NORTH AMERICA: The industry-wide RailPulse coalition has launched the open platform for telematics data which it has developed to provide near real-time insights for North American wagon owners, operators and freight shippers.
The platform uses GPS and other technologies to monitor the location, condition and health of wagons, accommodating a variety of sensors including for location, movement, load, handbrake, door/hatch status and impacts.
Data is aggregated, enriched, securely stored and delivered to users through a web portal and APIs. Owners have access to all the data on their wagons, while approved data is securely shared with authorised users who can set up alerts, geofences and reports.
The launch is the culmination of two years of development and testing, backed by a Consolidated Rail Infrastructure & Safety Improvements grant from the US Federal Railroad Administration and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
The current RailPulse board members are Bunge, Canadian Pacific Kansas City, CSX, GATX, Genesee & Wyoming, Norfolk Southern, Railroad Development Corp, The Greenbrier Companies, TrinityRail, Union Pacific and Watco.
Stakeholders from across the industry can join, and there is a certification programme for telemetry vendors. Amsted Rail has already confirmed that it had been certified as an approved supplier, offering its sensor-free IQ Series wagon health monitoring tool; Nexxiot and ZTR are also certified.
RailPulse General Manager David Shannon said on September 3 ‘by creating a common, open and vendor-neutral railcar telematics ecosystem, we are enabling unprecedented access to real-time data and insights that will transform the rail customer experience, improve the overall performance of the rail network accelerating supply chains, and ultimately drive industry growth that fuels the national economy.’
