Wabtec Corporation has been awarded a contract from Central Organisation For Modernisation Of Workshops (COFMOW), Indian Railways, for its Online Monitoring of Rolling Stock (OMRS) project.
The new automated OMRS system is part of Indian Railways’ “SMART Yard” initiative and will improve the availability of the railway’s fleet of coaches, wagons, and locomotives by detecting and addressing defects, preventing in-service failures.
Wabtec Digital Electronics Group President Nalin Jain said Indian Railways is at the forefront of deploying digital solutions to modernise its operations and drive efficiency across its rail network.
“This order supports their ‘Smart Yard’ initiative, which will showcase the next generation of condition-based predictive maintenance technologies. The OMRS systems will streamline Indian Railways’ operations by automating the inspections of bearings and wheels and pinpointing customized maintenance to maximize the utilization of its rolling stock.”
The OMRS is a wayside solution comprising Rail Bearing Acoustic Monitor (RailBAM) and Wheel Condition Monitor (WCM/ WILD) to detect faults in the axle–journal bearings and wheels of rolling stock.
The RailBAM technology uses acoustic signatures from bearings to identify bearing defects in advance before they would be identified through human inspection.
The WCM technology uses impact forces exerted by wheels on to the rail to identify wheel defects.
The OMRS systems enable operators to optimally plan the inspection and removal of defective bearings and wheels based on condition instead of fixed time-based inspection schedules, resulting in a healthier and reliable fleet.
Wabtec Corporation Senior Vice President and India Region Leader Sujatha Narayan said Wabtec and Indian Railways had partnered for decades to continually provide the country with rail technology solutions that enable an efficient, reliable and safe rail network.
“This project will bring in state-of-the-art global digital high-tech solutions to the substantial portfolio of the India business enabling Indian Railways in their journey of modernisation and digitalisation.”
COFMOW is managing the deployment of Indian Railways’ Smart Yards across the country. As part of the contract with COFMOW, Wabtec’s teams in Australia and India will lead the design, news release development, supply, installation, and commissioning of 97 OMRS equipment sets in various zonal railway locations across the country.
The data from all the wayside OMRS systems will be fed into a state-of-the-art Central Data Control Center to be established in Delhi through the Wabtec Fleet ONE software.