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DeltaRail Delivers Innovative Products and Services in Five Key Areas
DeltaRail was formed in September 2006 following the acquisition of the rail business of AEA Technology. Since then much work has been done by the new management team to listen to customers, and to focus products and services according to market need. This article gives an update of progress and an insight into the new strategic vision for the business.
DeltaRail's mission is to provide specialist solutions for the international rail industry. "This is about using appropriate technology to deliver improved business performance for our customers", says Anna Matthews, DeltaRail's Chief Executive Officer. "The business is fortunate to employ over 400 engineers and scientists, many of whom have many years of experience in the rail industry, and who are acknowledged experts in their particular field. This breadth of expertise is being used today to help to improve operational performance, reduce costs and to ensure regulatory compliance".
Anna's Senior Management team at DeltaRail has recently been strengthened by the addition of a number of new directors. Sue Simmons joins the group from Travelsphere as Chief Finance Officer. John Fawcett moves from Telent plc to manage sales and marketing, with particular responsibility for achieving DeltaRail's ambitious growth targets, while Jon Zieve, from the British Nuclear Group, is focussed on business development.
DeltaRail has already reorganised its operations to emphasise the business benefits of what it does for its customers. Part of this process has been to align its product development and project delivery groups with five product areas, or themes.
Dynamic Signalling and Control Solutions
Effective signalling control is at the heart of a modern and efficient railway, providing safe operations and optimum track usage, while taking account of operational priorities and unforeseen events. DeltaRail supplies the Integrated Electronic Control Centre that is used widely on Britain's rail network. There are 22 such control centres on Network Rail's infrastructure. These are located at 12 centres, including the new Edinburgh signalling control centre at Waverley.
The Edinburgh installation includes various subsystems which provide comprehensive fault diagnostics and monitoring, and Automatic Route Setting where priorities are automatically allocated to trains on the network on a real time basis.
Infrastructure Support Services and Systems
DeltaRail provides innovative solutions to help to predict and prevent infrastructure outages, and to reduce maintenance costs over the asset lifecycle.
The business has acknowledged expertise in how key parts of the railway network, such as track, perform and degrade during operation. An important aspect of this integrated approach relates to the interface between the wheels and the rail where damage can occur to the train and the track as a result of ongoing wear and sub-optimal track geometry. The well known VAMPIRE™ software application, licensed to customers worldwide, is used to investigate vehicle-track interaction and the impacts of alternative designs and maintenance practices.
In September 2007 DeltaRail won a National Rail Award, jointly with Serco Assurance, Network Rail and RSSB, for the development of a new product in this increasingly important area of railway management. The Vehicle Track Interaction Strategic Model allows the impact of strategic decisions, such as track and vehicle design, and maintenance strategies, to be assessed under realistic operational scenarios. This approach enables DeltaRail's customers to make substantial cost savings through improved asset maintenance and management.
Operational Planning and Real Time Railway Management
The long term planning of railway infrastructure, rolling stock requirements and passenger services is a complex task, whilst the day to day operational management of the railway has its own unique challenges.
DeltaRail provides a range of tools and expertise that help planners and operational managers, including passenger demand modelling and forecasting, revenue modelling and timetabling. The business provides revenue allocation services in the UK and provides consultancy in revenue protection and gating. DeltaRail's crew rostering system is used to match available manpower to scheduled work plans.
Design and Project Management of Rolling Stock Refurbishment and Enhancement
The refurbishment and upgrading of rolling stock is an important aspect of providing both an improving service to passengers, and modern functional specification. Improvements to rolling stock can increase asset life and therefore reduce cost. Many upgrades can be carried out as part of the ongoing maintenance schedule which reduces outage and cost.
DeltaRail operates a total design and project management service for rolling stock refurbishment programmes. Projects have included new seating layouts, innovative enhancements to toilet modules and the installation of wireless and railway communications systems. DeltaRail's expertise in railway safety and approvals enhances the efficiency of design and external approval processes.
Rolling Stock Maintenance Solutions
The maintenance of an operational railway is expensive. The optimisation of inspection processes, maintenance schedules, and operational parameters (such as vehicle speed) requires an integrated approach that can take account of the risks of component failure and service outage.
DeltaRail supplies an integrated range of condition monitoring systems to measure asset performance and degradation. For example, the VIEW™ system provides automatic visual inspection of wheels, brakes and current collector shoes. Sophisticated maintenance management solutions help customers to manage the complex requirements of complying with demanding operational and safety standards.
DeltaRail's Commitment to its Customers
Anna Matthews says "Our mission is to deliver business improvement for our customers through the application of affordable innovative engineering and technology. The alignment of our products and services into these five key delivery areas will enhance our development of new solutions, and clarify the business benefits that our products and services offer to our customers".
ENDS
For more information, please contact Lawrence Roberts: 0870 190 1526.
About DeltaRail Group:
DeltaRail is one of the leading independent railway technology advisors in Europe. We supply advanced solutions, combining the delivery of hardware, software and specialist consultancy to improve business performance for our customers across the entire railway system.
DeltaRail Group Limited was formed in September 2006 following the acquisition from AEA Technology of its rail engineering, technology and services business.
