Leaders in rail safety technology, Tended and Dual Inventive, have announced a new partnership focused on bringing geofencing technology to the Netherlands to support the drive within the Dutch rail industry to improve safety and efficiency.
The Netherlands has a dense rail network accommodating a multitude of passenger and freight trains. The challenges of climate change and increasing staff shortages put growing pressure on the entire rail system, impacting track worker safety. ProRail (the Dutch equivalent of the UK’s Network Rail), faces the challenge of addressing these issues to ensure the safety of every individual working trackside.
Working together to address this in the Netherlands are Tended and Dual Inventive; two organisations committed to enhancing track worker safety through the implementation of innovative technologies. Working in partnership, they will deliver a first-of-its-kind system to the Dutch rail industry, allowing rail workers and on-track machine drivers to verify that they are operating in safe working areas. The importance of this was recently underlined by the Dutch safety standards organisation RailAlert, which issued a safety bulletin in the Netherlands following an increase in on-track machines located beyond possession limits possession without permission.
Dual Inventive specialises in technology solutions that make working on rail infrastructure safer and more efficient, maximising available rail capacity, and improving the reliability of rail infrastructure. The company has extensive international experience in enhancing the safety and efficiency of track worker sites on the railway with their European SIL 4 (Safety Integrity Level) cloud and technology solutions.
Perfectly aligned with Dual Inventive is Tended’s geofencing system, which has been developed to transform operational safety and efficiency by combining geospatial technology with behavioural science. Organisations can map out safe working zones within an online Dashboard and attach devices to assets including plant, machinery and protection equipment. This provides improved worksite visibility by displaying their live location, improving site safety and reducing the risk of incidents, such as working outside of limits, collisions and objects left on the line. Wearable devices can also be assigned to workers, which alerts them immediately if they leave safe working limits to help them regain situational awareness.
Tended and Dual Inventive will work together to deploy this proven safety system in the Netherlands; a technology that, up until now, has not been implemented by its rail industry. By introducing this first-of-its-kind innovation to the Netherlands, the two companies will support ProRail in enhancing the safety of its trackside teams. This is set to begin with a project in the Netherlands later this year in collaboration with the RailAlert Foundation.
Lex van der Poel, Chief Technology Officer, Dual Inventive said: "We are very pleased to work with Tended and take this next step towards providing safer railway working conditions. As an industry we must utilise all available technology to help with the challenges we face. Climate change requires much additional maintenance on the tracks, as we are already seeing across the world. Additionally, we have fewer track workers to do the job. Coupled with the expected growth in European rail traffic, we need to work not only better but also differently. Standing still is not an option for us."
Dominic O’Malley, Head of Partnerships at Tended said: “We are incredibly proud to be working with Dual Inventive to introduce geofencing technology to the Dutch railway system with a view to enhance the safety of trackside teams across the Netherlands. This is an exciting opportunity for us to expand internationally and accelerate the use of innovative technologies such as ours to help prevent accidents and fatalities on the railway across the world.”
Tended’s geofencing system is already widely used across the UK, with multiple Network Rail routes and principal contractors using the technology to improve worksite operations, including Siemens Mobility, AmcoGiffen, SPL Powerlines and Story Contracting.
