Toward Smart Railway Infrastructure Predictive and Optimised Maintenance Through Digital Twin (DT) System

Digital Twin (DT) technology is increasingly recognised as a promising approach for predictive and optimised railway maintenance; however, its current applications remain fragmented and lack systematic evaluation across railway domains. This study aims to critically review DT-enabled monitoring, analysis, and maintenance decision-support systems in railway engineering, while identifying key research gaps and future directions. A DT is defined in this study as an integrated cyber-physical system comprising a physical asset, its virtual representation, and continuous bidirectional data exchange enabling real-time monitoring, prediction, and decision-making. A systematic and transparent review methodology was adopted to select 34 representative peer-reviewed studies published between 2020 and 2025, focusing explicitly on DT applications in railway infrastructure and operations. Among these, a subset of 10 key studies was further analysed in greater depth based on their level of technical implementation, data integration capability, and relevance to predictive maintenance applications, which cover multiple domains, including track systems, rolling stock, bridges, and communication networks. Results show that DT-based approaches can enhance fault detection, enable condition-based and predictive maintenance, and reduce reliance on manual inspections. However, significant limitations remain. Most studies are conceptual or pilot-scale, with limited validation under real operating conditions. Key challenges include a lack of standardisation and interoperability, constraints in real-time scalability, data governance and cybersecurity issues, and insufficient integration of multi-source sensing and advanced analytics. This review provides a structured synthesis of current DT implementations in railway systems and highlights critical gaps that must be addressed to enable scalable, reliable, and fully integrated DT-driven maintenance frameworks.