Virtual site visits accelerate the future for European Rail Traffic Management System upgrades

Several European countries are in the process of renewing the signalling systems across their entire railway network, ensuring future operations remain safe and reliable. This extensive project involves replacing the current analogue signals with advanced digital signalling systems, namely European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS). These ERTMS signalling programmes will result in one international signalling system across European borders. To execute this ambitious undertaking, while minimising disruptions to ongoing rail operations, infrastructure owners have leveraged the outputs from our unique RILA^® train-borne monitoring system. Furthermore, various European countries are finding innovative design approaches based on data from RILA^®.

RILA® enables virtual track access

In every country, rail infrastructure owners face the challenge of getting track access to monitor, manage and maintain, their railway network. Our RILA^® monitoring system collects highly accurate Geo-data of the rail corridor while being attached to a passenger train or locomotive. RILA^® can survey at line speed and therefore, doesn’t interrupt the day-to-day train operations on the network. The mobile mapping system enables a safe and more sustainable solution for getting virtual track access.

Virtual site visits with a digital twin

Since several years, we have collected accurate Geo-data of assets across railway networks in Europe. The collected imagery, lidar and rail data is used to create a digital twin of the railway environment. This digital twin is accessible through our online Fugro RailData^® portal and serves as a virtual representation of the railway network. This enables infrastructure owners to conduct virtual site visits and strongly reduces the risk of personnel exposure to hazardous on-track conditions.

Prior to use of the data from RILA^®, site surveys required an in-person team to manually place and photograph marker boards at designated signal locations within hazardous track environments to evaluate visibility. Now, with our 3D representation of the railway corridor and the innovative tools of rail infrastructure owners, virtual site visits are enabled.

Benefits to ERTMS programmes include:

• Increased safety: majority of site visits can be done virtually, significantly reducing the need for personnel to enter the hazardous track environment.

• Improved efficiency: rail infrastructure owners can now undertake more virtual visibility checks per day. Furthermore, due to the detail included in the RILA^® dataset, the design works are completed faster.

• Cost reduction: the reduction of site visits leads to a cost saving, primarily due to a decrease in the amount of site visits required on site and an increase in the amount of site visits which can be done virtually.

By embracing innovation and leveraging the power of digital twins, we are helping rail infrastructure owners pave the way for a safer, more streamlined international railway network.