INTERNATIONAL: Hitachi Rail has agreed to acquire Balfour Beatty’s rail asset monitoring technology business Omnicom. Hitachi said this would form a ‘key strategic pillar’ of the Hyper Mobility Asset Expert platform launched at InnoTrans 2024.
Derby-based Omnicom provides hardware and software for surveying, inspecting and monitoring rail infrastructure assets. Its monitoring systems can be installed on trains, and it uses edge computing and machine learning to provide near real-time anomaly detection on tracks.
‘Plugging Omnicom’s pioneering track monitoring tools into our digital asset management platform will further strengthen our global offer to optimise customers’ rail services and the surrounding infrastructure’, Hitachi Rail CEO Giuseppe Marino said on January 17. ‘New technological solutions such as our HMAX platform demonstrate the power of AI to enhance the performance of our railway infrastructure and systems.’
Managing Director of Balfour Beatty’s UK Rail business Mick Rayner said ‘in order to capitalise on its unique technological solutions to the rail market, Omnicom requires an owner with a truly global reach and a complementary culture. Hitachi’s acquisition will further enable Omnicom to leverage its capabilities and apply its expertise in the rail and digital technology sectors in both the US and European markets.’
- Koji Agatsuma, Hitachi Rail’s Chief Technology Officer for Vehicles told Railway Gazette International more about the thinking behind HMAX when it was launched at InnoTrans.
