RFI: Diagnostic train fleet will operate throughout Italy for railway infrastructure inspection

RFI's "diagnostic train" fleet will be enriched with five new trains capable of traveling on all rail lines and performing a series of tests and inspections of infrastructure useful for maintaining maintenance activities, to ensure maximum efficiency of the network. RFI has signed an agreement with Stadler and Mermec to build and supply five new diagnostic tools for a total investment of around € 130 million. This is the first integrated turnkey delivery project for a railway vehicle equipped with diagnostic systems. Stadler and Mermec will work together to deliver new RFI vehicles already equipped with onboard railway infrastructure diagnostics.

In this way, RFI is accelerating the project to upgrade and expand its diagnostic fleet, which began in the first months of this year with the arrival of the Aldebaran 2.0 tracks and the upcoming debut of Diamante 2.0. The five new trains - with a blocked train of three wagons, bimodal traction (diesel and electric) and compatible with the advanced ERTMS system - will operate throughout Italy for railway infrastructure inspection, real-time inspection of rails, power lines, signaling, and telecommunications systems. The latest diagnostic convoys will be able to travel on all lines, monitor and receive the information needed to maintain the efficiency of more than 16,700 kilometers of the national rail network and to increase the operational safety of all trains.

Their approval and commissioning are planned for 2023. Strictly in ultramarine blue and signal yellow, the colors that will distinguish the livery, the same used for all other trains in the diagnostic park of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. The fleet development and upgrade project, worth a total of approximately 585 million euros, also includes the delivery of fifteen new bimodal diagnostic trucks, the construction of three K12 diagnostic wagons, and the delivery of seven new trains for internal track inspection using ultrasonic measurements and diagnostics of the tunnels.

It should be remembered that mobile diagnostics allows you to collect a series of information about the state of the infrastructure, which means not only the identification and timely elimination of anomalies but above all more effective planning of routine maintenance, optimizing the time and cost of interventions. Goals designed to be even more effective with the advancement of the digital revolution that sees RFI, along with the entire FS Group, at the forefront, making the most of the prerogatives of the Internet, 5G, big data, artificial intelligence, and automation.