Rail passengers are looking for improved services while the operators are looking at improving efficiencies and reducing the cost of operation while offering better services. On the other hand, regulators are looking for safer journeys. All this can be achieved through smart railways. Smart railways basically use all the data generated by them for improving services, efficiency and safety. One of the examples is predictive maintenance. If the operator can identify what will breakdown, when and where in advance, they can improve efficiency by avoiding unexpected breakdowns. They can improve revenue by reducing time spent in maintenance, while safety would be improved by avoiding breakdowns and failures.

Automatic operations and automatic train control is another area of smart railways.

This can be achieved by inputting usage and wear and tear data in a suitable model to predict the breakdowns followed by necessary intervention to avoid such breakdowns. The model can be made iterative to improve its accuracy with each use. The building blocks of such smart operations are the Internet of Things (IoT), sensors and IT platforms form collecting and manipulating data. The market for such building blocks is expected to grow by US$ 21.5 Billion by 2025 as per research and market.com.

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