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En este artículo se presentan tres soluciones innovadoras y sostenibles para mejorar las infraestructuras ferroviarias europeas. En primer lugar, se presenta Neoballast, nueva solución para balasto que ofrece mayor durabilidad, menor impacto ambiental y una reducción de ruido y vibraciones, entre otras muchas prestaciones. En segundo lugar, se presenta el árido siderúrgico desarrollado en el proyecto Gain para uso como subbalasto y capa de forma ferroviaria, el cual ofrece mayores prestaciones mecánicas a la vez que se valoriza un residuo de la producción de acero. En tercer lugar, se presenta el árido siderúrgico desarrollado en el proyecto Birbalas para su uso como balasto y subbalasto ferroviario, del cual se está a la espera de obtener resultados definitivos, si bien los resultados provisionales son muy positivos.

Abstract Background Despite their important role in railway operations, switches and crossings (S&C) have changed little since their conception over a century ago. It stands now that the existing designs for S&C are reaching their maximum point of incremental performance improvement, and only a radical redesign can overcome the constraints that current designs are imposing on railway network capacity. This paper describes the process of producing novel designs for next generation switches and crossings, as part of the S-CODE project. Methods Given the many aspects that govern a successful S&C design, it is critical to adopt multi criteria decision making (MCDM) processes to identify a specific solution for the next generation of switches and crossings. However, a common shortcoming of these methods is that their results can be heavily influenced by external factors, such as uncertainty in criterium weighting or bias of the evaluators, for example. This paper therefore proposes a process based on the Pugh Matrix method to reduce such biases by using sensitivity analysis to investigate them and improve the reliability of decision making. Results In this paper, we analysed the influences of three different external factors, measuring the sensitivity of ranking due to (a) weightings, (b) organisational and (c) discipline bias. The order of preference of the results was disturbed only to a minimum while small influences of bias were detected. Conclusions Through this case study, we believe that the paper demonstrates an effective case study for a quantitative process that can improve the reliability of decision making.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

The use of aggregates with high abrasion resistance is essential for the correct long-term operation of railway lines. However, the extraction of these aggregates is not always cost effective and the creation of new alter natives with a lower life-cycle cost and a reduced environmental impact is fundamental for the environmental and economic sustainability of railway infrastructure. The new recycled aggregate from electric arc furnace slag (SFS-Rail) is proving highly satisfactory as it has excellent physical and mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]