Rail

Siemens

How Siemens used Tended’s geofencing system to enhance the safety and efficiency of its railway projects

Background

Siemens Mobility is a leading provider of transport solutions and has been an integral part of the UK rail industry for over 160 years. The company is a leader in sustainable and efficient transport solutions and provides services to infrastructure managers, including Network Rail, Transport for London and London Underground.

A champion of innovative technologies, Siemens was looking for an effective solution to improve safety and operational efficiency for its railway projects. So, it set out to implement Tended’s geofencing technology to enhance worksite safety and efficiency.

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Solution

Key examples of where Tended’s system has been applied

As part of a £100 million project to upgrade signalling across South-West England, where Tended’s solution was used across an expansive 70-mile worksite over Devon and Cornwall to enhance worker safety and monitor the movement of 10 RRVs.
During a 96-hour blockade in December 2023 as part of the East Coast Digital Programme. 70 Wearables were used to help ensure track workers didn’t stray from safe limits, with a further 25 devices used to provide complete visibility of their RRVs.
Supporting Siemens Mobility and Network Rail Western’s Integrated Infrastructure Team upgrading signalling across Truro, Lostwithiel and Par over a 13-day blockade. 75 miles of track was geofenced, with over 100 items of plant and equipment tagged to view their live location.

Results

Tended’s technology has helped enhance safety and efficiency by:

Helping to ensure the correct placement of worksite marker boards (WSMBs) and other equipment.
Highlighting any assets that leave their designated safe work limits.
Providing a visual warning for any vehicles that exceed the site speed limits.
Enabling Machine Controllers to be alerted when approaching points, allowing them to ensure that points are correctly set to avoid run throughs.
Providing visibility of asset activity within a possession to enable Siemens to quickly identify any activity in areas that are being handed back.
The provision of detailed positional reporting to support worksite investigations should an incident occur.

Following the success of these deployments and the safety and efficiency benefits that have been achieved, Siemens has rolled out Tended’s solution nationally to extend these benefits to all areas of its business.

Mike Sharp, Head of Infrastructure Access at Siemens said:

“Following the success of the geofencing trials over the past 6 months, we are very excited to be rolling out the technology on a national level. Having worked alongside Tended throughout our previous deployments, we have been impressed with their approach to innovation and willingness to explore new ideas.

“We look forward to continuing to see the positive impact of the technology across work functions and our operational efficiency. We’re proud to say that this deployment is in line with our commitment to innovation and safety improvements, and we’re excited to see the difference across our business.”