Innovative Monitoring System Revolutionizes Dutch Rail Fleet Inspection

The company Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), together with partners, has launched a large-scale project to introduce innovations in the inspection of the Dutch railway fleet, as reported by the railway news portal Railway Supply.

The main goal of the project is to enhance the safety and efficiency of railway transport using modern digital technologies.

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In partnership with CAF Digital Services, Camlin Rail, and Arcadis, NS aims to create a unique national system for rolling stock monitoring and inspection.

CAF was selected as the lead project partner back in 2021. The company offered its advanced LeadMind platform, which has already proven its effectiveness in other countries.

In turn, Camlin Rail provided the TrainVue system for monitoring critical rolling stock components.

These systems allow for the capture of 2D and 3D images of key train components, such as pantographs and bogies, aiding in regular maintenance and repairs with minimal time and resource expenditure.

The project will be deployed at 10 key points in the NS network, creating a comprehensive and highly efficient monitoring system.

Additionally, Arcadis is participating in the project, having developed a digital infrastructure model using Building Information Modeling (BIM) technologies.

This further enhances the system’s capabilities by integrating railway infrastructure data into the train maintenance process.

An important milestone in the project was the successful pilot phase, during which two TrainVue systems were tested.

This project demonstrated the high efficiency of the proposed solutions and enabled their national rollout.

One of the key achievements of the project is that NS became the first operator in Europe to install innovative monitoring systems on infrastructure owned by ProRail, the national railway manager.

This collaboration lays the groundwork for the further development of safety and monitoring technologies not only in the Netherlands but across Europe.

It is expected that the project will reduce the number of manual inspections, which previously required stopping trains every 48 hours.

Now inspections will be conducted during the day, while maintenance will take place at night, significantly optimizing the rolling stock operation process.

Photo: Camlin Rail – Camlin Rail’s TrainVue in-service inspection system installed for Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) at the Hekendorp site, the Netherlands.

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