Network Rail grants full product acceptance for cable monitoring system
Posted: 6 November 2020 | Viper Innovations | No comments yet
Network Rail has approved the use of Viper Innovations’ cable monitoring system for AC electrified routes, making the system fully approved for use across all Network Rail regions.
CableGuardian is an award-winning product created by UK-based technology company, Viper Innovations. Its product initially received Network Rail approval in June 2020, when it was deployed across signalling power systems in DC Electrified and Non-Electrified rail routes. Since then, the company has continued to work closely with Network Rail to complete the final testing and gain the AC Electrified upgraded product approval.
CableGuardian is the next generation in cable monitoring, with the potential to impact a suite of Industry KPIs from safety, financial efficiency, asset reliability and performance. With the direct benefits of being able to both accurately monitor cable degradation and pinpoint the location of cable failure, CableGuardian will drive the railway forward in terms of safety, cost and performance.
Edward Davies, MD of Viper Innovations, commented “We are delighted that Network Rail has awarded CableGuardian full acceptance for the UK railway following our collaboration in the development of this step-change in digital technology for cable monitoring. While currently less than half of the UK’s rail network is electrified, Network Rail is increasing the number of electrified routes across the nation, replacing diesel locomotives and in doing so mirroring the government’s ambition to decarbonise the nation. We are firmly behind this move towards carbon reduction and will continue to work on new technology and innovations that can contribute to making our transport network and others more sustainable, efficient and ultimately environmentally friendly.”
CableGuardian’s cloud-hosted cable monitoring and fault diagnosis capabilities are designed to help prevent service affecting failures before they occur by delivering precise condition trending down to individual cable level and accurately pinpointing fault locations and instances of cable theft. This not only significantly reduces power down time on the line but reduces the time-consuming practice of manually walking the line to test for and locate cable faults.
Viper Innovations will continue to carry out installations across the UK while moving towards supply and delivery further afield to fulfil its ambition to enter new international markets.
