East Coast train companies trial hazard and safety monitoring system

Network Rail previously estimated that vegetation-related incidents cost up to £3m annually in the Southern region alone. With this, the companies said that monitoring areas in real-time could enhance safety, helping detect potential hazards like overhanging or invasive tree species, leaves on the track, or embankment subsidence that could cause harm or delays.

The new forward-facing CCTV camera (FFCCTV) has been installed inside the driver’s cabin of a LNER Azuma train for a 12-month trial, which started in May.

The solution uses the latest in artificial intelligence (AI) camera sensor technology, the partners said, which will automate the detection of potential hazards and pinpoint where maintenance is necessary, enabling a ‘proactive’ approach to infrastructure maintenance.

Equally, the trial will provide insights and guidance to optimise when and where maintenance is needed on the East Coast Main Line.

Hitachi Rail is helping to convene the pilot project, using its digital supplier CrossTech. Hitachi said that the FFCCTV monitoring solution was developed by combining CrossTech technology with its digital expertise to assist with integration, operations and customer interface.

FFCCTV is the latest development in a wider suite of Hitachi digital asset monitoring solutions which can live-monitor tracks, overhead lines and the train itself.

According to Hitachi, these digital solutions, working either independently or in combination, allow for automated and more accurate monitoring to help modernise the railways.

In a statement, Johanna Priestley, route engineer at Network Rail, said: “Vegetation is the only living asset on the railway network and as such understanding the potential risk to trains is ever changing. Using forward facing footage allows us to ‘see’ from the driver’s perspective.

“We can use this technology to understand where vegetation is encroaching on the operational railway and at risk of making contact with either trains or fixed infrastructure such as overhead electrified wires. We can also identify where vegetation growth has compromised the driver’s view such as on the approach to signals or level crossings. This initiative will allow us to make passengers’ journeys more reliable and help minimise the risk of disruption on the network.”