Increasing traffic volumes take their toll on the rail network. Through systematic checks, the Measurement and Diagnostic Technology department ensures that railway infrastructure functions smoothly.

At SBB Infrastructure, some 20 Measurement and Diagnostic Technology employees monitor and control Switzerland’s railway infrastructure, carrying out specialised tests on infrastructure, rolling stock and the interfaces between them. As part of these activities, they inspect over 3,000 kilometres of the county’s rail network at regular intervals. Measurement and Diagnostic Technology employees are not only experts at using the relevant testing techniques, they also provide industrial organisations and individual rail companies with ideas for further developing railway vehicles and technology.

Diagnostic Vehicle

Measurement and Diagnostic Technology is now supported by state-of-the-art testing equipment, the most prominent example of which is the Diagnostic Vehicle. In service practically round the clock, it verifies a host of parameters across the entire rail network, with the findings subsequently evaluated and acted upon by the department’s employees. Measurement and Diagnostic Technology staff have a number of other specialised equipment at their disposal, including vehicles for testing overhead lines, evaluating driving dynamics, measuring track subsidence and checking for short circuits (one each), as well as calibrating vehicles (two).