Hitachi Rail has officially completed its acquisition of Omnicom, a leading digital rail monitoring company previously owned by Balfour Beatty. This strategic move significantly strengthens Hitachi Rail’s digital asset management platform, HMAX, a cutting-edge system launched in September 2024 aimed at transforming railway operations and maintenance through advanced data-driven technologies.
Omnicom’s technology portfolio includes proprietary hardware and software for surveying, inspecting, and continuously monitoring railway infrastructure such as tracks and overhead lines. These monitoring systems, which can be installed directly on operational trains, employ edge computing combined with machine learning to detect anomalies in near real-time. The capability to process trillions of bytes of image data daily supports predictive maintenance and lifecycle management, helping railway operators identify potential issues early, optimise maintenance schedules, and significantly enhance overall network reliability.
The integration of Omnicom’s sophisticated remote monitoring and geometry measurement solutions into Hitachi Rail’s HMAX platform bolsters its ability to deliver bespoke services globally. With over 25 years of expertise in railway technology and established deployments with several major customers, Omnicom contributes valuable capabilities to HMAX’s digital ecosystem. HMAX already operates on more than 2,000 trains worldwide and unifies vast streams of live data from both trains and rail infrastructure into a single comprehensive management system.
The HMAX platform leverages Hitachi Group’s Lumada 3.0 technology, an advanced synthesis of information technology (IT), operational technology (OT), and physical asset data. This integration allows HMAX to offer detailed, dynamic views of system performance and drives improvements such as traffic optimisation, energy efficiency, and predictive maintenance. Notably, HMAX processes a significant portion of its data at the ‘edge’ — on the trains or infrastructure itself — meaning only the most relevant insights are relayed to control centres. This method dramatically cuts down on the time needed to generate actionable outcomes, shifting from the traditional days-long analysis to near real-time responsiveness.
Hitachi Rail’s Executive Director and Chief Technology Officer, Koji Agatsuma, described the acquisition as a natural extension of the company’s innovation trajectory. He emphasised that Omnicom’s track monitoring solutions complement Hitachi’s proprietary technology, strengthening the company’s global offering to optimise railway systems. Similarly, Omnicom Managing Director Sanjay Razdan highlighted the enhanced scope for innovation and AI-enabled optimisation that the wider capabilities of the Hitachi Group bring to their technology.
Giuseppe Marino, CEO of Hitachi Rail, underscored the acquisition’s strategic significance, stating that it greatly enhances the company’s ability to provide optimised rail services and infrastructure management on a global scale. Industry reports confirm that this deal positions Hitachi Rail at the forefront of digital rail asset management, combining extensive monitoring expertise with AI and machine learning driven analytics in a way few competitors can match.
Overall, the Omnicom acquisition represents a key pillar in Hitachi Rail’s ambition to lead the digital transformation of railways worldwide, offering operators enhanced operational efficiency, system reliability, and service quality through innovative technology integration.
Source: Noah Wire Services
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