USA: Siemens launched its RailFusion asset monitoring software at Railway Interchange 2015. Designed to remotely monitor and analyse data from a wide range of Siemens and third-party assets including level crossing equipment and end-of-train devices, the technology is currently being piloted in North America.

Siemens said RailFusion would provide rail operators with ‘unprecedented insight’, including predictive capabilities to help identify trends so that preventative maintenance can be undertaken before problems occur.

Using RailFusion, monitoring devices can communicate with each other to remotely determine the status and effectiveness of maintenance activities. Level crossing data can be used to identify malfunctions, with occupation data available to help the emergency services identify the quickest route when responding to an incident.

‘On any given railroad there are trillions of data points being created by train systems and devices along a line, but this data is simply not being put into action’, said John Paljug, head of Siemens Rail Automation. ‘RailFusion brings all of these disparate data points together in one system and puts intelligence behind them, allowing railroads to make more informed, efficient decisions about how to operate and maintain their systems specific to their needs.’