Network Rail High Speed: delivering a safe, reliable, efficient high-speed railway

About Network Rail High Speed

Network Rail owns, operates and develops Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. It runs 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies. Every day, there are more than 4.7 million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network.

Industries: Travel & Hospitality
Location: UK

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About Snowdrop Solutions

Snowdrop Solutions Limited is a company dedicated to digital mapping. It is a Premier Partner of Google and has businesses in the UK, France and Spain, operating as a value added reseller and solution provider. Snowdrop enables organizations to rapidly deploy Google Maps solutions with business benefits.

Network Rail (High Speed) operates and maintains the High Speed 1 (HS1) railway route between London and the Eurotunnel terminal. It maintains more than 12,000 associated civil engineering assets including bridges, tunnels, security fencing and drainage. The company was using spreadsheets, databases and disparate systems to catalog information about the assets, and its engineers struggled to find the information they needed to respond quickly to repair damage.

Google Maps Platform Results

  • Engineers can easily find the precise location of any bridge, tunnel or other system, along with detailed information about its surroundings
  • NRHS business gains a comprehensive view of the entire route, helping deliver asset management excellence and efficient rail operations
  • Technicians are better informed about assets and can complete repairs more quickly and safely
  • 75% of its bridges, tunnels and other engineering assets have been layered on top of Google Maps

100% of civil engineering assets were layered onto Google Maps

"Google Maps Platform helps us manage an extremely complex infrastructure of more than 12,000 bridges, tunnels and other civil engineering assets for the UK's major high-speed rail route… With Google Maps Platform, we're able to perform faster, more appropriate maintenance. Our engineers can quickly dispatch technicians to fix problems because they now have all the information about the repair at their fingertips."

Mark O'Connor, Civil Engineer, Network Rail

Snowdrop Solutions used the Maps Javascript API to build the NRHS Route Model web app for Network Rail (High Speed) that shows assets along the HS1 route. It uses Google Maps controls for zooming, searching and navigation, so engineers can easily find assets such as bridges. The Route Model uses the Layers feature of the Javascript API so engineers can view details about an asset, such as drawings, inspection reports and potential hazards near bridges. Engineers can use Street View to get an up-close view of an asset and its surroundings. Armed with this information, engineers can quickly create repair plans and dispatch technicians to fix problems.

Tell us your challenge. We're here to help.

Contact us

About Network Rail High Speed

Network Rail owns, operates and develops Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. It runs 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies. Every day, there are more than 4.7 million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network.

Industries: Travel & Hospitality
Location: UK

About Snowdrop Solutions

Snowdrop Solutions Limited is a company dedicated to digital mapping. It is a Premier Partner of Google and has businesses in the UK, France and Spain, operating as a value added reseller and solution provider. Snowdrop enables organizations to rapidly deploy Google Maps solutions with business benefits.