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Trends and Challenges in Railway Sustainability: The State of the Art regarding Measures, Strategies, and Assessment Tools

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  • Marinella Giunta

    (Civil, Energy, Environmental and Material Engineering Department—DICEAM, Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Via Zehender, 89124 Reggio, Italy)

Abstract

Rail is expected to become the backbone of future mobility in the world as the cleanest and greenest high-volume transport. Rail generates the lowest CO 2 emissions and energy consumption when in operation, with respect to the other transportation modes, but during construction and maintenance phases, its environmental impacts are significant and need to be carefully assessed and properly mitigated. This paper, through an extensive analysis of the recent literature, aims to provide a comprehensive framework of trends and challenges in railway sustainability, with particular attention paid to track and related materials and components, maintenance strategies, and methods of assessment of sustainability. The followed approach takes into consideration the lifespan of the track and the related main stages. The results show that: (i) several innovative sustainable materials have been introduced with significant environmental performances and limitations, mainly due to the lack of knowledge of long-term mechanical behavior; (ii) appropriate strategies of maintenance, supported by effective monitoring of the track conditions, can reduce negative effects on the environment and society and contribute to making this transportation mode greener; (iii) many devices for the automated detection of the track defects allow increasingly widespread and effective monitoring of the track and are essential means in overcoming the challenge of “smart rails”; and (iv) life cycle assessment (LCA) and circularity metrics are effective and indispensable tools in the decision-making process, since they help to quantify the potential environmental enhancement of different materials and solutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Marinella Giunta, 2023. "Trends and Challenges in Railway Sustainability: The State of the Art regarding Measures, Strategies, and Assessment Tools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-19, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:24:p:16632-:d:1295739
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Praneeth Chandran & Johnny Asber & Florian Thiery & Johan Odelius & Matti Rantatalo, 2021. "An Investigation of Railway Fastener Detection Using Image Processing and Augmented Deep Learning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-15, October.
    2. Clara Celauro & Andrea Cardella & Marco Guerrieri, 2023. "LCA of Different Construction Choices for a Double-Track Railway Line for Sustainability Evaluations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-20, March.
    3. Erika Palin & Hazel Thornton & Camilla Mathison & Rachel McCarthy & Robin Clark & John Dora, 2013. "Future projections of temperature-related climate change impacts on the railway network of Great Britain," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 120(1), pages 71-93, September.
    4. Alan Murray & Keith Skene & Kathryn Haynes, 2017. "The Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Concept and Application in a Global Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 369-380, February.
    5. Julia Milewicz & Daniel Mokrzan & Grzegorz M. Szymański, 2023. "Environmental Impact Evaluation as a Key Element in Ensuring Sustainable Development of Rail Transport," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-16, September.
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