The BIM-for-rail opportunity

Abstract

The rail industry is one of the oldest and most mature engineering sectors. However, Building Information Modelling (BIM) adoption in the sector has been relatively slow, typically focused on individual projects where the participants involved have recognised the opportunity BIM presents to improve specific activities rather than meeting client set requirements. A significant global investment pipeline exists in the rail sector, which at the same time is facing recruitment challenges in the industry where a relatively mature workforce and perceived lack of innovation discourage new entrants. The adoption of new technologies can help meet the growing demand and offset the difficulty of attracting sufficient resources to deliver the work. By deploying readily available BIM and associated technologies, significant workflow improvements can be achieved in rail engineering whilst still satisfying current contractual requirements such as the rapid creation of 2D drawings comprising cross-sections, plans, elevations and details direct from the model that are automatically updated when a model is changed.