OptaSense, a subsidiary of British defence technology company QinetiQ Group, has won a five-year contract to provide security monitoring for two rail lines from Dammam to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.  

The $12-million deal will be split evenly with its partner Taqqat Global Company, a unit of Abdulla Fouad Group, said the Farnborough (UK)-based company in a statement.

The contract, for the 1,000-km rail line, is the first phase in securing the entire rail infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.

The contract, which is being primed by Taqqat, will see the installation of a dedicated fibre optic monitoring network which will incorporate OptaSense’s distributed acoustic sensing (Das) system, said the statement from QinetiQ.
 
The Das technology will allow the Saudi Railways Organisation (SRO) to monitor encroachments and unauthorised movements on both sides of the railway lines, by sensing vibrations on the fibre-optic network, it stated.

Using laser and sonar technology developed by QinetiQ, the disturbances will be transmitted to processing units to compare the type of vibrations and determine via a database whether it is a vehicle, excavation, a person or an animal on the line, while ignoring the ordinary vibrations generated by the trains.

The technology can also identify the site of any disturbance, helping reduce the response times for maintenance and security teams, it added.

According to QinetQ, the system will allow operators to also monitor trains on the line, with capability to record speeds and direction. In addition, it can be used to monitor the condition of the train and tracks, such as identifying flat wheels.
The two railway lines which run between Riyadh and Dammam will see the Das technology integrated into SRO’s main operations centres, said the UK company.
 
The contract marks a further success in the Middle East for OptaSense, with the Das system already being used on many oil and gas pipelines and facilities in the region. This contract follows other successful rail projects in Germany, Austria, the UK and the US, it added.

Magnus McEwen-King, the managing director of OptaSense, said: "We are committed to enabling our customers achieve the maximum availability of their assets to protect their revenues and reduce operational costs. Our Das solution will enable SRO to monitor every metre of their rail line in real time and take appropriate action to reduce the impact of adverse events to ensure the highest level of security."

Taqqat CEO Othman Al Othman said: "We are very pleased that after a long but successful tender process, OptaSense’s Das technology will come to Saudi Arabia to enhance the safety and security of our railway lines."

"We are looking forward to a successful project implementation jointly with OptaSense," he added.-TradeArabia News Service