For the first time in the UK, Blockchain will now be used to improve rail possession planning thanks to a recent partnership between infrastructure consultancy Amey and technology company Finboot. Amey will pioneer the new technology alongside Transport for Wales on its transformation of the Core Valley Lines rail network.
Blockchain, an immutable ledger that digitally records transactions, will be used to agree access times when engineers can safely access rail tracks for maintenance, renewals and enhancements.
Blockchain’s ability to record decisions securely and independently provides a marked improvement on traditional planning systems, which can be open to duplication and inconsistency. While improving accountability and security, Blockchain will also lead to greater automation of possession planning, thereby reducing costs as well as improving planning and operational efficiencies while also enhancing safety.
Amey Consulting partner Tom Kinnear said: “Safe, effective, and predictable possession planning is essential in keeping our engineers safe and our rail network running.
“Through partnering with Finboot, we will provide the rail industry a UK first, in using Blockchain to radically improve this process.
“Opening the rail industry to new technologies from other industries is essential if we are to innovate, and build a forward thinking, digital-first railway we can all be proud of.”
Juan Miguel Perez, CEO and co-founder of Finboot, commented: “At Finboot, we’ve been thinking about how blockchain can provide a digital solution for the complex requirements of railway maintenance.
“To have this opportunity to explore and develop this with Amey, a leader in the railway industry, is great. Blockchain is a key piece of industrial tech that will bring added transparency and real-time visibility to such an important process within the rail sector.”
This announcement follows a Railway Industry Association (RIA) report, launched in March 2023, that outlined the challenges and opportunities facing the rail industry on data and digital technologies. Among its recommendations was the need for the industry “to open itself up to different ideas from new and experienced innovators in its own and other industries”.
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