Network Rail has given a contract to a group led by Thales Ground Transportation Systems Ltd to roll out a pilot using Fibre Optic Acoustic Sensing (FOAS) technology to provide information that will lead to future improvements on the railway.

The FOAS technology will complement the data fusion to offer enhanced ‘listening’ capacity of the optical fibres.

Britain’s railways already have around 20,000km of optical fibres running alongside tracks and will allow the technology to effectively provide a virtual microphone every few metres. The ability to use enhanced remote monitoring of the condition of assets could give excellent data which will lead to improvements in train performance with a positive impact of reduced disruption for passengers.

A Design Contest was launched in November 2020 and was led by Network Rail in collaboration with ProRail who is a Dutch rail infrastructure operator. The competition challenged more than 40 supply companies of differing sizes to create proposals for a 12 month funded outcome-focused pilot of FOAS, IoT sensors, CCTV Cameras combined using intelligent data fusion and processing. Four areas of operational challenges on the railway needed to be addressed by the companies, which were train movement and position reporting, rail and wheel defects, level crossing safety management and the detection of trespass and people on the trackside.

Thales’ trial work was the successful bid and represents an efficient take on the challenges using innovation and the existing infrastructure to bring about new potential without the need for extra installation expense. Thales’ worked with a consortium of small and medium enterprises to create the different elements of the technology and the pilot will be undertaken at Network rails RIDC Melton test track and also on the mainline from Melton Mowbray to Leicester beginning in Autumn 2021. 

It is thought that the data will provide important information into the Rail Data Marketplace (RDM) which has been recently revealed by the Government and will create a platform to share data throughout the industry which will see a move towards a future data-driven railway. The RDM is anticipated to generate new collaboration opportunities for developers, tech companies and the rail industry.

Over £350m is expected to be invested by Network Rail Research and Development portfolio into research, development and innovation over a five-year period up to March 2024 in a bid to push boundaries in improvements, efficiency and safety through new technology in the rail industry.

Network Rail and ProRail have agreed to work together on research and development, and the Design Contest was part of this work. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by both companies during March 2019 which laid out their commitment to work closely sharing expertise to resolve challenges encountered by the railway.

Network Rail also plans to lessen barriers to innovation by becoming easier for partners to work alongside. The Government also announced £5m funding in July 2021, which will set the development of the Rail Data Marketplace in motion with the platform expected to arrive during 2022.

Huw Evans, Network Rail’s R&D portfolio programme manager, said: “This is a brilliant example of collaboration between Network Rail and ProRail to research and develop solutions to problems that are common to us both, and we look forward to working closely with the Thales-led consortium. RIDC Melton and the adjacent main line provide the perfect operational scenarios for us to safely and expertly test the technology and fully evaluate its potential.”

Karel van Gils, Director Innovation & New Technology from ProRail, said: “The collaboration between Network Rail and ProRail is already a success and will be continued in the joint development of algorithms for the various applications in the ProRail Datalab and collaboration with Thales.”

David Palmer, VP Main Line Rail, Thales in the UK, said: “Thales are excited to be working with Network Rail and our partners on the research, development and trialling of Fibre Optic Acoustic Sensing technology. The potential applications of this technology are vast, with this specific project covering a number of elements relating to performance and safety, from train movement to level-crossing safety management. The key objective is to allow Network Rail to evaluate how this technology can benefit their customers.”

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