I imagine that the cost to install is fairly low since train tracks require regular monitoring and maintenance so it's fairly cheap to add the installation and maintenance on top of the existing schedule.

The manufacturer claims that durability should not be an issue. Time will tell.

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tryagainian 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Placing a cover over the area between the tracks makes it much more difficult to inspect the ties (sleepers) and ballast.

	▲	LaurensBER 2 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I'm not an expert but I think the SBB is already pretty good at handling this. I think they already run measuring wagons (Oberbaumesswagen) with grond penetrating reader and ultrasonic measurement and use flow sensors to monitor drainage. I would expect that the solar panels impact the efficiency at least somewhat but apparently not enough to cause real and enough issues for the SBB or perhaps they see ways to improve this in the future.
	▲	inglor_cz an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Yes, worsened inspection is a non-trivial problem. Very high quality sleepers (I wouldn't expect any other kind in Switzerland) mitigate this, but copying such approach in other countries could spell trouble.