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European Railway Bridge and Rolling Stock Database for Dynamic Compatibility Assessment

European Railway Bridge and Rolling Stock Database for Dynamic Compatibility Assessment

May 12, 2026 | Uncategorized

Challenge

Railway bridge and train loading data across Europe are currently fragmented, inconsistent, and difficult to compare, limiting large-scale analysis and harmonised assessment methods. The absence of unified, high-quality datasets covering both structural characteristics and detailed train parameters—geometric, dynamic, and operational—restricts the reliable evaluation of structural behaviour, dynamic compatibility, and train–bridge interactions. This lack of consistency hampers cross-border infrastructure performance assessment, constrains advanced statistical analysis and simulation accuracy, and ultimately impedes evidence-based standardisation and the development of improved European bridge design and assessment frameworks, including the identification of critical loading scenarios.

 The solution

This solution fills in those gaps by:

  • Developing a harmonised European‑wide database comprising detailed geometric, structural, material, track, dynamic, soil and documentary information for 509 representative railway bridges .
  • Including raw data, calculated parameters, experimental measurements, structural drawings, cross‑sectional models and project documentation, enabling consistent analytical workflows across countries.
  • Supporting dynamic compatibility assessment, statistical analysis, identification of bridge typologies prone to critical responses, and provides a robust empirical foundation for normative evolution at European level.
  • A harmonised database comprising 3025 passenger trains and 139,182 freight trains, including real trains, measured trains, reference load models, EN1991‑2 artificial trains and all relevant permutations of multiple‑unit configurations.
  • Structured MATLAB datasets containing axle loads, axle spacing, train geometry and operational speeds. For some of them, unspring masses, suspension properties and other dynamic parameters essential for train–bridge assessment always included.
  • Unified data for statistical analyses, train signature generation, identification of critical train parameters, and execution of time‑step train–bridge dynamic simulations.

Readiness for Industrialisation and Deployment

The European Railway Bridge Database is fully operational and deployed on a secure cloud platform using Python and PostgreSQL, with user authentication, Application Programming Interface (API) tokens, HTTPS/SSL, and an intuitive web interface for browsing bridge data . It offers real‑time access, integration with MATLAB and Python, graphical visualisation and automated data retrieval. This makes the system immediately usable for large‑scale analyses, regulatory assessment or integration into digital workflows.

Also the rolling stock database is fully developed, validated, automated through MATLAB processing algorithms, and actively used in bridge dynamic analysis and train-bridge dynamic interaction studies across the project.

Note, however, that due to confidential matters from the Vehicle Manufacturers, the database is only available through user authentication.

Maturity level

TRL 6 (Technology demonstrated in relevant environment) and 7 (System prototype demonstration in operational environment)

Expected benefits

  • Enhanced European representativeness: The database covers 509 bridges from five EU countries, spanning diverse structural typologies, speeds and materials, enabling robust cross‑country benchmarking.
  • Strong support for future normative evolution: The harmonised dataset provides an empirical basis for improving dynamic compatibility methodologies and informing revisions to Eurocodes and Infrastructure Technical Specifications for Interoperability.
  • Centralised and reorganised bridge information: Previously fragmented data from multiple Infrastructure Managers has been standardised and integrated into a single cloud platform, greatly improving accessibility and usability.

Who benefits

Infrastructure Managers

Railway operators

Suppliers

Final users

Conclusion

Thanks to this solution, we have a comprehensive, Europe‑wide dataset where:

  • Infrastructure Managers benefit from improved access to harmonised structural, geometric and dynamic data, along with precise rolling-stock parameters for compatibility checks, speed-increase assessments, asset-safety verification, and more effective maintenance, assessment and upgrade strategies. The approach also consolidates a large rolling-stock dataset—covering thousands of passenger and freight trains, including measured real-world data and EN1991-2 artificial load models—into organised and accessible bridge information.
  • Regulatory bodies – namely European Railways Agency (ERA) and the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) – gain a reliable, evidence-based and robust empirical dataset to underpin revisions of EN1990, EN1991-2, Dynamic Train Categories and dynamic compatibility criteria in Eurocodes and TSIs. Fragmented data from multiple EU projects, national systems (e.g. the German National Research Center for Rail Transport), UK databases and manufacturers is validated, standardised and made accessible to authorised partners.
  • Rolling stock manufacturers benefit from a unified reference framework of axle loads, spacing, characteristic lengths, suspension properties and dynamic parameters, supporting optimisation of new vehicle designs and ensuring compliance with European dynamic compatibility requirements.
  • Bridge design and other companies responsible for construction and maintenance of bridges companies, consultants and research institutions working on train–bridge interaction, dynamics and asset management can utilise a unified, high-quality information source for advanced modelling, dynamic analysis and scientific investigation. Enhanced capability for dynamic compatibility studies supports peak-load identification, generation of train signatures, train–bridge simulations, and the identification of critical vehicle parameters governing bridge response.

Learn more about the project

InBridge4EU

This solution has been developed within the Europe’s Rail (EU-Rail) Exploratory Project InBridge4EU. The project aims to develop procedures to revise and enhance some of the normative criteria used to evaluate the dynamic performance of railway bridges stipulated in the Eurocodes and TSIs.
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