Artificial Intelligence (AI) specialist Purple Transform and delivery partner Central Alliance explain how smarter flood monitoring prevented 7,000 delay minutes and £1.5 million in delay costs.
Flooding at Chipping Sodbury has been a persistent cause of delays on the Western Route. Despite the construction of an 11-million-litre lagoon in 2018, the site continued to experience flooding, including a single incident costing £3 million in January 2024. With this being one of 14 flooding events that led to closures, the Wales and Borders Strategy and Planning team set out to improve its visibility of the site.
Network Rail had already installed monitoring equipment, including flow sensors and solar-powered cameras. However, the data sat in silos and was challenging to interpret.
The team needed a ‘whole system’ view, one interface that combined all monitoring, regardless of asset type. As one engineer explained: “It became apparent just how complex the operation of the Chipping Sodbury site was. We needed to build an understanding of the whole system. Having all the monitoring data in one, simple-to-understand user interface was key to this.”
This requirement led to the adoption of SIYTE, an Environmental and Situational Awareness platform, delivered in partnership with Central Alliance. Rather than replacing existing systems, SIYTE integrated both new and existing cameras and sensors into a single, unified, web and mobile interface.
Real-time understanding
The value of this approach became clear on 6 January 2025, when intense rainfall caused flooding and a temporary line closure. For the first time, engineers could view the entire drainage ecosystem in real-time, as one connected system. SIYTE enabled the team to understand how assets interacted, identify operational constraints, and optimise them for future events.
As a result, in the four months following deployment, the solution contributed to the avoidance of an estimated 7,000 delay minutes, equating to approximately £1.5 million in prevented delay costs and delivering a 20:1 return on investment in a short operational timeframe.
SIYTE is helping move the region from reactive to proactive management, with the platform providing remote visibility, reducing the need for ‘boots on ballast’. It also supports long-term planning by highlighting patterns and dependencies within the drainage system – critical for shaping future investment decisions and prioritising interventions.
The project was delivered collaboratively in just eight weeks, ahead of a scheduled Department for Transport inspection. The Central Alliance Instrumentation and Monitoring team installed the required additional cameras and water level sensors, to allow a single connected system to be delivered through SIYTE. Both teams demonstrated a truly consultative approach, advising on everything from the most suitable sensors to the best way to present a unified view of all asset data.
According to George Barratt from the Asset Strategy & Planning team at Network Rail: “The speed with which this was delivered was incredible. Any questions were not only answered promptly, but in detail.”
Future phases include onboarding additional sites, providing Route Control with a simplified SIYTE interface, integrating Environment Agency sensor data, and enabling automated pump control. With continued AI development, a conversational AI agent will soon analyse data, identify patterns, and add a predictive capability.
Image credit: Purple Transform