Network Rail has used a track based three-dimensional scanner to model infrastructure ahead of new trains arriving onto the network.

The Trimble GEDOScan system, operated by Network Rail's team of absolute track geometry (ATG) engineers, has been deployed to collect detailed information about the track and surrounding features such as bridges, parapets, and platforms.

By gathering precise, high-resolution data for use in track clearance assessments on structures and tunnels, the system delivers higher quality scanning and modelling quicker and more precisely than before with a relative accuracy of less than 5mm. It also increases safety for rail engineers who now need to spend less time on the track to gather much more detailed data.

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In addition, the software has been used across the network to carry out general surveys for maintenance and monitoring but also to assess the capability and suitability of specific routes to carry certain types of rolling stuck.

Surveys have also been carried out to assess the network for future freight capacity growth such as at Mossgiel tunnel near Kilmarnock (pictured), Drumlanrig, Blochairn and Duke St tunnels as the railway prepares for larger and longer freight trains on the network and the benefits this could bring in terms of reducing emissions and removing vehicles from congested roads.

Graham Hutchison, absolute track geometry engineer with Network Rail in Scotland said, said three dimensional scanning "provides more, and more detailed information in a shorter time which reduces the need to be on the track; making it safer as well as more efficient".

"This system is ideally suited to tunnel surveys where irregular construction can make it difficult to locate the main pinch points," he said.

"The three-dimensional scan measures the full extent of a tunnel precisely in about a fifth of the time than it took previously.

"It can also be used for proactive monitoring to inform maintenance requirements and to better predict and prevent faults and to reduce disruption for passengers."

(LM/MH)