Remote Condition Monitoring rolled out on Northern's Class 170s

The digital transformation project was carried out through an industry partnership between Northern, Porterbrook, Instrumentel and Derby Engineering Unit (DEU).

The Instrumentel-built RCM system, which was installed by DEU at Neville Hill TMD and project managed by Porterbrook, allows for intelligence-led condition-based maintenance of the fleet.

Where previously maintenance of the vehicles relied on manual inspections at routine interventions, the introduction of RCM means engineers now have access to fast and reliable data remotely and in real-time.

Moving beyond manual checks also means predictive maintenance, where the focus is on preventing failures before they happen.

The fitment of RCM on Northern’s 170 fleet is part of Porterbrook’s wider digital transformation of the ROSCO’s Turbostars, which has already seen similar digital upgrades to fleets at CrossCountry, EMR and Chiltern.

Data has shown that moving just one task to condition-based maintenance can save up to 1,500 labour hours per year, freeing up this time for people to focus on other areas.