An analysis of the causes of track twist at high speed of driving

The research of railway track surfaces is aimed at improving the quality of railway infrastructure and providing the chance of improving the safety of driving. Therefore, it is advisable to constantly monitor track surface, but the research itself is not innovative because it is based on a known procedure. The crucial element are the techniques that allow to delve into the sources of problems. The aim of the article is to use the selected instruments of quality management to analyze the causes of track twist at high (180 km/h) speed of driving. The analysis of the causes of track twist was done on the basis of results from the measurement of one kilometer track section of the Krakow Glowny - Medyka route, which was made by using the TEC measuring device in April 2018. It was inferred that it is impossible to reach 180 km/h without track twist. In order to identify the causes of track twist it was proposed to use the selected sequence of quality management instruments, i.e.: brainstorming, Ishikawa diagram and the 5Why method. The identified causes of track twist include the abrasion of rail, scratches and exploitation point. The analysis and conclusions drawn from it may be useful in the analysis of other problems in railway transport as well as production and service industries.