Rail operator to trial ground-breaking inspection software

East Midlands Railway has joined forces with a tech firm on a ground-breaking project which aims to improve the safety and efficiency of train inspections.

The DepotMATE project, which is being funded by the Department for Transport and Innovate UK’s First of a Kind scheme, is being delivered in partnership with One Big Circle, which develops intelligent video, AI, and machine learning for the rail industry.

The project will take advantage of One Big Circle’s Automated Intelligent Video Review (AIVR) cloud-based platform.

The project will utilise high-resolution line scanning, thermal imaging, standard video cameras and acoustic sensors to remotely assess a train’s condition as it enters and leaves the depot.

This new approach negates the need for a time-consuming and more dangerous trackside manual inspection and will be used to monitor EMR’s regional fleet of Class 170 and Class 158 trains.

Mark Coney, head of engineering at EMR, said: “We’re always looking at how we can embrace new technologies to improve our fleet for our customers, therefore we are proud to be a key partner in One Big Circle’s groundbreaking DepotMATE project.

“It will be great to see the project progressing and we are looking forward to analysing the results of the pilot to understand if the technology could be adopted on a wider scale.”

Emily Kent, co-founder of One Big Circle, said: “One Big Circle is delighted to be working with East Midlands Railway in the delivery of the DepotMATE project.

“This project is a fantastic example of how the First of a Kind competition enables SMEs to accelerate initial concepts into cross-industry collaborations.

“Having partnered with EMR in the delivery of previous AIVR solutions, we are excited to be working together as we explore technologies to support digital depot monitoring.”