In 1830 Manchester and Liverpool made history as the first two cities in the world to be connected by an intercity passenger railway service.
Northern say they are proud to run their trains on this historic route and add they are continuing the legacy of the northern railways by continuing to develop game changing technology to make journeys 'smarter, safer and more enjoyable' for customers.
And to mark National Engineering Day the train operator celebrated the completion of its first 'Intelligent Train' makeover.
The Class 150 Unit has been kitted-out with LIDAR horizon scanning cameras - the same used by NASA to map the surface of the moon - a radar dome, 180-degree thermal imaging software, acoustic monitors, a G-Shock Bogie and an AI camera.
The train is set to operate services across the Northern network, including Bolton and the rest of Greater Manchester, for the next three months.
The smart train will be able to identify any defects in the railway track and automatically log the location and notify maintenance teams to schedule in a repair, scan the horizon looking for anything that may represent a danger to operations such as a fallen tree, be able to connect with police and allow officer to tune in and view live footage, as well as automatically deploying high powered water jets to push leaves off the track - amongst other things.
Data captured during this trial will inform the roll-out of the Intelligent Trains programme and support the business case for the scheme.
Jack Commandeur, engineering director at Northern said: “This is an exciting moment for all of us here at Northern. Our ‘Intelligent Trains’ won’t just travel the network, they will actively monitor and report back on issues that could have an impact on our operation.
“The result will be greater efficiencies in terms of resource allocation, faster responses in terms of maintenance programmes and an overall smarter – and safer - way of working.”
The ‘Intelligent Trains’ makeover took place at Northern’s TrainCare Centre in Newton Heath, Greater Manchester.
Northern’s ‘Intelligent Trains’ programme is being delivered in partnership with Network Rail, Belvoir Rail, Yellow Rail and Modux.
National Engineering Day is a Royal Academy of Engineering-led initiative that aims to make the UK’s engineers and engineering more visible and celebrate how their work improves everyday lives and shapes the world around us.
Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK, with nearly 2,000 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England.
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