Freight Rail, Signalling & Communications

Aurizon’s new CQCN systems to automate condition monitoring

Aurizon train on Queensland Rain Network. Photo: Aurizon

Aurizon’s new rollingstock condition monitoring technology will be fully supported on its Central Queensland Coal Network (CQCN) by early next year, the company has said.

Supplied by automatic trackside inspection system manufacturer BeenaVision Systems, the new technology will automate many of the rollingstock inspection and assessment tasks currently performed manually in depots, Aurizon explained in April.

The technology begins with trackside monitoring structures housing multiple lasers and cameras which scan along the length of each train, analysing the condition of key components such as wheels, brake systems and doors via “sophisticated machine vision algorithms”.

Aurizon hopes the system, which was due to be installed by June 2015 and should be fully operational across the CQCN network early next year, can give its maintenance team real-time information and predictive capabilities.

The system is designed to alert Aurizon’s ‘rollingstock defect coordinators’ of any issues, via text message and email, when problems arise.

It will also be used to consolidate and manage all wayside detection data, and automatically generate maintenance work orders based on the analysis of the condition monitoring data, Aurizon added.

“This technology is about having access to the right data in real-time, so we can be more proactive with our maintenance,” the company explained.

“It will also enable greater availability and asset productivity for the corridor, which is key to lowering our operating and maintenance costs.”

Additional benefits from this technology include the reduction of component

spend by running trains to their full life and replacing whilst on-train, as well as the reduction in maintenance yard shunts providing opportunity for improvements to yard operations and cycle times, the operator said.

The technology was installed in the Blackwater System at Kalapa in February, and Aurizon said in April it planned the next installation for Wandoo in the Goonyella System.