Trimble Solutions India, a subsidiary of US-based Trimble Inc. has launched its global Railway Solutions portfolio in India. The company launched three products aimed at covering the end-to-end railways lifecycle from planning through construction, maintenance and operations to safety. These products are targeted at Indian railways and urban metro rail projects in over 20 cities across India.

Announcing the launch, Tomas Larsson, General Manager for Trimble Rail said, “We believe our cutting-edge tech-enabled products can play a meaningful role in the ongoing transformation of Indian railways, helping the organization achieve its key goals of launching high-speed trains, enhancing passenger safety and operational efficiency. Further, as India progressively adopts metro rail networks for urban transportation, we are ready with solutions that can help plan, design and construct these projects faster and within costs, and operate them for maximum efficiency and safety.”

The Indian Railways in 2017 outlined a plan to invest Rs. 8.56 lakh crore in the five years leading to 2022. Of this investment, Rs.1.93 lakh crore are set aside for network expansion, Rs. 127,000 crore for safety, and Rs. 5,000 crore for IT and research. Another Rs. 65,000 crore are earmarked for high-speed rail and elevated corridor, with the goal of introducing high-speed trains at 350 kmph from the current high speed of 160 kmph. The railways has also launched an ambitious ‘zero fatality’ safety initiative with the goal of reducing railway accidents by 66%, earmarking Rs. 7,500 crore for this initiative. The newly introduced portfolio of Trimble products can serve as a driving force for the Indian Railway system in achieving these goals.

In terms of metro rail networks, India had eight operational metros in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore as of July 2017; while over two dozen more projects are pending approval, in cities like Pune, Ahmedabad, Vijayawada, Indore, Patna, Kanpur and Varanasi. In the last three years, the urban development ministry has sanctioned Rs. 30,653.78 crore for various metro rail projects in the country.

Technology solutions will play a major role in the continuing expansion and transformation of India’s rail and metro networks. Trimble's Railway solutions use integrated processes and workflows for complete railway infrastructure and asset lifecycle management from the infrastructure planning, design, construction, and maintenance phases, to the operation, maintenance, and repair of rail transport assets. The solutions streamline operations to keep projects on time and costs on target; thus enabling India’s metro and railways to meet their expansion and transformation goals on time, and within budget.