8 June 2015
RSSB seek answers to the Rail Operator Challenge
In response to the Future Railway programme’s Rail Operator Competition Challenge (ROCC)
funding worth up to £3.5million has been awarded to eight companies.
The competition, launched in 2014, is aimed to helping Rail Operators become more familiar
with innovation processes to make a positive difference to their business. The innovation
proposals cover a wide range of operational challenges each with the potential to deliver
considerable benefits to the railway system.
Five projects are currently underway with leading train operator companies. Contract
negotiations are being finalised with the remaining three proposals. The live projects include:

Embed Ltd with Southern Rail - The application of automotive electronic principles and
systems to rolling stock to achieve improved operational performance.

First Rail Holdings Ltd with First Group – Developing a real time driver assistance
system.

GOBOTix Ltd with Chiltern Railways – Automated train maintenance inspection and
anomaly detection using machine vision.

MRX Technologies with Arriva Trains UK – Improved inspection of wheel damage using
magnetic flux leakage.

Vortex Exhaust Technology Ltd with Northern Rail – Rail diesel carbon efficiency
exhaust, also known as RADICE.
David Clarke, RSSB’s Director of Innovation, commented: “Innovation has a big role to play in
delivering a step change in the operation of Britain’s railways. The winning innovation proposals
have been selected for this competition due to their novelty, potential to deliver tangible
operational benefits and support from the train operating community.”
The Rail Operator Competition Challenge is one of a series of competitions from RSSB and the
Future Railway programme. Further information on the Rail Operator Competition Challenge can
be found via www.futurerailway.org/competitions
-EndsFor further information, please contact Emma Martin, Media Relations Manager via
emma.martin@rssb.co.uk or 020 3142 5653. Alternatively, contact RSSB’s main press office line
via pressoffice@rssb.co.uk or 020 3142 5400.
Notes to Editors:
About RSSB
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Rail Safety and Standards Board Limited
Registered office:
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www.rssb.co.uk
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Reg No. 04655675
The railway is a complex system with multiple interfaces delivered by many different
organisations. At RSSB, we bring these different organisations together to make collective
decisions.
Through research, the understanding of risk, and analysis, we help the rail industry in the areas
of safety, standards, knowledge and innovation. We support the railway too across a wide range
of cross-industry topics requiring our knowledge and independence. And we provide a constant
point of reference in a changing environment.
Our work involves close collaboration, but as technical experts, we’re also able to step back and
provide an informed view. And because we can see both the big picture and the detail, we’re
able to furnish the industry with the information and tools it needs to continuously improve.
We’re an expert body with a wide compass of knowledge, skills and experience. We’re owned
by the industry but are non-profit-making and independent of any commercial interests. We
span the whole system, including in our membership infrastructure companies, train and freight
operators, rolling stock owners and suppliers to the industry.
Our activities involve:
• Understanding risk – Using safety intelligence from across the rail industry and elsewhere
with the latest risk modelling to inform members and support safe decision making.
• Guiding standards – Creating, reviewing and simplifying GB standards to align with European
requirements; managing the Rule Book and making it easier for the railway to deliver
efficiently and safely.
• Managing research, development and innovation – Undertaking, commissioning and
managing research and innovation programmes to address current needs, provide knowledge
for decision making now and for the future, and promoting step changes to deliver the Rail
Technical Strategy – including the Future Railway programme.
• Collaborating to improve – As an independent cross-industry body with a critical mass of
technical expertise, supporting activities which require collaboration. These range from
supplier assurance schemes (RISQS, RISAS) to confidential reporting (CIRAS), from health and
wellbeing strategies to sustainability principles.
We are run by the industry, for the industry, with member companies from across the mainline
system. The demand for our services comes from the industry itself, and from the involvement
of cross-industry groups. Website: www.rssb.co.uk Twitter: @RSSB_rail
About the Future Railway programme
The Future Railway programme was established to support innovation in the delivery of the Rail
Technical Strategy (RTS). It has cross industry support through the Technical Strategy Leadership
Group, run by RSSB. It promotes innovation by supporting cross-industry demonstrator projects
and seeking out innovative ideas and proposals from across the industry. The approach is to:
T: +44 (0)20 3142 5300
Rail Safety and Standards Board Limited
Registered office:
F: +44 (0)20 3142 5663
The Helicon, 1 South Place
The Helicon, 1 South Place
www.rssb.co.uk
London EC2M 2RB
London EC2M 2RB
Reg No. 04655675
understand the challenges that industry faces; connect potential innovators with these
challenges; and, where necessary with potential funding.
About the ROCC finalists:
Embed Ltd with Southern Rail:
Application of automotive electronic principles and systems to rolling stock to achieve improved
operational performance
Modern electronic systems are often employed by train operating companies on board trains to
improve the operational performance of the railway (e.g. driving advisory systems, event
recording, etc.) and/or improve customer experience (e.g. passenger information system, ontrain Wi-Fi, infotainment). Railway systems: (i) generally work in isolation; (ii) are not
reconfigurable; (iii) have duplicated functionality; (iv) are expensive; (v) have a large footprint
and (vi) are generally incompatible with one another.
The aim of this project is to expand the present automotive approach to electronic subsystem
design by developing a new architecture and low cost multi-function processing node controllers
(PNCs) that can be retrofitted to (or built-in to) trains to provide a range of functionalities that
have a positive impact on the 4Cs.
First Rail Holdings Ltd:
A real time driver assistance system - “Geo-DAS”. This project will develop a system that is
capable of providing optimised driving advice, by knowing which track the train is operating on,
the exact route over which it will be signalled and ultimately (in a future development of the
concept) the movement authority granted; all in real time. This would be achieved by integrating
functionality from existing Driver Advisory Systems, a planned development of a Driver Support
System (which will hold traditional Route Knowledge information) and a trial installation of a
Traffic Management System. This offers the potential for drivers to be able to operate trains in
an optimal manner over routes where they do not have traditional “Route Knowledge”,
removing many of the current diagramming constraints driven by the need to retain Route
Knowledge and also greatly increase operational flexibility in the use of diversionary routes as a
result of planned engineering activities and unplanned line blockages.
The flexibility offered by this project extends far beyond the easing of train crew diagramming
constraints, enabling an approach to employment that is far better suited to meeting the
personal needs of the individuals that safely and effectively move our trains around 365 days a
year.
GOBOTix Ltd with Chiltern Railways
Automated train maintenance inspection and anomaly detection using machine vision.
Continuous inspection and maintenance of trains is expensive. Even with regular checks it is
difficult to detect equipment that is faulty, beginning to fail or dislodged. However, this is costly
and increases down time for trains. This project proposes an automated inspection system which
monitors the underside of trains looking for general anomalies and faults. There exists
automated inspection systems for brake pad wear and bearing wear, but this proposes a more
general system. Using a combination of cameras, non-visible wavelength light and computer
T: +44 (0)20 3142 5300
Rail Safety and Standards Board Limited
Registered office:
F: +44 (0)20 3142 5663
The Helicon, 1 South Place
The Helicon, 1 South Place
www.rssb.co.uk
London EC2M 2RB
London EC2M 2RB
Reg No. 04655675
vision algorithms, anomalies which could indicate failing components are detected and
reported. A train might pass the inspection area many times per day, allowing the system to
provide a history of how the trains underside changes due to environmental conditions, and also
highlights when components appear to be producing unusual heat. The system can also monitor
for dislodged/damaged equipment and leaks. The proposed system will help eliminate costly
recovery of failed trains, increase equipment service life, reduce routine maintenance
inspections, reduce resource requirements, and consequently prevent expense delays to
passengers. As such saving the rail industry vast sums of money, improving customer service and
improving safety.
MRX Technologies with Arriva Trains UK:
Improved inspection of wheel damage using magnetic flux leakage. During this project, MRX
Technologies will deliver a portable, real time device to quantify surface and near surface
damage on rail wheels. It is envisaged that this device will be used by wheel maintainers,
inspectors and wheel lathe operators for spot checking and long term data trending. As a result
of the project, the device will be tailored for industrial use and validated using in-service
wheelsets. This will be achieved with the support of Bombardier Transport, Arriva Trains UK and
the Institute of Railway Research (IRR), University of Huddersfield (UoH):. The project will
demonstrate the associated industry benefits including the potential increase in wheelset life
and reduction in inspection times. The project will also investigate the value of data trending for
wheel maintenance planning.
Vortex Exhaust Technology Ltd with Northern Rail:
Rail diesel carbon efficiency exhaust, also known as RADICE. Vortex Exhaust Technology Ltd is a
developer of highly efficient exhaust systems which work on any 4 stroke engine powered by
any combustible fuel. The vortex exhaust systems work by reducing backpressure which is
achieved by channelling exhaust gas through an expanding funnel onto a domed diffusor plate
and rifling the gas in a cylindrical chamber with a core and swirl tubes. The power and torque
gains are measurable and data obtained in line with experience in use on other 4-stroke diesel
engine applications will show a better than 10% improvement in both. Diesel particulate
quantity expelled from the exhaust system when using vortex exhausts is cut by a magnitude
because diesel gets combusted better as gas is aspirated out of the engine on the exhaust stroke
by the powerful vortex that has been made in front of the vortex diffuser, dropping backpressure
in that process. Developed for diesel trains these systems would save tons of diesel fuel and
reduce pollution including diesel droplets which are harmful to human health. The vortex
exhaust systems’ vortex components are powerful enough to still work with diesel particulate
filters if future legislation requires radical reduction of harmful emissions as is the case already
in road transport.
T: +44 (0)20 3142 5300
Rail Safety and Standards Board Limited
Registered office:
F: +44 (0)20 3142 5663
The Helicon, 1 South Place
The Helicon, 1 South Place
www.rssb.co.uk
London EC2M 2RB
London EC2M 2RB
Reg No. 04655675