Minimizing Cost Overrun in Rail Projects through 5D-BIM: A Systematic Literature Review

Mega projects delivering rail infrastructure are constantly seeking cost-effective and efficient technologies to sustain the growing population. Building information modeling (BIM) and BIM for cost management (5D-BIM) have shown great potential in the building industry and have been adopted widely. However, 5D-BIM implementation in rail infrastructure is still in its infancy. This paper presents a systematic literature review of 380 publications related to cost overrun, cost management and 5D-BIM for rail infrastructure, including rail projects. The review identified knowledge gaps and synthesized existing research on cost overrun in rail projects, cost estimation models, and the current use of 5D-BIM. The review revealed that there is no current study integrating 5D-BIM into the rail project lifecycle. This paper highlights the importance of integrating 5D-BIM systematically in the rail project life cycle to avoid/minimize cost overrun. The review provides researchers and practitioners with crucial information for deploying 5D-BIM to minimize cost overruns in rail projects.