Research short
More mileage from existing data: optimising freight
Jasmin CollierEditorial Content Manager, RSSB
As we outline in our 2024–2029 Strategic Business Plan, ‘exploiting the value of data’ is an important goal for industry. Freight safety will also continue to be a priority, together with supporting the government’s target to increase freight business by 75% by 2050.
This is why we’ve looked at ways to extract additional insights from existing monitoring systems. Using Network Rail’s existing Wheel Impact Load Detector (WILD) data feeds, it’s possible to detect freight vehicle defects early. This proactive approach will inform maintenance interventions, reduce costs, and improve safety.
Network Rail operates several trackside monitoring systems, including WILD. This system assesses wheel loads from traffic. However, this data could also highlight wagons with defects that might affect derailment risk. This expansion of WILD’s capability will have little extra cost to industry.
We have an ongoing trial under way with the University of Huddersfield and the freight community. We’re sending monthly reports built from WILD data to several freight partners to help them identify defective wagons. Those freight operators are reviewing the data quality and feeding back the results from their review. We’ll use this to improve reporting and build confidence in the approach.
Generating this additional insight from existing data can help the sector work together to drive efficiencies and keep the railway operating safely.
This is a valuable project. We are keen to play an active role in ensuring that this work is a success and helps us all make the railways safer.
We want to extend the scope of this trial. If you’d like to join the existing partners in receiving these data reports for your fleet, let us know.
Get in touch
research short
group or committee of the month
RSSB board member interview.