Banedanmark, Denmark’s national rail operator, has selected Dutch engineer Fugro to carry out a four-year contract to create a "digital twin" of Denmark’s 3,000km railway system.
Fugro will use its "rail infrastructure alignment acquisition system" to measure track positions, track geometry and the wider rail corridor to an accuracy of a millimetre.
Fugro says the aim of the process it to ensure that Denmark’s rail system is efficient, safe and on time by gathering data on the track and any objects in the rail corridor by using train-borne "LIDAR" scans. LIDAR is a surveying method that measures the distance to a target by illuminating it with a laser and measuring the reflected light with a sensor.
Jeroen Huiskamp, Fugro’s global director of rail, said: "This is the first time Banedanmark has used train-borne LIDAR technology on large extents of the network and we are proud that they have chosen our solution. The operational flexibility, improved safety levels, highly accurate data and attractive costing set it apart from other survey methods."
Once information is gathered by Fugro, it will be collated into a single dataset that will then be used for track maintenance, asset management, landscaping and to assist the work of construction and signalling teams.
Charlotte Lomholt, Banedanmark’s project manager, said: "With 190 million passengers and 3,000 trains passing through Denmark, safety is a major driver. The data that Fugro delivers will enable our teams to supervise the structure gauge and improve infrastructure maintenance predictions. All in all, it will help create the railway of the future."
Data collection on the project will begin from autumn 2019, with a full capture starting in 2020.
Image: A RILA system can be installed on a train in less than two minutes (Fugro)
