Fuel Management for Trains
Real Time, Web Based Fuel Management for the Railways Industry
Fuel Management for Trains – System Features
Railways Refuelling Systems – Fuel Management for Trains
For Fuel Management for Trains, refuelling trains and locomotives bring challenges. When only a single engine needs refuelling, then the system can be much the same as that used to fuel road vehicles, but when it comes to fuelling a long train, then the system needs to be able to coordinate the fuelling so that all sections of a set are fuelled without compromising accuracy or time.
Because of the spacing between pumps on a typical fuelling platform, individual fuel management systems are needed to control each pump and manage the fuelling, so keeping the installation cost down is essential. The Jigsaw systems use GSM Mobile communications, so there is no need to run communications cables to and between the terminals. The Jigsaw system will operate with your existing pumps, usually without modification.
Identifying the Locomotive Units
Typed ID Entry
In this, the fueller first uses a personal ID tag on the system. The system then requests a typed vehicle ID. Finally, the fueller ID and loco’ ID are checked against a central database, and fuelling commences.
FuelWand
Each locomotive/carriage is fitted with an ID tag scanned by the fueller using a small, robust, handheld reader. This removes the need for the fueller to type in the Loco ID, speeding up fuelling.
TeleTag
The Teletag system again uses a tag fitted to each Loco or Carriage to be fuelled, but the tag can be read from several meters away, negating any requirement for the fueller to get involved in the ID process.
Fuel Platform Hardware – Fuel Management for Trains
Either the Eclipse or Nova may be used for train refuelling. The Eclipse can manage more than one pump, so water or lubes could also be managed if required. All fuellings are logged by the system and passed immediately to the web service, so there is no need to collect and manage printed receipts.
If the fuel tanks are fitted with tank gauges, they can be linked through the nearest pump control terminal so that the readings are passed to the web server on the back of each fuelling transaction, and a direct comparison between gauge and book stock may be made in real-time.
On the Fuel Server – Train Fuel Management
The Jigsaw system already has most of the UK rolling stock set up on it from other projects, but the part of that fleet that is allowed to fuel on your system will be set up against the site. As the fleet is assigned, groups are used to assign the TOC or operator of the train/loco so that billing for fuel is very much simplified.
As Trains or Units are moved between TOCs, this can be reflected immediately on the web service so that all fuellings are correctly allocated. In addition, adding or removing fleet members is very simple as it is centralised through the web service – no need to upload vehicle lists to the individual fuel terminals.
Most Used Reports
Get in Touch:
Jigsaw Systems may be configured in many different ways to suit your business. If you don’t see exactly what you need here, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. The system has been developed with the help of end users in each market sector so we are confident that we can cover any requirements with our systems.
Unique Rail System Features
The Jigsaw system treats each unit in a train individually but can also manage them as a set, comparing each unit with its peers – they travel the same distance, so they should take around the same amount of fuel – the Jigsaw system can easily highlight and units using more or less fuel than its peers.
This may be due to less fuel being delivered than needed or a problem with the fuelling process on that unit. It could also indicate a problem with the engine and systems on that unit.
