As in other industrial environments, the rail transportation industry is being significantly transformed by digital technologies and the emergence of the Industrial Internet of Things—or as my colleagues in this industry often refer to it, the Railway Internet of Things. Like network operators in industries such as manufacturing or utilities, they are tapping into “Big Data” opportunities to fuel productivity—in this case, forwarding vital goals like keeping trains running on time, making them safer, and optimizing maintenance resources.

You’re sitting in traffic on the drive home but can’t see ahead to know what’s causing the back-up. You hear sirens behind you and must navigate out of the way to let emergency vehicles pass. Now your interest is piqued. You check the news when you get home and find out a tour bus had caught fire. The passengers were evacuated without injury, but you naturally wonder: what caused the fire?

The transportation industry, unlike many other mission-critical industrial operations, has the unique position of directly engaging with its customers (the passengers) and keeping them happy and safe. Any delays or downtime in a transportation system not only lead to lost revenue, but a trickle-down effect of annoyed travellers, who can choose to spend their transportation revenues somewhere else.

Around the world, railway operators are looking for ways to increase train capacity and improve railway infrastructure. Through the use of exact, real-time train information, Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) offers a solution to capacity challenges, while avoiding the need for expensive and disruptive civil engineering capital projects.