GB Railfreight (GBRf), working in partnership with 21st Century, part of Journeo plc, has upgraded its entire fleet of almost 100 Class 66 locomotives with new Forward-Facing CCTV (FFCCTV) systems and connection to the Journeo Portal.
Providing real-time access to train location, status information and condition monitoring data, the cloud-based Journeo Portal provides new levels of situational awareness to GBRf.
Without leaving the Portal, the control room team has immediate access to live video footage and can remotely download data and securely share any information with stakeholders, such as Network Rail and British Transport Police. This removes the need to visit locomotives to collect footage, with data now available in minutes, and eliminates the difficulties of sharing information using emails and external media.
The solution also provides several other benefits, which have enabled GBRf to continue to meet its goal of providing high satisfaction levels and a reliability level of 99% for customers.
During the pandemic, GBRf has used the FFCCTV solution to ensure drivers can operate from separate cabs, socially distanced from one another, decreasing the risk to drivers and disruption to services. Since the Journeo FFCCTV also captures scenes in high definition, the data can be used for event investigation, evidence collection and driver training. Images can also be used to analyse infrastructure for faults and manage vegetation issues.
Ian Langton, Production Director at GB Railfreight commented:
“The safety of our colleagues and performance of our services is of paramount importance, and this technology is an incredibly useful tool. It gives the teams in our control room immediate access to train locations and critical data. We can also analyse incidents and near misses more quickly and more easily, providing stakeholders with evidence of criminal activity or infrastructure risks. All of which helps us build a better rail network.”
Geoff Pulford, Rail Solutions Specialist at 21st Century, added:
“GBRf is one of the UK’s most advanced freight operating companies and we’ve a long-standing partnership with them. The FFCCTV combined with the Journeo Portal’s Transit module brings new levels of operational insight and safety and opens further avenues for innovation. Not only does it enable us to provide remote condition monitoring of FFCCTV equipment and other onboard sensors, but it also facilitates potential future developments like AI-driven analysis of the track, wayside and network infrastructure.”