Conceptual modelling of railway infrastructure cost-A system dynamics approach

The investment decision making in railway infrastructure plays a vital role in safe and reliable utilization of the infrastructure. There is a considerable contribution to the country's economy from railway transport infrastructure, which requires continuous investment in the railway infrastructure. The infrastructure investment in maintenance, renewal and construction increases the availability and capacity of the railway infrastructure. Economic indicators are used to analyze and evaluate the infrastructure life cycle cost in order to justify the investment decisions. System dynamics modelling is used to outline the feedback structure of railway infrastructure life cycle cost. The system structure, system component relationships, and system behavior are defined using systems thinking in order to analyze the causality between different variables. System dynamic modelling shows how different variables influence the railway infrastructure life cycle cost and investment decision making. The understanding of how the system works enables well-informed decision making. The application of the system dynamics approach in the conceptual modelling of the railway infrastructure cost will enable past system behavior or occurrences to be explained and the future ones to be predicted.