Ground-breaking technology developed in the West of England for the global oil and gas industry is being marketed to the UK rail industry to reduce delays caused by signal failure.
Portishead-based Viper Innovation’s CableGuardian already has a well-established reputation in the global subsea oil and gas market, where it monitors, detects and locates cable insulation and conductor faults on well heads. 
But it can also be deployed on the type of live signalling power distribution systems used on the UK rail network, where cable failures are a major cause of train delays.
These can be caused by reasons ranging from cable ageing to vermin damage, vandalism and theft.
Queen’s Award-winning Viper recently demonstrated CableGuardian to senior personnel and decision makers from the UK’s rail infrastructure sector at its Portishead base.
Managing director Neil Douglas said: “We were delighted with the attendance and the response to CableGuardian. Visitors reported that it was one of the best supplier technology demonstrations they had been to, and asset management teams were hugely excited by the electrical integrity information that the technology could provide them with.
“As the UK rail network undergoes widespread expansion and upgrading, CableGuardian is the right product at the right time. Innovative technologies are needed to help usher in a new era of proactive asset management which will ultimately mean fewer train delays. 
“Rail is the obvious next industry for us to target. We aim to replicate the success we have had within the subsea oil and gas industry, and this will help the Viper Innovation business grow. We are proud to be a West Country business that has a global reputation, and which is founded on talent and dedication of the local people who work here.”
CableGuardian, pictured right, will be demonstrated to a wider audience at the leading rail event Railtex next month.
Pictured below: The CableGuardian demonstration at Viper Innovation’s Portishead HQ
