Railway infrastructure companies are experts in the art of the possible. They are skilled at taking a track environment designed and built up to 150 years ago and managing and enhancing it so that it continues to deliver immense economic value in the 21st century.
Despite their constantly achieving the impossible, the world does not stand still. Passenger numbers continue to grow, projects need to be delivered, and budgets still need to be balanced. All this places significant pressure on maintenance and engineering teams to maintain the integrity of the rail infrastructure.
Let’s explore these issues in more detail, and see how technology can help deliver a rail infrastructure inspection programme that assures a safe operating environment while also meeting the needs of the business.
It is almost impossible to overestimate the skill and ingenuity needed to maintain the rail infrastructure typically found in the UK. Track engineers often have a comprehensive knowledge of the track network in their area and work closely with their management teams to maintain the quality of the infrastructure despite the challenges of location, weather, and the technical and operational considerations that must be wrestled with.
Track inspections are a core element of these programmes. A critical weakness is that many inspections use paper-based models or expensive, sometimes obsolete, data recording equipment. These approaches can be costly, time-consuming, and error-prone when recording the inspection results and distributing all the information accurately and swiftly.
These shortcomings can result in missed inspection schedules or inadequate documentation being given to inspection teams, leading to structural issues being overlooked. These can help cause catastrophic failures and accidents. They also give rise to poor resource allocation and budget management issues.
Vital to optimising any track infrastructure inspection programme is ensuring that the end-to-end assign-check-report process is efficient, streamlined, and fully automated. This ensures that the right data is passed to the correct inspection teams so they can inspect the right location. It also ensures that they collect all the information they need in one visit, as well as any relevant evidence of issues they find. This also ensures accurate information is passed swiftly to engineering, procurement, and management teams.
While this can be very challenging to deliver using paper-based or proprietary systems, it is much more straightforward using modern Smartphones, GPS devices, cloud computing platforms, and software automation.
The physical inspection of track infrastructure remains the most effective way of assuring its integrity. While technology is used in track inspections, a trained and experienced eye can quickly identify issues so a piece of rail infrastructure can be monitored or replaced.
Infrastructure companies can utilise powerful digital capabilities that allow them to replicate their existing working practices, to deliver an inspection programme that meets the operational and commercial needs of the business. These typically include:
This end-to-end digital capability allows information to be integrated with work management systems while also fully integrating with engineering, procurements, and operations processes. This allows remedial action to be taken swiftly as needed, with the minimum disruption to train operations.
This approach also offers excellent flexibility. As new track infrastructure is laid or the business or regulation's needs change, it allows for the rapid introduction of new assessment, monitoring, and reporting requirements. It also allows for full auditability and transparency.
Pole Star is the leading platform for infrastructure digital inspections. We work closely with our customers to provide cutting-edge digital solutions. We are a team of asset managers, examination managers, and operators. We understand your requirements.
With over 100 years of senior-level management experience, we live and breathe asset management daily, working with and supporting our valued clients, including Network Rail and TFL. In addition to providing outstanding digital platforms, we have a first-class inspections division that utilizes our experience and robust systems.
Learn more about how we can help you.