Railway infrastructure is evolving towards full automation, with precision-guided rolling stock, track laying systems, and real-time monitoring technologies enhancing operational efficacy, energy efficiency, and safety. Real-time, accurate data on train position, velocity, and heading are needed for the implementation of intelligent railway systems. Equally important is the real-time surveying, monitoring, and scanning of tracks to ensure operational efficiency and safety.
The construction operations, including tamping, track renewal, or slab track adjustment before or after concrete pours, can be speed up with the help of RTK. It provides real-time guidance to ensure that track adjustments meet the required specifications, reducing errors to the centimeter level.
Railway track measurement systems with integrated RTK simplifies railway maintenance operations, including tamping, track renewal, or slab track adjustment before or after concrete pours. For slab track constructions and adjustment, the deviations from the desired position are displayed live thanks to RTK receivers. RTK receivers also monitor railway bridges for deformation due to environmental factors like floods or storms, providing real-time data on structural shifts in real time.
For railway track maintenance, you can use track measurement trolleys or mount surveying solutions on locomotives. Track geometry trolleys are an affordable and fast way to record parameters like gauge, twist, super elevation, and horizontal/lateral versine. These trolleys provide detailed track condition reports, forming the basis for necessary maintenance. Surveying and scanning platforms mounted on wagons can map railway infrastructure, monitor clearances, detect vegetation obstacles, and assess infrastructural limits for special load transportation.
RTK technology provides accurate positioning of train fleets. Centimeter-level accuracy may not be necessary; an accuracy of 1–2 meters is often sufficient due to the size of the trains. This enables cost-effective localization, speed detection, and timing, particularly in areas with limited connectivity or without nearby base stations.
RTK-based systems enhance train collision avoidance by providing real-time, high-precision positioning data, helping prevent accidents. These systems can be integrated with onboard sensors and centralized control systems, improving safety by reducing human error and enabling automated emergency braking systems.
By leveraging RTK technology, railways can enhance safety, operational efficiency, and precision across a range of applications, from track maintenance and construction to train positioning and collision avoidance systems.
We’ve simplified the process by creating easy-to-use GNSS RTK boards at low cost:
Centimeter level
<1cm with corrections
<1.5m standalone
<0.9m standalone with SBAS
simpleRTK2B – Basic Starter Kit
from 199,00€
Millimeter level
<7mm with corrections
<1.3m standalone
<0.7m standalone with SBAS
simpleRTK3B – Basic Starter Kit
from 653,00€
Submeter level
non-RTK board
<1.5m standalone
<0.9m standalone with SBAS
simpleGNSS – Basic Starter Kit
from 90,00€Nanosecond timing
non-RTK board
<1.5m standalone
<0.9m standalone with SBAS
simpleGNSS Timing
from 149,00€
