IMAGEMAP is supplying Network Rail with 15 optical track geometry measurement systems to be mounted on the bogies of trains running in commercial service.
The order follows a successful pilot scheme using a system fitted to a Chiltern Railways diesel multiple-unit. This has been measuring the track geometry between London Marylebone and Birmingham Snow Hill three or four times a day.
In the pilot system, the data is uploaded by radio from the train to a receiver at Marylebone station, from where it is transmitted it to Network Rail’s engineering centre in Derby. A copy is also sent to ImageMap’s headquarters in South Carolina.
Daily data collection ensures it is easy to detect the development of trends and track faults, according to Imagemap President Roger H Tracy, and he notes that there have been ’no slow-running orders on Chiltern Railways for months’ related to track geometry. Once a fault has been fixed, data collected on the following day verifies the effectiveness of the repair.
Tracy says that the equipment typically costs £350000 per train. The extra sets are being fitted to GNER, Virgin CrossCountry, First Great Western and Eurostar trains.
ImageMap, USA
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