Hitachi Rail acquires Perpetuum
08/06/2021
Hitachi Rail has completed its acquisition of digital technology company Perpetuum, which will give Hitachi a broader portfolio of maintenance services.As a result of this acquisition, Hitachi Rail has expanded its digital train maintenance portfolio, allowing the company to use data analytics to improve the safety, availability and reliability of rolling stock fleets. Perpetuum’s product increases the safe lifespan of parts, which is beneficial both from a cost perspective and an environmental one.
The condition monitoring solution uses wireless sensors that are powered by harvested vibration energy. It can monitor bogies, the area Perpetuum has focused on to date, but Hitachi believes it also has the potential to be deployed much more widely across both trains and rail infrastructure. Example assets it could monitor include signalling equipment, tracks and railway structures as well as other critical rolling stock components. The sensors detect faults remotely and operate continuously while the trains are moving. The data, gathered in real time, delivers a health status of the monitored components, allowing issues to be spotted before they cause a delay.
Hitachi claims that the solution can give performance insights “faster and more accurately than traditional condition monitoring approaches”. There are in excess of 3000 carriages already fitted with the technology and none of these have had critical components fail in service.
Hitachi Rail chose to acquire Perpetuum based on a strategy to expand its digital offering. The company also believes the acquisition will help to expand its customer base across geographies and asset categories.
