64267 2025 eng 506 515 675 conferenceobject Springer Cham 1 -- -- -- The acceleration thresholds of bridge superstructures remain critical for designing and reassessing railway bridges on high-speed lines, with ballasted track systems historically limited to 3.5 m/s2 vertical accelerations due to destabilization risks. As part of the European InBridge4EU project, this study addresses methodological uncertainties in linking vertical bridge vibrations to lateral track creep—a key focus area for modernizing assessment protocols. A comparative analysis of two acceleration postprocessing methods (peak identification vs. fatigue-derived rainflow counting) as part of a recently proposed framework was conducted using an example bridge and train combination. Results demonstrate that rainflow counting yields more conservative creep estimates with the bulk of cumulative vibration-induced creep attributable to accelerations exceeding 3 m/s2. However, discretizing acceleration ranges into 1 m/s2 bins introduced significant errors compared to continuous cycle data, highlighting sensitivity to analysis parameters. These findings underscore the complexity of reconciling laboratory-derived harmonic vibration models with real-world bridge dynamics, where non-uniform acceleration patterns dominate. The research directly informs ongoing efforts to refine standardized criteria for ballasted track stability, particularly through the InBridge4EU project’s systematic re-evaluation of vibration limits and their engineering implications. By quantifying discrepancies between computational approaches, this work advances the development of robust protocols for predicting track degradation under high-speed operational loads. Experimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Engineering Structures, EVACES 2025 - Volume 2 10.1007/978-3-031-96106-9_53 978-3-031-96105-2 11th International Conference on Experimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Enginering Structures (EVACES 2025) Porto, Portugal 02.07.2025 04.07.2025 publish 22.12.2025 Patrick Simon Matthias Baeßler eng uncontrolled Infrastructure eng uncontrolled Railway bridges eng uncontrolled Ballast destabilization eng uncontrolled Acceleration limit eng uncontrolled Ballasted track eng uncontrolled Rainflow counting Ingenieurbau 7 Bauwerkssicherheit 7.2 Ingenieurbau Infrastruktur Verlagsliteratur Datei im Netzwerk der BAM verfügbar ("Closed Access") Verkehrsinfrastrukturen