Edinburgh tech firm’s rail defect system aims to keep trains running smoothly
“Deploying people to fix things rather than find things is a much more efficient way of working” – Mark Chestney, Network Rail
An Edinburgh technology pioneer is targeting a global rail maintenance sector worth some £60 billion after securing a multi-million-pound contract with Network Rail.
Machines With Vision has landed the multi-year deal as the industry counts the cost of imprecise defect location data. It is estimated that the issue is costing the sector as much as £4.5bn a year worldwide through repeat visits and wasted crew time.
Beyond the significant financial cost, inaccurate defect location can create a serious safety risk, unnecessarily exposing rail workers to potentially hazardous trackside environments as they search for defects that have been identified but cannot be precisely located.
The Scottish firm has developed innovative technology that uses cameras fitted to the underside of inspection trains to build a highly accurate image-based geospatial map of any railway network, enabling higher levels of safety, efficiency and automation for railway infrastructure inspection and maintenance.
Machines With Vision chief executive and co-founder Anthony Ashbrook said: “Rail networks are complicated and dangerous environments and the safety of workers and the general public is paramount. Ensuring that track workers get to the right place first time minimises the risk of a missed defect, keeping trains running safely and efficiently while making maintenance work itself safer.”
The firm maps the track visually and navigates crews directly to faults with millimetre accuracy. Its contract win follows a successful pilot carried out with Network Rail over a two-year period.
Mark Chestney, infrastructure monitoring programme manager at Network Rail, said: “For every suspected defect, it would previously take on average an hour once you got on site to find it, now we’re talking five minutes. We have thousands of suspects every year, so that’s thousands of hours saved and thousands of hours of reduced exposure to slips, trips and falls.”
He added: “With emergency speed restrictions costing thousands of pounds a minute in certain locations, deploying people to fix things rather than find things is a much more efficient way of working.”
Machines With Vision’s leadership team combines railway expertise with extensive experience in technology and high-growth businesses. Ashbrook pioneered Mobile Visual Search, now used in apps including Amazon Shopping and Google Lens.
Chief technology officer Jon Owen played a key role in digitally mapping the UK rail network and developed the sector’s first visual inspection system.
Ashbrook added: “We have built a team that combines high-level technology and rail sector experience, and this combination positions us to become a key player as the market continues to evolve towards increasing automation. Many think of rail as an historic industry, when in truth it is set to become even more integral to economies, societies, and global sustainability going forward.”
News of the contract win comes as the company expands its work with other national railway infrastructure operators across Europe, North America and Australasia, while the firm has also embarked on its latest external investment round to support its continued international growth.
“We’re excited about our international expansion plans and expect to announce related contract wins in due course,” added Ashbrook.
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