critical questions of how to “translate investments into action” and address the maintenance backlog while ensuring sufficient capacity.

So, how can we increase capacity and reliability in the existing rail network by equipping vehicles with sensors? During the insightful session on “The Digital Railway System,” Martin Bäfverfeldt from RMD addressed this issue. He highlighted the industry’s current problematic approach to maintenance and presented a solution for implementing digital monitoring and planned maintenance for both infrastructure and rolling stock.

According to RMD, action is needed to shift away from planning traffic around disruptions. Instead, sensors on vehicles can identify and log all anomalies, interpret their significance, and digitally provide a verified, actionable decision-making basis.

In a subsequent panel discussion, participants explored key questions about data sharing, legal frameworks, and responsibility—who must take the lead in driving change? RMD shared its experience with real-time monitoring and data sharing in many client projects, emphasizing that this is already possible, and the technology is available for installation today.

RMD also explained its ongoing work to develop business models that create the right incentives to accelerate railway digitalization. Examples included reduced track access fees for companies collecting data via sensors or lower insurance premiums for those contributing to enhanced safety in the same way.

The panel included Anders Aabakken (Trafikverket), Veronica Jägare (LTU), Kristin Eklöf (Salbo.ai), Kristina Andersson (RISE), and Peter Melander (RMD).

Peter Melander concluded with the message: “Don’t wait. Use sensors on vehicles to start collecting data today. All the necessary technology is already in place.”