We use Cookies to give you the best experience.
By continuing to use our site, you consent to the way in which we use Cookies, as set out in our Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy.
How can we help you?
Our latest footprints
Yarra Trams is building a smarter more citizen-friendly city for the future
Yarra Trams is owned by Keolis Downer who operate Melbourne’s iconic tram network. With over 475+ fleet of vehicles completing over 200+ million trips annually, Yarra Trams operates one of largest rail networks in the world.
Yarra Trams was looking to leverage IoT technology to gain real-time visibility over their entire network and at the same time, maximise their Azure investment.
“LAB3 were extremely adaptable and did what it takes to build a solution that was right for our organisation. Their experts had the capability to understand and integrate our bespoke technologies. The platform is not only fit-for-purpose now but is flexible in implementing new business strategies and has a lot of future potential.”
Client vision
Running the largest rail network in Australia, with 250km of double tracks, is no easy feat. The “nerve centre” of the tram network — the operations centre, is armed with the responsibility of making real-time decisions to deliver a safe and punctual service for its passengers.
A major challenge for the operations centre is their on-premise mapping application system, which was end-of-life, had no flexibility or real-time visibility inside or outside the network (i.e., traffic conditions).
Another challenge was that the application provides very little insight into Yarra Trams E-class fleet, which are the largest trams on the network and are found on some of the busiest routes in Melbourne.
Yarra Trams was therefore looking to leverage IoT technologies to not only gain real-time visualisation of the entire network but maximise their recent Microsoft Azure investment.
“Tackling some of the bigger challenges within the transport system has been rewarding. Having travelled on the tram network regularly I see the real-life benefits of these cutting-edge Azure technologies. We also see that this is an integral part of building smarter more citizen-friendly cities of the future. “
Our fearless approach
Powered by a robust cloud data platform and the latest hardware,
LAB3 built an IoT solution using Azure Maps that unified datasets across various systems to provide Yarra Trams with rapid, real-time insights into:
The solution also provides remote visibility of the network to Yarra Trams personnel from anywhere, on any device. This enables other teams within Yarra Trams (i.e., depot or maintenance teams) to also make informed decisions. Such insights were previously accessible to on-site, operations centre staff only.
Yarra Trams’ operations centre now has real time visibility of the network that will not only benefit the organisation but passengers and road users too. This is because 75% of Melbourne’s tram network is shared with other road users. Powerful insights into the network can help rapidly identify issues or opportunities that in turn has the potential to optimise punctuality for passengers and improve road congestion for drivers.
Since the solution was built to be flexible, Yarra Trams is now looking to capture information across various other data points for the assets in their fleet. Such future insights include:
LAB3 Solutions used