Hitachi Rail is the first transportation company in the world to adopt Nvidia’s IGX Thor solution for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in real-time.

The technology, which provides up to eight times faster AI computing and twice the connectivity, will be implemented through Hitachi Rail’s Hyper Mobility Asset Expert (HMAX) digital asset management platform. The link-up with NVIDIA complements Hitachi’s harnessing of the power of AI with its Lumada 3.0 solutions.

Hitachi will utilise Nvidia’s IGX Thor platform for real-time edge AI processing in mission-critical applications essential to the operation of trains, signalling, and infrastructure. Very large volumes of data can be processed in real time on the trains or the infrastructure, a process that would previously have taken up to 10 days at Hitachi Rail’s maintenance locations.

AI-based algorithms will ensure only relevant information is sent back to operational control centres, and provide unprecedented improvement in the speed at which actionable events are highlighted.

Hitachi Rail launched IGX Thor in September 2024 as part of a broader programme to apply AI and data technologies to the transport sector. In September this year, the company opened a $100m digital factory near Washington D.C. that would take advantage of Hitachi Group’s expertise and deployment of physical-world AI in the construction of metro trains for North America.

Hitachi Rail is implementing HMAX digital asset management on the Copenhagen Metro in Denmark to optimise services and cut maintenance costs. It will feed real-time data from the tracks and trains into an infrastructure monitoring platform using sensors for a vibration monitoring system that produces data on the performance of vehicle subsystems, bogies and wheelsets, and the condition of the tracks.

In the UK, Network Rail is using Artificial Intelligence software to help it locate forgotten scrap materials from the side of railway lines, whilst Northern’s website features a new AI-assisted chatbot that enables customers to contact a member of Northern’s Customer Experience Centre.

“AI and data are transforming railways. By adopting NVIDIA IGX Thor, we are bringing the world’s most powerful industrial-grade, real-time AI performance directly to the edge, enabling operators to better optimise their railways and infrastructure. This capability will strengthen reliability, efficiency and optimisation for passengers and operators alike.”

Giuseppe Marino, Group CEO of Hitachi Rail