Location: Doncaster
Date: 25-26th October 2025
Client: Network Rail East Coast
Key outcomes:
- Time savings of approx. 45 mins from not needing to place and recover boards
- Removed the need for 12 phone calls (approx. 24 mins)
As part of its ongoing commitment to enhancing safety and operational efficiency across the eastern region, Network Rail East Coast conducted a trial of Tended’s Virtual Worksite Marker Board (VWSMB) solution with the maintenance team based at Doncaster DU. The trial took place on the East Coast Mainline at Doncaster across an eight-mile possession.
The worksite was taken by Permanent Way (P-Way) teams and managed by their Engineering Supervisor (ES). Involvement from Overhead Line (OHL) teams and their on-track plant (OTP) meant that collaboration across the two sections was required to enable the VWSMB deployment.
Instead of physical marker boards, virtual boundaries were set up for the teams operating within the worksite. OTP was equipped with geofencing devices which would alert if they crossed the worksite boundary.
To ensure a frictionless deployment, Tended prepared the teams the night before the trial, providing a live demonstration of the system to build familiarity and confidence. For the following shift, the use of VWSMB was covered in the briefing, ensuring full understanding and engagement from all involved.
Trial outcomes
By removing the need to place physical marker boards once the possession was granted, VWSMB enabled teams to begin their works much sooner. During the trial, the possession was granted early Sunday morning, and teams were able to be deployed on site within just two minutes as the VWSMB boundaries could be activated instantly at the click of a button. Typically, teams would have to wait while physical marker boards were placed at the worksite limits. This process can consume valuable possession time, particularly if boards are misplaced or teams become disorientated.
Once the VWSMB limits were set live, all devices automatically updated with the worksite boundaries, alerting machine operators and controllers if they crossed the boundary to support them with locational awareness.
Had physical marker boards been required, their placement would have taken approximately 10 minutes to place. By eliminating this step, the trial not only created additional productive time within the available possession window, but it also freed up limited Network Rail maintenance resources, allowing teams to focus on their core tasks rather than placing boards.
Additional benefits of the system included the enhanced visibility for the Engineering Supervisor (ES). Using the Dashboard’s live view, the ES could monitor the worksite and live OTP movements, confirming line access and reducing the risk of human error or confusion. In turn, this reduced the need for multiple phone calls between machine operators and the ES to confirm their positions and movements around the worksite. This helped save around 24 minutes by eliminating 12 phone calls (typically lasting two minutes each, reducing the ES’s workload and allowing them to focus on other responsibilities.
At the end of the shift, it took just eight minutes to take down the worksite once all staff were confirmed as clear of the line. If physical boards needed to be recovered, this would have taken an estimated 26 minutes.
In total, the use of VWSMBs is estimated to have saved approximately 45 minutes, significantly increasing the productive time available for this possession.
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Next steps
This trial with Network Rail East Coast successfully demonstrated the safety and efficiency benefits of VWSMBs and how it supports multiple roles within possessions. For upcoming works, VWSMBs has clear potential to deliver further value, such as:
- Freeing up resources including possession support staff who would typically place physical marker boards
- Providing enhanced visibility to the ES over multiple machines and vehicles operating on various lines
- Improving safety by removing the need to place physical marker boards within complex track layouts, reducing the risk of workers inadvertently crossing an open lines
- Allowing the ES to verify vehicle positions, removing the need for multiple phone calls.
For teams on the East Coast route, VWSMB can provide additional value as the new December timetable will shorten already limited access windows, so maximising available time on track will become increasingly valuable.
