RailPulse, formed by a coalition of rail industry leaders, has officially announced the launch of its new technology infrastructure, which is designed to provide near real-time data and insights across the North American freight railcar fleet. According to certain reports, the stated infrastructure basically leverages GPS to monitor the location, condition, and health of railcars, doing so to enhance safety, efficiency and visibility for rail shippers, railroads, as well as railcar owners. Named as the RailPulse Platform, it is also well-equipped to aggregate, enrich, and securely store data from sensors and other sources. Once prepared and translated into an easy-to-understand format, the platform transitions towards providing the said information through a web portal and application programming interfaces (APIs). Here, a detail worth noting would be that owners get all data on their railcars, while approved data is securely shared with authorized users. Moving on, the RailPulse Platform also accommodates a wide variety of railcar sensors, including those for location, movement, load, handbrake, door/hatch status, impact, and more. Complimenting such a wide reach is the facility for users to set up alerts, geofences, and reports to manage their railcar fleets and shipments more effectively. Introduced after two years of development and testing in collaboration with RailPulse coalition members and leading telemetry vendors, RailPulse’s creation was further aided by the support from Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant, provided by the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).
“We are thrilled to launch the RailPulse platform, which represents a significant milestone for the rail industry,” said David Shannon, general manager of RailPulse. “By creating a common, open and vendor-neutral railcar telematics ecosystem, we are enabling unprecedented access to real-time data and insights that will transform the rail customer experience, improve the overall performance of the rail network accelerating supply chains, and ultimately drive industry growth that fuels the national economy.”
Talk about the RailPulse Platform on a slightly deeper level, we begin from its Industry-Wide Telematics Infrastructure, which makes it possible for the solution to facilitate collaboration among industry players through a secure, trusted, standardized, and vendor neutral railcar telematics setup that, on its part, spans the entire North American freight rail industry. Next up, we must dig into the prospect of data-driven transformation. We referred to how the platform in question leverages GPS to monitor things and deliver the relevant data, but we haven’t yet mentioned is the way it also harnesses the power of sensor data, data standardization, and cloud storage to deliver actionable data at the disposal of all rail stakeholders, thus enabling improved service, visibility, safety, sustainability, and productivity. Almost like an extension of it, RailPulse uses that greater amount of visibility to enhance its service. You see, the technology promises to empower shippers with near real-time insights into railcar and goods movements. This way it helps them make better, more informed supply chain decisions, as well as optimize their operations.
Among other things, we ought to mention how the RailPulse Platform is governed by a board of directors, composed of representatives from four categories of equity owners i.e. rail shippers, Class I railroads, short line railroads, and railcar lessors. As for its availability, the solution is now open for enrollment, allowing stakeholders from all across the industry to join and avail the provided perks.
“RailPulse is a groundbreaking initiative that will revolutionize the way we operate and serve our customers,” said Mike McClellan, Chairman of the RailPulse Board, and Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Norfolk Southern. “By joining forces with other rail industry stakeholders, we are creating a common platform that will enhance visibility, efficiency, and safety across the entire rail network.”
