In the ever-evolving railway industry, ensuring the safety, efficiency and reliability of operations is essential. Traditional manual inspections come with limitations such as high costs, increased risk to maintenance staff and operational downtime. At Camlin Rail, our solutions enable in-service inspection of railway assets, giving network operators and infrastructure owners the opportunity to alleviate depot capacity constraints and reduce workload for maintenance teams.

"The railway industry is embracing the opportunities of digital transformation to realise safer, more cost-effective operations, and deliver greater returns from its fleet investments. By adopting in-service inspection maintenance methods, operators can maximise fleet availability, ultimately delivering better service and reliability to passengers." Paul Fleming, Managing Director

The Challenges

In-service inspection offers a range of benefits over manual methods. It increases the safety of maintenance staff by reducing the need for physical inspections in potentially dangerous environments. Additionally, it significantly cuts costs by minimising the need for frequent depot visits and manual labour. This approach also ensures continuous monitoring, allowing for real-time data collection and analysis, which leads to more informed decision-making and improved compliance with regulatory standards.

• Safety Risks: Maintenance staff often have to work in hazardous environments, such as on tracks or under trains, which increases the risk of accidents and injuries.
• High Costs: Manual inspections require significant labour and time, leading to higher operational costs. Frequent depot visits and the need for specialized equipment can further increase expenses.
• Operational Downtime: To perform manual inspections, trains often need to be taken out of service, causing disruptions and reducing the overall efficiency of the railway network.
• Accuracy: Manual inspections are prone to human error, which can result in missed defects or inaccurate assessments, potentially affecting safety and reliability.
• Inconsistent Data: The quality and consistency of data collected during manual inspections can vary, making it difficult to maintain accurate records and track asset conditions over time.
• Regulatory Compliance: Ensuring compliance with regulatory standards can be challenging with manual inspections, as they may not always provide the detailed and precise data required.

Our Solutions

TrainVue is our suite of Fleet & Infrastructure Monitoring solutions, allowing our partners to analyse asset condition, all whilst the trains are in-service. Using stereoscopic cameras, high-resolution images are captured to create 3D models revealing asset condition on trains travelling at speeds of up to 300 kmh. The asset conditions are analysed against set parameters, and maintenance teams are then notified to take action. TrainVue eliminates the need for manual inspections and allows for real-time assessment, enabling train operators to transition from time-based to condition-based maintenance strategies.

"Our TrainVue products, alongside our software solutions, are Empowering Smart Maintenance by providing our partners with a snapshot of fleet health in seconds. Our technology can be configured to set up notifications and alarms, so that maintenance can be carried out based on condition. This condition-based maintenance approach reduces the need for manual inspections, improving operational availability and safety issues for staff." Philip Heaney, Technical Director