Company Background
Strukton is passionate about technology, focusing on rail and civil engineering works and technology driven specialist fields. Maintenance and management, using high-end technology, domain knowledge and craftsmanship, are the basis of the company. From that basis, Strukton adds value to a sector that goes for safety, quality and sustainability of rail transport, road infrastructure and technology and buildings. After all, everyone has the right to a comfortable, safe and accessible world, both now and in the future.
Strukton specialises in unique fitted solutions for projects in transport systems in densely populated areas, ports and connections of ports with their hinterland. On the rail market Strukton Rail operates on maintenance, renewal and new construction of rail infrastructure and electric train systems, both heavy rail and light rail (www.struktonrail.com). In order to guarantee the quality and safety of rail transport, Strukton Rail has developed its own smart maintenance concept which is aimed at improving safety, availability and reliability for the entire rail system. Strukton Rail has created a strong base of experience through its home country based maintenance contracts, as well as through becoming a railway management party itself as well.
History of Strukton Rail
Strukton, established in 1921 as a daughter of the Dutch state owned railway company NS, has a long history in the implementation, refurbishment and maintenance of railway systems. In 2010 Strukton was privatised, and the company now operates as an independent contractor, using digitisation and robotisation to develop itself as a technology and maintenance partner in the international market. Strukton Rail has become one of Europe’s leading rail maintenance and technology businesses it has experience with heavy haul as well as with sophisticated, densely used railway networks.
Geography and Performance
In its more than 95 years in business, Strukton Rail has developed a strong basis in its home countries: Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium. With its projects and products, Strukton Rail also focuses on Chile, the Middle East, the United States of America, and Australia. Clients are located in other countries as well, both in and outside of Europe.
| Key Figures Strukton Rail | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
| Annual Turnover (x EUR 1.000) | 889.920 | 844.974 | 786.062 |
| Employees | 3.573 | 3.477 | 3.485 |
The maintenance activities performed by Strukton Rail and its subsidiary Strukton Rail Nederland (further to be named Strukton Rail) cover the disciplines of track, signalling, power supply, catenaries, structures, underground infrastructure, telecommunications and computer network services. We are also responsible for vegetation clearing, gritting, parts replacement, snow removal and other services.
Next to the above activities which are commissioned by our customers, Strukton Rail has also gained experience in managing and maintaining of railway through our subsidiary Strukton Rail Short Line. Strukton Rail Short Line manages and maintains over 500 track kilometres and 550 switches at the industrial sites of around 150 companies in the Netherlands. Industrial sidings are crucial to economic development. As an international player, Strukton Rail knows the importance of track connections to freight transport and the economic interests involved. Strukton Rail is certified to ISO 55001. The International ISO 55001 standard specifies the requirements for the establishment, implementation, maintenance and improvement of a management system for asset management.
Systems and Technology
In order to manage our assets most effectively we make use of self-developed technology. One of our most successful products is POSS, a monitoring platform for railway infrastructure and rolling stock. POSS continuously monitors railway assets (point machines, track circuits, wheel shunt, level crossings, rail temperature and onboard monitoring of rolling stock) and identifies deviations from the standard operational settings. We developed the system, combining railway maintenance experience with technological expertise. The need to develop doesn’t end with one successful product; the need for high quality, efficient maintenance and low costs pushes for continuous technological innovation and optimisation. Because of this the developers of Strukton Rail continue to find new ways to improve and optimise railway construction, management and maintenance.
Strukton Rail’s Capabilities
Our capabilities have evolved in recent years to meet the ongoing demands of achieving high network availability targets for our customers. Investment in rail technology specifically focused on improving rail infrastructure performance and maintenance efficiency has provided demonstrated benefits in network availability, fault reductions, and maintenance cost savings. The tools and systems we can offer are applied in our own maintenance services contracts and rail assets that we own and operate.
Inspection and Analysis
Higher speeds, high quality requirements of train traffic and permanent compliance of all technical rail system parameters make high demands on rail infrastructure.
Today, Eurailscout Inspection & Analysis is the largest independent inspection organisation for the components of the railway infrastructure in Europe. Strukton Rail maintains 50% share of Eurailscout together with SNCF (French national railway). Eurailscout develops, implements and executes measuring and monitoring plans and services in order to collect data as input for maintenance and Key Performance Indicators.
To be able to ensure rail traffic safety and reliability, it is absolutely necessary to know the detailed condition of the railway infrastructure. Because of this Eurailscout inspects 50,000 km track each year. The expertise of Eurailscout lies with the service provision of track geometry measurement[1], rail testing[2], switch inspection[3] and overhead line inspection[4].
For private, regional and urban railway networks Strukton Rail uses its expertise develops a modular measurement concept, specifically designed for the needs that come with management and maintenance of such networks. The measurement concept is part of the larger Smart Maintenance concept of Strukton Rail.
Smart Maintenance
For the management and maintenance of assets we have developed our asset management concept, which we labelled Smart Maintenance. Smart Maintenance is based on preventing failures, identifying problems before they occur and staying one step ahead of potential breakdowns. We manage the entire asset management set, from defining customer needs to operation and feedback. We adapt to and support part of or the entire maintenance strategy of the customer by engineering what is needed. Based on experience, our approach results in lower costs and better quality.
Effective asset management limits downtime to meet essential asset needs while simultaneously preventing potential failures. Efficiency is key. Proper asset management during operations must be planned and organised optimally to achieve the envisaged results. We describe our approach as ‘Smart Maintenance’, and it is integral to the delivery of our own maintenance activities, and now utilised in rail networks around the world.
Because of all its technological monitoring and inspection systems, Strukton Rail now has long-term data about more than 15,000 rail objects. This enables Strukton Rail to predict the potential and pending failure of critical rail infrastructure systems at an early stage using big-data analysis techniques. Strukton Rail consequently has access to a unique knowledge and resources that can significantly improve the safety, availability and reliability of the rail network.
[1] Eurailscout’s inspection vehicles provide high-precision track geometry data and high-quality video images. All data is recorded on the vehicles that can operate at speeds up to 160 km/h thus avoiding any disturbance to other railway operations.
[2] Eurailscout’s rail testing equipment and ultrasound track inspection systems can be used for basic rail safety testing, vertical split head detection, squat detection, head check detection, profile measurements, rail corrugation identification and track gauge measurement.
[3] Switch inspection and measurement: Eurailscout provides automatic switch inspection measurement vehicles consisting of a switch measurement system taking noncontact measurements and an inspection system that takes high-quality images, mounted on a specially developed wagon.
[4] Eurailscout provides measurement trains that carry out a full survey of overhead lines at speeds of up to 160 km/h.