CAF Digital Services’ LeadMind platform will enable safer rides on the 12-kilometre 14-stop Canberra light rail line linking the suburb of Gungahlin to the city centre.  

Armed with the latest technologies for data acquisition and advanced analytics, the fleet will use predictive maintenance to improve availability, reliability and safety. 

Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF supplied the five-module Urbos trams for the route, which opened in 2019, and is also responsible for fleet maintenance over 20 years. 

With LeadMind, fleet performance is continuously monitored throughout each journey. By detecting anomalies in service, LeadMind enables maintenance tasks to be prioritised, ensuring that resources are directed only where they are required. 

The system also offers geolocation, telemetry and event creation capabilities by the user. These events can generate an email notification, thereby automating diagnosis.

Future extensions to the Canberra Metro network are planned to include catenary-free sections, with LeadMind’s onboard energy storage system-monitoring supporting operational efficiency and reliability when these extensions are commissioned. 

CAF says that its LeadMind system has been supplied to more than 40 projects, is now monitoring vehicle health on 1000 trains and 5000 cars around the world.