【Objective】In order to improve the effect of periodic maintenance for ballasted high-speed railway, and standardize the construction process for bed cleaning of ballasted high-speed railway.【Method】Time-domain curves of Track Quality Index (TQI) and scatter plots of TQI were drawn Based on the dynamic monitoring data from January 2019 to May 2023 for Shanghai—Chengdu line Hefei—Nanjing section.【Result】The shortest time from the last cycle of maintenance when the track enters the“wear and tear period”was 12 months, when the TQI change rate is greater than 2%, the correspording TQI value was TQI≥4.0 mm. Based on the TQI data measured before and after each process during cleaning construction in Shanghai—Chengdu line Hefei-Nanjing section from October to November 2022, the average decrease of TQI by each process was calculated. Grading evaluation of track quality for ballasted high-speed railway was proposed, combining the acceptance requirements or construction and TQI value of track before bed cleaning. TQI time-frequency curve exhibits a“bathtub curve”characteristic. Maintenance of the bed should be carried out before the“aging phase”. The TQI criterion for the periodic maintenance of ballasted high-speed railway was proposed: TQI≥4.0 mm, and periodic maintenance for ballasted high-speed railway track was recommended to be a 12 months cycle. A grading and control evaluation for ballasted high-speed railway bed cleaning operations was proposed, and the static track quality should meet the following criteria after construction: TQI≤5.0 mm after cleaning and three times tamping and two times stabilizing(3D2W), TQI≤4.5 mm after 5D3W, TQI≤4.0 mm after 7D4W, TQI≤3.0 mm after precise tamping 1, and TQI≤2.5 mm after precise tamping 2.【Conclusion】A reference is provided for the management and construction of ballasted high-speed railway bed cleaning.