Stefan Schenk, Head of Contracts & Train Path Sales – SBB
The wear factor, developed by the SBB Track Asset Management team, will be implemented as new price-element in the Swiss train-path pricing system in January 2017. The SBB Infrastructure Train Path Sales group has started an IT project to ensure the timely implementation of the new wear factor price-element in its electronical, automated track access charging system. The IT- system for the track access charging is embedded in a complex IT-environment with dependencies on multiple systems. In the future, not only the distance between two operational points will be regarded but the distance will be split in sections of different speed intervals on straight tracks and radius groups for twisting tracks. With this change from the gross-tonne charging per train- kilometer to a vehicle-specific pricing, several data sources are required to calculate the wear factor price-element.
The vehicles operating on the Swiss railway tracks have been priced and inserted into the charging system according to a specified vehicle pricing process. The pricing effect of the wear factor on different vehicles operating on different tracks can be easily simulated with the online train-path pricing tool. The calculations demonstrate that an incentive for an optimized vehicle operation, based on the topology and vehicle properties, is created by the wear factor price-element in the Swiss train-path pricing system. Moreover the new price-element sets for the first time a financial incentive to the industry to build and to the railway undertakings to procure track-friendly railway vehicles.