Our innovative partnership which addresses industry-wide vegetation management issues, through the application of next-generation inspection technology, was recognised at the award ceremony which was held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London on 21 March 2024.

Vegetation growth and contamination poses a risk to the safe and seamless operation of a railway. The collaborative approach between Petards Rail; UK-based AI infrastructure inspection company, CrossTech; and our mutual customers; harnesses the power of integrated data, computer vision AI technology and cross-agency communication to give front-line teams proactive information on potential vegetation and track issues. This enhances operating efficiency for passengers and freight users and increases safety for track workers.

Victoria Hodge, General Manager at Petards Rail, said: “I am thrilled that, alongside CrossTech and our customer, we have won the Asset Management Excellence Award, at the SPOTLIGHT Rail Awards. It is a testament to the hard work and innovation of all teams, as well as the power of cross-agency collaboration.

“We want to extend our thanks to all involved in this partnership as well as congratulate the other winners and shortlisted companies.”

Haydon Bartlett-Tasker, Managing Director at CrossTech, spoke at the awards ceremony about how through collaboration, sharing of data and AI tools like CrossTech’s Hubble system the industry can give end users the information they need – that is – information that helps prevent incidents in the first place.

The SPOTLIGHT Rail Awards aim to celebrate excellence in the rail sector and its chosen categories reflect and shine a spotlight on the vision of the future such as decarbonisation, improving efficiency and diversity and inclusion.