WITH THE GROWING COST OF TRACK MAINTENANCE FOR HEAVY AND LIGHT RAIL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, THE NEED FOR EFFECTIVE MAINTENANCE PLANNING AND FORECASTING OF MAINTENANCE REQ UIREMENTS HAS BECOME MORE READILY APPARENT.

WITH THE GROWING COST OF TRACK MAINTENANCE FOR HEAVY AND LIGHT RAIL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, THE NEED FOR EFFECTIVE MAINTENANCE PLANNING AND FORECASTING OF MAINTENANCE REQ UIREMENTS HAS BECOME MORE READILY APPARENT. THIS IN TURN LEADS TO THE REQUIREMENT FOR AN INTEGRATED TRACK MAINTENANCEFORECASTING AND PLANNING SYSTEM THAT WILL ENABLE TRACK MAIN TENANCE SUPERVISORS TO EFFECTIVELY PLAN THEIR MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES AND CONTROL THEIR MAINTANANCE COSTS. THE OBJECT IVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP SUCH AN INTEGRATED TRACK MAINTENANCE PLANNING AND FORCASTING SYSTEM FOR DIRECT USE ON RAIL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES THATARE NEEDED TO ACCOMPLISH THIS EFFORT ARE; TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE TRACK MAINTENANCE DATA BASE, DEVELOP VALID ANDUSEABLE TRACK COMPONENT DEGRADATION (AND FAILURE) RELATION SHIPS, AND TO INTEGRATE THESE RELATIONSHIPS INTO THE DATA BASE TO ENABLE THE FORCASTING OF BOTH SHORT TERM AND LONG TRACK MAINTENANCE PLANNING AND FORCASTING SYSTEM FOR DIRECT USE ON RAIL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVESTHAT ARE NEEDED TO ACCOMPLISH THIS EFFORT ARE; TO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE TRACK MAINTENANCE DATA BASE, DEVELOP VALID AND USEABLE TRACK COMPONENT DEGRADATION (AND FAILURE) REL ATIONSHIPS, AND TO INTEGRATE THESE RELATIONSHIPS INTO THE DATA BASE TO ENABLE THE FORCASTING OF BOTH SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM TRACK MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENTS.