This week's rail highlights: Network Rail's data-driven maintenance, Sam Bemment’s aviation-to-rail shift & All things sustainability & infrastructure
Global Railway Review
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Welcome to this week's Global Railway Review newsletter where we highlight the latest buzz in rail. From our exclusive articles exploring the transformative career journeys of key industry figures to our podcast episode delving into data-driven maintenance innovations with Network Rail, dive into exclusive insights and more below!
?? Latest podcast episode: Listen now! The Right Track Podcast Series - Episode 7- Data & AI
For July’s episode of The Right Track, Editor Elizabeth Jordan spoke to Martin Mason, Senior Programme Manager at Network Rail, Route Services Intelligent Infrastructure and Kelley Quirk, Programme Manager, Intelligent Infrastructure at Network Rail about the latest asset management and maintenance software they have created: insight.
Network Rail’s insight programme uses the latest data to allow engineers working on the front lines of their track maintenance and asset management to zero-in on specific areas that may need attention and highlight issues that might develop over time.
“In rail we often say we’re data rich intelligence poor. So the concept behind it was how can we leverage that data to improve business processes, but more importantly use it in a predictive capability.”
?? From aeronautics to railways: Leading innovation in the railway industry
Sam Bemment, Technical and Innovation Manager at the Railway Industry Association, sat down with Global Railway Review’s Emily Budgen to discuss the evolution of railway technology, importance of industry innovation and how his diverse career path has shaped his vision for the future of integrated transport systems.
What was your route into rail?
I graduated in aeronautical engineering in 2009 during the big recession. Lots of people were getting made redundant from aero; I had always liked planes, but there were few jobs at the time and with the redundancies there were thousands of better qualified and more experienced engineers than me already on the job market.
So, right then and there in that summer I was forced to choose a new career. I did a bit of shopping around, saw the Network Rail graduate schemes, saw the projects in which you could get involved: big civils, complex problems, something where you can make a difference to people’s day-to-day lives, and career opportunities all around the world. I thought “yeah, I’ll go for that.” I applied, got accepted, and that was it.
My first day on the railway, Iain Coucher, who was Chief Exec of Network Rail at the time, came along to welcome our grad intake. He asked what degrees we’d all completed and out of sixty engineers, I was the only one from aero. He smiled at me in a friendly but curious ‘why are you here?’ way. The rest of the room stared at me, I blushed, and it was at that point I realised I might have some work to do to fit in!
You are one of the Technical and Innovation Managers at the Railway Industry Association (RIA). What does that role involve?
I find it’s a really interesting role working for an industry association. I’ve got to have a reasonable understanding of everything to do with the railway – timetables, tickets, seat foam, cascading, pigeons, drainage, wheel rail interface, procurement regulations, autotransformers, – you name it! However, I don’t necessarily need to be an expert in any one thing, unless we need to focus efforts on a topic of prime importance to current affairs. At that point, I need to become an expert, and fast! Fortunately, I have a fantastic resource available to me- almost the entire supply chain. To bring that resource to bear, what I do need to know is who is working on what, or who is the subject matter expert, to whom I can refer a problem if something pops up.
I help run a lot of events – that’s the part of RIA which the public generally sees. However, behind the scenes to run those events, we need to know what’s going on in the industry. We need to know what is relevant to the people, client side and supply side, to deliver a programme that is of value to our members and wider industry.
The role means I have to stay abreast of current events, which involves researching changes to policy, and that leads me to writing and getting involved with a lot of technical and policy papers for RIA. This doesn’t mean I just sit in a room writing what I think; RIA represents over 360 different organisations in the supply chain.
Do you think the industry is ready for mag-stripe zero?
I think the question is bigger and more complex than that. It’s about accessibility. “Do we want a railway that is accessible to all?” Absolutely yes. Not only does the research say so, but it’s also clearly the right thing to do.
It doesn’t matter what the ticketing technology is, but it must be inclusive to all. There needs to be a way for somebody who can’t use a smartphone, doesn’t want to, or prefers not to, for whatever reason, to be able to get a ticket, and at the same price and convenience as everyone else. We’ve standardised around mag-stripe, it’s everywhere, so it makes sense to continue using it just now. An equivalent way of having accessible ticketing for all may be printing QR codes, but remember, not all barriers are fitted with readers yet. So purely on those grounds, I think mag-stripe will be around for a little while longer. Equally, I don’t think it really holds anything back.
???Latest articles: Dive into our Editor’s picks
The importance of future-proofing asset management
We caught up with Marco Corradini from SBB at the Rail Infrastructure Asset Management Summit 2024, in London earlier this year to get his thoughts on the most important parts of infrastructure asset management.
This summit is very interesting, we’ve had the opportunity to see how infrastructure managers proof their assets, the strategies that they are improving and what suppliers are offering on the market. It’s also interesting looking into the trends that are becoming a reality in our railway’s infrastructure in the next few years.
The one big challenge seems to be that technology goes very, very fast, but the rules and regulation and the coordination between countries goes very, very slowly. So, we have to manage this big difference.”
How are safety, reliability and deficiency connected and what does it mean for managing rail assets?
Those three parameters are very important: safety is a position first for every transport system; reliability is also key because our customers need to be able to trust the transport systems available to them, for them to want to keep using it. Efficiency is the foundation for availability because if you have an efficient system then that means that the trains, the vehicles, if we spoke of a full transport system, can go in the right way and we don’t have delays.
We have to manage these three parameters because they are all connected. If you want to have an efficient network, you need new projects and effective maintenance. If you need to do these works, you have to touch the operation and then the reliability. Safety is a constant consideration because the system needs to be safe for the customer and for the maintenance worker.
Every day we are confronted with this situation and it’s a typical challenge that we’ve faced since the birth of the rail industry, and one that I believe we’ll always have. This is why I think that the new technology is a very important point because we can reduce some difficulties and we can improve some services. These considerations are both for the railway vehicles and for the infrastructure.
What’s your top strategy to achieve a cohesive round network?
There are some external and internal topics: If we mention the external points, as you know, the infrastructure managers are, in most of or in all the cases, public. You must receive from your governance clear inputs of what you have to do, and these inputs are needed especially in a long?term vision, because you have to plan, to design, to realise and to operate. And if your plans are stable and with very long vision, then you can realise a very good transport system.
HüBNER Group sets benchmarks for sustainability with signature gangway refurbishment
In this interview, Manuel Kurzrock, Regional Sales Manager for After Sales & Service at the HüBNER Group, explains how the company substantially reduces waste in refurbishment projects and what role sustainability plays for the company.
Mr Kurzrock, how does the HüBNER Group contribute to the mobility sector?
The HüBNER Group is a global system supplier for the mobility sector with the business divisions Mobility Rail, Mobility Road, Material Solutions and Photonics. We are the worldwide leader in gangway systems for rail vehicles and buses as well as a supplier of chassis technology, cockpit display solutions and door sealing and safety profiles.
What does the rail industry need to know about the running refurbishment projects?
Our signature approach to gangway refurbishment is to replace only what needs replacing and to avoid waste wherever possible. We are currently doing the same for a major Italian customer in the technically challenging refurbishment of UIC-561 gangways. We offer this very sustainable service to our customers not only for our own gangways, but also for those of our competitors. Our company is present in over 30 locations in 17 countries around the world to provide our customers with tailor-made services and products. Our local production and global network enable short delivery routes and thus contribute to an improved carbon footprint.
Why is refurbishing better than buying new?
Refurbishing gangway systems after around 15 years of operation is the better alternative. This is because buying a new system is neither cost effective for the operator nor environmentally friendly. We are primarily concerned with minimising the waste products that have to be disposed of at great expense. With HüBNER at their side, customers can be sure that our experts will choose the most cost-effective and sustainable option, even for technically demanding refurbishments. We say: Keep what’s good before you create unnecessary waste!
How important is sustainability to HüBNER?
We set high sustainability standards throughout the entire product cycle. From development and production to maintenance, we aim to use as few resources as possible and work in an energy-efficient way. Our high level of vertical integration ensures that our products are as sustainable as possible: we manufacture key materials such as rubber, silicone and fabrics ourselves. We extend the life of our products and conserve valuable resources through our after-sales service and refurbishment concepts. We promote sustainable mobility through future-proof eco-design and a growing portfolio of products and services for energy-efficient operation.
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