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Extended Reality (XR) Support Application for Infrastructure Maintenance
An ageing railway workforce also means that valuable technical knowledge needs to be transferred effectively to new generations of workers. Digital technologies can help capture this expertise and make it available directly where and when maintenance tasks are performed.
The solution
Europe’s Rail (EU-Rail) has conceived an Extended Reality (XR) solution that enables complex maintenance tasks to be visually described and supported. Authoring tools allow experts to create visual descriptions of maintenance procedures.
These descriptions are then directly used by the XR support application to guide operators during tasks such as the inspection of point machine cabling.
Operators can follow step-by-step instructions in a 3D environment integrated with the real world, while keeping their hands free to perform the task.
Readiness for Industrialisation and Deployment
Currently the solution is a prototype tool. Further research will improve its usability and generalise it for additional use cases.
Maturity level
TRL 6.
Expected benefits
The integration of Extended Reality (XR) into infrastructure maintenance represents a significant shift from traditional manual-based workflows, , offering benefits in terms of operational efficiency, safety, training and sustainability.
- Operational Advantages
- Increased accuracy and fewer errors: 3D visual overlays help operators interpret complex diagrams, supporting a successful first-time fix.
- Hands-free efficiency: Operators can keep their hands on their tools and machinery, significantly speeding up the execution of manual tasks.
- Knowledge standardisation: Experts can capture the best way to perform a task, ensuring that operators follow the same optimised procedure regardless of their experience level.
- Technical and Safety Advantages
- Contextual information: Instructions are spatially anchored to the real environment. Instead of simply indicating “Plug A”, the system can show exactly where it is located.
- Enhanced safety: Operators can keep their attention on the machinery rather than looking down at manuals, improving situational awareness and reducing the risk of accidents.
- Seamless data continuity: When a procedure is updated, the latest version is made available to operators in the field through the support application.
- Economic Benefits
- Reduced Training Costs: XR-guided tasks provide on-the-job training, reducing the need for lengthy classroom sessions or direct supervision by senior staff.
- Minimised downtime: Faster maintenance of critical infrastructure, such as railway point machines, can help reduce service disruptions.
- Optimised resources: Junior technicians can handle more complex tasks with XR guidance, allowing senior experts to focus on high-level strategy or remote troubleshooting.
- Environmental Benefits
- Paperless operations: Digital maintenance procedures eliminate the need to print and distribute technical manuals.
- Reduced travel footprint: Remote guidance can reduce the need for specialist supervisors to travel to sites for routine or mid-level maintenance tasks, helping to lower the overall carbon footprint.
Who benefits
Infrastructure Managers
Railway operators
Suppliers
Final users
Conclusion
EU-Rail’s solution marks a step towards more efficient, reliable and human-centred railway maintenance. By combining visual guidance with hands-free operation, it reduces the cognitive load on operators, eliminating the need to translate 2D paper blueprints into 3D reality of the worksite.
The solution supports regulatory compliance and higher-quality work while helping operators respond more quickly to failures. By making maintenance activities more efficient, it contributes to protecting critical railway assets and extending the longevity of the infrastructure.
Ultimately, more efficient maintenance means a more reliable service, with fewer delays and out-of-service situations caused by infrastructure that is not maintained efficiently.
Learn more about the project
FP3-IAM4Rail
This solution has been developed within the EU-Rail Flagship Project FP3-IAM4RAIL, which focuses on seven different integrated demonstrators for rail assets which are key for research and innovation in the rail sector.