Field demonstration on Siemens Mobility’s Bangkok BTS line. / Photo: Korea Railroad Research Institute
From the 6th to the 7th, the Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI) participated in ‘Asia Pacific Rail 2026,’ an international exhibition held in Bangkok, Thailand.
At the event, KRRI exhibited ‘RAILOBSE,’ an automated rail wear inspection system for track maintenance automation, and completed a demonstration at the Bangkok BTS (Bangkok Mass Transit System) site operated by the global company Siemens Mobility.
‘RAILOBSE’ is an automated mobile measurement system that travels along the track, automatically managing the wear condition of operating rails and detecting surface defects using artificial intelligence.
By automating the manual inspections previously carried out by people directly on the track, the RAILOBSE system improves the efficiency of routine track inspection and contributes to the prevention of safety accidents.
The demonstration was attended by KRRI, Siemens Mobility, and LOBSE, along with rail maintenance specialists.
Asia Pacific Rail 2026 is Asia’s largest specialized railway industry event, held at BITEC (Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre) in Bangkok, Thailand.
At the exhibition, KRRI presented its developed technology to railway industry stakeholders from across Asia, aiming for global market entry as well as the digitalization, automation, and operational efficiency of the railway industry.
Through this exhibition, KRRI recently received a technology purchase letter of intent from Siemens Mobility, which operates urban rail in Bangkok, Thailand, and has completed a field demonstration for key stakeholders on the Thai urban rail BTS line, with commercialization now underway.
The ‘rail wear and defect management’ performed by RAILOBSE is an essential maintenance task for railway vehicle operators. This field demonstration was arranged to incorporate diverse feedback from overseas sites; if an overseas operator decides to adopt the system in the future, it will be built to reflect local requirements.
This technology was developed as a key project of KRRI, which is under the National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST). KRRI completed the technology transfer to LOBSE this year and is currently pursuing commercialization targeting domestic and overseas client organizations, including Siemens Mobility.
Principal Researcher Jeong Woo-tae, who leads the project, said, “The developed rail wear and defect measurement system RAILOBSE is an automation system that, based on a compact mobile system, replaces manual tasks such as the routine inspections performed by field workers on track rails,” adding, “We plan to continue research by integrating it with track-inspection field history-management systems and AI detection technology.”
President Sa Gong-myeong said, “RAILOBSE is a representative research achievement for the global expansion of accident-prevention technology through more efficient track-rail maintenance,” and added, “We will continue to do our utmost to advance railway maintenance, safety, and prevention technologies into the global market.”
Source: Railway Economy – Reporter Moon Ye-eun View original
