Keywords: turnouts, railway track settlement, long-term monitoring, track geometry, descriptive modelling, data analytics.

Turnouts, or switches and crossings, are critical components of railway networks, yet they experience concentrated dynamic loads that accelerate wear and drive high maintenance costs, particularly for ballast-related interventions. This study investigates long-term settlement behaviour across over 450 Austrian turnouts spanning approximately 20 years, considering wooden, conventional concrete, and concrete sleepers with under-sleeper pads (USPs). Longitudinal level (D1) measurements from standard track-recording vehicles were processed using an automated workflow to ensure temporal and spatial consistency, and a cumulative track geometry index (cTGI) was applied to quantify settlements. Settlement rates were corrected for traffic loading effects to enable robust comparison among sleeper types. Results indicate clear differences: conventional concrete sleepers exhibit moderate initial settlements but increasingly high rates with age, often necessitating early renewal, wooden sleepers show high initial settlements that decrease over time, allowing service up to 35–40 years, concrete sleepers with USP demonstrate consistently low settlements across all observed age groups, reflecting improved elasticity and ballast protection. These findings provide valuable input for turnout design optimisation, maintenance planning, and simulation studies, highlighting the long-term benefits of elastic support elements in mitigating track degradation and reducing lifecycle costs.

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