Hitachi Rail has announced the acquisition of Omnicom, a digital rail monitoring specialist owned by Balfour Beatty. The acquisition will strengthen Hitachi Rail’s new digital asset management division, known as HMAX.
Omnicom, with more than 25 years of experience in railway technology, offers advanced software and hardware solutions for the inspection and monitoring of railway infrastructures. Its systems, which use edge computing and artificial intelligence, enable real-time anomaly detection on railway tracks.
The integration of Omnicom’s technologies into Hitachi Rail’s HMAX platform will enable the processing of large volumes of data in real time, significantly improving the speed of response and decision making for transport operators.
Giuseppe Marino, CEO of Hitachi Rail said, “For Hitachi Rail, this is a strategic acquisition. The addition of Omnicom’s pioneering track control tools to our digital asset management platform will further strengthen our global offering to optimise customers’ rail services and surrounding infrastructure”.
HMAX is Hitachi Rail’s digital rail asset management platform. It uses artificial intelligence and sensors to monitor trains, signalling and infrastructure in real time. It predicts problems, optimises operations and transforms maintenance, improving efficiency and reducing costs.
