CDSRail - Remote Condition Monitoring of Railway Infrastructure

CDSRail is the leading supplier of remote condition monitoring of railway infrastructure. The company has dedicated itself to serving this sector for over 15 years and has developed the tailor-made AssetWatch monitoring system in close co-operation with the railway maintenance community. Because the products have been developed in-house, CDSRail can respond rapidly to customer requests for tailor made solutions, modifications or new applications.

A privately owned and financially secure company, CDSRail has a team of around 30 people offering full and ongoing support to its systems with all the quality and safety processes normally expected of a larger design and manufacturing company.

LOCATING AND PREDICTING FAULTS ON RAILWAY ASSETS

CDSRail's flagship AssetWatch system is the first to offer a complete real-time monitoring solution - from the trackside asset's sensors directly to the maintainer's mobile and laptop. Developed alongside railway maintainers, AssetWatch continuously monitors all asset types, allowing any user to view live condition information via the Internet and receive alert messages direct to their mobile phone or email.

AssetWatch uses its inbuilt intelligence to analyse data and present it in a meaningful format. The system is web enabled and is fully accessible and manageable over the Internet from any Java enabled computer. AssetWatch enables simple, remote deployment of updates and support via the standard web interface, without the need for any special software.

VERSATILE AND COST-EFFICIENT RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE MONITORING

AssetWatch requires no maintenance locally and has the benefit of having no overheads. The same software version status is guaranteed to all users, and number of users with concurrent access is unlimited.

The AssetWatch system adapts to machine and environmental conditions. It compensates for ambient conditions and seasonal changes by collecting data three-dimensionally. This process eliminates false alarms. Alarm thresholds are automatically configured and incipient failures are detected earlier.

Once AssetWatch's server and trackside units are installed to monitor one asset type, others may be added very simply and economically. CDSRail is working with railways worldwide to utilise advanced monitoring technology to meet strategic objectives of reducing train delays and maintenance costs.

Some areas currently being monitored by AssetWatch are:

• Point condition
• Signal anomalies
• Earth slippage
• Level crossing
• Leaf fall detection
• Rail lubricators
• Rail temperature
• Power and battery level monitoring

CUSTOMER SERVICE, ASSET CONDITION AND TREND ANALYSIS

CDSRail places the highest priority on customer service. Although the AssetWatch system may be remotely configured across the Internet, a team of field engineers is ready to respond rapidly to customer calls. They are supported by a manned helpdesk who not only direct technical queries to the engineering team, but who can remotely check that all equipment is functioning correctly. CDSRail's customer service team also provides a range of asset condition and trend analysis. 

CDSRail currently monitor and support systems in Europe, North America, the Far East and Australasia.