The possibilities to improve lives by using technology and data are enormous. There is an industrial estimate that in 2020, there will be 26 times more connected devices compared to the world population. These solid connections will generate astronomical data to churn, and if analyzed smartly, the amount of actionable intelligence generated, will change the world forever.
What about the railways? Change may seem slower as trains have longer lives than many methods of transportation.
But, for large and growing economies, railways play a role of economic lifeline. Traditionally monitoring and maintenance of tracks and coaches has been labor intensive, and thus, handled through manual inspection and planning. This, on one hand is slow, and on the other, is not efficient and expensive. Commercially, the railway technology market is worth €131bn. A large chunk of this budget is going to be allocated towards creating 'Smart Railways'.
Introducing rail sensors, integrated with predictive fault modelling can make the maintenance much efficient and less expensive. An integrated smart rail system has the potential to change railways in a very short period of time.
According to EURAIL magazine, M2M networks are now being implemented to create a more reliable and robust service using large numbers of high quality, resilient connections. In the UK, under the Disability Discrimination Act, station entrances must provide a Customer Information System (CIS) screen. M2M over 3G is providing a fast and economical alternative to cabled systems.
There are a number of technology-associated challenges to be overcome to establish a smart rail system. Biggest of them is consolidating different systems in place into a single synchronized data engine using big data technologies.
Some of these existing systems are mission critical, huge and have been running for decades. So, an ideal architecture should be a combination of DWH + big data platform + real time Internet of Things architecture.
The idea is to store each iota of information generated, whether it is a machine log, ticket transaction or rolling stock accounting or drilling down to find insights, which help to improve operations.
That was a simplified version of the task. In reality, a transformation project of this scale requires meticulous planning and years of experience to make it a success. There can be issues like incomplete data, format mismatch, execution speed, data validation, data compliance and many more. Thus, before commencing such a project it is a must for project sponsors to select the right blend of resources to build a project team, technology and process in order to avoid failure.
If successfully implemented, Smart Rail projects can drastically improve transportation. Here are a few examples:
- Improving customer experience: With smart use of sensors and camera's and intelligent feedback system, it can be figured out what the commuter likes and does not like. This will help to build future infrastructure
- Real time monitoring of the passenger coaches: With sensors, the environment inside the coach can be measured. This may help the authorities to offer a comfortable atmosphere by initiating timely repair, control or maintenance.
- Attention to inspection & analysis: In a huge railway network, to know which stretch of the track requires immediate attention or which coach might breakdown, depends on the manual inspection, thus causing errors and losses due to breakdown. An automated sensor-based analysis can help to prioritize the maintenance schedule and assist the railroad systems to become safer and efficient.
- Capacity planning: Consolidated ticket data / unavailability of data correlated with track and coach maintenance statistics can help railways plan profitable routes and optimization of resources. This will pave a new way for capacity planning.
- Security: Cameras in coaches may also act as a real-time security system, which helps track any mishap, fire or crime and help to initiate immediate action.
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